1.1. Our founders, Father William Joseph Chaminade and Mother Adele de Trenquelleon, through the Marianist Family, offer us today a spirituality based on the mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, Son of God become Son of Mary for the salvation of all people.
1.2. Like Mary, we are called from within the Church to make Christ present in the world. This is the ultimate meaning of our belonging to Marianist Lay Communities, and we choose it as a life option.
1.3. Present in the world, united to Christ by means of our alliance with Mary, and strengthened by the power of the Spirit, we work to build the Reign of God.
1.4. We consider our personal and community life as our primary means of evangelization, in service to the mission of the Church in the world. We seek to collaborate in all missionary activities aiming at the multiplication of Christians and the development of a world that is more just and compassionate, more free and more interdependent.
2.1. For us, being present in the world means attempting to know, love, and transform with the heart and the strength of Christ Jesus.
2.2. We recognize everything that is good in the history of humankind and denounce everything that contributes to oppression, violence, and injustice.
2.3. "Clothed in the love of our Savior and the tenderness of Mary," we concern ourselves with the joys and sufferings, the hopes and anxieties of our world.
2.4. Our spirituality animates us and impels us to give realistic and effective answers to the concerns of the world by transforming the many aspects of our lives: personal, familial, occupational, social, educational, political, economic, cultural, and ecclesial.
3.1. As baptized people, the center of our life is the following of Christ and our conformity with Him from within the Church. Thus, Christ is the source and foundation of our mission.
3.2. To be authentic, generous and faithful in our mission, it is essential that we be men and women "strong in faith, firm in hope, and constant in love." We find this strength through prayer, continuing formation, personal and community discernment, commitment, and community life.
3.3. The love of Christ impels us, as it did the first Christians, to form communities with Christ at their center. Our communities are signs of the love of Christ in the world and they prepare us, send us, encourage us, purify us, animate us, and sustain us in our mission.
4.1. We recognize the mission of Mary in the history of salvation. In Mary, God shows us a way to be present in the world. Sensitive to the needs of humankind, we want to fulfill her command: "Do whatever He tells you." (Jn 2:5)
4.2. Our mission is inspired by Mary's attitudes of listening to the Word of God, openness to the Spirit of God who guides us to prophetic action, availability to the will of God, simplicity and fidelity. United with her in her Magnificat, we want to be witnesses in the world to God's preferential love for the poor.
4.3. Consecration to Mary within the Marianist Family witnesses our commitment, in union with her, to make Christ present in the world.
5.1. We evangelize with our lives that give testimony to a lived Gospel faith. We live in a state of permanent mission.
5.2. The community helps its members to discern and evaluate their personal mission.
5.3. In itself, the witness of community life is a privileged means of our Marianist mission.
5.4. Marianist Lay Communities are missionary. Each community encourages its own members, other lay communities, the Church, and the world to live in a state of mission.
6.1. Our missionary vocation, attentive to the signs of the times, should find its individual and community expressions in dedicating our time, skill, energy, and resources to actions that promote justice and peace. We believe that in order to live the Gospel according to the spirit of the Incarnation, we cannot escape the often contradictory and unjust realities of our world.
6.2. We are open, as sponsors or collaborators, to all missionary works. Our particular predilection for mission is to hand on the faith to young persons and those who are most needy.
6.3. Marianist Lay Communities work together with the other branches of the Marianist Family to accomplish our mission. Our Family Spirit and our collaboration between lay and religious, inspired by Mary, is our particular contribution to the Church and to the world.
6.4. We support the work of the World Council of the Marianist Family especially in its efforts to unite all Marianists in one common vocation.
Document ratified by the General Assembly at the Second International Meeting of the Marianist Lay Communities which took place in August 1997 in Lliria, Spain.
