CHILDREN OF THE IMMACULATE MARY
An institute founded in Brescia in 1849 by the Venerable Lodovico Pavoni. By 1879 he had already established an institute for young artisans to provide free care for poor and needy boys, educating them in virtue and instructing them in the sciences and arts. To perpetuate this work, he founded the religious Congregation of the Children of the Immaculate Mary, composed of priests (for spiritual direction) and lay brothers (engaged in the care and teaching of arts and sciences to the young), all with the same rights and duties. The Congregation was approved in 1892.
The work spread, but in 1866 it was suppressed by the Italian government. The surviving members took refuge in Trentino and from there resumed their expansion. Today the Congregation has 230 members. The generalate is in Brescia, where the novitiate is also located. It has established houses in Milan, Monza, Pavia, Trento, Genoa, and Rome. In 1941 it opened its first house in Brazil, where it now has three. Students remain in the Institute until the age of 18, specializing in their preferred technical field. For the apostolate of good press, it operates the publishing house "Ancona" in Milan.