The Diocese of Lancaster announced Friday that the Sisters Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus Christ Sovereign Priest, an order of contemplative religious sisters, are being welcomed into the diocese with the aim of inspiring a model of prayer and vocation within the local Church.

“It’s a great joy for me to have the Sisters Adorers come into the Diocese, because I think it’s a great gift, not only to have such a strong and vibrant praying presence at the heart of Preston, but especially for the young women in our Diocese to see that some young women still choose this vocation, and that it can be a joyful and beautiful way to live one’s life,” Bishop Michael Campbell of Lancaster stated Oct. 6. “We remain very grateful for the historic communities who have served us so well in the Diocese over many years, and yet we are also grateful for the new life that the newer communities — like Sister Adorers — bring to our future life in God,” Campbell continued.

The sisters will establish a house in Preston, 25 miles south of Lancaster. The Sisters Adorers are an Italian community of sisters founded in Florence in 2004 under the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and through the care of Cardinal Ennio Antonelli. While their charism is contemplative, the sisters are not cloistered and have named St. Francis de Sales, St. Benedict, and St. Thomas Aquinas as their patrons.

The sisters’ spirituality focuses on prayer, including daily Mass and the Divine Office in the extraordinary form, Eucharistic adoration, and the Rosary. Other parts of their day are filled with manual labor and classes on Gregorian chant, Latin, philosophy, and theology. In addition, they also care for liturgical vestments and altar linens, and practice the art of sewing and lace-making.

Their brother community of priests are known as the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, who were recently named caretakers of two churches in the Preston area, including St. Walburge’s Church and English Martyr’s Church. This community was established ahead of the contemplative sisters in 1990, and they have taken “teaching the truth with charity” as their motto.

Bishop Campbell invited the contemplative sisters into the diocese with the help of Monsignor Gilles Wach, prior general of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. “…this invitation to our Sisters from the Bishop of Lancaster is another opportunity to continue the mission of the Institute of Christ the King within the Church,” stated Monsignor Wach. “The daily prayer of the Sister Adorers will be a great spiritual support towards the work of the Canons of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest in the UK, and will also benefit the Diocese of Lancaster. Their religious life, centered on Eucharistic adoration and the Consecration to the Royal Heart of Jesus will bring more graces to Preston.”

The Sisters will be established at St. Augustine’s Presbytery in Preston, although their arrival date has yet to be announced.