The mission of the Nuns of the Order of St. John is to glorify the Lord with self-sanctification, through the observance of the Holy Gospel, the vows, the Rule and Constitutions and to practice Hospitality in the ways that are allowed by the papal enclosure observed by the Nuns.
Encouraged by the spirit of St. John the Baptist, they will prepare the ways of the Reign of Christ with their prayers and sacrifices and will render all their spiritual help to the Holy Father, to the prelates, priests and seminarians, recalling that the Holy Precursor prepared for Jesus his most fervent disciples.
Following the monastic military spirit of the Order, they will pray that the Grand Master and all the Knights of this Holy Order will always defend the Cause of Christ.
Sister Primitive of the Blessed Sacrament
Not everyone knows that the great religious family of the Order of Malta has very ancient contemplative communities in Spain and Malta: the cloistered nuns of St. John of Jerusalem still inhabit the monastery of San Juan de Acre, in Salinas de Añana, in Spain; as well as the monastery of Saint Ursula in Malta. During the ceremony of profession of their religious vows, the nuns sweared to obey to the Rule of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, following the practice established in its foundation, which continues today.
For more than eight hundred years, the nuns of St. John have dedicated themselves to praying for the members of the Order and, until the 19th century, remained under the jurisdiction of the Grand Master. They have brought to the Church some remarkable models of holiness worthy such as Saint Ubaldesca Taccini (1136-1206), Saint Toscana Canoculi (1280-1343) and Saint Flore de Beaulieu (c. 1300-1347). The process of beatification of Sister Patrocínio Chillida Manes and Sister Visitación Solo Yvern, both martyrs during the Spanish Civil War, is pending.