From the beginnings of our Community, the Pentecostal experience and the eschatological hope of the world to come has been at the heart of our charism. Seized by the expectation of the wedding feast of the Lamb and longing for the Kingdom of Heaven and its happiness as presented at the Sermon of the Mount, our Community “groans in travail” together with the whole creation in unceasing prayer (Rom 8:22).
Prayer has always held the central position in the daily life of our Community. Even though we go into the world and seek to transform it through evangelization and works of mercy, our call is fundamentally a contemplative one. We contemplate Christ both as the lion of Judah and as the sacrificial lamb (Rev 5:5-6) and seriously ponder His call to the Beatitudes as a new type of happiness based on poverty and humility (Mt 5:3-12). We hope to become more and more like Jesus in attaining strength through weakness (2 Cor 12:10).
We consider prayer in all its forms and traditions as the means par excellence for acquiring the Holy Spirit and to live in the heart of the Trinity. Thus, our spirituality is marked by the new and the old, a renewal of tradition by the breath of the Holy Spirit. Our prayer life contains traditions and devotions of West and East, of fervent praise and recollected silence, of Latin, Hebrew as well as modern languages. In a particular way, we seek to learn from the Carmelite tradition of contemplative prayer and the “Little Way.”
The encounter with the Eucharistic Lord has a special position in our prayer life. Indeed, Eucharistic Adoration and Jesus’ continuous presence in the tabernacles around the world was key in the conversion to Catholicism of many of our first members. We spend time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament every day. Persevering in this silent prayer, we abandon our works to enter into Jesus’ loving gaze.
Through our life of prayer, we hope to attain communion with God, to be ever more fully united to the Trinity, to be in communion vertically, that is, with what (or Who) is above. Yet, this vertical communion ought to also bring about a horizontal communion among one another, within our Community, within the Church at which heart we seek to love all men and women, and in the world.
Within our Community there is a communion of all states of life. Just as the three divine persons live in perfect communion without, however, confusing or losing the character proper to each one, so our communion is oriented toward a dynamic unity, allowing each person—consecrated sister and brother, priest and deacon, single and married lay member—to blossom in his or her own vocation.
Our desire for communion extends beyond our Community, though. We pray ardently for unity among all Christians and with all men and women. In a particular way, we hope for unity with the Jewish people, so that we may celebrate together the eternal Shabbat, the resting in the bosom of the Godhead. Each week, we celebrate the “Little Triduum” that reflects this desire for unity, which includes the intercession for all of humanity in the Office of Gethsemane on Thursday, the celebration of the Shabbat on Friday evening, and Byzantine praise at Vespers on Saturday nights.
Mary is for us a model of an intimate relationship with God and a guide in how to live according to the Beatitudes. As a mother, she desires to be present in our hearts and in our Community in a real, albeit hidden, way. We begin the day with the consecration to Jesus through Mary according to St. Louis-Marie Grignon de Montfort. Other Marian devotions, most of all the Holy Rosary, play a great role in our daily lives. Mary is the Guardian and Queen of our Community.
The Eucharist, Mary, and the Pope as the vicar of Christ on earth—St. Don Bosco saw these three elements at the heart of the Church’s journey through this world. So, too, they are the three main pillars of our Community.
Our Community does not exist for itself. The apostolic life of our members enables them to share the gifts and graces they receive in their life of prayer and in fraternal life. Our apostolic life is thus the cup of interior life overflowing. Collaborating in mission, we bear witness to the beauty and the richness of the Church.
As part of this apostolic work, we are concerned for the poor and the suffering and seek to help those in need through a variety of charitable and humanitarian projects around the world. Furthermore, we are engaged with all our strength in the spreading of the Gospel through New Evangelization, especially to families and young people. Finally, through art and beauty, we want to bear witness to the universal vocation of man, which is to be the cantor of creation to its loving Creator.
While saintly figures such as St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Carmelite mystics, St. Francis of Assisi, and Venerable Marthe Robin have accompanied us in our journey, our Community felt especially chosen by three patron saints, whom we have welcomed with gratitude. These saints speak to us and we model ourselves on them.
The Curé of Ars has been a witness of love for souls and of the priesthood for us.
As an image of the Heavenly Father, St. Joseph has helped us to discover God’s fatherhood.
Thanks to the hermit of the East, we discovered our primary vocation of unceasing prayer.
© 2026 Community of the Beatitudes.
