Vocations

Is God calling you to a life of service and mission?

A Marist vocation is not a career. It is a way of belonging to Christ, in the company of Mary, for the sake of the people of God.

Where do I start?Contact the vocation team

The call

What is a Marist vocation?

A vocation begins as a question rather than a certainty. Something in the Gospel holds your attention. You find yourself drawn to prayer, to service, to people who are overlooked. You wonder whether your whole life might be given to this.

A Marist vocation is a call to live that gift in the Society of Mary: as a priest or as a brother, in community, under vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, and always ready to be sent. What makes it Marist is the manner of it. We try to be present the way Mary was present at Nazareth and at Cana — attentive, unassuming, pointing not to ourselves but to Christ.

Nobody discerns a vocation alone, and nobody is asked to decide quickly. The first step is simply a conversation.

Unknown and hidden in this world.

The Marist way, from the Constitutions

Who we are

The Society of Mary

We are priests and brothers of a missionary congregation founded at Lyon in 1816 by a group of young seminarians, and given shape by Jean-Claude Colin. From the first years we were a missionary society: sent to the Pacific, and in our own time to Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.

We live in community. We are not defined by one single work — the Church asks us for parishes, schools, formation, retreats, chaplaincies, work among the poor — but by the spirit in which we undertake whatever is asked.

Meet the Marists of this province

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Marist spirituality

Four marks of the Marist way

Mary is not an ornament of our spirituality. She is its shape.

With Mary

We take Mary as our model and our mother, learning from her attentiveness to God and to people.

Hiddenness

We work without needing to be noticed. The fruit matters more than the signature on it.

Mercy

We go first to those who feel distant from God, and we meet them with patience rather than judgement.

Mission

We hold ourselves available to be sent, to a country or a work we did not choose.

Colorful stained glass depicting saints and religious figures in a Brussels cathedral.

Life and formation

How a Marist is formed

Formation is not a course to be completed but a life to be grown into. It unfolds in stages, each with its own purpose, and nobody is rushed through it.

  1. Contact and accompaniment — you meet the vocation team and we walk with you while you discern, with no commitment on either side.
  2. Postulancy — a first experience of Marist community life, prayer and service.
  3. Novitiate — a year set apart to study the Gospel, the Constitutions and the Marist charism, leading to first vows.
  4. Studies and apostolic placement — philosophy and theology, together with real pastoral work in a mission.
  5. Final profession — and, for those called to it, ordination to the priesthood.

Discernment

Could this be for you?

There is no perfect candidate. But these are the signs we look for together.

Signs worth paying attention to

  • A real life of prayer, however simple.
  • Joy in serving others, especially those nobody else serves.
  • An attraction to community rather than to working alone.
  • Openness to being sent, even far from home.
  • Love for Mary and for the Church, with all its weaknesses.

What we ask practically

  • A baptised, confirmed Catholic in good standing.
  • Normally completed secondary education.
  • Reasonable physical and psychological health.
  • Freedom from obligations that would prevent religious life.
  • A recommendation from your parish priest.

If something on this list worries you, write to us anyway. Discernment is a conversation, not an examination.

Come and see

Recent Events

The best way to understand a vocation is to meet the people living it. These are the six most recent gatherings of the Marist family.

Community Outreach

Marist Scholarship Awards Evening

  • 29 May 2026
  • 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
  • Saint Peter Chanel Mission, Nairobi, Kenya

Thirty-two pupils from the informal settlements received scholarships for the coming academic year, funded entirely by the parish and by…

Event details
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The next step

Speak to the vocation team

Writing to us commits you to nothing. It simply means you would like to talk to someone who has walked this road. Whatever you write stays between you and the vocation director.

Vocation team

Vocation contact details have not been filled in yet. An administrator can add them under Marist Settings, Vocation Team.

Write to us in confidence

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They said yes

Marists who walked this road

Each of them once stood exactly where you are standing now.

Meet the community
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