For most girls and women in the world, pink has been, at some point in their lives, their favourite colour. But apart from being a phase we all went through, pink became a major fashion trend, which even earned the name Barbiecore. And what if I told you that right now, 318 women only wear pink, day in, day out, and will continue doing so for the rest of their lives? Yes, we will tell you the story of these women who wear pink, known by the name “The Pink Sisters”.
Who are the pink sisters?
The Sister-Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration, or the Pink Sisters, as they are known, are cloistered Catholic nuns. Although Catholic nuns traditionally wear black and white habits, these nuns have bold pink habits instead. Actually, they are the only nuns in the world to wear pink.
The order was founded in 1896 in the Netherlands by German Saint Arnold Janssen, who chose the colour pink for the habits because it symbolizes the glowing love of the Holy Spirit.
Cloistered nuns choose to live inside cloisters, far from the noise and distractions of the world, so that they can devote their lives completely to contemplation and perpetual intercessory prayer for the world. “Contemplative life requires seclusion to aid us toward interior silence and recollection”, explains Sister Superior Mary Amatrix.
The life of women who wear pink
You may ask yourself what a cloistered nun does all day. Well, the Pink Sisters have an extremely tight schedule. Days start with prayer at 5:15 a.m. and continue with more prayers, mass, chants, thanksgiving, petition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until lights out at 9:45 p.m. Their days are devoted to the constant prayer that they offer to others, especially priests and missionaries. But the pink sisters also pray for anyone who needs or asks for their prayers.
When there is some free time between prayers, they divide among themselves the work such as answering emails and phone calls. Often, they receive visits from school students curious to know more about their cloistered lives and the service they provide through prayer for the world. The Sister Superior Mary Matrix explains that “every distress and hardship in the world finds a vigorous response in our prayer.”
Many don’t understand the purpose of cloistered life and think the nuns shouldn’t live separated from the world, but the joyful Pink Sisters have an answer to that. They say that “our enclosure does not alienate us from others. Communing with God and experiencing his tenderness toward us should fill us with sympathetic understanding and love for all. This is manifested primarily in a spiritual giving, which in and through Christ transcends every boundary.”
Maybe you want to get in contact with the Pink Sisters
The Pink Sisters are in The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, USA, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Philippines, India, Indonesia and Africa. So that, in their own words, “from east to west, God’s name may be praised and glorified.” And if you have a need and would like women who wear pink to pray for your intention, visit the order’s website and write a message to them. Your cause will surely be in good hands.
Conclusion
Isn’t wonderful to know that all around the world, there are so many people willing to devote selflessly their entire lives to helping through constant prayer other people they have never met and most probably, never will? After knowing of these Pink Sisters who are brave and strong enough to renounce their worldly lives for the greater good, I guess I will never think of pink the same mundane way again
Photos via Sister-Servants of the Holy Spirit