Community of St. John

Like their Brother apostles, the Sisters apply themselves to an intense search for the truth, in the light of the three wisdoms: philosophical, theological, and mystical. They wish to respond to Pope John Paul II's exhortation, in Fides et Ratio, to return to a true philosophical inquiry as it has an "intimate bond" with theological research. "Between the vocation of the Blessed Virgin and the vocation of true philosophy there is a deep harmony," says John Paul II. The Sisters desire to consecrate their intelligence to this search for truth for a deeper appreciation and love of the Word of God. In today’s world, is it not indeed necessary to purify the intelligence of all a priori stemming from traditions (family, religious or political), and of all the imagination which often prevents a true contact with reality? The imagination, the a priori, the subjectivity are indeed major obstacles to contemplative life. In order to be offered to God, the intelligence must be purified; it must become objective once again.

For the Sisters, the awakening to a philosophical reflection starting from the experience of reality takes place in the Novitiate and continues in the priories according to the capabilities of each Sister. This search for a true human wisdom renders the Sisters more receptive to the life of grace. Far from preventing a genuine reading of the Word of God as in the case of a meditation too intellectual, this search for truth helps them receive the Word of God and live on it as the Blessed Virgin herself did (Lk 11:28), without transforming or reducing it to what they understood of it.

This search, which consists in making an effort to know the human person, and ultimately in discovering the existence of a First Being whom religious traditions call God, leads the Sisters to a theological research: they study the teaching of the Magisterium and of Saint Thomas Aquinas whom they receive from the Church as the common Doctor.