The Society of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament began as a new religious community in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Frejus-Toulon, South-Eastern France erected in 2007. Following a religious life and adhering entirely to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and are obedient to the Catholic Hierarchy of Bishops who teach and act in union with the Bishop of Rome. The pictures you see are from when we began…
Since 2010, after much difficulty we have re-organized into a non recognized ‘lay apostolate’. The Society supports men in priestly formation working towards re-establishing an Ecclesiastically recognized religious family in different continents.
Our father, is a priest who received a Papal Blessing in 2005 and a letter of encouragement from the Vatican through the Holy See. Both, priest and members of this lay apostolate are committed to remaining faithful and obedient children of the Roman Catholic Church. The only commitments are to write reflections on Our Lady and the Blessed Sacrament each month, to pray a Daily Holy Hour, go to Daily Mass, and a Daily 15 decade Rosary. At present, the Society holds one annual meeting and retreat inviting priests to officiate the Holy Mass and Sacrament of Confession. While the Society owns property, we can be best understood to be a pious union of the faithful. Our union is principally spiritual, carmelite ‘eremitic’, encouraging each other to remain faithful to our simple prayerful commitments seeking to promote Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament.
(Note: We have no relationship at all with the suppressed Missionary Society of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, nor with that founder in any way.)
Our spirit is to be “In the heart of the Church, my Mother, (I will be) love”, said Saint Therese of Lisieux. We find in this famous quote of hers, two elements unified. First, we see that the Church is a real Mother, because she has the personal assistance of the Mother of God, who first gave us Jesus. Thus, as Mediatrix of all grace, Mary continues Her mission through, with and in the Church giving us her Son, the God who is “Love” in the Blessed Sacrament. For this reason, St. Pius X has said, “the most richly theological title after that of the “Mother of God”, is “Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament”.
Thus, in the carmelite spirit of Saint Therese of Lisieux we seek to become the possession of the Heart of Mary in the Church, that is to say, a transformation eucharistic with, through, in and for the Immaculate Virgin. For both lay members and for the Society’s religious life, this is expressed concretely by a vow of Unlimited Consecration to her.
For religious, this is taken as a single “religious vow” to the Most Holy Trinity of unlimited consecration to Mary Immaculate which sheds an explicit Marian ‘light’ on the vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience. In this manner, Mary Immaculate becomes the “heart” of our life with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
For lay members, this Marian vow re-orients their life to live more fully their baptismal and other vows in a more intense way. By shedding an explicit personal relationship to love and know more and more the love of the Mother of Jesus who alone makes Jesus turn water in to wine, and who always makes us see Jesus’ will and also to “do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5) Thus shining an explicit Marian “light” in their life and actions, making her maternal love the “heart” of their life with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
Thus, in the spirit of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, planted in the the ‘Garden’of her heart The Society of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament seeks to follow her to the summit of holiness through consecration to Her united with a life of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration.
In practice, we seek to be united through the spirit of Mary, to make radiant- “love” in the Church. Put simply, this is the fullness of love given in a life of consecration and prayer, as well as the familial love that is always open to welcome and to make present for each other Jesus and Mary. This happens for us through the presence of Jesus, present first and foremost in perpetual adoration in our chapel. In His Eucharistic presence the Eternal Father always has an ear open, and so, as much as we are united to Him in perpetual adoration, we also will be open without limits to radiate the paternal love of the Father (Or as Mary, it can be said for the sisters, more precisely, the maternal love of the Mother) to all of God’s children who are in need of true paternal love in “God Our heavenly father from whom all paternity flows”.
The project for our life is to have a chapel of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration assisted by lay adorers who assist us to keep the adoration- perpetual throughout the day and night hours. Providing as well the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the other Sacraments for the Catholic faithful. Our original chapel was established and approved in this manner. However, our priest founder and Society members wish to be obedient to all Church authorities, so the original chapel (pictures below) is closed as we pray and wait for future recognition.
Our project for religious is to not be a parish, but a contemplative community with a chapel open to the public.
The apostolate, for those who participate as religious and lay members, The Society of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament advertises a life of prayer as the norm, but we also give missions with the goal of establishing in Catholic communities chapels of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. Each mission consists of a thorough catechesis on the Immaculate Virgin Mary without whom Jesus Christ cannot be known and loved as He should in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
USA STATION. First Chapel/House of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament
(Est. 2008-2009)
