Spiritual Life

Society of Mary

Faith is the cornerstone of our school and the lead principle in our Five Pillars of Notre Dame Academy. In addition to our rigorous and unique academic environment, we offer daily prayer and community Mass to students and families. Service, guided by faith, is another important pillar that students explore through our service learning program.

Notre Dame Academy, an Independent Marist Catholic school, invites families from all walks of life to visit our campus. In keeping with the Marist tradition, approximately 66% of our student body is Catholic and 34% of our students are of other faiths. We embrace cultural diversity and welcome all religious faiths to our community, while weaving the teachings of the Catholic church and Marist mission in education into our everyday learning.

The word Marist is a family name, "a tree with several branches," belonging to five religious communities: the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers and Brothers), Marist Brothers of the Schools, Marist Sisters, Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary, and the Marist Laity.

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The Marist Mission

Marists are engaged in the "work of Mary," as understood by their founder, Jean-Claude Colin (1790-1875). In everything they do, they seek to participate in Mary's desire to see the Gospel of Jesus take root in our contemporary world. They work to transform the church to reflect "the face of Mary," a spirit that is gentle, loving, humble, relational, compassionate, open, inclusive, and merciful.
The Society of Mary

The Society of Mary is divided into 14 provinces and four missionary districts around the world. A province is a Marist region which has its own government, personnel, and financial resources. In this way it has a certain independence from other provinces and districts. All provinces and districts are united, however, under one Superior General who resides in Rome.

In the United States there are two provinces with centers in Boston and Atlanta. The Boston province is in the Northeast corner, the Atlanta Province covers the rest of the United States, including the states of Hawaii and Alaska. The two U.S. provinces cooperate in many ventures, especially in the area of training new candidates for entry into the Society of Mary.

Visit the Society of Mary for more information.

To be a Marist is to have a sense of being chosen and called by Mary - "a gracious choice" - to compassionately and mercifully live as she did as mother and disciple of God.