The nature and purpose of the Congregation
The Institute of the Oblate Hospital Franciscan Sisters is a Congregation of Pontificial right, in which the religious, following the spirit of St. Francis, according to the example of their Foundress, Monna Tessa, a Franciscan tertiary, strive to live more intimately their baptismal consecration by means of the public vows of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience, and the total offering of their life for the service of God and the God's people.
In the Spirit of the Congregation, the sisters make a constant effort to live an authentic evangelical life by "placing the Gospel above all other rules", and rather than to rely on a series of "norms", to seek constantly and to walk steadfastly in "the footsteps" of Christ by means of community life, by an apostolic commitment according to the directives of the Church, and in obedience to serve the sick in hospitals and provide every form of assistance to the suffering.
The Congregation owes its origin to the generous heart of Monna Tessa and of those Oblates who, animated by an ideal of Christian charity which flourished again through the example of St. Francis, in the thirteenth century gave birth to our religious family.
Our Congregation derives its original inspiration from the words of the Gospel: "I was sick, and you visited me". (Mt 25, 36) and lives today its mission in the Church fully aware of the actuality of its Charism. Besides Our service Hospitals we also render our services to the places there are also places very suitable for authentic human development.
By its very nature, our Congregation through each one of its members is constantly at the service of the brethren.
The principal purpose of the Congregation includes the sanctification of its members and the witness of the love of the Father among the brethren. In imitation of St. Francis, "the gospel man", who, like the angels on Jacob's ladder either went up to God or came down to the neighbour, the Oblates must seek God above al else, and solely; they should join contemplation, by which they endeavour to be associated with the work of redemption and to spread the kingdom of God.
To archieve this purpose, it is necessary that our religious consecration, rooted in baptism, seek a more perfect expression of the baptismal consecration to be realized through a chaste, poor, obedient Christian life lived in fraternal communion, which should be an expression of the unifying power of Christ.
Each one of us, open to in our times, lives her personal vocation according to the charism of our Congregation. It should be borne in mind that"the witness given by a religious cannot be purely individual; it is community witness, and all religious are called to exercise the apostolate in line with the acknowledged charism".