Who we are
The Congregation of Sisters of the Holy Angels of Sri Lanka was founded by Most Rev. Joseph Van Reeth S.J. the first Bishop of Galle (from Belgium) in the year 1903, mainly to serve the ‘less privileged’members of society. In faith he listened to the Spirit who was prompting him to take a bold step of founding a Congregation for the daughters of the soil who would be more attuned to the needs and aspirations of the people of the land. He came to ‘Ceylon’ with this vision. The ‘prudence’ of the time was that young girls of the country were not yet ready to live a consecrated life led by the Spirit. Yet he took a heroic step to found a new congregation with just one young girl and at his Master’s command he cast his net into the deep. Allowing his dream to come true thus the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Angels of Sri Lanka was born. The congregation received Pontifical Status on 3rd February 1977 and has now spread into Australia and Kenya as missionaries.
OUR MOTTO
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam - All for the greater glory of God.
The motto of St. Ignatius of Loyola was passed on to us by our Beloved Father Founder.
Our beloved Father founder, Most Rev. Joseph Van Reeth S.J. makes it clear in his letter to Mother Gertrude (Co-foundress) as follows.- “…Sisters should never forget that their own perfection -(holiness)- is the primary end of their Congregation, and that the sanctification of young girls by means of education is only the secondary end, subordinated to the former one.”
what we doO
the coat of arms of the congregation
The shield consists of three parts, there is a scroll, in which the name of the Congregation is written, and it appears above the shield. In the second part there is a Cross in the middle of a triangle and wings on either side. A fully bloomed Manel (lotus) flower is seen below and on it the Holy Bible is placed. An olive sprig is on one side and a horn on the other. The third part is a scroll with the motto of the Congregation written on it.
The two wings on either side remind us of the double duties of the Holy Angels, to offer adoration and praise to God, and to be the Message and Messengers of His love, bringing peace and Joy to all.
The Cross inside the triangle symbolizes the human expression of God’s self sacrificing Love, which we are to incarnate in our communities and in the society where we live and work.
The open book is the Good News, which we are to proclaim to all, through all our apostolic work. The olive branch and the horn show, that we are to be messengers of Peace.
The Nil Manel (blue lotus) sprouts from the very soil of Sri Lanka. It signifies our Congregation which has her origin in Sri Lanka and our call to serve especially the less privileged members of society.
The motto ‘All for the Greater Glory of God’ is the heritage we have received from St. Ignatius through our Father Founder. In everything we seek only God’s Greater Glory and no other.