Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters

The Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters (Latin: Servarum Spiritus Sancti de Adoratione Perpetua, SSpSAP) are a Roman Catholic religious institute of contemplative cloistered nuns.

The "Pink Sisters" in the chapel of their motherhouse in Steyl

The nuns live a contemplative life, focused on perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, offering intercessory prayers for the world 24 hours a day. Inside the cloister the nuns wear rose-colored habits[1] symbolizing their joy for the Holy Spirit.[2] As a consequence of these habits these nuns are nicknamed the "Pink Sisters."

The congregation was founded in 1896 in the Netherlands by Saint Arnold Janssen, a German diocesan priest who had first founded in 1875 the Society of the Divine Word in the Dutch border village of Steyl, and in 1889 the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit. Later Janssen Formed the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration congregation so that the missionaries that he had already formed could be supported by prayer. Janssen was canonized on October 5, 2003, by Pope John Paul II.

Mother Mary Michael was Saint Arnold Janssen's first Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration Superior of the Convent in Steyl. Mother Mary Michael grew the convents in many locations, where they continued to grow after her death on Feb. 25, 1934 in Steyl. On Feb. 25, 2015 the Holy See gave approval for the beatification process for Mother Mary Michael. The Mother House was later moved from Steyl to Bad Driburg, Germany.

The first convent abroad was established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States in 1915 by Mother Mary Michael (Adolfine Tönnies)[3] (1862 - 1934),[4] upon the invitation of Archbishop Edmund Francis Pendergast.

Currently, there are 22 convents located in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Germany, India, Indonesia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, Slovakia, Togo, and the United States. They are supported solely by donations from visitors and other private parties.