12/09/2026
WHY DO CATHOLICS ASK THE PINK SISTERS TO PRAY FOR THEM?
Imagine carrying a prayer that is too heavy to keep to yourself.
Maybe someone in your family is sick. Maybe you are waiting for a child, searching for work, praying for your marriage, worried about a priest, or simply asking God for strength.
You can pray for that intention yourself, and Catholics certainly should.
But many Catholics also take their intentions to the Pink Sisters and ask them to pray.
So, why do Catholics do this?
PART ONE: WHY DO CATHOLICS ASK THE PINK SISTERS TO PRAY FOR THEM?
1. Because the Pink Sisters have dedicated their lives to intercessory prayer.
The Pink Sisters are officially known as the Sister-Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration (SSpSAP). They are a contemplative religious congregation founded by St. Arnold Janssen in 1896. Their vocation is centered on prayer, Eucharistic adoration and intercession for the Church and the world. Their founder specifically envisioned them as a contemplative community that would support the missionary work of the Church through prayer and sacrifice.
2. Because their prayer is especially centered on Jesus in the Eucharist.
Their communities maintain perpetual Eucharistic adoration, meaning that their life is organized around remaining in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and bringing the needs of the Church and the world before God. Their official history describes their hidden life as a prayer for the missions and an intercession for the world.
3. Catholics are not asking the sisters to replace their own prayers.
When you give a prayer intention to a Pink Sister, you are not saying, “I cannot pray, so you must pray instead of me.” You are asking another member of the Body of Christ to join you in prayer. Scripture itself encourages Christians to pray for one another: “Pray for one another” (James 5:16). Their prayer becomes an additional act of intercession offered to God alongside your own.
4. Many Pink Sister communities receive prayer intentions from ordinary Catholics.
People do not only admire the sisters from a distance. Prayer intentions are actually entrusted to their communities. The official Pink Sisters website in Philadelphia says that prayer requests sent to them are prayed for, while other convents also invite people to send their intentions.
5. Their hidden life reminds us that prayer itself is a mission.
The Pink Sisters may not spend their days travelling from parish to parish or preaching publicly, but their vocation is built around prayer. Their founder saw the need for a contemplative community whose prayer and sacrifice would support the Church's missionary work. Their lives remind us that some important work for God's kingdom happens quietly, before the Blessed Sacrament, where very few people see it.
In simple words, Catholics ask the Pink Sisters to pray for them because praying for others is an act of Christian charity, and the Pink Sisters have made intercessory prayer and Eucharistic adoration a central part of their religious vocation.
They do not have magical powers.
They do not replace Jesus.
They do not replace your own prayers.
They simply join their prayers to yours and place those intentions before God.
That is why someone can quietly say:
“Please remember my intention in your prayers.”
And a sister may carry that intention with her before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
PART TWO: HOW DO YOU BECOME A PINK SISTER?
Have you ever wondered what it takes to become one of the women who dedicate their lives to prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament?
Becoming a Pink Sister is not simply deciding to become a nun. It is a serious vocation that requires prayer, discernment, formation and a willingness to embrace a life of poverty, chastity, obedience, community life and perpetual Eucharistic adoration.
The exact admission requirements and formation arrangements can vary according to the congregation's current vocation policies and the country involved. But the journey generally follows a process of discernment and religious formation.
1. PRAY AND DISCERN THE CALL.
A vocation begins with listening to God. A woman who feels drawn toward the Pink Sisters' contemplative life should spend time in prayer and seek wise spiritual guidance. The question is not simply, “Do I like the idea of being a nun?” but, “Is God calling me to this particular way of life?”
2. CONTACT THE PINK SISTERS.
The next step is to contact a Pink Sisters convent or vocation director. This gives the woman an opportunity to ask questions, explain her circumstances and learn what the congregation currently requires from candidates.
3. VISIT AND EXPERIENCE THEIR LIFE.
A serious candidate may be invited to visit the community and learn more about its rhythm of prayer, silence, Eucharistic adoration and community life. This is important because a vocation should be discerned through real experience rather than imagination.
4. ENTER THE FORMATION PROCESS.
If the candidate and the community discern that she may have a vocation, she enters the appropriate stages of religious formation. These stages can include postulancy and novitiate, during which she receives deeper spiritual and religious formation and learns the particular way of life of the congregation.
5. MAKE RELIGIOUS VOWS AND CONTINUE TOWARD PERPETUAL PROFESSION.
After the required period of formation and discernment, a candidate may make temporary religious vows and, eventually, perpetual vows if the Church and the congregation discern that she is ready. She then gives herself more completely to this hidden vocation of prayer, Eucharistic adoration and service to the Church.
The Pink Sisters' official history confirms that their communities have novitiates and formation structures; for example, the U.S. novitiate was moved to Mount Grace Convent in St. Louis, where candidates from across the United States are admitted and trained.
WHO CAN DISCERN THIS VOCATION?
A woman considering this vocation should be a practicing Catholic and should genuinely desire a life centered on Christ, prayer and the Eucharist. She must also be prepared for the discipline, community life, silence and sacrifices associated with contemplative religious life.
It is not a vocation for someone who simply wants to escape the problems of the world.
It is a vocation to give one's life to God for the Church and for the world through prayer.
WORLDWIDE PINK SISTERS CONVENTS AND CONTACTS
🇪🇺 EUROPE
Aanbiddingsklooster
Kloosterstraat 19
5935 CA Steyl, The Netherlands
www.sspsap-motherhouse.nl
Dreifaltigkeitskloster
Helmtrudisstr. 23
33014 Bad Driburg, Germany
www.dreifaltigkeitskloster.de
Klooster Cenakel
St. Willibrordusstraat 34
3553 SM Utrecht, Netherlands
www.kloostercenakel.nl
Klastor Słowa Boźego
Ulica Rodziewiczówny 18
Skr. poczt. 4
48-300 Nysa 1, Poland
www.siostryklauzurowe.pl
Kláštor Najsvätejšej Trojice
Dražovská 15
949 01 Nitra, Slovakia
www.sspsap.sk
🇺🇸 NORTH AMERICA
Convent of Divine Love
2212 Green Street
Philadelphia, PA 19130-3197, U.S.A.
www.adorationsisters.org
www.savior.org
(Live adoration of the Blessed Sacrament)
Mount Grace Convent
1438 East Warne Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63107-1097, U.S.A.
www.mountgraceconvent.org
Blessed Sacrament Convent
4105 Ocean Drive
Corpus Christi, TX 78411-1223, U.S.A.
Christ the King Convent
1040 So. Cotner Blvd.
Lincoln, NE 68510-4999, U.S.A.
The congregation's current official convent directory continues to list Philadelphia, St. Louis, Lincoln and Corpus Christi among its U.S. houses.
🇦🇷 SOUTH AMERICA
Convento del Divino Amor
Felipe Beltrame 5617
Barrio Jorge Newbery
5019 Córdoba, Argentina
E-mail: [email protected]
Convento Nossa Senhora do Cenáculo
Rua Nunes Machado 150
Caixa Postal 405
84001-970 Ponta Grossa – PR, Brazil
Convento Corazón Eucaristico de Jesús
Santiago 964
Villa Alemana – V Region, Chile
http://siervas-del-espiritu-santo5.webnode.es/
🇵🇭 ASIA — PHILIPPINES
Convent of the Most Blessed Sacrament
P.O.Box 62
2600 Baguio City, Philippines
St. Joseph’s Adoration Convent
A.C. P.O. Box 388
71 M. Hemady Ave.,
Cor. 11th Street,
1109 Quezon City, Philippines
Adoration Convent of Divine Peace
Fortuna St., P.O. Box 29
6014 Banilad, Mandaue City, Philippines
Holy Spirit Adoration Convent
P.O. Box 80620
8000 Davao City, Philippines
Immaculata Adoration Convent
Barrio Polo, P.O. Box 74, Kalibo
5610 New Washington, Aklan, Philippines
Adoration Convent of Divine Mercy
Holy Spirit Drive
Brgy. Maitim 2nd East
P.O. Box #08
4120 Tagaytay City, Philippines
pinksisterstagaytay.freehostia.com
The congregation's current directory also lists its Philippine houses in Baguio, Quezon City, Mandaue, Davao, Kalibo/New Washington and Tagaytay.
🇮🇳 INDIA
Aradhana Kunj
P.O. Carmelaram
Bangalore 560 035, India
🇮🇩 INDONESIA
Biara Adorasi Tritunggal (SSpSAP)
Jalan SMU II, Tromol Pos 801
Ruteng 86508, Flores – NTT, Indonesia
🇹🇬 AFRICA
Monastére Du Saint-Esprit
(Souers de l’Adoration)
B.P. 30924 Lomé, Togo, West Africa
The congregation's current official history confirms that the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters have houses in Togo, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and the United States.
A GENTLE REMINDER FOR ANYONE CONSIDERING THIS VOCATION
The life of a Pink Sister is beautiful, but it is not an easy life.
It is a life of prayer, silence, discipline, community, sacrifice and deep Eucharistic devotion. Their official description calls their life a hidden prayer for the missions and an intercession for the world.
So, if you feel drawn to this vocation, do not rush.
Pray. Discern. Seek spiritual guidance. Contact the sisters. Visit a community when possible. And allow the Church to help you discover whether this is truly the vocation God is giving you.
Now you know.
Could you imagine spending your entire religious life in a hidden community devoted to prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and if you could ask the Pink Sisters to remember one prayer intention before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, what would it be?
SOURCES
Sacred Scripture: James 5:16; 1 Timothy 2:1; John 15:5.
Catechism of the Catholic Church: CCC 946-962; CCC 2634-2636; CCC 1378-1381.
Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters - Official History: "Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters"
Official Convent Directory: "Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters - Convents"
Official Prayer Requests: "Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters - Contact & Prayer Requests"
© Catholic Dailies
Be Prayerful. Be Inspired.
