Institute of the Incarnate Word marks 25th anniversary

The religious family of the Incarnate Word is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its foundation this year. The institute, which arose in the diocese of San Rafael in Mendoza, Argentina in the year 1984, now has 217 communities in 37 different countries around the world and is found on five different continents and in just a few short years has had a very large increase in vocations. Its founder, an Argentinean priest named Miguel Buela, explains the mission of their religious family."Our charism must be the evangelization of the culture, which is a new way of expressing an aspect of the Incarnation of the Word. Because just as the Word was made flesh in the human nature of Christ, we must also search for Christ in all realities that are truly human."The Institute of the Incarnate Word has 1,700 religious men and women. They attribute the miracle of so many vocations to its patron, the Virgin of Luján. Mother Anima, the Mother Superior of the feminine branch, called the ¨Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará¨, stresses their relationship with the Virgin of Luján."The Virgin of Luján, Patroness of Argentina, is very much loved, but even more so, our founder, Fr. Carlos Miguel Buela, has made us all love her in a very special way and has helped us to come to know her as our Mother in Heaven. When he was a young seminarian, he would often go alone to the sanctuary of Our Lady, which is situated close to Buenos Aires, and it was there that he would pray to Our Lady, asking her to assist him when he became a priest to be able to help many young people with their vocation."Recently, the Institute of the Incarnate Word has been able to found new communities in several countries in the Middle East which are challenging to evangelize, such as Gaza, Iraq, Syria, and Jordan, which Pope Benedict XVI has visited. We spoke with Mother Figlia di Dei, one of their missionaries in Egypt."The truth is that being Catholic in a country where Catholics are a minority is a big challenge, but for us, to be Catholic also means being a testimony even though we do not have the opportunity here of making a statement with a lot of people, as we can in our Catholic countries. What we try to be are testimonies of the faith. For the Sisters in Jordan, knowing that the Pope celebrated mass in a stadium there is something very special."

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