If therefore they are and desire to be true sons of this dear Mother, let them try constantly to breathe her spirit: a spirit of humility, self-denial, intimate union with God, and the most ardent love of neighbour. So they must think as Mary, judge as Mary, feel and act as Mary in all things, otherwise they will be unworthy and degenerate sons.

Let them always bear in mind that they belong by a gracious choice to the family of the blessed Mary, Mother of God, from who name they are called Marists, and whom they have chosen from the beginning as their model and their first and perpetual superior.
Constitutions n. 228

Marist Spirituality

Marist Spirituality

The spirituality of the Society of Mary (the 'Marists') is at one and the same time profoundly simple and remarkably nuanced.

Inspired by the experience of having been called by the Mother of God to found a congregation bearing her name, the Marist founders set about trying to live and work as they believed Mary herself would live and work in the circumstances in which they found themselves.

A Simple Spirituality

Ours, then, is essentially a very 'simple' spirituality - to live, work, and act as Mary. As simple as this central point of our spirituality is, however, its implications are far-reaching, at times provocative, and often quite subtle. Looking first of all at the subtlety of Marist spirituality, we may ask the question: "if we are to live in imitation of Mary what should the focal point of our spirituality be?" Many assume that it is Mary herself who is our point of focus - after all, we are the congregation that bears her name! But this is a misconception. After all, if we are to imitate our Mother we must do as she did - and she was not focussed on herself. It is because of this that we can justifiably say that Marist spirituality, in imitation of Mary, is fundamentally focussed on the person of her son, Jesus Christ.

A Provocative Spirituality

If this is an example of the subtleties of Marist spirituality, what is an example of its more provocative dimensions? Taking his inspiration from the place of Mary in the early Church (see Acts 1:12-14), the founder of the Society of Mary maintained the deeply-held conviction that Marists were to be part of bringing about a 'new' Church - a Church which, in imitation of the humble Mary, was not to be triumphal and legalistic but attentive to the needs and doubts of the people of our time. Icon of Mary and Jesus

This was never to be understood to mean that the Marist founders were interested in beginning another Christian denomination - they were too profoundly Catholic to entertain that notion - rather, they were wanting to be part of a renewal in the Catholic Church itself. This was to be the 'new Church' - a Church that treasured the best of its past and yet which quietly set about letting go those things that were not an essential part of the Catholic faith - especially where those things were an obstacle to people's full participation in the life of the Church

Implications

By way of conclusion, it remains for us now to look at one of the far-reaching implications of Marist spirituality. In our desire to be part of the 'new Church' described above, we are aware that our spirituality needs to reach out to more than the few men and women who explicitly dedicate themselves to living the Marist ideal. Our founder put it this way - the whole world is to be Marist. On a superficial level this seems grandiose - if not hopelessly impossible. However, it is the logical consequence of the Marist conviction (and Church teaching - see Lumen Gentium no. 53) that Mary is the model for all Christians. She shows us how to respond to the love of the Father, how to be attentive to the Son, and how to be led by the Holy Spirit.A Marist with some children

But we are not to be content with simply modelling ourselves on her. Instead, as one former Marist Superior General puts it, we are "to enter into her work, the work of gathering in mercy and compassion all the people of God into a Church which is not triumphal and legalistic but attentive to the fears, doubts and allergies of the men and women our time. We are to be extensions of Mary in her work of renewing the Church into a kingdom of mercy."

Marist Goals

The three ends of the Society of Mary
The Four Cornerstones of the Society of Mary
The Three No's of the Society of Mary

We say No to: