July 23: Anniversary of the Fourvière Promise

On July 23, 1816, the day after their ordination, a group of young priests, full of enthusiasm, travelled to the shrine of Fourvière in Lyon, France.

At the feet of our Lady, in the small chapel, next to the current Basilica, they promised to establish the Society of Mary.

From the beginning, the first Marists conceived the Society of Mary as a large tree with different branches: priests, brothers, sisters and lay people.

The origins of the Society of Mary remind us that, as religious and laity, we come together for mission, and are called to be the Marian face of the Church through our particular way of being and building Church.