In concluding the first ten Constitutions, which present the key elements of our charism, we are offered the figure of Mary Immaculate as a model of how to live the charism.
Mary Immaculate is patroness of our Congregation.
Constitution 10
While in Rome in 1825, Eugene changed the name of the Missionaries and gave us a new identity with corresponding responsibilities:
Let us renew ourselves especially in devotion to the most holy Virgin and render ourselves worthy to be Oblates of the Immaculate Mary. But this is a passport to heaven!
Letter to Henri Tempier in Marseilles, 22 December 1825
Father Jetté wrote: “To be ‘patroness of our Congregation’ means that Mary Immaculate is at one and the same time the one who protects and keeps us, who intercedes for us in a special way in the presence of her Son, and who also serves us as a model and an inspiration. Article 10 particularly insists on this latter aspect: Mary is the model of our oblation, of our missionary zeal, of our faith.”
How blessed our Oblate Family is to have this special relationship with Mary!
