The Birth of the Handmaids of the House of God

The establishment of the Handmaids of the House of God (also known as Ancillae Domus Dei, popularly called by the local folks as ADD Sisters, and Domus Dei Sisters) was motivated by the consideration of two pastoral facts: First, the urgent need of the faithful in remote areas for pastoral care, particularly their instruction in the basics of the Catholic faith in which they were baptized; second, the realization of the inability of the parish priests and other Church workers to provide pastoral care due to pastoral demands of parochial service. His Excellency, Most Rev. Nicolas Mondejar, D. D., invited various religious institutes to come to the Diocese, but without much success. He then came to the conclusion that the indicated solution was to establish a local religious group of women. For this reason, he recruited eleven young women from Romblon to form the nucleus of this religious group. On February 7, 1978, this small community began its journey of unfolding the gift of the Trinity to the Local Church in Romblon.