Redemptorist spirituality is focused on following Christ in an apostolic community that shares His mission of preaching Good News to the Poor. The community’s life is guided by the Gospel and shaped by the Congregation’s Constitution and Statutes. Each member of the community brings his own spirituality to the Congregation’s common project, but all are in turn shaped by the values and traditions passed down and developed within the Congregation since the days of St. Alphonsus Liguori and his first missionary companions.
The Word of God and the Eucharist are constant sources of nourishment and challenge in Redemptorist spirituality. Redemptorists are enlivened by continually encountering the Scriptures in prayer, study and proclamation, and they recognize the Eucharist as the source and summit of their apostolic lives.
While participating wholeheartedly in the liturgical life of the Church through the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours, Redemptorists also place a high value on mental prayer. According to the Redemptorist constitutions, each member of the congregation has the “right and duty” to spend at least one hour in mental prayer outside of liturgical prayer each day. The focus of such mental prayer is traditionally upon the principal mysteries of salvation: the Crib, the Cross, and the Sacrament (the Incarnation, Passion/Resurrection, and Eucharist).
Redemptorists cultivate a strong relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary. They see her as their model and helper, teaching them how to be disciples and assisting them in their missionary lives.
Redemptorists are also close to the people among whom they live and serve. They understand that they are evangelized by the poor even as they set out to preach the Gospel. They try to cultivate a style of simplicity of life and language that allows them to enter into authentic conversation with others. They strive to listen to the anxious questions of their age and bring those questions to reflection in the light of the Gospel.