Our way of life is modelled on that of St. Clare, who desired to observe the holy Gospel according to the teaching of St. Francis, living in obedience, without anything of her own and in chastity, in a community of sisterly life devoted to contemplation in canonical enclosure (Constitutions 6).
Through the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience we strive to observe the holy Gospel in its essentials:
- to follow our Lord Jesus Christ and imitate Him in His way of life, especially in His life of prayer, poverty and humility;
- through our total love, to express to Him the undivided love of the Church, His mystical Bride (Constitutions 7).
Through our community of sisterly life we intend to bear particular witness to the communion of love that the Lord has imprinted on the Church and that He asks of His disciples, who are called to love one another after His example and commandment (Constitutions 8).
We devote ourselves to our contemplative life:
- to know and contemplate Christ, and through Christ the mystery of God, infinite Love and highest Good, our Father and Saviour;
- to give constant glory to God in the Church and to plead without ceasing for grace and forgiveness for our brothers and sisters in the world;
- to live in continual listening to the word of God, the source of grace, strength and light;
- to give ourselves to persevering prayer and generous practice of penance (Constitutions 9).
Convinced of the great value of our particular form of consecrated life:
- we live our consecration to God and our sisterly community separated from the world in papal enclosure;
- we seek and keep recollection of spirit by observing silence, which better disposes us to listen to the voice of the Lord;
- we prolong the union with God gained in prayer through the toil of daily work, by which we earn the means for our simple and poor life (Constitutions 10).