Yesterday, September 3, 2026, the Missionary Sisters of the Lord’s Table, also known as the Mensa Domini Sisters, celebrate their 64th Founding Anniversary. For sixty-four years, the congregation has journeyed with the Church in serving God’s people, particularly those who are poor and powerless, beginning in Antique and eventually extending its missionary presence beyond the Philippines.
The congregation was founded in San Jose de Antique on September 3, 1962, through the initiative of Bishop Cornelio de Wit, M.H.M., who recognized the need for a community of women who could dedicate themselves more fully to the pastoral and missionary work of the Church.
The inspiration for Mensa Domini had already begun years earlier. During Holy Week in 1957 in Maasin, Iloilo, Fr. Cornelio de Wit, Fr. Ben Holthinrichs, and Fr. Harry Janssen discussed the possibility of forming a community of women who could offer their time and talents more fully to the Church. The idea grew from their experience of seeing women already serving as catechists, Legionaries, and pastoral workers in towns and barrios.
When Fr. de Wit became bishop of Antique, he brought this vision with him. On June 5, 1962, Sr. Caridad Yyance, Ma, Milagros Robles, Amparo Aguilar, and Delia Masculino arrived in Antique to begin the new foundation. They first lived in a rented house in Bagumbayan, San Jose. Three months later, on September 3, Bishop de Wit formally established the community as a diocesan congregation, with its Motherhouse in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique.
The early years were marked by simplicity and missionary work. The sisters taught in schools, pursued studies at St. Anthony’s College, assisted in catechetical formation, and travelled to distant mountain barrios and islands. They visited families, prepared people for the sacraments, and helped communities deepen their Christian life.
Their formation was greatly assisted by the Franciscan Missionaries of St. Joseph, or the Mill Hill Sisters, who came from England in 1966. Sr. Cecilia Mary Birdwhistle, Sr. Regina Foley, Sr. Miriam Joseph McCrohan, and later Sr. Monica Sheran helped prepare the young congregation for its apostolic mission and eventual self-government. The Mill Hill Sisters withdrew in 1972, when Mensa Domini was ready to assume greater responsibility for its own life and governance.
Another important milestone came on May 30, 1971, when the first eleven Mensa Domini Sisters made their final vows. The congregation continued to develop its structures and Constitution, which was eventually approved in Rome on October 14, 1975 by the Sacred Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes.
The congregation reached another significant milestone on January 25, 2007, when it was granted Pontifical Right as a religious institute, marking its full recognition within the universal Church.
The name Mansa Domini, meaning “Table of the Lord,” expresses the heart of the congregation’s spirituality. It refers to the Eucharistic Table, where the sisters gather around Christ, the Bread of Life, finding in Him their source of strength and bond of unity. At the same time, the Table represents the communion to which all people are called, regardless of their circumstances.
Their charism is expressed in their call to follow Jesus as the Faithful Servant of Yahweh and to be sent to people who are poor and powerless, bringing them to the dignity of universal communion around the Table of the Lord.
Faithful to this charism, the sisters have served through pastoral work, catechetics, education, community formation, and missionary work. Their mission, which began in Antique, has extended to different parts of the Philippines and beyond, including missionary service in Kenya.
For sixty-four years, the spirit of Mensa Domini has remained marked by simplicity, joy, availability, flexibility, and collaboration. The sisters have sought not only to proclaim the Gospel but also to accompany people in their daily lives, especially those in rural and underserved communities.
From the four women who first arrived in Antique in 1962 to the religious institute that continues its mission today, the history of Mensa Domini is a story of faithfulness to a calling and of generous service to the Church and to God’s people.
Today, after 64 years, the mission continues.
Happy 64th Founding Anniversary, Missionary Sisters of the Lord’s Table!
This article was originally published on the Historia Antikenya Facebook page in collaboration with Project Bangkuan and is republished here with permission.
