MARIAN & MARIANIST CELEBRATIONSlay marianist student formation | university of dayton

MARY MOTHER OF GOD - January 1

Of all the Marian feasts of the church, this one has a primary place. It celebrates Mary’s role in the incarnation and in redemption. In this role, her special relationship with her son is emphasized and she is acknowledged as a model of the church.

[Icon of “Ke Lede o Kaminaka” – Our Lady of Chaminade]

VENERABLE ADELE DAY - JANUARY 10

This day marks the anniversary of the death of Venerable Adéle de Batz de Trenquelleon, foundress of the Marianist Sisters and the Marianist Family.

FEAST DAY OF BL. FR. CHAMINADE -

JANUARY 22

This marks the anniversary of the death of our blessed founder, Fr. William Joseph Chaminade. On the occasion of his beatification the Church proclaimed this day as his feast day for the Marianist Family. Beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 3, 2000.

THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD - FEBRUARY 2

This feast commemorates Mary’s purification and the presentation of Jesus in the temple.

This day also marks the first members of the Bordeaux Sodality who made their first act of consecration on February 2, 1801.

ST. JOSEPH, HUSBAND OF MARY

- MARCH 19

In 1870, Pope Pius IX declaired St. Joseph the patron of the universal church. St. Joseph is the patron of the Society of Mary, whose superiors general take the name of St. Joseph.

Blessed Chaminade took the name of St. Joseph because of the saints special relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary.

THE FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION -

MARCH 25

This feast celebrates the incarnation of Jesus made flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary. In the universal church, this feast celebrates the beginning of redemption. It also honors Mary as the new Eve, the obedient and faithful woman who generously agrees to be the Mother of God.

MARY, MOTHER OF GRACE - MAY 12

We honor Mary as one who received the fullness of God’s grace (God’s life) by her love and fidelity to God. On this date, Pope Gregory XVI issued his commendation of both the Society of Mary and the Daughters of Mary Immaculate on April 12, 1839.

OUR LADY OF FATIMA - MAY 13

Mary is venerated under this title following the apparitions to three shepherd children in Portugal in 1917. The message of Fatima includes a call to conversion of heart, repentance from sin, and prayer, especially the Rosary.

MARY, HELP OF CHRISTIANS - MAY 25

This memorial is a reminder to us of May 25, 1816, the day on which the Daughters of Mary Immaculate were founded, and of May 25, 1891, when Pope Pius VII granted first spiritual privileges to the two Marianist societies.

THE VISITATION -MAY 31

This day is unique. It does not commemorate a saint but an extraordinary meeting between two pregnant women. The feast remembers the joy of the encounter and celebrates the sisterhood of two women joined by faith in the God of the Impossible.

ST. BENEDICT - JULY 11

Few saints have left such a palpable impact on the world as St. Benedict, the monk whose Rule of Life set a standard for the Western monastic tradition. Community life, balance of work and prayer, and regulation of religious discipline were his major contribution to religious life. Marianists celebrate him as their Patriarch.

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL - JULY 16

The Carmelites have celebrated their patronal feast on this day since the 14th century. The Order of Carmel dates to the 12th century, when a group of Western hermits settled on Mount Carmel, overlooking the plain of Galilee, in imitation of the prophet Elijah.

BL. JAKOB GAPP, S.M. - AUGUST 13

Jakob Gapp, S.M. was a Marianist priest who proclaimed the incompatibility of the principles of National Socialism with Christianity, and began to be persecuted. He was beheaded on August 13, 1943. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 24, 1996.

ASSUMPTION OF MARY - AUGUST 15

This solemnity recognizes Mary’s passage into heaven, united body and soul. The tradition of Mary’s assumption dates back to at least the 5th century, but the doctrine was only dogmatically and infallibly defined in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.

Many Marianist religious professed their first vows on this date.

QUEENSHIP OF MARY - AUGUST 22

In 1954 Pope Pius XII instituted this memorial “so that all may clearly recognize and more zealously venerate the kind and maternal rule of the Mother of God.” It is celebrated on the octave of the Assumption.

Many Marianist religious professed their first vows on this date.

MARY, QUEEN OF THE APOSTLES - SEPTEMBER 5

Blessed Chaminade considered the retreat of 1818 as “foundational”. At the end of that retreat, seven men made their first public profession of vows in the new Institute of Mary, now known today as the Society of Mary (Marianist Brothers and Priests).

NATIVITY OF MARY - SEPTEMBER 8

This feast originated in the Eastern Church and was commemorated in the West as early as the 5th century. No one is certain where Mary was born, but two traditions have survived ancient times, one naming Nazareth, the other, Jerusalem. An occasion of praise and thanksgiving, the feast commemorates Mary’s personal sanctity and vocation as the mother of Jesus.

MOST HOLY NAME OF MARY - SEPTEMBER 12

Instituted by Pope Innocent XI in the 17th century. God the Father is glorified by the exalted role in salvation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thus her name is one of honor, a holy name, a maternal name, and a name responsive to the needs of the Church. Its is the patronal feast of the Society of Mary.

MARIE THÉRÈSE DAY - SEPTEMBER 14

One this day, we remember Marie Thérèse de Lamourous, who helped Blessed Chaminade establish the Sodality of the Madeleine in Bordeaux and participated in the foundation of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate and the Miséricorde.

BL. ERAÑA, HITA, FUIDIO - SEPTEMBER 18

This day commemorates our three Marianist Brothers, who were martyred for their faith in 1936 during the religious persecution in Spain. There were beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 1995.

THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS - OCTOBER 2

Marianists commemorate today the occasion when the first meeting of those who had decided to embrace religious life in a new Institute gathered at Chaminade’s residence in Villa St. Laurent.

OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY - OCTOBER 7

Established in 1573 by Pope Pius V ingratitued for the victory of the Christians over the Turks at Lepanto. It was extended to the universal church in 1716.

OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR - OCTOBER 12

This is a feast celebrated in memory of the graces received by Fr. Chaminade at the shrine of Our Lady of the Pillar during his exile in Spain, especially that of the inspiration to create the Marianist Family and to found the Society of Mary and Daughters of Mary Immaculate.

MADRID MARIANIST MARTYRS - NOVEMBER 6

This feast commemorates the the martyrdom of our four Marianist Brothers: Miguel Léiber Garay, SM; Florencio Arániz Cejudo, SM; Joaquín Ochoa Salazar, SM; and Sabino Ayastuy Errasti, SM all martyred in during the relgious persecution in Spain in 1936. Beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on October 28, 2007.

PRESENTATION OF MARY - NOVEMBER 21

Though it cannot be proven historically, Mary’s presentation has an important theological purpose. It emphasizes that the holiness conferred on Mary from the beginning of her life on earth continued through her early childhood and beyond.

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION - DECEMBER 8

In celebrating this feast we single out this woman among all women for her pivotal role in salvation history. It is the patronal feast of the Sodality as well as the foundation day of the Bordeaux Sodality and the Marianist Family.

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE - DECEMBER 12

This feast commemorates the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin in 1531 at Tepeyac, on the outskirts of Mexico City. Devotion to Our Lady under this title has grown over the centuries and in 1946 Pope Pius XII named her patroness of the Americas.