The Name of Congregation

The name "Sisters of the Holy Family", thought for us by Mother Leopoldina, is rooted within the Family of Nazareth, in whose style we are called to live. This explains the importance of the fraternal dimension in our communities and the constant reference to the Holy Family, summarized in the praise of the greeting "Blessed be the Holy Family now and forever", a greeting that we exchange at the beginning, at the end of the day and in others special moments.

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In the "compendium plan" as in the current Constitution, it is declared that "The Institute of the Sisters of the Holy Family is so named because of that special devotion practiced from the very beginning of our union towards Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. May this devotion be ever strengthened in our spirit, out of gratitude for the favor obtained in going forward in this Institution. May it render perennial the fruits of such and efficacious patronage so that the good work that has been undertaken can increase until its perfect establishment. gathered together under the very shadow of this devotion, all of us in this Union are one both in purposes and affections. we would like, therefore, to have this name and to be called the Devote Sisters of the Holy Family, or more briefly, in the same understanding, the Sisters of the Holy Family. The devotional reason is, therefore, the first reason for the title given to the Institute. We can however clarify the meaning of this "devotion", taking advantage of a difficulty that Leopoldina communicates to Bertoni to obtain advice on how to draft the introduction to the Constitutions: "I have always found in me, writes Leopoldina, a single devotion that is that of Jesus; and there is so much my heart that what I have to Mary Most Holy and to Saint Joseph are only relative to Our Lord Jesus [...]. In indicating therefore the devotion to the Holy Family I would like to identify the most loving Heart of Jesus and that of Mary; and St. Joseph then as the one who most familiarly conversing with Jesus and Mary drew, so to speak, these Most Holy Hearts charity towards God and neighbor ". The second reason for the title given to the Institute is of gratitude to the Holy Family. Leopoldina has, in fact, a clear conscience that her Institute was wanted by God: “the Lord leads me to understand that on nothing else should I base my trust for the Work that He wills of me, but only on this: the fact that He wants it. And this should suffice for me in order to believe with every certainty that since it is so, surely it will be, and everything will succeed, without my having to since it is so, surely it will be, and everything will succeed me having to any fear for anything. " It is also symptomatic that, especially in the years in which she is about to conclude her Work, Leopoldina always notes her littleness, inviting everyone to praise the true Author of what has been accomplished: “I love to talk about my misery and ineptitude, it seems that I would like everyone to see in me what I see because the truth should be known and glory was given to God [...]. I wish everyone like me can see that is the Lord doing everything". It is a feeling of gratitude, therefore, that of Leopoldina, towards God and the Holy Family, as in this passage: “In prayer thinking of the devotion that the Lord has given to the glorious St. Joseph to the graces which by means of this Saint have been granted me, made me remember these words: : nos fundavimus Societatem Jesu (we have found the Society of Jesus). And it seemed to me that the Lord has given me this devotion to the Holy Family, was as a pledge that He wished that also by this means that Society would be founded, which has placed in my heart the movement to be zealous for this". Leopoldina had a special devotion to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and wanted to offer her daughters, as a model, the active serenity of the Holy Family so that, in the fervor of active life, they would not forget the contemplative one. In the Pontifical Brief of the approval of the Institute Gregory XVI express thus: "[...] we have known and understood with the great consolation of our soul a little while ago that the beloved daughter of Christ, Leopoldina Naudet, blowing with an ardent ardor of charity, in the city of Verona she established a new society of virgins which takes the name of the Holy Family [...].With our apostolic authority we approve and confirm ”.The name "Sisters of the Holy Family" explains how we feel and call each other indistinctly Sister and the particular value of the traditional greeting "Blessed be the Holy Family now and forever°