Slaves of the Eucharist and of the Virgin Mary
"Just as Jesus Christ is alive in Heaven praying always for us, so also in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, continually day and night, He is performing this pious office of our Advocate, offering Himself to the Eternal Father as Victim, in order to obtain for us innumerable graces and mercies."
(St. Alphonsus Mary Liguori)
"A Slave of the Eucharist and of the Virgin Mary is a man who tires without tiring, who does not flee from anguish, who falls surrendered in the furrow; who shares his life, his illusion, his surrender; who climbs with joy to Golgotha; who dies surrendered of love fulfilled in the highest ideals of Victimizing himself with Jesus the Eucharist, from the Heart of the Virgin Mary, for the Salvation of all men. They should consider themselves as pilgrims of God on earth who go searching for his love and looking at the earth as if they were passing through; they live only from the ardent longing for God, having in the Cross of their Lord and in his Eucharist, next to his Mother, in the little Sanctuary, the most precious treasure of their lives. A Slave of the Eucharist and of the Virgin Mary is the man who in his being reveals the great news of God and knows how to tell people "what God tastes like". (Fr. Anibal Reyes)
"Two people in love never tire of telling each other that they love each other and love each other and love each other, a thousand times a day. And I tell you, I never tire of telling you: I love you with my soul, with my life, with my heart; simply because of this: because you are my Mother... in your hands, in your heart, I want to place my hands, my heart and my life. Cradle me, put me to sleep in your lap and make me wake up in Heaven...". (Fr. Hannibal)
The Slaves of the Eucharist and the Virgin Mary were founded by Fr. Aníbal José Reyes Belén on August 15, 1981, in Puerto Rico. It is a religious community of contemplative life centered on adoration, praise and reparation, day and night, to Jesus Christ, Victim in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. Through a covenant of love as slaves, they consecrate themselves to the worship and imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in her invocation of Schöenstatt.
Through these two principles, Eucharistic and Marian, they want to serve the Church in its prayerful apostolic mission, witnessing existentially that the contemplative life is a proclamation and pregustation of eternal life. Their main apostolate is to give witness of consecrated life and unconditional dedication to Jesus, centered mainly in Eucharistic adoration and praise to the Holy Trinity, through the daily recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours (Gregorian chant) in choir. They also collaborate in pastoral tasks that respect the contemplative spirit such as the liturgical apostolate, hospitality in retreats and days of prayer, research and studies of spiritual life, confession and spiritual direction, preaching exercises and spiritual days for religious men and women and priests, giving classes in Seminaries and Theological Centers, chaplaincies for nuns, etc. An important factor in their community life is community recreation with entertainments worthy of consecrated life, such as outings to encounter nature.
The Slaves are present in Puerto Rico and Spain.
Spain
- Slaves of the Eucharist and Virgin Mary
Monastery of San Miguel
Hermitage of Our Lady of Health
Avda. de los Custodios, s/n
P.O. Box 234
14080 Córdoba
Spain
E-mail: semv.cordoba@gmail.com