SOCIETÀ DI MARIA (MARIANISTS). — Religious congregation founded in Bordeaux in 1817 by G. G. Chaminade (v.).
The Institute’s first seven members—two clerics, three lay teachers, and two artisans—admitted to profession of vows on 2 October 1817, gave it from its origins a distinctive note of originality and novelty, because clerics and laymen are religious on an equal footing, with the same vows and the same passive and active rights, except for certain offices reserved to priests. An outgrowth of the Congregation of the Magdalene of Bordeaux, founded by Chaminade himself in 1801, the new institution is inspired by the same principles, with coordinated collaboration between priests and laymen
in the manifold works of the modern apostolate. Through 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 purpose was to establish Normal Schools for the training of Christian teachers. Two were opened at S. Remigio and Besançon, but were suppressed during the uprisings of 1830. Beginning in 1835, a promising expansion began in France and in the countries of Europe, and today the S. di M. is present in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Africa, the United States, Canada, the Pacific Islands, China, and Japan, with 2,525 professed religious and 158 houses distributed among 12 provinces. The « postulants » number 918, the novices 189, the scholastics 360, and the seminarians 73. The decree of praise dates from 1839; that approving the Institute and the Constitutions from 1865; final approval of the Constitutions dates from 1891. The Generalate is in Rome.