ABOUT US

WHO WE ARE

Fr. John Maria Haw founded MSJ and named it after a powerful patron St. John the Baptist who came to prepare the way for the lord. On 6th May 1948, the congregation was canonically erected at Leutesdorf in Germany in the diocese of Trier. The dream of our founder was to work for the liberation of people who were under the clutches of alcohol and bring back them to the real joy of Christ. He also urged us to work for the upliftment of the marginalized in the society. With the view of giving shelter to the needy, he established houses for the homeless, prisoners and others regardless of their faith, religion, nationality and race. Missionaries from different parts for the world: Germany, Portugal, Mozambique and India work together after the spirit of our founder Fr. John Maria Haw. Our apostolic mission is to become a living sign of hope in the world and proclaim the message of Jesus who came for our salvation where by our life and mission will be credible.

“Happy is the one, who knows Jesus, Happier is the one, who loves Him, Happiest is the one, who lives in Him.” Fr. John Maria Haw

Our Life In The Congregation

Administration in the Congregation

The Administration of the religious Congregation lies with the Superior General with his council. The seat of the Superior General is at Leutesdorf, where the Congregation was founded. The Superior Seneral directs and administers the entire community in accordance with the provisions of ecclesiastical law and the rules of the Congregation. He represents the community externally. He has the duty to ensure that the statutes, the lawfully issued ordinances and customs are observed. In addition to the Superior General, the General Council also includes four general assistants. They are elected with the Superior General for a period of six years in secret and separate ballots. In the various countries, there are superiors who are appointed by the General Council to assist the General Superior in administration.

Community life

Our bond with Christ and life according to the evangelical counsels find their clear expression in the living community. We lead our brotherly life together in the community through prayer, service to the other, work and recreation. In our community, everybody experiences brotherly love and care.

Formation in MSJ

The formation in MSJ helps the candidates to discern their call and mission. Since Jesus is the Ideal Priest, it is above all, from him that the seminarians learn what exactly priesthood is. Therefore, they always look upon Jesus Christ as the model and example of their life and therefore each candidate tries to follow Jesus more closely. Thus, as it is visualised in both the second Vatican council and the apostolic letter ‘Pastores Davo Vobis’ the seminary concentrates mainly on four levels of formation for the seminarians namely: spiritual, intellectual, pastoral and human. The seminary formation extends for a period of ten to twelve years. The formation is intended for acquiring sufficient knowledge in human and in spiritual aspects of priestly life. During the formation the candidates get a chance to know our congregation and they are provided with basic knowledge in spirituality, Bible, liturgy, Church History, catechism, and personality development. The candidates are also given enough opportunities to promote their talents in arts, games, and sports. The presences of well experienced and committed teachers are very helpful to shape them. The formation in the seminary is a combined effort of the formators, the seminarians and of the members of their families. The goal of our religious and priestly formation in our congregation is to provide a spiritual and mature personality. Every candidate gets a chance to improve his vocational and religious knowledge and deepen the personal spiritual life for the service of the Church and Congregation. To be Christ-like, the candidates strive to be fully human, gentle and kind, open and ready to listen, cheerful and patient, honest and sincere to his work as men of self-respect, sincerity and courage, perpetually concerned with truth and justice, fearless to take decisions and persevering in carrying them out.