MIC FAMILY - Who we are

Origin

The first missionary religious institute in America, was founded in Montreal in 1902 by Délia Tétreault, a native of Marieville.

In Délia Tétreault's mind, our turn had come, as a Christian people, to share beyond our boundaries the faith we had received.

At the beginning, she set up an apostolic school, i.e. a centre of missionary formation. It was a place of formation for girls who had a missionary calling, no matter what their destination was.

As early as 1904, the name Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception was given to us by Pope Pius X. A religious Institute known as "missionaries ad extra" : outside our boundaries, to proclaim through our life and our commitment, Jesus Christ and his Gospel to people who do not yet know Him.

First sending in 1909 : six young sisters left for Canton, China, and they left for life.

Vocation and Spirituality

Within the whole of Christian spirituality, our Foundress emphasized the spirituality of thanksgiving, Marian and missionary in character. In other words, acknowledging that we have received all things from God's gratuitous love, being happy about it, and sharing, in turn, gratuitously what we are and what we have received. The community draws its inspi-ration from Mary of the Gospel and from her universal hymn of thanksgiving, the Magnificat. (Luke 2)

The Institute is international : its members are from 17 nationalities and share an inter-cultural and international community life.

Our presence in the world

We are currently :
In Asia : China, Hong Kong, SAR, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam
In Africa : Malawi and Zambia
On the Island of Madagascar : in the Indian Ocean
In South America : Bolivia and Peru
In Central America : Cuba and Haiti
In Canada : Quebec and Ontario

Our missionary life, as M.I.C., covers a variety of commitments, lived in the most diverse environments and very often in teams. What we do depends on calls and needs. We take part in social work in ways as varied as literacy classes, the care of children and of handicapped persons, of child and adult AIDS victims; prisoners, refugees and immigrants have their share of our services. In certain countries, we are involved in education in schools, among adults or low income groups, or even in universities and the media.

The Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception is made up of ordinary women of various nationalities who have recognized in their lives the extraordinary Love of God and felt the call to consecrate their lives to continuing the mission of Jesus Christ in the world of our time. That is why they are found among the humble and the poor, the dispossessed and the voiceless, as a leaven of hope to give those people a chance at life.

In the different countries where they are in service, they cooperate in the life of the local Churches and awaken the Christian people to their responsibility for the proclamation of the Gospel.

In the universal Church, the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception participate in the mission of evangelization. Good News women like Mary, they long to reveal Jesus Christ to their brothers and sisters of the world, in a spirit of thanksgiving.