The Eudist Servants
The Eudist Servants of the Eleventh Hour
The Eudist Servants of the Eleventh Hour is a new branch, a twig sprouting on the 400 year-old tree of the extended spiritual family of St. John Eudes, whose strong branches include the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, our Eudist sisters, and the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, our Eudist priests.
Both of these orders were founded by Saint John Eudes, close friend of Saint Vincent de Paul, in the early 17th century. The Eudist Servants of the Eleventh Hour is a private association of the faithful whose members are sisters who are mature women who love Jesus and want to follow Him by serving the poor and the needy. The Eleventh Hour refers to the scripture where Jesus calls the last, and signifies that the community is for older women, generally between the ages of forty five and sixty five. The reference to St. John Eudes is recognition that the community is part of the Eudist Congregation, and it is also in honor of St. John Eudes’ spirituality.
Mother Antonia’s ministry
Eudist Servants of the Eleventh Hour
In 2003 the Eudist Servants of the Eleventh Hour Association was formally accepted by Bishop Rafael Romo Munoz of Tijuana, Mexico. The Association’s mission is to minister especially to the prisoners, and also to the poor and the needy, to bring to them the love of Jesus Christ. To accomplish this members must, in their hearts and in their lives, bear the pain of the imprisoned, the poor, the imprisoned, the sick, the rejected, the forgotten and the abandoned children of God.
The Servants of the Eleventh Hour serve mainly in Tijuana, Mexico. In some areas of the United States they work in the local prison systems, with the poor and those in need, with the permission of the local Bishops.
The Motherhouse of the Association ‘Casa Campos de San Miguel’ is located just three blocks from the La Mesa Penitentiary. Casa Campos is a refuge for women released from prison who have nowhere to go, and women visiting incarcerated family members in La Mesa. Casa Campos also welcomes women and children traveling to Tijuana to undergo treatment for cancer who have no place to stay.
There are two convents in Tijuana, Casa Corazon de Maria and Casa Corazon de Jesús, located a few miles from the Motherhouse, where most of the Servants reside.
The Servants are self-supporting with their own health care coverage. Vows are taken for a one year period and renewed annually.
The Prison Angel
Mother Antonia’s Life of Service in a Mexican Jail
The winners of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting tell the astonishing story of Mary Clarke. At the age of fifty, Clarke left her comfortable life in suburban Los Angeles to follow a spiritual calling to care for the prisoners in one of Mexico’s most notorious jails. She actually moved into a cell to live among drug king pins and petty thieves. She has led many of them through profound spiritual transformations in which they turned away from their lives of crime, and has deeply touched the lives of all who have witnessed the depth of her compassion. – Amazon Book
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