The Institute of Charity was born ”between JESUS Crucified and His sorrowful Mother” at the shrine of the Crucifixion on Mount Calvary in the outskirt of the town of Domodossola. Rosmini wrote the Constitutions of the Institute of Charity in three months, beginning on 20th February 1828.
The Constitutions received the formal approval of the Church on 20th December 1838. By that time, the Rosminian Family had grown at a rapid pace, in Italy as well as in England; it had Fathers and Brothers, Sisters, Adoptive Sons, and Ascribed members, the latter being lay people who become members of the Institute by adopting the spiritual charism and works of charity of the Institute.
Today, the Institute of Charity is present in Italy, United Kingdom, Ireland, USA, New Zealand, Kenya, Tanzania, Venezuela, and India. The members are bound together by the common effort to pursue holiness and reach the safety of Heaven by consecrating themselves totally to loving God and neighbour. Their vow of universal obedience allows them to be open to any work of charity willed by Divine Providence, through the indications of the Church and of the Superiors.
The Institute is dedicated to the three forms of charity which are the sum of all charity: spiritual, intellectual, and temporal. Spiritual charity, the highest of the three, is pursued by means of the pastoral and spiritual care of souls in parishes, retreat centres, and missionary work. Intellectual charity is pursued by means of education in schools, Colleges, and Universities; by the publications of books and articles, and by other forms of cultural media that advance the human journey to the fullness of truth, and to God. Temporal charity deals with the temporal needs of people, and it embraces all works in favour of the sick, the poor, and the marginalised.
