Way of Life
Community of Love Crucified
The vocation of the Love Crucified Community is to live passionately His love revealed at the Cross. There we receive the gift of His thirst, His gaze, His tears, His radical love which holds nothing back. Now He calls us to respond.
The Lord has given our Community this standard:
“ Suffer all with Me, no longer two but ONE, in my sacrifice of love"
As brothers and sisters we enter into a covenant with Christ and with each other to live fully this love in the heart of the Church, according to our spirituality (The Simple Path to Union with God) and mission.
At first, commitments may seem to be a burden, but the Lord promised: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:30. "Sanctity does not consist first of all in doing extraordinary things, but in letting God act" -Pope Francis. God's grace makes this way of life liberating and joyful through love. It disposes us to receive a new life in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Our way of life embraces the following commitments:
1. Lives centered on the Eucharist
2. Marian Consecration
3. Docility to the Holy Spirit
4. Live The Simple Path to Union with God: Our Spiritual Formation Book
5. Victims of Love + Offering life for others; for priest
6. 5 Stones: Humility, Purity, Simplicity, Trust, Courage
7. Repentance and Conversion
8. Community Life
9. Obedience to Mother Church
10. Fidelity to our state in life
I propose to do ever what is most perfect. I propose to seek in all things Jesus and His Cross, in conformity with His holy will. I propose in my actions to pursue the interests of Christ and not my own. ...I will never be disquieted should circumstances prevent me from observing my 'Rule of life.' I will go on tranquilly. I will be flexible in the face of difficulties, humbly... then onward, ever onward! -Extract from her "Rule of life", Ven. Concepción Cabrera de Armida, Aug 21, 1894
1. Lives Centered on the Eucharist
The Eucharist is Christ, our life, the source and summit of all we are and do.
We seek to participate in Holy Mass daily, if possible.
At Holy Mass we unite with Jesus as His victim souls in His sacrifice of love to the Father. We go to die to self and receive new life in Him. We become living hosts. We offer ourselves with Jesus to the Father after the consecration of the Precious Blood with this prayer.
We commit to a minimum of once a week of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament to listen, adore, praise, intercede, give thanks, and accompany and CONSOLE Jesus and Mary in their suffering for souls.
For their work, prayers and apostolic endeavours, their ordinary married and family life, their daily labour, their mental and physical relaxation, if carried out in the Spirit, and even the hardships of life if patiently borne-all of these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Pt 2:5). During the celebration of the Eucharist these sacrifices are most lovingly offered to the Father along with the Lord’s body. Thus as worshipers whose every deed is holy, the lay faithful consecrate the world itself to God. John Paul II
See teaching Fr Jordi Rivero>>
2. Marian Consecration
To come to the most perfect intimate union of love with Christ—victim united to Victim— we need to consecrate ourselves to Mary, Mother and Bride, with the understanding and abandonment that she will bring us to the foot of the Cross. We commit to be forever "Totus Tuus" (All yours).
See “Importance of Consecration” letter from Lourdes Pinto to community>>
33 Days to Morning Glory -Preparation to Marian Consecration. by Fr Michael E. Gaitley, MIC; Marian Press.
Renew our consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Daily Recitation of the Rosary
3. Docility to the Holy Spirit
We live in the Spirit attentive to God and submitting to Him everything we do. We ask of Him in every situation, “Lord what do you want of me?” We trust in the Holy Spirit and invoke Him constantly.
See “Importance of Consecration” letter from Lourdes Pinto to community>>
“Yet there is no greater freedom than that of allowing oneself to be guided by the Holy Spirit, renouncing the attempt to plan and control everything to the last detail, and instead, letting him enlighten, guide and direct us, leading us wherever he wills.” Pope Francis p. 13
We welcome the Holy Spirit as our teacher and guide through living the Simple Path. It is He who leads us through the passage -- from the feet of Jesus crucified to receive the gift of self-knowledge, into the Sacred Heart of Jesus and brings us into the unity of the Most Holy Trinity.
“God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us” (Rom 5:5). Nevertheless, it is not enough to know the Spirit; we must welcome Him as the guide of our souls, as the “Teacher of the interior life” who introduces us to the Mystery of the Trinity, because He alone can open us up to faith and allow us to live it each day to the full.” Pope Benedict XVI, XXXIII World Youth Day, 2008
4. Live The Simple Path to Union with God: Our Spiritual Formation Book
Each Mother of the Cross (MOC) and Missionary of the Cross (MC) must be willing to allow The PATH to lead them through the painful purification and healing of their hearts into the depth of self- knowledge. Each person must persevere to:
Follow Christ daily to the Cross,
To die to self—to what we have become that we are not,
To make ourselves vulnerable and stripped of our masks and false identity
And suffer ALL with Christ, in order to be transformed into Love.
5. Victims of Love
Our life is an offering of love. Our crosses, including the injustices we suffer, as well as the daily duties, are powerful when done with great love and united with Christ. God waits for the FIAT that signals our total surrender. We don’t just offer something; we offer ourselves without reserve, our entire being, our will, our heart, our body and soul, one with Him. This is to be with Christ victims of love.
It is a victim soul's 'yes' that 'stirs into flame' the power of the Holy Spirit so that the Holy Spirit can lead a docile and willing soul to die with Me. It is this voluntary death that brings the soul to new life…I continue to thirst for love, but it is only the love of My victim souls that satisfies My thirst… Therefore, bring Me many victim souls. 2/1/11 Simple Path #124 p.331
See “Victim of Love” by Fr Jordi Rivero>>
6. 5 Stones: Humility, Purity, Simplicity, Trust and Courage
The MOC and MC must be committed to growing in these five virtues as we persevere in living the Simple Path and taking to heart the teachings of this community.
Virtues Needed as Warriors of Love
My little one, the time draws near. You hold the sword of the Spirit in the mission given to you. My family of LC are My warriors of love that will defeat the dragon in the decisive battle that draws near. Be ready to approach this evil in the same way that David approached Goliath. You will conquer the dragon in your littleness and purity because it is.
God who is with you. You must not fear and believe with the innocence and zeal of David… You each must also approach the battle with five stones.
1. First, the stone of humility, possessing the perfect knowledge of your nothingness and of My power and majesty.
2. Second, the stone of purity, purity of mind, heart, intention, word, desire…
3. Third, simplicity, detached from all, most especially from your ego.
4. Fourth, trust perfectly abandoned to My will.
5. Fifth, courage, courage rooted in love of Me to be perfectly obedient to My commands.
These stones are your weapons for battle, for the dragon will not be defeated according to the standards of the world but in the Light of Love… 1/18/12 Simple Path #148 p. 436
7. Repentance and Conversion
As Love Crucified, we are committed to go daily to the Cross to kiss the feet of Jesus crucified and beg the Spirit for the gift of self-knowledge, so that we can come in truth to know our sins, wounds and disordered tendencies. It is then, through this self-awareness, that we receive the gift of repentance.
Repentance is the gift of God that serves to pry open the hardened human heart so that My seeds of conversion can grow. Repentance is the Sword of the Spirit that opens the darkness within the human heart to be filled with God’s Light of truth, and the truth sets you free.
To live in repentance is to live clothed in the knowledge of who you are, which is misery, and the knowledge of who I Am, which is Love and Mercy.
To live in repentance is to live in the freedom of living in the embrace of Abba, Our Father.
Tell My souls to seek true repentance at the foot of My Cross and the power of My Love Crucified will set them free to live in My peace and the joy of My promise. 2/18/18
The soul that lives wrapped in the gift of knowledge grows in true humility and is then able to advance in My path on the wings of the Holy Spirit… It is here, at My feet, that you must persevere… 12/12/11 Simple Path #10 p.40. see full message >>
Confession: We are encouraged to go regularly to confession. There is no better way to make progress on our spiritual journey than by returning in humble repentance and love to God’s infinite mercy.
First Love Crucified retreat at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia.
HISTORY
History plays an important role in Christian culture. “Just as memory anchors each person’s individual story, history plays the same role for cultures, nations and communities of faith. History is our shared memory. … A community dies when its memory fails,” — Archbishop Chaput
Love Crucified began in 2006 with the Lord’s call to Lourdes Pinto in Medugorje: “Will you be My victim soul?” She gives her fiat and the Lord begins to form her as a victim soul, specifically as a Mother of the Cross: a woman united as one with Mary, the Mother of Sorrows at the foot of the Cross. She lives this call in her ordinary hidden life as a wife and mother. Lourdes had been prepared for her call through the writing s of Blessed Conchita Cabrera de Armida since 2004. Fr. Jordi Rivero, her spiritual director, encouraged her to pursue this call and also enters a deeper understanding of his vocation of priest and victim.
In 2007 the Lord tells Lourdes: Bring to Me the Mothers of the Cross from the four corners of the world. She begins to teach women how to live their sufferings united to the love of Jesus Crucified as a source of God’s power for their families, Church and world.
For many years Fr. Jordi had the call to community as a way of life for all states of life. His understanding of community life, united with the charism in Lourdes’ heart, becomes the foundation for Love Crucified. The first community cenacle (gathering) took place on March 11 of 2008, with the name “Friends of the Cross”, inspired by St. Louis Mary de Montfort’s passionate love for the Cross and the Blessed Mother. Maria Hickein was among the founding members.
In July, 2008, Love Crucified goes on its first pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. It was there that Lourdes received the mission for the Missionaries of the Cross (the men of the community). Mothers of the Cross and Missionaries of the Cross are consecrated to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Fr. Jordi & Lourdes Pinto prostrated before the Tilma at the Basilica.
The first Love Crucified retreat was in February of 2009 at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, Conyers, Georgia. The first covenant of the community is written and taken by the first members. Our Lady Rosa Mystica was given to us as patroness in relation to the call to raise up a holy priesthood. Pope Benedict XVI declares the year of the priesthood to begin in October, 2009. This becomes a confirmation to the call from Our Lord to raise a holy priesthood through the hidden martyrdom of the heart. We pilgrimaged to Ars, home of St. John Vianney, patron of all priests, then to Notre Dame du Laus Sanctuary in France where we received the vocation to be the Lord’s living chalices in the Chapel of the Most Precious Blood. From here came the inspiration for the community’s cross which were made in June of 2010.
Chapel of the Most Precious Blood
In 2011 the bishop gives Fr. Jordi permission to serve full time in
the mission of Love Crucified. In December the Hickein family moved to a rural area near Covington, Georgia, which soon became the center of the Community and site of its retreats. In 2012 the Pinto family buys the house next to the Hickein's for Fr. Jordi to live and for priests to experience our charism in the school of the Sacred Heart. The Lord calls this house "Padre Pio's Refuge for Priests in the Sacred Heart of Jesus."
P. Pio's Refuge in the Sacred Heart of Jesus
In 2012, Msgr. Ronald Sciera enters the Missionaries of the Cross. In January of 2013, Daniel Blanchette comes to Padre Pio’s Refuge and discovers his vocation as a Missionary of the Cross. He is now a permanent resident involved in the core of the community.
In April of 2013, we gave our first retreat outside of USA. It was in Rome, to the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christ consecrated —men and women.
Fr. Jordi and Lourdes had a private audience with Cardinal Piacenza, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy. He exhorted them to persevere in the vocation of Love Crucified.
Love Crucified's first mission in Rome.
In the same year, on May 31, Feast of the Visitation, the first house of the community, Our Lady of Grace, is purchased next to the Refuge. It becomes the site of Love Crucified retreats in USA. On June 13, Msgr. Ronald Sciera was invited to concelebrate a daily Mass with Pope Francis at Santa Marta Chapel in the Vatican. After the Mass, Pope Francis blessed the Love Crucified mission and cross.
Pope Francis blessing the Love Crucified Cross.
Our Lady of Grace Retreat House
In 2013, after several visits of Fr. Jordi giving priest retreats in Bogota, Love Crucified is founded in Colombia. The first Love Crucified retreat in Colombia was given in June of 2014. On June 7 of 2016, the Community’s formation book, The Simple Path to Union with God, was published. A Spanish edition followed.
Establishment of Love Crucified in Bogota with Adriana and Juan Miguel.
The community (2022) has members in the USA, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland and Honduras. The Simple Path to Union with God has transformed the lives of many.