The Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, known as the Trinity Missions, are a male religious congregation founded in 1929 by Father Thomas Augustine Judge, a missionary of the Congregation of the Mission, in Russell County, Alabama. This community is made up of ordained priests and lay brothers. The Missionary Servants are present in 37 missions in the United States, Mexico, Haiti, Colombia, Honduras, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico. Their work is especially focused on ministering to the poor and marginalized, with an emphasis on migrant communities in both Latin America and the United States. In addition, one of their main objectives is to foster a missionary vocation among the laity. Also recognized for their pastoral service in parishes, they promote values such as social justice, solidarity and equality.

The Congregation of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity is a religious institution with a rich history, a charism passionate about service and a mission focused on preserving the faith among spiritually neglected communities. Founded by Father Thomas A. Judge, the congregation has flourished for more than a century, bringing hope and compassion to the poor and marginalized in different regions of the world.

History

The history of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity begins in 1921, when Father Thomas A. Judge, a Vincentian priest, founded the Congregation with the approval of Bishop Allen at Holy Trinity, Alabama. Father Judge, a man of deep faith and great vision, identified the need to preserve the Catholic faith among marginalized and spiritually neglected communities. His mission began with the establishment of “St. Joseph’s Cenacle,” where young people were trained to teach in schools and carry out charitable works.

From its first missions in the southern United States, the Congregation has expanded its presence to countries such as Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Haiti and Honduras. Throughout its history, the Missionary Servants have faced great challenges and have shown an admirable adaptability and growth. One of the fundamental milestones in their history was the opening of the San José Shrine in 1924, a mission center for renewing the faith and forming the laity as apostles. In 1958, the Congregation received Vatican approval as a clerical religious congregation of pontifical right, consolidating its role in the Catholic Church.

The following is a chronology of the most important events in the history of the Missionary Servants:

• 1899: Father Thomas A. Judge was ordained a priest in the Congregation of the Mission after receiving formation at St. Vincent’s Seminary in Pennsylvania. During these years of formation, he organized catechetical and social work among Italian immigrants in the neighborhood. Shortly before his ordination, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, which forced him to rest and carry out lighter responsibilities for a while.
• 1903: Father Judge was destined to various parish missions, from New Jersey to Puerto Rico.
• 1909: Six volunteers in Brooklyn met with Fr. Judge to discuss their interest in helping new immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe countries. They began an outreach program to visit homes and offer any help they could. This was the beginning of the Missionary Cenacle Apostolate (lay missionaries).
• 1915: Fr. Judge was destined to a mission in Opelika, Alabama. Some of the men and women who had helped him in the north followed him.
• 1920: The Holy Trinity property was acquired to develop the missionary community.
• 1921: Bishop Allen grants Fr. Judge permission to establish a Congregation: The young people of Holy Trinity, Alabama, on January 1, 1921, resolved to call their new home “St. Joseph’s Cenacle.” That same month, Father Judge wrote to Bishop Allen about this new group, and the bishop, in a letter dated January 22, 1921, formally gave his blessing to “the organization of a group of Brothers at Holy Trinity Station, Cottonton, Alabama.” The purpose of this group, in the bishop’s opinion, was “to teach in farming and elementary schools and to perform charitable works” in the Diocese of Mobile and other dioceses as well “if permitted by the ordinaries.”
• 1924: Opening of St. Joseph Shrine and St. Joseph Village. The Shrine was established in 1924 and continues to be run by the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity to this day. During Fr. Judge’s time serving a parish in New York, he witnessed the arrival of pilgrims from Italy and Ireland to America. With them they brought the deep Catholic traditions of their faith. He quickly realized the need to preserve the faith of immigrant families and to foster the formation of the lay faithful as missionary disciples of Jesus. Judge established the Shrine as a place for all to be renewed in faith and sent out as missionaries in the providence of their daily lives, a place to grow in the understanding that every Catholic is an apostle. The Shrine is a “Mission Center,” a place of learning, celebration, healing and missioning. As a Mission Center, the religious and lay staff work under the Missionary Servant Rule of Life which states: “Our specific mission is to preserve the Faith in areas and among people who are spiritually neglected and abandoned, especially the poor. Our chief effort is to develop a missionary spirit in the laity, with the goal that every Catholic be an Apostle.”
• 1930: First canonical profession with fifteen novices. What began in 1921 as a group of mostly Irish-American religious serving brothers and sisters in the Deep South of the United States has grown into a diverse group composed of many cultures, speaking several languages.
• 1933: Death of Father Thomas A. Judge at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C., on November 23, 1933. By August 1933, Fr. Judge’s health was beginning to decline. Later that month, he celebrated his last Mass at the Cenacle in Silver Spring, MD, before being admitted to the hospital. During his months of hospital confinement, he spent his time in silent prayer. The rosary rarely left his hands. He often said, “I made a contract with God. All I have to do is say Jesus.” Father Thomas Augustine Judge died at age 65 at 3:00 p.m. on November 23, 1933, with no signs of struggle or grief, surrounded by two sisters, the assistant priest and several brothers from Silver Spring. The cause of death on the official certificate was listed as “cerebral embolism.” On Wednesday morning, November 29, at 8:00 am, his spiritual sons and daughters closed his casket for the last time and accompanied his body through the streets of Philadelphia to the chapel of St. Vincent’s Seminary in Germantown, where he had attended seminary and spent the early years of his priestly ministry. Father Judge was buried next to Mother Boniface in Philadelphia’s Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in the grounds of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity.
• 1953: Establishment of a seminary in Virginia.
• 1957: Return to Puerto Rico to serve in Coamo and San Juan. When Fr. Judge first visited the island of Puerto Rico in 1923, he did not speak a word of Spanish. However, this small obstacle did not stop him. His desire to reach out to the poor and abandoned people he encountered there overcame the existing language barrier. Beginning in the late 1950s, the Missionary Servants settled in Coamo, a municipality located in the southern region of the island, and in the capital city of San Juan. During the 1970s and 1980s, the priests and brothers spread to Canóvanas, an agricultural area where sugar cane was grown and produced, and to the suburbs of El Comandante. Today, the missionaries serve several parishes of the Diocese of Fajardo-Humacao, including the Loíza area, where they oversee the sacramental needs of the thousands of Catholics who live and reside in these impoverished areas.
• 1958: Approval by the Vatican as a clerical religious congregation of pontifical right.
• 1960s: Expansion to several cities in the United States and Latin America.
• 1967: Opening of a new seminary in Silver Spring.
• 1970s: Opening of missions  in Temascalapa and Buenavista Tomatlán, Mexico. In 1979, the Missionary Servants opened two parishes in Mexico, in Temascalapa, about 90 minutes by car from Mexico City, and Buenavista Tomatlán, near Guadalajara. Both were expanding rural parishes with multiple chapels serving thousands of Catholic families. Today, the Missionary Servants pastorally serve St. Martin Bishop of Tours Parish in Iztapalapa, the most remote and populous “municipality” of Mexico City, and Santa Maria Ajoloapan Parish, located about 38 miles north of Mexico City, as well as the Novitiate in Huitzila, not far from Ajoloapan. More recently, a new missionary project, Manos del Alfarero, offers workshops to teach, inspire and encourage lay people to be missionary disciples.
• 1990s: Establishment of missions in Central America and opening of Formation Houses in Costa Rica. When the Missionary Servants sought to open a mission in Costa Rica, they looked for the poorest and most abandoned place in the country. In 1994, the Missionary Servants began serving in the Santo Domingo De Guzman Parish in the town of Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Peninsula. In addition to the main church in Puerto Jimenez, there are 26 chapels served by the mission. The parish encompasses nine square miles of rural communities, including the Indian reservation that is home to the Guaymí tribe.
• 2000s: Strong focus on migrant ministry and recovery ministry. Their founding document reminds them to “have an ardent zeal for the poor, for the spiritually desolate and for the victims of injustice.” In accordance with the Church’s social teaching, they work to preach the Gospel, right injustices and care for immigrants and minorities while serving the economically poor and abandoned in both rural and urban areas. Zealous missionaries are committed to welcoming immigrants and helping them as they adapt to life in their new country, as well as those who have nowhere else to turn as they suffer from addictions. For most of the thousands of immigrants they serve, the Missionary Servants are a lifeline. The migrant ministry team helps organize Spanish-language Masses and religious education programs in different parishes. They serve as mediators, helping them get medical care or legal help when they need it. They may help a family find affordable housing or put a parent in touch with a local food bank for help with his family’s groceries, or just “be there” to listen to a young person as he talks about the family and friends he left behind.
• 2018: Establishment of a new mission in Haiti. The Missionary Servants had desired for many years to establish a presence in Haiti. Our Lady of Altâgrace Mission in Paredon is located just outside the town of La Hoye, which is at the end of an unpaved, potholed road about 30 kilometers from the Dominican Republic. The pastoral ministry in Paredon provides many opportunities for missionaries to promote and move forward their three priorities of serving the poor, helping the laity live out their baptismal call to mission and preserving the faith of vulnerable Catholic communities.
• Today: The Missionary Servants have 145 members serving in 37 missions in the United States, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Haiti, Honduras and Mexico.

Charisma

The charism of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity is centered on committed love for God and service to the poor, abandoned and marginalized. Inspired by their founder, Father Judge, the members of the Congregation are men of faith, prayer and apostolic zeal.

Their commitment to the preservation of the faith entails accompanying people in need and empowering them to be missionaries in their own communities. Community life is fundamental for the Missionary Servants, who work together as brothers, priests and laity, accepting their diversity as a representation of the Kingdom of God.

Vision and Mission

The vision of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity is that every Catholic, whether priest, religious or lay, will accept the call to the apostolate, working together to serve the poor and marginalized and to preserve the faith in those who are at risk of losing it.

The mission of the Congregation is clear: to preserve the faith in areas and among people who have been spiritually neglected, especially the poor. Its main effort is to develop a missionary spirit among the laity, enabling them to be apostles in the providence of their daily lives.

Ministry and Apostolate

The ministry of the Missionary Servants comprises 43 mission sites in seven countries. Their work includes parishes in urban neighborhoods and isolated rural areas. Missionaries accompany migrants, strengthen communities with the sacraments, bring medical care to remote areas and work with vulnerable youth to break the cycle of violence.

The apostolate of the Missionary Servants entails a concrete commitment to the margins of society. Their mission is not limited to words and prayers, but manifests itself in tangible actions. From indigenous reservations in Costa Rica to neighborhoods in Chicago and Los Angeles, missionaries bring hope and empowerment to those who have been neglected.

Their work with migrants spans Spanish-language masses, religious education programs, legal assistance and emotional support. In addition, they offer accompaniment to people with addictions, helping them in their recovery and healing process.

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The Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity are a beacon in the darkness of the world, bringing God’s love and the hope of the Gospel to places of greatest need. Their history, charism, vision and ministry reflect a total dedication to the service of the poor and marginalized, following the legacy of Father Thomas A. Judge. His unwavering commitment to preserving the faith and accompanying the homeless continues to be a source of inspiration for the Church and humanity.