People all over the world are living and dying every day without knowing the love of Jesus. Family Missions Company was founded in 1997 to address this injustice. We are an apostolate of lay, Catholic foreign missionaries committed to sharing the Gospel, serving the poor, and making disciples across the globe. When we make real friends with the poor, lives are transformed, hope is restored, and the Kingdom of God grows!What leads someone to abandon the comforts of modern life and follow Jesus into mission? Watch the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v&#61;VMgKOBq883U&amp;list&#61;PLCeR3RiqRsZpX4u6HvU0tyMTlSa59BkeI">Call to Mission testimonies</a> of FMC&#039;s missionaries to find out!Might God be <a href="https://www.familymissionscompany.com/become-a-missionary/">calling YOU</a> to be a lay foreign missionary? Schedule an <a href="https://calendly.com/fmcvocations/full-time-missions-inquiry?month&#61;2025-12">introductory call</a> with us!Learn more about FMC and how you can <a href="https://www.familymissionscompany.com/donate/">support our mission</a> to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth!

Advent Retreat with Family Missions Company

In the Name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, thank You for calling us to participate in Your mission, which is the greatest and holiest duty of the Church.

We thank you for our Baptism, in which You make us partakers of Your own Divine Life.

We thank you for the gift of Confirmation, in which You empower us to become witnesses to Your love and to Your Gospel.

We thank you for the Most Holy Eucharist, in which You give us Yourself as food to nourish and strengthen us.

Help us, Lord, to be courageous, evangelistic missionaries in our everyday lives. Teach us to see You in our brothers and sisters – regardless of race or language. Help us to live our lives in such a way that our words and actions proclaim You as Christ, the Lord.

Bless in special way those missionaries who have given their lives to You, to serve You in difficult and often dangerous situations. Give them the grace each day to be a conduit of Your love and mercy to the poor and those furthest from You. And keep them holy as they spread Your Gospel even to the ends of the earth. 

We ask all of this through the intercession of St. Francis Xavier and St. Therese of the Child Jesus, co-Patrons of Missions.

Amen!

In the Name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

To take a step forward and rekindle the flame within your spiritual life, join the Virtus program: a profound Lenten journey of prayer, virtue, and penance, to arrive renewed at Easter. Perseverance produces proven virtue; proven virtue produces hope; and hope does not disappoint, because God&#039;s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Romans 5:4-5). In the Eastern tradition, as in some monastic customs, the Easter feast, the high point of the liturgical year, is preceded by a “Great Lent,” a time of penance and of development of virtues, in two stages, leading to Easter joy. How many Christians would like to experience Lent more fully, to make it a true time to draw closer to God and grow in virtue, to learn to pray and enter into a life of prayer?Hozana, Claves.org, and the priests of the Fraternity of Saint Peter, in partnership with the religious of the Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer (&#34;Carême 40&#34;), invite you to experience a profound Lent in community through &#34;Virtus,&#34; a time to deepen your relationship with the Lord and undergo a profound transformation of your spiritual life, drawing upon the rich tradition of the Church. From Septuagesima Sunday to Easter Octave (70 days in total), Virtus is a &#34;great Lent&#34; to be lived in community, forming a fraternity of men or women to pray, live, and grow together. Each day, Virtus members will find a message of encouragement from a priest of Claves on Hozana. During the 40 days of Lent, this initiative is further enriched by the &#34;Carême 40&#34; programs offered by the brothers of Chéméré-le-Roi. Each participant of Virtus engages himself to live this &#34;great Lent&#34; through 5 commitments in each of the 3 main domains of effort : prayer, virtue and penance.- 🙏5 commitments of prayer : one hour dedicated to God each day, freed from the slavery of screens and divided into 20 minutes silent meditation, 20 minutes of rosary, 20 minutes of formation, the daily examination of conscience and a regular practice of the sacraments (mass and/adoration once a week, outside from Sundays, confession at least twice in the overall journey). - 💪5 commitments of virtue : freedom from screen-slavery (no screen outside of familial/work necessities), give our bodies enough sleep, no food between meals, two hours of physical/manual activity a week, practice corporal or spiritual works of mercy for one hour per week.-🔥 5 commitments of penance, to be freely chosen from this list : <ul><li id="isPasted">No alcohol</li><li>Cold showers</li><li>Friday fast (one frugal meal &#43; two optional small snacks, which together must not equal a full meal)</li><li>No sweets (sugar, honey, candy, cookies, chocolate, pastries, sweet breads, syrup, sodas, etc.)</li><li>No meat</li><li>No cheese</li><li>No cigarettes (if I happen to smoke)</li><li>No coffee or tea (if I happen to drink them)</li><li>Do not add salt or pepper to meals, or any other condiments (soy sauce, etc.)</li><li>Get up immediately when the alarm goes off</li><li>Fast on Wednesday or another day (it is possible to choose other fasting days, each counting as a separate “commitment”)</li><li>Sleep on the floor or without a pillow</li><li>Sobriety in appearance: limit makeup and accessories that lead to seeking external approval, in order to place oneself simply under God&#039;s gaze</li><li>Give up all unnecessary purchases or shopping</li><li>Do not play background audio during car or public transport journeys, or while doing household chores (one may instead listen to a meditated rosary on Rosario)</li><li>Any other penitential commitment that is well suited to you (free ascetic practice)...</li></ul>

Virtus Journey: Great Lent 2026

"O my God, I approach your infinite mystery and I adore you. 
Holy Trinity, pacify my heart, make it your beloved dwelling place, the place of your beatifying presence. 
O Jesus, you who constantly stand at the door of my heart and knock, enter and change my life by the infinite power of your love. 
Bear my burden, lift up my weaknesses, transform me and unite me to you in an awakened and adoring faith. 
What shall I render to the Lord for all that he has given me? 
I will take up the chalice and the cross of salvation, I will offer myself entirely to his holy will. Sacred Heart of Jesus, in whom I place all my trust, never let me abandon you. 
May every beat of my heart, every breath of my soul, be an echo of your love.
Remove from my breast the heart of stone, place there a new Spirit and your Heart of flesh. Be my rest, My strength, and my light for eternity. Amen.


<h2>A Walk of Faith for Valentine&#039;s Day!</h2>Now is the time to experience the spirit of Valentine&#039;s Day, by confidently entrusting our desires to live a Christian marriage to St. Valentine, a great martyr and the patron saint of lovers.Be assured that we share your hopes and keep your intentions in our hearts every day!<h2>The Grace of Love: a Gift from God</h2><ul><li>Pray for yourself: pray that you meet someone in accordance with the Lord &#039;s heart.</li><li>Pray for yourself: entrust God with your desire to live a fruitful Christian marriage.</li><li>Pray for a single person you know who suffers from loneliness.</li><li>Pray for all those who desire to get married.</li><li>Pray that marriages be based on the « Rock of Faith » .</li><li>Pray for young people who are not looking to commit to the Sacrament of Marriage </li><li>Pray that the world regains a deep sense of commitment to sacraments.</li></ul>… other ideas? Share them with us!St. Valentine will certainly be happy to hear them and present them to the Lord!<h2>Commitment</h2>Commit yourself to offer your thanks to St. Valentine: if you feel that he answered your prayers, celebrate his Feast Day in a spirit of gratitude for his intercession on your behalf!<h2>Click Join to receive the prayers</h2><a href="https://hozana.org/en/intentions">Click here to leave your prayer intention.</a>

Meet Your Soulmate with the Novena to St. Valentine

Loving Father,
You know that the deepest desire of my heart is
to meet someone that I can share my life with.
I trust in Your loving plan for me and ask that I may soon meet
the person that you have prepared for me.
Through the power of Your Holy Spirit,
open my heart and mind so that I recognize my soulmate.
Remove any obstacles that are in the way of this happy encounter,
So that I might find a new sense of wholeness, joy and peace.
Give me the grace too, to know and accept, if you have another plan for my life.
I surrender my past, present and future into the tender heart of Your Son, Jesus,
full of confidence that You will hear and answer my prayer.
AMEN.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
St Valentine, pray for me.

<h2>WHO QUALIFIES AS A &nbsp;“FATHER” OF THE CHURCH?</h2>The title “Father” is reserved for the most prominent theologians of the ancient Church, from the fifth to the eighth centuries of our time. They were entrusted with pastoral responsibilities and led exemplary Christian lives that are models for us to follow. &nbsp;However, certain Christian writers and theologians of the following centuries are also associated with them because of their own pastoral and spiritual guidance.&nbsp;“The Fathers of the Church […] through their preaching and their writings have inspired the development of Christian doctrine, and influenced the practice of Christian life because their own comportment combined the constant characteristics of sainthood, wisdom and faithfulness to the original tradition.” Pierre Beatrick<h2>WHAT MODEL CAN WE POSSIBLY EMULATE?</h2>Following the Apostle, the Fathers of the Church are the founders of the Christian civilization because their very lives were the image of the gospel. The Fathers of the Church made it possible for the Gospel to impose itself in other civilizations through their self-sacrifice all the way to martyrdom. Through this ultimate commitment, they help us understand the word of God and allow us to live in faith as we affirm our Christian identity. Through them, we better understand the depth of the liturgy in a world where “Christianity tends to become more of a cultural phenomenon rather than a way of life”. It is up to us now to follow in their footsteps and proclaim that the Gospel is still the Word of Life and the Way to Eternal life in our contemporary world. &nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>Hebrews 13:7&nbsp;</h2>“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”

Wisdom from the Church Fathers

O Thou Good Omnipotent, Who so carest for every one of us, as if Thou carest for him alone; and so for all, as if all were but one! Blessed is the man who loveth Thee, and his friend in Thee, and his enemy for Thee. For he only loses none dear to him, to whom all are dear in Him who cannot be lost. And who is that but our God, the God that made heaven and earth, and filleth them, even by filling them creating them. And Thy law is truth, and the truth is Thyself. I behold how some things pass away that others may replace them, but Thou dost never depart, O God, my Father supremely good, Beauty of all things beautiful. To Thee will I intrust whatsoever I have received from Thee, so shall I lose nothing. Thou madest me for Thyself, and my heart is restless until it reposes in Thee. Amen.