The spirituality of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit springs from a profound openness to the Holy Spirit and from the missionary zeal of our founders, Claude Poullart des Places and François Libermann. Their vision shaped a community entirely dedicated to the poor and to those most in need, and continues today to inspire our way of living and serving.
Everything begins with the primacy of God, the beating heart of Spiritan spirituality. By discovering that he is preceded, loved, and called, the Spiritan is freed from self‑centredness and opens himself to the Presence that dwells in all things. Far from diminishing the human person, recognising that “God is all” becomes the source of a fruitful freedom, capable of enlarging the heart and unifying life. It is in this inner space—made free by the primacy of God—that docility to the Spirit can be born, grow, and flourish.
Because God comes first, the heart can allow itself to be led. Docility to the Holy Spirit is the art of trusting surrender, like a feather carried by the wind. Libermann prayed: “O Divine Spirit, I wish to stand before you like a light feather, so that your breath may carry me wherever it wills and that I may never offer the slightest resistance.” In this inner attitude, we allow ourselves to be shaped by the Spirit according to the unique vocation given to each of us. Little by little, the Spirit opens within us a space of freedom where he can inspire, guide, and send us forth. A heart that lets itself be led in this way naturally becomes a heart that is open.
From docility springs openness: an inner “here I am” that makes the heart free, responsive, and attentive to the calls of God and of the world. To be open to the Spirit is to remain attentive to his presence and guidance; it is to let him lead us to welcome and fulfil the mission of Jesus Christ. Openness is therefore not passive, but an active consent through which we allow the Spirit to direct us toward those to whom God wishes to send us. Thus, openness leads us to what is the very soul of Spiritan life: the mission.
Spiritan spirituality is missionary by its very nature. It draws us into the movement of Christ sent by the Father, so that we may share in his mission rather than pursue our own. Mission springs from an inner union with Christ, the One sent by the Father. Before being an action, it is a disposition of the heart: a confident “Here I am, send me”, ready to go to the most vulnerable.
To allow oneself to be sent is to renounce one’s own plans in order to embrace a work that surpasses us. Received within the community, through discernment and trust, the mission becomes an act of faith and an active openness through which God reaches out to the world (SRL 9,11). But for this mission to remain authentic, it must be continually unified and nourished by prayer.
Practical union is the art of remaining inwardly turned toward God at the very heart of action. It unifies prayer and service: prayer shapes the missionary’s heart, and service manifests its truth.
In prayer, the Spirit purifies desires, enlightens the gaze, and enables us to discern God in events and in faces. This inner presence gives rise to humble and concrete service: closeness to the little ones, respect for cultures, commitment to justice, peace, and creation. Without prayer, service becomes exhausting; with prayer, it becomes a sharing in the way Christ made himself a servant. This inner union deepens as we imitate the Heart of Mary, to whom we are consecrated (SRL 5; 87–88; 90).
Spiritan spirituality recognises in Mary a heart perfectly open to the Spirit, a model of docility and fidelity. We place ourselves under the protection of her Immaculate Heart, filled “with the fullness of holiness and apostolic zeal” (SRL 5–6), and we welcome her as our guide, especially in prayer, where she teaches us trusting obedience (SRL 89).
A maternal presence and a centre of unity, she gathers, brings peace, and disposes hearts for the mission. At her school, our lives are unified, opened more fully to the Spirit, and the mission becomes less what we accomplish and more what God wishes to accomplish in us and through us.
The mission of the Coordination for Spiritan Spirituality is to animate the spiritual life of the Congregation. In a spirit of cor unum et anima una, it coordinates spiritual initiatives so that they harmonise with the General Council’s plan for animation, fostering a common vision and a shared dynamic.
The General Postulation handles and completes all the steps the Congregation must take with the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints concerning the beatification and canonization causes of our confrères
The Center for Spiritan Studies was founded in 2005 as a collaborative venture of Duquesne University and the Congregation of the Holy Spirit to foster research on Spiritan history, tradition and spirituality.
