Innovation
Corazón Puro will always find ways, new and old, to make the message she has been entrusted with heard in a way that is understandable to those who would listen. We will find new and old ways of ensuring the receiver can hear and learn the truth that God wants to communicate to them. We use the latest studies and technology for this end, for as Our Lord says in Luke 16:8 “for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.” So if it is a new app or free live streaming, or any other tool that will advance our cause, CP will humbly find a way to get the message out there.
Missionary
Corazón Puro by its very nature is missionary. This is the missionary mandate of Christ to His Church. We are sent by the Catholic Church, for a missionary is one who is sent. We were born spiritually within the Church and we would die to protect who and what she has given us. We study, because we cannot give what we do not have. We pray, for prayer is the always the first missionary step. We strive to build an authentic solidarity, for evangelization is not proselytization (which is violence), but the sharing of the one who loves us.
Cultivating Human Dignity
Corazón Puro strives to treat each person as a subject to be honored and respected and not an object to be used. “The evil of our times consists in the first place in a kind of degradation, indeed in a pulverization, of the fundamental uniqueness of each human person. This evil is even much more of the metaphysical order than of the moral order. To this disintegration, planned at times by atheistic ideologies, we must oppose, rather than sterile polemics, a kind of ‘recapitulation’ of the inviolable mystery of the person….”. John Paul II 1968 letter to Henri de Lubac
How We Started
Born and Bred in The Bronx
In 2008, Odet Bisonó a single mother approached a Franciscan priest, Fr Agustino, who God had put on her heart to help with the formation of youth to help them receive their chastity ring. He asked her to bring together a small group of young people who would be willing to work to make this a reality. The first meeting had about 40 people. In the beginning only Fr Agustino would give the talks. Corazón Puro was a series of formation talks in areas of sexuality and dignity. The 1st retreat was held with the help of chastity speakers from around the U.S.
Our Patron
St. Philomena was a young woman who gave her entire life to Jesus at an early age. A Roman official desired to marry her and she refused him because she had already consecrated her virginity to Christ. She was cruelly put to death but remained true to the end.
St. Philomena, as a virgin martyr, experienced throughout her life the same attacks in her body as those of us who want to live a chaste life. This is why she is our patron saint, and therefore Corazón Puro rests in the security of her continued intercession, knowing that she will bring to the feet of Jesus every desire that comes from the heart of a young person who longs to live a pure sexuality.
As Jesus, St. Philomena shed much blood on her martyrdom, yet she received from angels, sent by her Savior, physical healing and spiritual strength to stand firm on the promise she made to Jesus to stay pure. Likewise, we also hope to receive God’s strength and tenacity to remain chaste, and like her, live in the true freedom that only comes through chastity.
May this Saint, crowned in heaven, become your inspiration to maintain your promise of chastity. If you want to know the beautiful story of her life and martyrdom, which was revealed by her to a few chosen people, visit this website to learn what it is to make a promise and die for it. St. Philomena, pray for us.
Small Christian Communities
Corazón Puro and her affiliates have organically formed other smaller communities of Christian perseverance. The struggle is real and many have found it a comfort to come together and pray. In NYC Men for Christ and Daughters of Light are small communities whose objective is to strengthen masculinity and form femininity through fraternity in intense relationship with Christ and His Church.
Discernment Communities
Casa Guadalupe is a house of prayer and discernment for Catholic lay and consecrated women striving to live an authentic Franciscan spirituality in a communal life of prayer as well as service to the poor and the Church, under the spiritual direction of Fr. Agustino Torres, CFR.
The women at Casa Guadalupe discern their vocation through prayer, healing and service. The service mission of Casa Guadalupe is work with the poor and evangelization, especially in pro-life and chastity ministries.
“My time at Casa Guadalupe was such a blessing, mercy from the Lord. Living in community brought me so much joy. Casa Guadalupe is a school of love, a place to grow in pure feminity and a place to learn how to selfgive yourself day by day. It is a treasure, each sister you live with at Casa inspires you in a different way and makes you grow. I felt called by the Lord to spend a period of time at CG and let him work in my soul. He is our Shepherd, He calls, He knows the reason, He knows what’s best for us. I feel very grateful for my time at Casa Guadalupe.”
-Natalia
Corazón Puro’s mission to form leaders begins with the healing and restoration of holy and authentic femininity and masculinity. John Paul II House was founded by Father Agustino in 2015 as a Catholic men’s formation house. The men at JPII house seek an ever deepening encounter with Jesus Christ through a life centered in prayer, service to the poor, and intentional fraternity. Men who apply for residence are seeking to live a period of life focused on growing in their call to holiness and discovering the will of God for their lives.
“His calling is a declaration of love.” Your response is commitment, friendship, and love manifested in the gift of your own life as a definitive following and as a permanent sharing in his mission and in his consecrations. To make up your mind is to love him with all of your soul and all of your heart in such a way that this love becomes the standard and motive of all your actions. From this moment on, live the Eucharist fully; be persons for whom the Holy Mass, Communion, and Eucharistic adoration are the center and summit of their whole life. Offer Christ your heart in meditation and personal prayer which is the foundation of the spiritual life.” – John Paul II