About Us

We, the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word, are a new order that follows the Rule of St. Francis of Assisi with St. Dominic and St. Francis as our patrons. Our foundress and superior, Mother Mary Gabriel, left her Dominican Congregation of Pontifical Rite through obedience in order to fulfill God's will by founding the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word.

"I envisioned a religious community whose structure would make possible a religious family rooted in a

deep prayer life enabling its members to work from

an enlightened and contemplative perspective. Our

work of retreats and catechesis would necessarily

focus in the Catholic Faith, thus nourishing the Sisters' spiritual lives as well as those of the people we serve."

"St. Francis and St. Dominic, examples of poverty and

learning, as well as their heroic obedience to the Pope

and to the magisterium of the Church, have been chosen

as the patrons of the Sister Servants. The unity of their

hearts in Jesus Christ and their loving devotion to His

Immaculate Mother typify the unity, love, and zeal that

gave impetus to and sealed their friendship."

Mother Mary Gabriel taught and administered schools

at both the grade and high school levels and served as

superior, all of which prepared her for the joys and the

crosses that are inevitable when beginning a new

foundation. When Mother is asked about her studies and

her earned degrees, she simply replies, "The letters after

your name are worthless without the ST. [Saint]

before it."

The Sisters take distance learning catechetical courses offered by the

Marian Catechist Apostolate, written by Father John Hardon,

to nourish their spiritual lives and to prepare them for

teaching the Catholic Faith in a non- classroom setting.

Our habits reflect our Franciscan and
Dominican heritage - brown capes and
scapulars over white tunics, with the corded

rope familiar to St. Francis and the fifteen-
decade rosary for St. Dominic. Bishop
Raymond Boland first gave us canonical
status as a new community of consecrated
women striving to live the evangelical
counsels in religious life. On the solemnity
of the Holy Trinity in 1998, Bishop David
Foley approved our Constitutions.

We should never underestimate what it takes to

be an effective religious both inside and outside

the religious family. It is necessary that we

practice the virtues of meekness, liberality, and

charity. Our religious life has one goal: the

perfection of charity within the framework of a

life consecrated to God. Charity towards one's

peers is easily discernable and always noticed.

Charity towards one's superiors means cheerful,

thorough, and prompt obedience. Learning this

is the challenge and blessing of religious life.

Our Convent and Retreat House, Casa Maria, is located in Birmingham, AL.
We have done much of the construction ourselves and with the help of volunteers.
Led by Sr. John Paul, who was a general contractor before joining the convent,
we laid the Spanish mission tile roof, because the roofing contractors' bid was too high.

RELIGIOUS FORMATION

Those discerning a religious vocation are invited to contact us and visit our community.
Our religious formation, from the date of entrance as a postulant until the profession of final vows, is 8 years.

After approximately one year as a postulant, the Sister receives the religious habit and a new name and officially enters the novitiate.

The Sister spends two years as a novice, learning about her Catholic faith in greater depth
and about consecrated life in the Church in general, and more specifically
how it is lived in our community. Novices wear our full habit with a white veil.