Society of Mary (Marianists)

SOCIETY OF MARY (MARIANISTS). - Religious congregation founded in 1817 in Bordeaux by G. G. Chaminade (v.).

The first seven members of the Institute: two clerics, three lay teachers and two artisans, admitted to the profession of vows on 2 Oct. 1817, gave it from its very origins a note of originality and novelty, because clerics and laymen are religious on the same footing, with the same vows, the same passive and active rights, except for certain offices reserved to priests. An offshoot of the Congregation of the Madeleine of Bordeaux, founded by Chaminade himself in 1801, the new institution draws inspiration from the same principles, with a coordinated collaboration between priests and laymen in the many works of the modern apostolate. With the vow of stability the Marianists consecrate themselves irrevocably to Our Lady, and in remembrance of this consecration they wear a gold ring on the right ring finger.

From 1817 to 1830 colleges and popular schools were opened in Bordeaux and in various cities of France, but the founder's aim was the Normal Schools for the formation of Christian teachers. Two were opened at Saint-Rémy and at Besançon, suppressed in the upheavals of 1830. From 1835 a promising development began in France and in the countries of Europe, and today the S. of M. is present in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Africa, the United States, Canada, the Pacific Islands, China and Japan with 2525 professed religious and 158 houses distributed among 12 provinces. The "postulants" number 918, the novices 189, the scholastics 360, the seminarians 73. The decree of praise dates from 1839, that of approval of the Institute and of the Constitutions from 1865; the definitive approval of the Constitutions dates from 1891. The generalate house is in Rome.

Eugenio Scherer