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Called by God |
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Life |
Prayer |
Work |
| Deaconess - this title originates in the early churchly office of women who served the people in their community and helped the poor. Women, who at the same time also fulfilled the office of prayer and of teaching others who were preparing for baptism. | ||
| Deaconesses are women who strife to serve Jesus Christ with their whole lives and who have received His service of love and salvation. | ||
| We, the deaconesses of the town of Riehen,
are called to a form of life according to the three evangelical counsels. This means that we live and work together without receiving wages, we share the goods and gifts that we have and receive. We live in chastity on order to be free to serve God and the people around us. We have committed ourselves to obedience and are assigned to a certain work or task, but with a personal right to say and discuss one's own opinion. We therefore live in a binding community of life, faith and service. |
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| As deaconesses of Riehen we do not have our own rule, but in our form of life we refer to the old, approved Rule of St. Benedict in its timeless parts. The rule is an invitation to an orderly life in a community. | ||
| As deaconesses we live a healing rhythm of shared prayer and shared work. | ||
| We put ourselves under the guidance of the Word of God and under a set of regulations / dispositions which create a helpful frame for our life. They serve to maintain peace among each other and grant the necessary safety / security to live our calling in freedom. | ||
| At the moment 122 sisters from the age of 29 to the age of 100 belong to our community. 9 postulants and novices (sisters in the time of probation) live amongst us. | ||