This document lists and provides brief descriptions of various Marian and Marianist celebrations throughout the year. It discusses important Marian feast days in the Catholic Church like the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary. It also commemorates founders and members of the Marianist order who were important to the founding and history of the Marianists, such as Blessed Chaminade, Venerable Adèle de Batz de Trenquelleon, and martyred brothers. Many of the celebrations mark anniversaries or occasions important in the founding and history of the Marianist order and their devotion to Mary.

1. MARIAN & MARIANIST CELEBRATIONS
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2. MARY MOTHER OF
GOD - January 1
Of all the Marian feasts of the
church, this one has a primary
place. It celebrates Mary’s role in the
incarnation and in redemption. In this
role, her special relationship with her
son is emphasized and she is
acknowledged as a model of the
church.
[Icon of “Ke Lede o Kaminaka” – Our Lady of Chaminade]

3. VENERABLE ADELE
DAY - JANUARY 10
This day marks the anniversary of
the death of Venerable Adéle de Batz
de Trenquelleon, foundress of the
Marianist Sisters and the Marianist
Family.

4. FEAST DAY OF BL.
FR. CHAMINADE -
JANUARY 22
This marks the anniversary of the
death of our blessed founder, Fr.
William Joseph Chaminade. On the
occasion of his beatification the
Church proclaimed this day as his
feast day for the Marianist Family.
Beatified by Pope John Paul II on
September 3, 2000.

5. THE PRESENTATION
OF THE LORD -
FEBRUARY 2
This feast commemorates Mary’s
purification and the presentation of
Jesus in the temple.
This day also marks the first
members of the Bordeaux Sodality
who made their first act of
consecration on February 2, 1801.

6. ST. JOSEPH,
HUSBAND OF MARY
- MARCH 19
In 1870, Pope Pius IX declaired St.
Joseph the patron of the universal
church. St. Joseph is the patron of the
Society of Mary, whose superiors
general take the name of St. Joseph.
Blessed Chaminade took the name
of St. Joseph because of the saints
special relationship with the Blessed
Virgin Mary.

7. THE FEAST OF THE
ANNUNCIATION -
MARCH 25
This feast celebrates the incarnation
of Jesus made flesh in the womb of
the Virgin Mary. In the universal
church, this feast celebrates the
beginning of redemption. It also
honors Mary as the new Eve, the
obedient and faithful woman who
generously agrees to be the Mother
of God.

8. MARY, MOTHER OF
GRACE - MAY 12
We honor Mary as one who
received the fullness of God’s grace
(God’s life) by her love and fidelity to
God. On this date, Pope Gregory
XVI issued his commendation of
both the Society of Mary and the
Daughters of Mary Immaculate on
April 12, 1839.

9. OUR LADY OF
FATIMA - MAY 13
Mary is venerated under this title
following the apparitions to three
shepherd children in Portugal in
1917. The message of Fatima includes
a call to conversion of heart,
repentance from sin, and prayer,
especially the Rosary.

10. MARY, HELP OF
CHRISTIANS - MAY 25
This memorial is a reminder to us of
May 25, 1816, the day on which the
Daughters of Mary Immaculate were
founded, and of May 25, 1891, when
Pope Pius VII granted first spiritual
privileges to the two Marianist
societies.

11. THE VISITATION -
MAY 31
This day is unique. It does not
commemorate a saint but an
extraordinary meeting between two
pregnant women. The feast
remembers the joy of the encounter
and celebrates the sisterhood of two
women joined by faith in the God of
the Impossible.

12. ST. BENEDICT -
JULY 11
Few saints have left such a palpable
impact on the world as St. Benedict,
the monk whose Rule of Life set a
standard for the Western monastic
tradition. Community life, balance of
work and prayer, and regulation of
religious discipline were his major
contribution to religious life.
Marianists celebrate him as their
Patriarch.

13. OUR LADY OF MOUNT
CARMEL - JULY 16
The Carmelites have celebrated their
patronal feast on this day since the
14th century. The Order of Carmel
dates to the 12th century, when a
group of Western hermits settled on
Mount Carmel, overlooking the plain
of Galilee, in imitation of the prophet
Elijah.

14. BL. JAKOB GAPP, S.M. -
AUGUST 13
Jakob Gapp, S.M. was a Marianist
priest who proclaimed the
incompatibility of the principles of
National Socialism with Christianity,
and began to be persecuted. He was
beheaded on August 13, 1943. He
was beatified by Pope John Paul II on
November 24, 1996.

15. ASSUMPTION OF
MARY - AUGUST 15
This solemnity recognizes Mary’s
passage into heaven, united body and
soul. The tradition of Mary’s
assumption dates back to at least the
5th century, but the doctrine was
only dogmatically and infallibly
defined in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.
Many Marianist religious professed
their first vows on this date.

16. QUEENSHIP OF MARY
- AUGUST 22
In 1954 Pope Pius XII instituted this
memorial “so that all may clearly
recognize and more zealously
venerate the kind and maternal rule
of the Mother of God.” It is
celebrated on the octave of the
Assumption.
Many Marianist religious professed
their first vows on this date.

17. MARY, QUEEN OF THE
APOSTLES - SEPTEMBER 5
Blessed Chaminade considered the
retreat of 1818 as “foundational”. At
the end of that retreat, seven men
made their first public profession of
vows in the new Institute of Mary,
now known today as the Society of
Mary (Marianist Brothers and
Priests).

18. NATIVITY OF MARY -
SEPTEMBER 8
This feast originated in the Eastern
Church and was commemorated in
the West as early as the 5th century.
No one is certain where Mary was
born, but two traditions have
survived ancient times, one naming
Nazareth, the other, Jerusalem. An
occasion of praise and thanksgiving,
the feast commemorates Mary’s
personal sanctity and vocation as the
mother of Jesus.

19. MOST HOLY NAME OF
MARY - SEPTEMBER 12
Instituted by Pope Innocent XI in the
17th century. God the Father is
glorified by the exalted role in
salvation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Thus her name is one of honor, a
holy name, a maternal name, and a
name responsive to the needs of the
Church. Its is the patronal feast of
the Society of Mary.

20. MARIE THÉRÈSE DAY -
SEPTEMBER 14
One this day, we remember Marie
Thérèse de Lamourous, who helped
Blessed Chaminade establish the
Sodality of the Madeleine in
Bordeaux and participated in the
foundation of the Daughters of Mary
Immaculate and the Miséricorde.

21. BL. ERAÑA, HITA, FUIDIO -
SEPTEMBER 18
This day commemorates our three
Marianist Brothers, who were
martyred for their faith in 1936
during the religious persecution in
Spain. There were beatified by Pope
John Paul II on October 1, 1995.

22. THE HOLY GUARDIAN
ANGELS - OCTOBER 2
Marianists commemorate today the
occasion when the first meeting of
those who had decided to embrace
religious life in a new Institute
gathered at Chaminade’s residence in
Villa St. Laurent.

23. OUR LADY OF THE
ROSARY - OCTOBER 7
Established in 1573 by Pope Pius V
ingratitued for the victory of the
Christians over the Turks at Lepanto.
It was extended to the universal
church in 1716.

24. OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR
- OCTOBER 12
This is a feast celebrated in memory
of the graces received by Fr.
Chaminade at the shrine of Our
Lady of the Pillar during his exile in
Spain, especially that of the
inspiration to create the Marianist
Family and to found the Society of
Mary and Daughters of Mary
Immaculate.

25. MADRID MARIANIST
MARTYRS - NOVEMBER 6
This feast commemorates the the
martyrdom of our four Marianist
Brothers: Miguel Léiber Garay, SM;
Florencio Arániz Cejudo, SM; Joaquín
Ochoa Salazar, SM; and Sabino
Ayastuy Errasti, SM all martyred in
during the relgious persecution in
Spain in 1936. Beatified by Pope
Benedict XVI on October 28, 2007.

26. PRESENTATION OF MARY
- NOVEMBER 21
Though it cannot be proven
historically, Mary’s presentation has
an important theological purpose. It
emphasizes that the holiness
conferred on Mary from the
beginning of her life on earth
continued through her early
childhood and beyond.

27. IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
- DECEMBER 8
In celebrating this feast we single out
this woman among all women for
her pivotal role in salvation history. It
is the patronal feast of the Sodality
as well as the foundation day of the
Bordeaux Sodality and the Marianist
Family.

28. OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
- DECEMBER 12
This feast commemorates the
apparitions of the Blessed Virgin in
1531 at Tepeyac, on the outskirts of
Mexico City. Devotion to Our Lady
under this title has grown over the
centuries and in 1946 Pope Pius XII
named her patroness of the
Americas.