“Pray constantly and for all things give thanks of God” I Thess. 5: 18

Prayer is the life and soul of our Community. Prayer enables and strengthens us to be faithful to our daily apostolate. It is only through an intimate relationship with Jesus in the interior life that we can be instruments in His hands. We are gathered together as a community by the word of the living God. For us the word, listened to with faith is a source of spiritual life, food for prayer, light to see God’s will in the events of life, and strength to live out our vocation faithfully.  Every community of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary together cultivates both the spirit and practice of prayer. This helps us to live in the presence of God, thus uniting the active with the contemplative life. 

The daily schedule consists of the celebration of the Eucharist, Liturgy of Hours, especially Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer, the examination of conscience, the Marian rosary, the meditation, and the spiritual reading in common. Private devotions include the Stations of the Cross which is an integral part of our Franciscan heritage and the Franciscan Rosary. As a Eucharistic-centered community, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is our daily privilege.   

 To intensify our personal prayer life, every sister set aside a fixed time for personal contemplative prayer, where the soul meets God face to face listening to Him and expressing her own personal intimate love for him.  As Franciscans, our Sisters have dedicated themselves to the service of God, joining the Spirit of love of the Gospel, joy, humility, simplicity and poverty.  In order to have special union with the Church we highly value the Sacrament of Penance. Frequent

Confession helps to increase the knowledge of one’s self, favors Christian humility and offers the occasion for salutary spiritual direction and the increase of Grace.

The sisters keep one day of recollection every month. We also engage in offering spiritual retreats.  This gives us the time away from their daily concerns, to reflect on our special vocations in life and our relationship with God. 

Another area of activity is our participation in spreading the Truth through evangelization and teaching. Whether we are speaking to students in school campuses, or teaching catechism in Parishes, preparing youth for sacraments,   we hope to bring Christ to a world starving for the Divine Lover.

Vimala Hridaya Retreat centre, Kampivila is managed by the FIH Sisters. It mainly intended for Evangelization. To learn more about our prayer centre please visit www.vhprayercenter.org/