One Catholic and Apostolic...

I have heard it said that when there is a disagreement among protestants, they simply leave and start a new church.  When Catholics disagree, they build a new room IN the church.

Answers to prayer, result of disagreement, gifts to the church, whatever your perspective, we are rich in the different Orders that serve the Church.  I invite you to add to this post any information that you may come across on our many lay and consecrated orders.

THE MARIANISTS

The Marianists came into being as a result of the persecution of the Catholic Church during the French Revolution.  A wily priest named Father William Joseph Chaminade found clever ways to bring Mass to the French Catholics.  This resourceful priest would dress as a tinker, frequently made to hide in water barrels and small cramped hidey-holes.  Finally forced to flee to Spain, Father Chaminade prayed fervently for his beloved flock in France.  While praying before a statue of Our Lady of the Pillar in Saragossa, he felt inspired by Mary to rebuild the Church in France.  As Mary birthed our Lord, Father Charminade felt a deep conviction that new life would be born in the French Church.

As has been the case throughout the history of our Church two holy women partnered with Father Chaminade to initiate communities that began to transform the shattered faith of a shattered country.  Adele de Batz de Trenquelleon became the foundress of the Marianist Sisters, the Daughter of Mary Immaculate.  Marie Therese de Lamourous, a laywoman, spent her life ministering to the poor in Bordeaux.  These three fashioned communities of faith that transformed a nation.

"The Marianist Way: Holy women and men, lay and Religious, living and praying in communities, convinced that through Mary, CHRIST CAN BE BORN INTO EACH AGE THROUGH OUR HOLINESS AND OUR GOSPEL SERVICE."  -Catholic Digest, December 2011


The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
Founded by St. Peter Julian Eymard (once a Marianist) in France, the mission of this order is to respond to the hungers of the human family with the riches of God's love manifested in the Eucharist.

Born in France at a time of anti-clerical sentiments, St. Peter Julian Eymard nonetheless became a priest at the tender age of 23.  His intense devotion to Mary brought him to Marianist Order, where he served faithfully for many years before starting his own order.  Many hardships were endured in the early years of the fledgling order whose main apostolate mission was to evangelize the young workers and children the made up the majority of the workforce in Paris.  

St. Peter Julian Eymard anticipated the renewal of the church through Vaticans I and II and had a vision of priests, deacons, sisters and lay people living lives of total dedication to the Eucharist.  He wrote on the 'Total Gift of Self' in relation to the devotion of one's whole being to the service of God.  About Eucharistic Prayer he says the following; " Eucharistice prayer has an additional merit:  it goes straight to the Heart of God like a flaming dart; it makes Jesus work, act, and relive in His Sacrament; it releases His power.  The adorer does still more; he prays through Jesus Christ and shares Our Lord's role as Intercessor with the Father and divine Advocate for His redeemed brethren.

An interesting idea that came about in my research was of Eucharistic Petition.  In this form of petition, one does not look at God as someone to manipulate for graces, but instead, one looks at God as being in total control and the only source of graces.  By petitioning God in Eucharistic adoration we are acknowledging our complete dependence on Him.  You acknowledge by the act of petition that Jesus is truly present and truly God.  This is a attitude of extreme humility and faith.

Other quotes by St. Peter Julian Eymard:

"Belong entirely to God through love, entirely to your neighbor through a gracious charity, entirely to the divine Eucharist by the offering and sacrifice of your whole self. Bear with yourself in the patience of our Lord." (To Mrs. Stephanie Gourde, October 23, 1859) 

"Have a great love for Jesus in his divine Sacrament of Love; that is the divine oasis of the desert. It is the heavenly manna of the traveller. It is the Holy Ark. It is the life and Paradise of love on earth." (To the Children of Mary, November 21, 1851)

We proclaim the reality of God’s love in the Eucharist by our “gift of self” to Him and our brothers and sisters. By prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and an active apostolic life, we strive to make Christ in the Eucharist better known and loved.