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The Marist project has this special feature: it is not the work
of one Founder, but of many - Jean-Claude
Colin, Jeanne Marie Chavoin,
Marcellin Champagnat, Marie
Francoise Perroton, and others. While each branch has its
own characteristic features and spirit, there is a clear family
likeness, and there are common elements in all the Branches
of the Marist Family.
All
Branches share
- A
common undertaking - The Work of Mary
- A
common mission - To the secularised world, to the
margins of society and to the edges of the Church
- A
common desire - To 'gather all' into one new People
of God, one in heart and mind
- A
common leader - All branches look to Mary as their
first and perpetual superior
- A
common approach - To live a life of simplicity
and openness to God, seeking God alone, and bringing to
the Church a maternal spirit
In three particular areas Marists share a common likeness:
the name they bear, the spirit they share, and the virtues
which are the cornerstones of their lives.
Marist
Fathers
Also known as the Society of Mary the Marist Fathers were
founded in France in the early part of the last Century. The
Founder of the Marist Fathers is Fr.
Jean-Claude Colin a Frenchman, born in 1790 and died in
1875. "To be a Marist is to be called and chosen, through
a love freely bestowed on us, to live the Gospel as Mary did,
in a Society, which bears her name". (Marist Fathers
Constitutions)
Marist
Brothers
The Marist Brothers began in 1817 as a response to the spiritual,
educational and physical needs of the young and the poor.
The founder, a young French Marist Father, Marcellin
Champagnat, catered for these needs by training young
men to be teachers.
"We do our best to remain faithful to the Spirit of the
Risen Saviour, who gives us, as he did the first Christians,
the grace to live "one in mind and heart". (Marist
Brothers Constitutions)
Marist
Sisters
The Marist Sisters branch of the Marist project was due to
the insight and zeal of Jeanne Marie
Chavoin, from the town of Coutouvre in the South-East
of France. With two others she began the first community of
Marist Sisters in September 1823.
"Our congregation is characterised by the desire to make
the mystery of Mary in the church the daily inspiration of
its life and action, and not by any special work nor by the
promotion of any particular form of Marian devotion...."
(Marist Sisters Constitutions)
Marist
Laity
The original vision for the Marist project saw 'the whole
world Marist', through the lives of countless lay people taking
on the spirit of Mary and sending ripples of Gospel vigour
throughout the secular world. Lay involvement in the Marist
Family first took the shape of a Third Order of the Society
of Mary under Saint Julian Eymard sm. It has since developed
into a wide variety of Marist Lay groups, formal and informal
in different parts of the world.
Missionary
Sisters of Society of Mary
The Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary were founded
by Francoise Perroton a French
lay women who traveled to the island of Wallis in Oceania
not long after the first Marist Fathers arrived there. She
lived as a member of the Third Order of Mary and ministered
especially to the women and children of the island. In 1931
the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary were approved
as a religious congregation.
"We wish to respond to the calls of today with the daring
and zeal of the pioneers. We want to keep alive this daring
- simple, joyful and prudent - based solely on the love and
power of God in order to announce the Gospel in its force
and integrity, learning to adapt ourselves to different cultures
and conditions of life. " (Missionary Sisters Constitutions)
St. Peter Julian Eymard- Founder of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers and a Marist Father
St. Jean Vianney- The Cure of Ars and a member of the Third Order of Mary.
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