Pie Discepole del Divin Maestro

HISTORY

Founded by Blessed James Alberione, in  Alba on February 10, 1924, liturgical memorial of St. Scholastica, our Congregation, Disciples of the Divine Master, is the third institute of the Pauline Family.

The first group of disciples was composed of 8 young women with Orsola Maria Rivata  assigned as sister-in-charge. She would later take the religious name Sr. M. Scholastica on the day of her religious clothing.  The eight sisters were given the name Pie Discepole del Divin Maestro (literally, Pious Disciples of the Divine Master).

We were recognized in the Church through the folllowing stages:

- 1947 April 3: Diocesan Approval granted by the Bishop of Alba, H.E. Mons. Luigi M. Grassi;

- 1948 January 12: Pontifical Approval by His Holiness Pius XII;

- 1960 August 30: Definitive Approval by His Holiness John XXIII.

Spirituality

By the sacrament of baptism we are already constituted temples of the Holy Spirit; with the religious consecration we are called to commit ourselves to the constant journey of discipleship, until we become configured with Jesus Christ, our Divine Master, in the example of St. Paul: “I live now, not I, but Christ lives in me” (cf. Gal. 2,20) and under the protection of Mary, Queen of Apostles.

Called and gathered together by the love of God, we nourish our union with Christ at the table of the Word and the Eucharist.  We draw light, joy, example and grace from our intimate union with him.  This gives us the strength to communicate God's presence and compassion to others through our Eucharistic, Priestly and Liturgical ministry.

Mission

Our Eucharistic experience is transformed into a concrete testimony of life  in an austere yet dignified service.  Following the Pauline spirit of universality, we communicate Christ to the various cultures through our Eucharistic-liturgical-priestly mission.

We pray for the needs of all peoples and remember in a special way those who work in the field of communications, a precious mission entrusted to us by Blessed James Alberione himself.

We render liturgical service in terms of formation, catechesis, biblical-liturgical animations and publications in view of contributing to the growth of the life of faith of God's people. We also creatively  place at the service of the liturgy the riches of various artistic expressions: painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance, embroidery and other handicrafts in order that prayer may be characterized by beauty and dignity.

The ordained ministers are also a special category of persons entrusted to us by the Founder and by the Church: we pray for priestly and religious vocations, help them in their growth and development, assist and accompany the presbyters in the exercise of their ministry, in times of suffering and pain, in their old age and in other difficult situations.

Formation

To be able to live out our spirituality and fulfill the mission, we go through a specific and integral formation. This refers to the journey  of discipleship which is a gradual and ongoing process that aims to arrive at a deeper maturity of "life in Christ" and a deeper commitment to his mission of bringing God's care and compassion to all. It involves various stages and engages the whole person: physical, psychological and spiritual. All this in order to build together the "community in mission" while the person continues to grow in her sense of belongingness to Christ and in her commitment to the specific PDDM mission in the Church.

Vocational Discernment: the period whereby the person becomes aware of being called to the consecrated life.

Postulancy: period of deepening the call of God and of knowing  the PDDM Congregation better.

Novitiate: the time when the novice  studies the deeper significance of  consecrated  life and experiences the community life and mission of the Institute. This is followed by the profession of the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience according to the PDDM Rule of Life.

Juniorate: the stage of further deepening of consecrated life whereby priority is given to the integration of one's spiritual, intellectual  and apostolic experience up to the point when the person is ready to make the perpetual vows.