Faith Households

In Greek, Asteria tis Marias means “Star of Mary.” Our Lady is the Star that leads us to Jesus’ heart of love. She teaches us and clothes us in Her Ten Virtues: profound humility, blind obedience, ardent charity, constant mental prayer, universal mortification, heroic patience, divine purity, lively faith, angelic sweetness, and divine wisdom. Jesus’ Heart shines like the sun, while Mary’s virtues, as the moon, are the perfect reflection of her Son’s Heart. We are the little stars of Jesus and Mary striving to shine as they do. We strive to bring Christ’s Light and Love into the darkness of the world through love and service.

Founded in Spring 2013, the Daughters of God (D.O.Gs, or “Dogs”) take their inspiration from St. Josemaria Escriva and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Following St. Josemaria and recognizing that their primary duties are those of a college student, they strive for holiness in every aspect of daily life. They seek to imitate the Blessed Mother by seeing themselves as true daughters of God and by cultivating four particular virtues: Gratitude, Purity, Humility, and Obedience. They meet every Sunday evening for community, spiritual reading and reflection, and join each other for Mass, Holy Hour, Rosary, and Night Prayer once a week. “The first step to bringing others to Christ is for them to see you happy and serene, sure in your advance towards God.” – St. Josemaria

We, the sisterhood of the Mystical Rose, endeavor to develop a longing to become one with Christ, by dying to ourselves under the mantle of Our Blessed Mother, the Mystical Rose. We aim to no longer desire drops of affection, but aim to desire a river of graces; to replace our thirst for physical perfection with a thirst for perfection of the soul; to no longer hunger for the attention of others, but to hunger to be emptied of ourselves so that we may be filled with the love of Christ. Instead of seeing so many aspects of our lives that dissatisfy us, we strive to see God’s goodness in everything; and, recognize the ways in which He blesses us perpetually. By plunging deep into a life of prayer, developing a fellowship and community of women united by faith; and, together, humbly serving our brothers and sisters whom God has called us to love, we aspire to develop a trust in God through self-abandonment, as demonstrated by our patronesses Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and St. Therese the Little Flower, in order to be filled with Christ Himself, becoming a little flock enflamed with the fire of Christ’s love, radiating His light to the world.

By faith “man freely commits his entire self to God.”  What is this gift of faith and how do we cultivate it?  As young women in college we are faced with the enticements of the world, calling us to become slaves to our desires, but there is a desire within us, stronger than any worldly desire, calling us to something more.  This desire is a call to be more like our Creator.  The Sisterhood of Mary Magdalene embraces this call and recognizes that it manifests uniquely in each of us.  Despite the fact that all household members enter at different stages along their spiritual journey, we join together with one goal: to discover, rediscover, or further discover our faith through a sisterhood that will help us reach the ultimate happiness which is eternal life with God in heaven.

Catechism of the Catholic Church (Washington, D.C.: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000), 1814.

Little girl, arise.

Talitha Koum is a community of women desiring to be awakened to the true nature of their identity through intimacy with the heart of the Father. By knowing and receiving His heart, this household seeks to become a community of revivalists.

The women of Talitha Koum are passionate about pursuing wholeness. We choose courageously to dream with God, not allowing disappointment to dictate our realities or desires. Together, we desire to learn how to allow our hearts to breathe and become fully alive, no longer giving power to the lies that have restrained us. We desire to receive all that was purchased for us.

Worship is the foundation of all that this household does. Worship is not an emotion; it’s a decision and an action. As a household, we will enable each other to rise out of victimization, using the disappointment and hurt in our lives as a means of deeper intimacy with the Father.

As we arise into the Father’s heart more deeply, we call out to those around us. We desire that the culture of honor in our household would spill over to the women on this campus, as we bring revival and create opportunities for encounter.

We recognize the particular, and yet, universal call to live “toward the heavens.” When properly lived out, one who practices spiritual poverty understands that in all his actions it is Christ who seeks, knows, and loves through him. As Christians, we are drawn into this pure, divine act and are called to love others through making a sincere gift of self, but we can only hope to achieve the sincerity of the gift if it is truly Christ giving Himself to others through us. We acknowledge that we can only come to know the person of Christ, whom we desire ardently to share, through the Sacred Scripture and Tradition. Therefore, our primary mission as a household is to crave and foster a deep personal relationship with Him by studying the Word. It can then be our genuine desire to share zealously the joy of our personal identity uncovered in Christ Jesus. The Lord has come to us in the Incarnation, redeemed us by His blood, and called us to live with Him forever in the life to come. Although we cannot fully experience the joy of complete union with Christ until we are one with Him in heaven, we can already allow Christ to unite Himself to us on this earth, fill us with His love, and work through us to draw others into this divine vocation. As St. Augustine says: “To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.”

We, the Vessels of Mercy, gather together in order to unite our daily actions and sufferings with the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. As our Lord poured out his blood and water as a fountain of unending mercy and love, we wish to die to ourselves completely and reflect that same love and mercy. We desire to be faithful light bearers, true vessels of divine mercy. Our Lord told St. Faustina, “I demand from you deeds of mercy which are to arise out of love for me. You are to show mercy to you neighbors always and everywhere” (Diary 742). As women of God, we wish to rise up to this call and transmit mercy and love everywhere through our prayers, our words, and our actions. By the grace of God, we will change the world from a hard place of sorrow, loneliness, and pain to a place of peace, joy forgiveness, and most importantly of all, love. We will do this specifically by loving and caring for individuals every moment of every day.

Our household’s goal is a striving for true excellence, focusing on the life of Jesus as our model. We wish to live imitatio Christi. Who better to show us how to be a man than our Lord, God, & Savior, Jesus Christ? We are striving for excellence in our vocations as students: in our spiritual lives, in our academics, and in our extracurricular activities. We seek excellence in all facets of life. Our household’s focus will be on leading by example. We stress the completeness of the person in every walk of life. We focus on participation in many of the events around campus in order to spread our mission to others.

At the moment of baptism, we as proclaimed Christians are wrapped in the spirit and prepared for battle. The fall of man left humanity in a position where we must fight, suffer, and die for love. Where we are often told of the many threats that surround us, the course of action sold to us by the world is passivity, that is that we must simply hold on, care for ourselves and for a few loved ones, and simply hope for the best. Instead of meeting the threats against our persons with the illusion of self-strength, we will strive to ride forward in the light of Truth, the truth of our own complete weakness and the total strength of the Lord. The hour has come and we have decided to go forward into the world as warriors, not to be chided into cowardice, but enlivened and inspired by the spirit to engage sin at its source, pray for those who struggle daily, and bring the love of Christ into day to day life. We aim to lead others to Christ by loving and sacrificing daily. In aiding our brothers and sisters, we hope to first lend a loving ear, then turn to Christ prayerfully before relying on our own advice. The war over the human heart is not to be faced alone and we will support those in the heart of battle.

Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Here, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” –Mark 12:29-31. In response to this word from Jesus, we are striving to make these commandments a part of our lives. Through God’s love, we recognize that we are in communion with each other as his adopted sons. We see in these commands an invitation from God to enter more deeply into communion with Him, first and foremost, as expressing itself in the communion with our neighbors, especially our fellow brothers. We acknowledge the importance of community in growing in holiness, and therefore our household is focused on forming a community of brothers to grow together in the love and service of God.

As Fishers of Men, we make an active response to Christ’s exhortation to the first apostles and to all members of the Catholic Church. When our Lord Jesus Christ came upon the two fishermen, Peter and Andrew, they were out on the Sea of Galilee, working to catch fish to support their livelihood. Seeing them at work, our Lord Jesus Christ called out to them saying, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17). Inspired by Christ’s call, they dropped everything to go with Him, leaving behind everything they had formerly known and lived for, to willingly follow after him and learn to become his Fishers of Men. In this way, we work together to seek ways of detaching ourselves from the triviality of the secular world and strive as a brotherhood for the eternal happiness of the next. We strive to fully understand the joyful message of Christ contained in the Gospel and to spread to all those around us. Furthermore, we strive for Catholic orthodoxy; that is: to truly know, to understand, and to follow the teachings of the Catholic Church, especially in matters that are becoming more easily overlooked in the modern world.