Marianist Lay Communities are Christian communities at the service of the mission of the church in the world. We are part of the Marianist Family and are inspired by the charism of our founders, William Joseph Chaminade and Adele Batz de Tranquelleon.
Through our baptism, we are called to become like Jesus Christ, Son of God, become Son of Mary, for the transformation of the world. By our Marianist vocation, we are inspired by the Spirit and united with Mary to live our call to make Christ present in the world.
Membership in Marianist Lay Communities is a commitment of the whole person.
As members of Marianist Lay Communities we have responded to a call from God to live and share the Marianist charism.
2.1. We want to be women and men who are strong in faith, a faith of the heart inspired by love, by which we persevere in hope.
2.2. We welcome Mary as mother, model and educator. She freely accepted the Spirit's presence in her life and, in faith's darkness, carried and gave birth to God-with-us, and then gave Christ to the world. She invites us to "do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5) in order to respond to human needs.
2.3. We live out our faith in communities, following the example of the early church.
2.4. Faithful to our lay state and attentive to the "signs of the times," we are united with the men and women of our world. We are missionaries, committed to announcing the Good News. Faithful to the role of missionary, we strive to hand on our faith by the multiplication of Christians, and the formation of communities and community animators. Aware of the cultural situations in each place, we work for the spread of the Reign of God in the world. We work for the construction of a world of peace and justice, with a preferential option for the poorest of our sisters and brothers.
We seek to make this charism incarnate in our lives and to center our lives in Jesus who is the Good News of God for today's world.
3.1. For this reason we model Mary's way of freely and generously responding to the Spirit's call.
3.1.1. We work to build the Reign of God, attentive to the "signs of the times," fully incarnated in the world and in solidarity with the poor and the marginalized.
3.1.2. We live together in a spirit of family, characterized by hospitality, compassion, service, joy, simplicity, and respect for persons and their particular rhythms of growth and development.
3.2. In order to respond to our vocation, we live our consecration to God in the spirit of Mary. For us this is:
3.2.1. A freely chosen response to our Baptism and Confirmation.
3.2.2. An explicit commitment to the service of Mary in her mission to offer Christ to the world.
3.3. Faithful to our vocation, we commit ourselves to a way of life which demands: dedicating time to personal and community prayer (in some countries the Three O'Clock Prayer and the Consecration to Mary are prayed regularly); listening to the Word and celebrating our faith through the Eucharist; developing our faith, and growing in the assimilation, living and handing on of the Marianist charism; developing a personal life-style and a work or ministry and discerning it in community; being open to spiritual guidance from others; developing skills in cultural and social analysis that help us interpret accurately the "signs of the times"; developing skills that lead to personal and community actions for the construction of a more just and human world; working responsibly and with an attitude of service in various life situations, for example, family, job, society, politics, neighborhood associations, parishes, education; participating actively in the life of the community. Our communities, signs of unity, are also places of prayer, formation, reflection on the Word, reconciliation, and renewal of our commitment of service to others.
4.1. We lay Marianists are organized in small communities that form groups on local, regional, national, and/or international levels. Each group has its own autonomy as proper to its level. On each of these levels there is a responsible lay person or lay team, and a lay or religious Marianist advisor.
4.2. The expenses of the organization and the functioning of Marianist Lay Communities are paid for by the members.
4.3. We are part of the Marianist Family in that we share a common charism. Mutual collaboration among all branches of the Marianist Family enriches each one and better serves the mission of the church.
4.4. On all organizational levels and through its individual members, Marianist Lay Communities seek to participate in the mission, activities and decisions of the church.
Document ratified by the General Assembly at the First International Meeting of the Marianist Lay Communities which took place in February 1993 in Santiago, Chile.
