Marian Congregation

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Processional pole of the "Marian Men and Young Men Congregation Lauterhofen " in the Upper Palatinate

The Marian Congregation ( Latin : Congregatio Mariana ; MC or MK for short ) is an ecclesiastical association established by the Jesuit Father Jean Leunis SJ in 1563 , which was founded in 1584 by Pope Gregory XIII. was confirmed with the bull Omnipotentis Dei . The first foundation of a Marian Congregation in the German-speaking area took place in Vienna in 1573 , followed by Dillingen an der Donau in 1574 , Cologne in 1576 , Koblenz in 1582 and Augsburg in 1588. In the founding years, the MCs only belonged to men, which is why the name Marian Congregations for Men (MMC) also came about . In 1751, Marian Women's Congregations (MFC) were established. Pope Pius XII initiated a new movement of Marian devotion in 1948 with the Apostolic Constitution Bis saeculari . In 1953 the World Association of the Marian Congregation was founded, which in 1956 joined the Conference of International Catholic Organizations. Several Marian congregations also merged into the Community of Christian Life , founded in 1967 , which is based on the original focus of Ignatius' retreat, while other Marian congregations retained their independence with an emphasis on the Marian orientation.

Goals and Awareness

The aim of the congregation is a unified life and faith , which corresponds to the Ignatian principles of “seeking and finding God”. To do this, they orientated themselves on the exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and strive to implement their spirituality in daily life. In 1748, Pope Benedict XIV gave the impetus for the veneration of Mary with the bull " Gloriosae Dominae ", which became the further guideline of the Marian congregations for their ideas about life, especially after the abolition of the Jesuit order in 1773; at that time the congregations were subordinate to the bishops. The members thus set themselves the goal of devotion to the Virgin Mary and pursued an active apostolate . In their congregations, the members see themselves as sodals , which means that they stand together as a community and want to work for a common good. With the reception every sodal consecrates himself to the Blessed Mother .

history

Since the founding of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, a lay movement developed at the same time that felt connected to the aims of the society. In 1563, the Belgian Jesuit Jean (Jan) Leunis (1532–1584) founded a student group at the Collegio Romano . This community felt a bond with the Mother of God Mary and endeavored to give their life to the work of God . For this reason they chose the feast of the Annunciation (March 25th) as their day of honor. In 1576 there were around 30,000 members around the world, most of whom were pupils and students . The first Marian Congregation was founded in Vienna as early as 1573, further foundations followed at the Jesuit schools and after Augsburg in 1588 Regensburg followed in 1592 and Altötting in 1599 . But other congregations were also founded at European Jesuit schools based on the founding example. In 1584, Pope Gregory XIII confirmed. (1572–1585) established the Marian Congregation at the Collegio Romano as a “church community” and raised it to the “mother and head” of all other Marian men's congregations. The jurisdiction of the received Superior General of the Jesuits in Rome , in 1587 developed Claudio Acquaviva , the first basic rules for the Marian Congregation. In 1751, Marian women's congregations and congregations of both sexes were founded with papal approval.

Separation from the Jesuits

The abolition of the Jesuit order in 1773 also ended the jurisdiction of the Jesuit superiors over the Marian congregations, whose activities and membership decreased considerably. Pope Clement XIV (1769–1774) ordered that the existing congregations should be handed over to the jurisdiction of the bishops. Each congregation was a clerical Präses prefixed. The Praeses was still not allowed to be a member of the Jesuit order. There were new foundations, the number of members grew, especially after the proclamation of the dogma about the " Immaculate Conception of Mary " (1854), up to 80,000. With the re-approval of the Jesuit Order in 1814, the Order's leadership resumed the origins of the Marian Congregations and in 1924 installed a central secretariat for the Marian Congregations in the General Curia of the Order in Rome.

Marian Congregation of Virgins in Switzerland

As part of the revival of the Marian Congregation of Virgins (MJK) in 1919, religion teacher Josef Zuber submitted a sample number for an association magazine called Das Marienkind , which appeared monthly from 1920 onwards. The beginnings seem to be rather subdued. Under Fr. Walter Mugglin SJ, editor 1932–1960, the congregation center and editorial team moved from Catholic Lucerne to Protestant Zurich, changed to the name Our Leader in 1933 and increased the circulation from 14,000 to over 54,000 (1954). With the disappearance of the congregations, it fell to 33,000 in 1966. Mugglin helped the MJK to flourish again in the 1930s and founded the Blauring girls' youth group in 1933 to promote young talent . The magazine changes its name to Ancilla in 1964 and becomes Elle- inspired women's magazine. 1979/80 there is a new name change to Mirjam and the publication ceases in 1999. The Congregational Headquarters was dissolved as early as 1975 because the Marian Congregation for the Virgin was no longer up to date.

Revitalization

Pope Pius XII (1939–1958) achieved a revival of the church associations with the Apostolic Constitution "Bis saeculari die" from 1948. He praised the sodality and also confirmed to the Marian Congregations that they had played an important role in spreading and defending the Catholic faith. In 1953 the World Association of the Marian Congregation was founded, which from 1956 joined the Conference of International Catholic Organizations. From this in 1967 the “Community of Christian Life” developed.

Marian Men's Congregations in Germany

Marian Men's Congregation Cologne to the High Cathedral (1608) in the funeral procession for Joachim Meisner 2017
Interior of the Trinity Church in Munich. On the left of the picture you can see the statue of the Virgin Mary of the former Latin congregation.

In Germany not all Marian congregations joined the Community of Christian Life (GCL), which was established in 1967 . However, this does not exclude close cooperation, for example the existing independent “Bavarian Men's Congregations” are associated with the GCL at national level. The local focus of the congregations is Bavaria, there are 15 Marian men's congregations with approx. 45,000 sodals. The central points are: Amberg, Augsburg, Aschaffenburg, Bamberg, Cham, Eichstätt, Freising, Ingolstadt, Landshut, Munich (Latin congregation "Prima Latina" at the Trinity Church , as well as that of the citizens at the Citizens' Hall cms), Passau, Pfreimd, Regensburg and Straubing . The following is a small selection and overview of the oldest still active Marian men's congregations in Germany:

  • Marian Youth Congration at the Mergener Hof (1576)
  • Marian Men's Congregation Regensburg "Annunciation" (1592)
  • Marian Men's Congregation at the pilgrimage site Altötting (1599) [3] , including the local groups Marian Men's Congregation (MC) Palling and Freutsmoos, Marian Men's Congregation Haag (1878), Marian Men's Congregation Roßbach
  • Marian Congregation for Men Cologne for the High Cathedral (1608)
  • Marian male and young male sodality "Assumption of Mary" Fulda (1609)
  • Marian Congregation for Men "Annunciation at the Citizens' Hall in Munich" (1610)
  • Marian Congregations Augsburg (1613)
  • Marian Men's Congregation Eichstätt "Annunciation" (1615)
  • Marian Congregation for Men Landshut and Surroundings (1629)
  • Marian Men's Congregation “Annunciation” Straubing (1646), which includes the local groups Marian Men's Congregation (MMC) Hainsbach, MMC Stallwang, MMC Wetzelsberg and MMC Loitzendorf
  • Marian Men's Congregation Freising (1861)
  • Marian Men's Congregation Marktl (1868)
  • Marian Congregation for Men in Rimbach (1910)
  • Marian Congregation for Men in Gleißenberg (1913)

See also

literature

  • Franz X. Schwärzler: Sodalis Marianus. Constitution, statutes and customs of the Congregation of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary , 6th edition. Graz and Vienna 1909.
  • Philipp Löffler: The Marian Congregations in their essence and their history , 3rd edition. Freiburg i. Br. 1911.
  • Elder Mullan: The Marian Congregation depicted from documents , Vienna 1913.
  • Heinrich Opitz: Under the lily banner of the Marian Congregation. Nature and Work, History and Organization of the Marian Congregations , 6th Edition. Vienna undated (1916?)
  • Georg Harrasser: Spirit and Life of the Mar (Iranian) Congregation. The new general statutes , Innsbruck 1917 (sodal books, vol. 1)
  • Wilhelm Kratz: From old times. The Marian Congregations in the Lands of the German Tongue. How you became and worked from 1575 to 1650 , Innsbruck 1917.
  • Walter Sierp: The Marian Congregations in Germany with special consideration of the Marian youth movement , Freiburg i. Br. 1918.
  • Philipp Löffler, Georg Harrasser: The Marian Congregations in their essence and their history , 4. u. 5th edition. Freiburg i. Br. 1924 (Marian Congregational Library, Vol. 4)
  • Adalbert Bangha: Handbook for the leaders of Marian congregations , Innsbruck 1926.
  • JB Kettenmeyer: The Beginnings of Marian Sodality in Cologne 1576–1586 , Münster i. W. 1928.
  • Josef Stierli : The Marian Congregation , Lucerne 1947 a. Augsburg 1951.
  • Max v. Gumppenberg: Explanations of the Apostolic Constitution Bis Saeculari Pope Pius XII. dated September 27, 1948 , Augsburg 1957.
  • Louis Paulussen: How God Works, Beginnings of the Communities of Christian Life , Manuscript Nationalsekretariat SJ, Augsburg 1979.
  • Ludwig Kröner: Collect what is scattered. 75 years of the Marian Congregation Maria Patrona Bavariae near St. Klara Nuremberg , Academy of the Archdiocese of Bamberg, 1996, ISBN 3-9805236-2-4 .
  • Article (The) Marian Congregation / Congregations in:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In today's sense, an association of believers
  2. ↑ z. E.g .: Marian Women's Congregation Regensburg [1]
  3. ↑ Künzler, Mirjam: Sexualmoral in Catholic women's and family magazines 1945–1990. Freiburg i. Ü., 2003: Academic Press Friborg.
  4. ↑ International Catholic Organizations conference dissolves to join new NGO forum (1927–2008) [2] (self-dissolving 2008)
  5. ↑ The founding years are in brackets