“In 1836, the opportunity came. The mission-minded Pope Gregory XVI was looking for missionaries for the south-west Pacific — and the Marists were suggested. When the word got to Jean-Claude Colin he said simply, ‘We will do the work of Mary on whatever distant shore’. And the priests’ branch of the Society of Mary was approved.”

We ask for your continued prayers and financial support for the Marist missions so that we may be able to carry on the work of Fr. Colin and keep bringing the compassionate love of Our Lord to the world in Mary’s quiet way.

“The Mary whom Marists emulate, the Mother of Mercy, whose embrace is ready to welcome all, and who chooses to be unknown, as if hidden, and close to people in their ordinary lives, is the Mary whom we find in the Scriptures: the one who, in spite of her tremendous importance and privilege as the mother of Jesus, chose to become an obedient disciple of her Son and to situate herself amidst the other disciples of Jesus, even disappearing into the Church, so as to more effectively be a caring present in people’s lives.” (Forum Novum)