'Pink Sisters' mark 100 years of presence in the Philippines

The Sister-Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration, popularly known as Pink Sisters because of the color of their habit, celebrated a century of presence in the Philippines with a Mass on November 25, at the Divino Amor Chapel in Lipa, Batangas.

According to Mother Maria Magdalena Krusein, SSpSAP, the congregation's current superior general, she hopes that this milestone will lead them to live out their vocation more faithfully and "go ahead for the next hundred years."

The Pink Sisters arrived in the Philippines on November 25, 1923, and established their first-ever community in Lipa City, Batangas.

A community of cloistered nuns, they dedicate themselves to a life of perpetual adoration, constantly praying for the intentions of priests and the entire Church.

On Saturday, one hundred years after their missionary presence in the Philippines, the sisters gathered in the Divino Amor Chapel in Lipa City, the exact location where their Philippine mission began.

Their Thanksgiving Mass was presided over by Lipa Archbishop Gilbert Garcera and attended by members of several religious organizations.

During this momentous occasion, Mother Krusein, a German, took the opportunity to express her gratitude to all religious friends and benefactors who continue to support their mission in the Philippines.

"As we look back today on our 100 years of presence in the Philippines, we honestly confess that this has not been possible without all of you," she said.

She also thanked the residents of Lipa City for their unwavering support of their congregation.
Mother Krusein also invited young people to answer God's calling to religious life, noting that the first Pink Sisters who arrived in the country were only in their 20s and 30s.

"They believed in their mission. They believed that God sent them here," said the mother superior. "I can just encourage young people to believe that God is also calling them for a special service," she also said.

The German priest Father Arnold Janssen, who then became a saint and also founded the Society of the Divine Word (SVD-1875) and Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS-1889), established the Sister-Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration (SSpSAP) in Steyl, Netherlands, on December 8, 1896.

At present, they are taking care of 21 Pink Sister convents globally, six of which are in the Philippines: Baguio (1931), Manila (1965), Cebu (1973), Davao (1983), Aklan (1986), and Tagaytay (1990).