Our way of life

We are one of the numerous religious families that form part of the Church and share in its mission according to variegated spiritual gifts.

Our specific vocation puts us by the side of the youth in every life-situation but preferably the poorest and with no sense of direction in life, the sick, the aged the marginalized, those who do not yet know the Gospel.

Our aim is to share in joys and sorrows, and to cooperate with other components of the Church in promoting human dignity and in bearing Christian witnessing through our service of charity and the proclamation of the Word of God.

By our readiness to “do everything possible” for the real good of our neighbour we say that we totally belong to Jesus whom we serve in a way of life that is chaste, poor and obedient, wholly dedicated to the salvation of humankind.

We lead our consecrated life in community; with sisterly love we are “willing to give and glad to receive”; we live in a warm, cheerful atmosphere, and as a community we carry out activities of charityentrusted to us.
Though spread in various parts of the world, we form one sole family, presided over by the superior general, who expresses its unity and co-ordinates its apostolic action.

To guide us along our particular path we have a Rule of life, which follows the “examples” left us by Jesus in the Gospel.

Our Identity

Our identity and origin
are given straightaway in our official name:
we are “Sisters of Charity
of Saints Bartolomea Capitanio and Vincenza Gerosa”.

We are, however, generally called
“Suore di Maria Bambina” (Sisters of Holy Child Mary”), because in the santuario attached to the Generalate,
in Via S. Sofia, 13, Milan,
we keep an ancient wax image,
coming from the Convent
of Franciscan Sisters of Todi (Perugia)
and donated, after various peregrinations,
to our Institute in 1842.

The Milanese,
who soon joined us in venerating the Mother of God
in the mystery of her birth,
began to call us “Sisters of Maria Bambina”.