behind the name
When deciding what to call this initiative, our founding Sisters began with the reality that all we have has been given to us by God: our faith, our hope, our love, our gifts, our destiny, our lives—everything—is freely given to us by God. The GIVEN Institute explores the feminine response to God’s love, to illuminate the “the feminine genius” that women contribute to families, society, the Church, and the world. We desire to help women receive the gift that they are, realize the gifts they’ve been given, and respond with the gift that only they can give.
Catholic women’s leadership
GIVEN believes that Catholic woman leaders are those disciples of Jesus Christ who, receptive to the grace of God the Father and boldly responding to the Holy Spirit, become fruitful for the Kingdom through lives of prayer, virtue, and giving of themselves and their gifts in service of others.
Through leadership training, faith formation, and dedicated mentoring, GIVEN forms the next generation of Catholic woman leaders.
Our lady of Guadalupe
We recognize and ask for the prayers of Our Lady of Guadalupe as the patroness of GIVEN. This patronage is a matter of love. It is born out of love for our Mother because she first loved us! Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe is Mother of the Americas, of evangelization, of mothers, and of life at all its stages. We ask for her powerful intercession over our mission and for her presence with us every step of the way.
THe rose logo
The GIVEN rose logo alludes to Mary, our Mystical Rose, and the holy beauty that she embodies. The rays in the logo reference this beauty, as well as Mary’s heavenly crown and the luminous aureole around the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The gold, blue, and rose colors are also inspired by the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas and of GIVEN. At the center of the rose is a cross, because Christ is the center of our lives and the source of our mission.
