Spirituality of the Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary

WELCOME

SPIRITUALITY OF THE COMMUNITY
OF THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF MARY

“As it was for the Army of Mary when it was founded and grew day after day, guided by orders from on high, plunging the directors into wonder and admiration over the wisdom of God who governs all things with just measure, so too will it be for the Sons and Daughters of Mary, formed in the school of Mary, who taught them to live in detachment, flexibility and abandonment to the divine will.”

A Family Community
On the day of the Community’s founding, May 31, 1981, Marie-Paule expressed the desire that a family spirit form the basis of the Community: “The Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary must not only belong to the Family but the Community must be, first and foremost, a family having at its head a spiritual Mother or Father, as the case may be.” As a mother of five children, the Foundress saw in the Community family a means of providing a favorable atmosphere for the development of its members according to God’s plan for each one.

Mother Paul-Marie in
prayer before the statue
of the Virgin in her room.

Goal, Program of Life, Source
It was by following the example of Mary of Nazareth that Marie-Paule lived her life as a young girl, wife, mother and consecrated soul, in total submission to the Divine will, thereby participating in the redemptive Work of Jesus Christ. Following in their Foundress’ footsteps, the Sons and Daughters of Mary have as their main goal to “make Mary present here on earth”, by conforming their life to hers for the glory of the Blessed Trinity, and by this very fact, cooperating with Christ’s redeeming plan.

Thus, they desire to correspond more closely to Pope John Paul II’s desire expressed in these words: “Because the Mother of God, as a result of her role in Christ’s mystery, is also constantly present in the life of the Church, your vocation and your service are like the reflection of her presence” (May 22, 1988).

Drawing its inspiration from the Gospel – the Work of Redemption –, and from Life of Love – the Work of the Co-Redemption –, the program of life of the Sons and Daughters of Mary has as its framework abandonment to the will of God who guides this Work and finds its members ready to act at once on His every demand. This life, totally given because totally His, places its members day after day in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the better to arrive at the heart of the Church.

“Conscious of the importance of the grace of the moment, attentive to the voice of the Lord through providential events, one must learn to leap to the fulfillment of God’s slightest demand and to do so in all simplicity” (Mother Paul-Marie).
Universal Charism: Ecclesiastic Mission
In its desire to collaborate with the plan of salvation, the Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary remains constantly at the disposal of the Church to serve it, especially through an unfailing fidelity to the reigning Sovereign Pontiff. With this in mind, the members of the Community respond, through their apostolic life, to the needs of local churches and the people of God. In this way, they become obedient instruments in the building up of the universal Church, in a family spirit lived not only within the Community but also within the larger human family.

Benediction in the Sons of Mary’s chapel

Community members
draw the strength
required for their
apostolic life from prayer.

Mary Immaculate,
the Community’s
patroness.

The universal charism, whose importance gives the Community its direction, serves for its members as a means of constant renewal, for it must be rediscovered every day in a continuous adaptation in which the intrepidity and fervor of new beginnings must always be present. One must be open to all forms of the apostolate based on charity, being attentive to all requests, with flexibility and obedience.
In this way, the members of the Community will extend the true image of Mary Immaculate, their Patroness, in order that the example of their lives and the divine love with which they are enkindled may penetrate all the levels of humanity, all the social classes. Thus, the Community has before it a vast field of apostolate.

Branches: Contemplative, Missionary, Nursing, Teaching, etc
This universal charism is further emphasized by the fact that the Community consists of several branches: contemplative, missionary, nursing, teaching, etc. allowing it to respond to the various types of vocations as well as to the various needs of the Church.

Motto and Religious Habit
The Sons and Daughters of Mary have adopted their Foundress’ motto who, in 1961, wrote: “Your will is my joy, O my God! I am all yours!” (Life of Love II, chapter 49) In order to adapt this motto to both the Sons and Daughters of Mary throughout the world, it was translated into Latin: “Totus Tuus”.

The members of the Community receive a religious habit. The Daughters of Mary wear a white dress with a capelet, a white veil, a blue sash, a 15-decade rosary of the same color, and the Miraculous Medal.

The religious habit of the Sons of Mary consists of a white tunic and a blue or white scapular. The white scapular is worn only by professed religious during religious ceremonies. They wear the Miraculous Medal about their neck and a 15-decade rosary is attached to their blue cincture.

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