175 Years of the Vow of Tarragona: Renewing the Fire of Communion and Mission

With grateful hearts, we celebrated the 175th anniversary of the Vow of Tarragona, through which the Venerable Maria Antonia Paris and her four companions offered themselves to God, making the vow to cross the seas and go to any part of the world without making any division among themselves.

To mark this significant occasion, a prayer vigil was held on 14 August at our House in Reus, where the remains of the Venerable Maria Antonia Paris rest.

Claretian Missionary Sisters from different parts of the world, together with members of the Claretian Family, lay Claretians, priests from the diocese of Tarragona, and religious sisters of the place, gathered to witness and celebrate this special moment of grace, communion, and renewed missionary commitment.

The vigil followed an itinerant journey of prayer and remembrance. It began before the image of Maria Antonia in the museum, a sacred space that preserves the living memory of our origins. Being in this place invited us to recall, from the heart, how the seed of our Congregation first began to grow.

We were invited to contemplate different objects in the museum and to remember how everything began on that night when Maria Antonia, before Christ Crucified, asked Him what He desired of her. This intimate dialogue with the Lord opened before her a new and demanding journey—a journey that would eventually lead her beyond the boundaries of her own homeland and into the mission entrusted to her by God.

From there, we moved to another section of the museum on the first floor, where we offered intercessory prayers for significant moments in the life of Maria Antonia and in the history of our Congregation. A dance of communion then expressed, through movement and joy, our call to unity and fraternity.

The journey continued towards the entrance of the house. Holding lighted candles, we proceeded together towards the crypt of Maria Antonia. There, in an atmosphere of prayer and reconciliation, we offered prayers for the restoration of communion. We asked forgiveness for our faults and failures, especially for those moments when we have not lived our vocation to communion as fully as we are called to do.

Finally, standing together before the tomb of our Foundress and holding our lighted candles, we renewed the fire of communion and mission. With hearts filled with gratitude for the gift of our history and with hope for the future, we committed ourselves to enlarging our hearts, tearing down the barriers created by prejudice and division, and walking wherever the Lord calls us.

May the same missionary fire that burned in the heart of Maria Antonia continue to burn brightly in each of us, inspiring us to cross every boundary and to go to any part of the world where His Kingdom calls us.