Our History-Lestonnac.org

OUR HISTORY

Jeanne de Lestonnac, keenly aware of the important role of women in the Church and in society, has the visionary insight and conviction to introduce a new form of APOSTOLIC RELIGIOUS LIFE.

It is rooted in Ignatian Spirituality:
to seek and find God in all things, with an ever growing spirit of availability like Mary.

The Company of Mary is characterized by its universality and dynamism, adapting and responding to the needs of new situations in each period of history through its service of education.

In 1606 Jeanne writes the Abrege or Formula of the Institute and presents it to the Church for its approbation.
She staunchly defends the identity of the Order as a Religious Institute and its unique apostolic dimension.

On April 7, 1607, she receives the official Approbation from the Church for the foundation of the first Religious Institute of women dedicated to active ministry.

On December 10, 1610, the first five companions make their religious vows.

The Company of Mary has lived nearly 400 years of expansion.
By the time of the death of the Foundress in 1640, 30 convents have been established throughout France.
It quickly extends to other parts of Europe.
Its apostolic zeal leads it to other lands, crossing oceans and continents to North and South America.
Later to Africa, Asia...
The challenge has been to foster life and hope by a presence that is undeniably filled with the Spirit.

MARY is key in the development of this New Religious Order.
The Company of Mary is Called and Congregated
in her name and under her protection.

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We call her, Our Lady Of Berceau (The Cradle). It is her family name, in French. Because it was in Bordeaux where Jeanne de Lestonnac wanted to forever recognize the image of Our Lady, as the living cornerstone of the building, -The House of Our Lady - in the place of honor in the chapel of the House on Rue du Ha. It was her rightful place; Mary in the center of the gift that God had designated for the Church, in creating this Company of women, The Company of Mary.

For Jeanne, her intuitions had become more luminous, the roads that she must travel with others, clearer and delineated as she contemplated Our Lady remembering everything, pondering, with her and like her, in the reminiscences of her heart.

A name, Mary, Our Lady, would be our convocation and protection "we are gathered for her honor and under her name and protection..."; a promise of unity of apostolic life together with the "seeking of the Lord in all things." A name in which we experience ourselves as called, fulfilling it to arrive at the fruition of the New Woman, "fulfill your name and the hope of this community.

" In this image, towering and white, Mary, from on high, lowers her eyes and she follows us with her gaze. To look upon her and allow ourselves to be perceived by her is a gesture of affection that is conveyed through the soul. Her hands carry and support the Child, who also gazes at her, clasping tightly in His hands, a cluster of grapes, - vine shoot and vine - of the earth of Bordeaux.

Our Lady of Berceau (cradle), woman inculturated, welcoming us with her Mother's smile, entwined, woven as one with the Son who dreams of the harvest, we await with you the promise of the Kingdom, in the joy of the feast.