We must refuse to imagine the future of the Church without women religious.
It matters for all of us.
The mission of Friends of the Bridegroom is to renew the Church through the healing, renewal, and expansion of women’s religious life in America.
A Problem and a Paradigm
Fr. John Burns explains the paradigm guiding the Friends of the Bridegroom.
Our Vision:
to restore the family of God, such that members of each of the principal vocational states would understand themselves and their relationships in light of humanity’s ultimate call to enter into the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.
Bride and Mother
Consecrated Women
Consecrated women are an icon of the Bride of Christ, of whom we are all members. As they receive the love of their Divine Bridegroom, they become spiritual mothers, after the example of Our Lady.
Bridegroom and Father
The Priest
In ordination, men are configured to Christ the Divine Bridegroom. In communion with Him, their entire lives are offered as a sacrificial gift of love to the Bride and they become spiritual fathers.
Icon of Divine Love
Complementarity of Vocations
Lived out in the heart of the Church, marriage is an icon of the Trinitarian love of God. Husbands and wives live within their individual families what the priest and consecrated woman are called to live in the family of the Church.
How we Serve
Working toward the healing, renewal, and expansion of women’s religious life.
Healing and Renewal
At the foundation of the movement, Friends of the Bridegroom assists the ongoing renewal of existing religious communities. This happens primarily through a comprehensive set of retreats and seminars pertaining to spiritual health and communal flourishing.
Expansion - Vocations
A vocation is a gift for the whole Church. However, young women today often do not have religious sisters to locally accompany them in discernment, even as God continues to call women to spousal life with Him.
Friends of the Bridegroom assists local churches in establishing vocational cohorts that labor to restore the Family of God through the expansion of women’s religious life in their area.
Join the movement.
Friends of the Bridegroom is a growing community of believers committed to the renewal of the Bride of Christ through the renewal of women’s religious and consecrated life.
