“Because they bear the name of Mary, Marists desire to be like her and follow Jesus as she did. Contemplating Mary in the mysteries of Nazareth and Pentecost and her role at the end of time, they come to share her zeal for her Son’s mission in his struggle against evil, and to respond with promptness to the most urgent needs of God’s people.”

(~ Marist Constitutions n. 8)

He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

“Viewed from a Marist perspective, the movie Nomadland (2020) immediately resonates with something very deep in our “Marist DNA” – the missions to the Bugey – a region in the department of Ain in eastern France. … the similarities are found in lives of the people. Both in Nomadland and in the Bugey, the people have been left behind by the world in which they live. They struggle, as Jessica Bruder, author of Nomadland, suggested, not only to find food or shelter but also hope.”

(~ Brian Cummings, SM, The Need for Hope: Prayerful Reflection with the Movie Nomadland, Today’s Marists, 2021 Volume 6, Issue 2)O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.

“To be a Marist ‘By Gracious Choice’ is to have a sense of being chosen and called by Mary. Marists feel themselves in some mysterious way called to be not only followers of Christ (as all Christians are) but also called by Mary to hear her name and share her concerns for the Church, the world, and the whole human race. This grace is an invitation to participate in her spirit and in her desire to see the Gospel of Jesus take root in our contemporary world. The unity of all Marists lies in the name and spirit of Mary.”

(~ “The work of Mary”, The Marist Way pamphlet, Sharing the Marist Way

From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.

“If we think of Church simply as ‘the place where people can be saved’, then it is difficult to see where Mary fits in, because there is only one Savior and Mediator – Jesus Christ. But if we think of Church as ‘the place where people grow in life’, then it is easy to look on Mary – woman, mother, disciple – as one who teaches us how to be disciples of Jesus, and how to keep the Gospel values always in focus.”

(~ Craig Larkin, S.M., A Certain Way: An Exploration of Marist Spirituality)

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.