His grace Metropolitan Archbishop Mar Ivanios (Fr. P.T Geevarghese Panickaruveettil) is the founder of the congregation of the Sisters of The Imitation of Christ (SIC).Prompted by divine inspiration to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout India through the spiritual renewal of the Malankara Church and of the families, Mar Ivanios founded this religious communities at Thirumoolapuram, Thiruvalla on 21st September 1925.

The Charism of the Sisters is the Imitation of Christ is the Imitation of Jesus Christ realized through participating in the redemptive mission of the Triune God and to strive for the spiritual renewal of the Syro Malankara Catholic Church for the evangelization of India and for the empowerment of women.

To imitate Jesus Christ in his life of prayer is to experience a sense of constant union with God through meditation, with special emphasis on the Word of God, active participation in the liturgical life of the Church, and the observance of the spiritual exercises prescribed in this Holy rule and such other practices.

To imitate Jesus Christ in his life of action to follow his footsteps, who by proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom God on earth and leading the people to the eternal Father, saved us from sin and sufferings and made us partakers in his divine life. Our active life consists of apostolic works, connected with and directed towards the spreading of the Gospel.

The following of Jesus Christ according to the charism of our Congregation is realized in the oriental monastic and Indian sanyasa traditions with due consideration to time and place.

A Bethany sanyasin is ought to live a life of prayer filled with the love of God as Mary, a life of service filled with the love God as Martha and a life of fervent testimony to resurrection as Lazarus. These obligations are to be fulfilled by loving and imitating Jesus firmly. Each sanyasin and the entire congregation are to glorify God setting this ideal before them and practicing it in their lives.

IN THE SERVICE OF THE CHURCH

“I pray that they all may be one. Father, may they be in us just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me and that you love them as you love me” (Jn.17:21). We, as a congregation living in the pluralistic religious context of India, are called specially to manifest the unity of the universal Church, which is a people made one in the communion of the love of the Trinity. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Our Congregation prefers to offer the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world especially to India, keeping intact the spirit and traditions of Eastern Monasticism which gives priority to the inner attentiveness to God as the "one thing necessary"(Luke 10:42). As a congregation, we are called to participate in the redempive mission of the Triune God and strive for the spiritual renewal of the Malankara Church and for the evangelization of India and for the empowerment of women.