The Marianist Family is a group of four

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

organizations which trace their origins to the Blessed

William Joseph Chaminade Guillaume-Joseph Chaminade, SM (also known as William Joseph Chaminade; Périgueux, 8 April 1761 – Bordeaux, 22 January 1850) was a French Catholic priest who survived persecution during the French Revolution and later founded the Society of Ma ...

and Blessed

Adèle de Batz de Trenquelléon Adèle de Batz de Trenquelléon, F.M.I., also known as Mary of the Conception (french: Marie de la Conception) (10 June 1789 – 10 January 1828), was a French Catholic religious sister and the co-founder of the Marianist Sisters with William J ...

. The Family's four branches are the

Society of Mary (Marianists) The Society of Mary ( la, Societas Mariae) abbreviated SM is a clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men (brothers and priests) commonly called the Marianists or Marianist Brothers and Priests. Its members add the nominal ...

(S.M.), a

religious institute A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow members. Religious institutes are one of the two types of institutes of consecrate ...

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in p ...

and religious brothers; the

Daughters of Mary Immaculate The Daughters of Mary Immaculate (french: Filles de Marie Immaculée, abbreviated F.M.I.) are a Catholic religious institute of Religious Sisters co-founded in 1816 by Adèle de Batz de Trenquelléon and William Joseph Chaminade for the purpose of ...

(F.M.I.), an institute of

religious sisters A religious sister (abbreviated ''Sr.'' or Sist.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to pra ...

; the Alliance Mariale (A.M.), an historically all-female

secular institute In the Catholic Church, a secular institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in which consecrated persons profess the Evangelical counsels of celibate-chastity, poverty and obedience while living in the world, unlike members of a relig ...

, composed of laypeople, who "dedicate their lives to God by taking

vows A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise, a promise solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a weddi ...

while living in the world"; and the Marianist Lay Communities (M.L.C.), a private

association of the faithful In the Catholic Church, an association of the Christian faithful or simply association of the faithful (Latin: ''consociationes christifidelium'') sometimes called a public association of the faithful, is a group of baptized persons, clerics or la ...

for both men and women.

References

External links

Marianist International Home Page
Catholic orders and societies Secular institutes de:Marianisten fr:Marianistes it:Società di Maria (Marianisti) nl:Marianisten pl:Marianiści {{RC-society-stub