Who We Are

Caritas Christi members are ordinary lay women consecrated to Christ while living in the heart of the world.

The reason for Caritas Christi's existence is to spread love in the Church. It is to carry out this mission that its members, in spite of their desire for solitude, remain in the world. In the words of St. Catherine of Siena, they want to be "sparks" in the world of that "fire" which is Christ. The spirituality of Caritas Christi is too firmly founded on the Gospel not to rest upon this truth: what we do to the least of his brothers is done to Jesus himself (cf. Mt 25:40). They must strive with all of their strength to love their neighbor as Christ loves him. What do they possess, then, to carry out their mission, but their life: that life they accepted through love at their Dedication. This everyday life will be their preaching, their means of giving God to others as well as their means of finding Him. 

Although Caritas Christi was co-founded by a lay woman and a Dominican priest, its members embrace various forms of Catholic spirituality in order that their prayer may lead them to deep union with God. However, for its members, the heart of Caritas Christi is a life of deep commitment to Christ in and through the Church.

Requirements:

• Membership is open to single women 20-49 (If older, mutual discernment with the institute. Dispensation may be possible for someone just over 50 years old, but not easy to obtain. The Inquirer must have a very clear sense of vocation in Caritas Christi)
• Widows and divorced women will need to bring proof they are canonically free to enter consecrated life.
• Members must exhibit stability, strength of character, generosity as well as moral and spiritual balance in their lives. They must be mature enough to meet all the difficulties of living the lay life in celibacy without the framework and support of a religious community.
• Ill health or having a physical disability is not necessarily an impediment for membership.
• Caritas Christi does not accept a Transitus: A Religious Sister must be dispensed of her vows and live in the world for 2 years before discerning her vocation with us.

Formation:

• Preparation: Remaining in the place where Providence has placed her, the candidate starts preparation lasting a minimum of 9 months. During this time she is given a sponsor and preparation bulletins. And the  candidate finishes her application process.
• Initial Formation: After reception into the Institute the aspirant starts three years of formation. During this time she is given a “formation sponsor” and studies the formation bulletins and the constitutions.

What Members Are Responsible For
Before Beginning Preparation:

•  Fill out the application form but not necessarily provide the official documents linked to it
•  Write a draft of her spiritual autobiography
• Interview with a couple of members of the National Council and/or Formation team

During Preparation:

•  Update, if need be, the application form and provide all the relevant official documents
• Write the final version of the spiritual autobiography
• If possible, attend the retreat
• Initiate monthly contact with her preparation sponsor and work on the preparation bulletins
• Regularly participate in the monthly zoom formation meeting and the zoom recollection, if there is one
• If possible, regularly attend the monthly rosary meeting
• Read the general circular
• Write a letter requesting reception into Caritas Christi

From Formation to First Dedication:

• Initiate monthly contact with her formation sponsor and work on the formation bulletins
• Regularly participate in the monthly zoom formation meeting and the zoom recollection, if there is one
• If possible, regularly attend the monthly rosary meeting
• Closely read the general circular
• Attend the annual retreat
• Write a letter reviewing the past year of formation and requesting to continue annually
• During the second year, at her own cost, go for a psychological evaluation, using a psychologist who is familiar with evaluation for consecrated life or seminarians
• In the third year, have a zoom interview with the National Council and the Formation team

From First Dedication to DD:

• Initiate monthly contact with her renewal sponsor and work for the first four years on the annual bulletins and founders’ texts and for the last year on the bulletins for the last year before DD
• Regularly participate in the monthly zoom formation meeting and to the zoom recollection, if there is one
• If possible, regularly attend the monthly rosary meeting
• Closely read the general circular
• Attend the annual retreat
• Write a letter reviewing the past year of formation and requesting to continue annually
• At the beginning of the last year, go for a zoom interview with the National Council and the Formation team

After DD:

• Initiate monthly contact with her personal sponsor and work on the formation bulletins
• Regularly participate in the monthly zoom formation meeting and to the zoom recollection, if there is one
• If possible, regularly attend the monthly rosary meeting
• Closely read the general circular
• Attend the annual retreat

At All Stages:

Candidates and members are encouraged to make use of local means of formation, have private recollections, participate in activities organized by USCSI, and, of course, most of all to attend daily mass as far as it is possible for them.

First & Definitive Dedication: After 3 years of Formation the aspirant will make her first Dedication, offering herself to Our Lord, in Caritas Christi. This Dedication carries with it the vow of chastity and promises of poverty and obedience according to the Constitutions. It is renewed annually for four more years at least. The commitments of the Definitive Dedication are the same as those of the temporary Dedication. The Holy See alone can release her from these sacred bonds.

“By her vow of chastity she binds herself to one Spouse, Jesus Christ.

By the poverty that she will practice in spirit until absolute stripping and in fact to all that will not be essential to the normal requirements of her life according to her condition and her environment.

By obedience to the Rule, which will lead her to the annihilation of all self-will in the loving desire to have in all things no other will than that of God himself.

The members of Caritas Christi fully practice the evangelical counsels: “'whoever wants to be my disciple, let him renounce himself, take up his cross and follow me'. She thus disposes herself to respond to all the requirements of perfect Love and to attain, in the place marked by the Call of the Master, the perfection of Christian virtues and the path of holiness." 

-Juliette Molland

Caritas Christi itself has no "organized" apostolic work but each member is pledged by her Dedication to be an "apostle" in its fullest meaning where God placed her in her providential circumstances.

As a member of secular institute she wants to remain fully secular and does so by not revealing to others her hidden life in Christ and the Church. She thus avoids any distinction that would differentiate her from her neighbors. A member can and does reveal membership if it will help to spread knowledge of the vocation or for a personal reason.  However, she may not reveal the membership of another member without first obtaining the permission to do so.