Anniversary of Marist Approval

On April 29, 1836, the infant Society of Mary received official approbation from the Church through a letter from the mission-minded Pope Gregory XVI.

The Holy Father and the Congregation ‘Propaganda Fide‘ were looking for missionaries to send to the distant south-west Pacific. Marist Founder, Jean-Claude Colin, responded: ‘We will work on whatever distant shore… ‘. 

As the Marists remember this historic day, we invite you to listen to the song Hail Mary by Marist Priest Kevin Bates from his album Threads.

Picture Caption: Image of stained glass window from St. Mary’s Manor Chapel in Penndel, Pennsylvania. St. Mary’s Manor served as the minor, or preparatory, seminary for the Society of Mary from 1920 until the 1960s. The window is currently displayed at Marist College in Washington DC.