What is the Society of Mary?

The Society of Mary is a Roman Catholic religious congregation comprised of priests and brothers. It is an international congregation with members living and ministering in over 50 countries on every continent in the world.  (We have even ministered to U.S. Army personnel in Antarctica!)

The congregation was founded in France in 1836. It considers Mary, the Mother of God, to be its first and perpetual superior. Because they bear the name of Mary and are called "Marists," the members of this congregation try to imitate Mary's life and virtues. In their ministry for the Church they strive to do God's work as Mary would, in a humble, gentle and merciful way. In the words of their founder, Fr. John Claude Colin, they strive to "think as Mary, judge as Mary, and feel and act as Mary in all things."

The founder of the Society of Mary said of the Marists that they should do everything that the Jesuits do, teach in high schools and universities, preach missions and retreats, do missionary work in foreign lands, conduct parishes, etc., but they must do it in the style of Mary. His motto was that Marists must be do great things for the greater glory of God, but that, like Mary, they must also be "hidden and unknown in this world."

In 1836, Pope Gregory XVI, noted for his missionary zeal, agreed to the founding of the Marist congregation. But he placed one condition -- that the congregation agree to minister in the far-flung islands of the South Pacific. Our holy founder, Fr. John Claude Colin, consented to this immediately.

After the Society of Mary was founded, Fr. Colin was elected as its first superior general and within a year he sent half of the twenty existing Marists to the cannibal-infested islands of the South Pacific. In those days the trip from France to the South Pacific took 11 months. The missionaries who went knew they were going on a one way trip. It would cost too much to come home.

On this first missionary voyage was a Marist priest named Peter Chanel. He would be martyred within 5 years on the island of Futuna after working diligently but without success among the natives. Soon after his death, everyone on the island was converted to Catholicism. Peter Chanel was canonized a saint by Pope Pius XII and his feast is celebrated every year on April 28.

The Society of Mary is divided into 15 provinces and 4 missionary districts around the world. A province is a Marist region which has its own government, personnel and financial resources. In this way it has a certain independence from other provinces and districts. All provinces and districts are united, however, under one General Superior who resides at International Headquarters in Rome.

In the United States there are two provinces whose centers are located in Boston and Atlanta. The Boston province is in the Northeast corner, and the Atlanta province comprises the South and the West including the states of Hawaii and Alaska. The two United States provinces cooperate in many ventures, especially in the area of training new candidates for entry into the Society of Mary.

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