25th Anniversary of The Beatification of WJC – Oct 2025

Let us give thanks to God for the gift of the beatification of Blessed William Joseph Chaminade 25 years ago and let us all entrust ourselves to the intercession of our Founder.

Blessed William Joseph tells us:
“… [our] main spirit … is to present to the world the spectacle of a people of saints, and to prove by the fact that today, as in the primitive Church, the Gospel can be practiced in all the rigor of spirit and letter.” – Letter II-388 to PB Noailles, February 15,1826

HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER JOHN PAUL II
Sunday, September 3, 2000

Holiness … is a deep and overwhelming relationship with God, built and lived in the daily commitment to adhere to his will. Holiness lives in history and no saint escapes the limits and conditioning proper to our humanity. In beatifying one of her sons, the Church is not
celebrating the particular historical choices he has made, but rather pointing to him as to be imitated and venerated for his virtues, as a praise to the divine grace that shines forth in them.

The beatification, during the Jubilee Year, of William Joseph Chaminade, Founder of the Marianists, reminds the faithful that it is up to them to constantly invent new ways of being witnesses to the faith, especially to reach out to those who are far from the Church and who do not have the usual means of knowing Christ. William Joseph Chaminade invites every Christian to be rooted in his Baptism, which conforms him to the Lord Jesus and communicates the Holy Spirit to him. Father Chaminade’s love for Christ, which was part of the spirituality of the French School, pushed him to tirelessly pursue his work by founding spiritual families, in a troubled period in the religious history of France. His filial attachment to Mary kept him at peace in every circumstance, helping him to do the will of Christ. His concern for human, moral and religious education is for the whole Church a call to renewed attention to young people, who need both educators and witnesses to turn to the Lord and to take their part in the Church’s mission.

We ask with confidence of the new Blessed… William Joseph Chaminade … to help us to live ever more in conformity with the Spirit of Christ. May [his] love for God and for [his] brothers be a light for our steps…!