Our spirituality

“joyfully given to God
                    for the kingdom
                    in the spirit of Mary”.
                               (SMSM Constitutions 23) 

Our Pioneers felt impelled to live their vocation
             as Missionaries
             as Marists
             as Religious

“We too wish to respond with joy to the call of Christ” (ibid. 2) to us today in our world: 

Missionary
“We are ready to leave our own country,
to set out and set out again,
towards other peoples and other cultures” (ibid. 16), knowing that God’s spirit
goes before us and is with us.

We are “sent
to those who do not know Christ,
to those who are seeking to know Him,
or to local Churches in need of missionary service”. (ibid. 17)

“Among other people and in our own country,
in respect and dialogue
we try to be bonds of communion
between peoples, races, and cultures,
and witnesses to universal love”. (ibid. 22)

Marist
We try to live, as it were, the life of Mary
             in her faithful service at Nazareth
             in her presence among the apostles in the newborn Church
           
We want to be present to others in today’s world as Mary was,
             enabling them to use their gifts
             to bring about the reign of God.
                       
We belong to the Marist family, together with
             Marist Brothers (FMS)
             Marist Fathers (SM)
             Marist Sisters (SM)
             Marist Laity

Religious
“Christ has gathered us together in one and the same family under the name of Mary, to participate in His mission”. (ibid. 152)

In prayer
“As the sap nourishes the plant,
                                   and makes it bear fruit,
                                   so prayer nourishes our lives
                                   consecrated for mission
                                   making them fruitful.
                                   From both community celebration
                                   and personal encounter with the Lord,
                                   prayer flows into action,
                                   where we remain united with Him
                                   who has overwhelmed us with His love
                                   and in whom we find our joy.
                                   Action sends us back to prayer
                                   which completes our activity,
                                   broadens its scope,
                                   and directs it towards the glory of God
                                   and the salvation of the world". (ibid. 119)
      
In community
                     We live in international communities
                     “trying to be messengers and witnesses
                     of the Good News for one another and,
                      together, for others”. (ibid. 153)

                     “In an atmosphere which reflects
                     the presence of the Lord and His mother,
                     we live together and share what we have,
                     we pray together and gather around the Eucharistic table,
                     we seek together how best to serve in mission”. (ibid. 154)
      
As consecrated religious
In becoming a consecrated religious, each of us makes a vowed commitment to follow Christ above all

• in Consecrated Chastity
   by living celibately,
  giving ourselves in love to God,
  loving all those to whom God sends us;
• in Evangelical Obedience
  by seeking God’s plan for ourselves and the Congregation
  in order to live faithfully our vocation in the Church
  and to be available for mission;
• in Evangelical Poverty
  by living simply and sharing our life, our time, our gifts, especially with the poor and most neglected.