Community - Sisters of The Precious Blood

A day in the life of a CPS Sister

As a CPS “we bind ourselves to live in one of our communities” (Const. 401) and do so with a certain order, that “requires a balance of prayer, work, silence, leisure, privacy and service in community” (Const. 405). How does such a typical day look like? For us the day begins at 5.00 a.m. Each sister takes time for her meditation and thus prepares for her day of service in His kingdom. At 6 a.m. all sisters assemble in the Chapel for morning prayers and for the celebration of the Eucharist. After a communal breakfast, each sister leaves to engage in her unique ministry, either in the house or outside of the Convent. Adoration hours where our senior sisters bring to our Lord the needs of this world are held daily. At Midday those in the house gather for prayers and a common lunch break, while those serving away honour the time in their unique way. Thereafter the demands of their ministries call them to readiness to serve anew until all meet again in Chapel for evening prayer followed by communal supper. Other spiritual exercises such as spiritual reading and saying the rosary are left to the individual CPS to attend to when she finds time during the day.

On a weekly basis the sisters also meet either as a community for spiritual or informative inputs or as smaller ‘living groups’ where support and care is extended to all and tasks such as liturgy preparation is attended to. Recreation time, that is, time spent to relax, can take on many forms. Some like to watch the news on TV, others play games while again other sisters go for walks, meet for chats or engage in their hobbies. Eventually, each sister closes her day through personal time spent with the Lord while saying her night prayers.

CPS Community Life

As Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood we live and experience the mystery of our Charism first and foremost within our own communities. Here we can deepen our understanding of our founders’ vision and practise it on a daily basis. That raises a question: What is indeed central to our unique CPS life? A simple answer is the ‘Ora et labora’ of our Benedictine roots. We honour it through:

‘Ora’ – Times of Individual and Communal Prayer • Treasuring the prayers of our CPS Founders

• Praying the ‘Offerings to the Precious Blood’ daily

• Availing ourselves for adoration hours

• Reciting the rosary and meditating on its mysteries

• Saying our morning, midday, evening, and night prayers

• Participating in Holy Mass daily, which indeed is the highlight of each day

• Reading, meditating, and living the Scriptures through Lectio divina

• Utilising our monthly recollection days

• Attending annual 9 day retreats

Thus strengthened through our ‘ora’ spiritual activities, we can venture out and be involved in

‘Labora’ – Times of Service

• Engaging in our unique ministries (work) that are assigned to each of us

• Serving each other in our communities through availing ourselves for tasks to be completed for the sake of our sisters, our communities, and/or our province. Our community is indeed our new family, not chosen by ourselves but by Him and intended to be our home where we can feel we belong and receive but also offer support in manifold ways. CPS communities are international by nature with sisters from all different countries and cultures living together. And yes, we experience the blessings and the tensions and conflicts that arise from differences, but each sister indeed endeavours to work constructively with our diversities, to live reconciliation and thus to give witness to the redeeming love of Christ (cf. Const. 403).

Our striving for ‘Unity in Diversity’ is a sign of hope

and that unity and hope we often express through our ‘joyful’ celebrations by virtue of which we thank God for His call to be a CPS and as such companions to each other.

A day in the life of a CPS Sister

CPS Community Life

Our striving for ‘Unity in Diversity’ is a sign of hope

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