Our Mission
The mission of the Marian Catechist Apostolate is to form catechists doctrinally and spiritually for the teaching of the Catholic Faith. Simply put, it is to help others to know, love, and serve God in this world in order to be happy with Him forever in Heaven. Marian Catechists have as their motto the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the servants at the wedding feast of Cana: “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5). Marian Catechists must be heroic souls, trained catechists who are committed to the conversion of our secularized society through the New Evangelization advanced by Pope Saint John Paul II and his successors.
The History of the Apostolate
Pope Saint John Paul II was the first to call for a New Evangelization in response to the loss of faith in God in our time. Lamenting the fact that so many people live and die with no knowledge of Jesus Christ, he declared the work of this New Evangelization to be the proclamation of the Good News in such a way as to lead people to faith in Jesus Christ by means of the transformation of their hearts (cf. Novo Millennio Ineunte 38-40).
One of the actions taken by Pope Saint John Paul II to reverse the dismal global trend of declining faith in God was to ask Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta to prepare her Sisters, the Missionaries of Charity, not only to care for the immediate material needs of the poor, but also to evangelize them, to teach them about God’s immeasurable love for them and about His desire to be united with them in Heaven for all eternity.
Learn, Love, Teach the Catholic Faith
Mother Teresa depended on Servant of God Father John A. Hardon, S.J. for the help she needed to prepare her Sisters to evangelize the poorest of the poor. Father Hardon was an eminent theologian and master catechist (one who teaches the Faith), the author of over forty major works of theology, spirituality and catechesis, and one of the world’s most respected authorities on the Catholic Faith.
He began to teach the Missionaries of Charity; at the same time, he began to prepare the texts that would eventually become a set of home study courses used to teach the rich truths and beauty of the Catholic Faith and its practice to the lay faithful. To this day, the Missionaries of Charity, along with countless lay members of the Church, use Father Hardon’s courses to prepare themselves to be effective witnesses of the Faith to all they meet.
Father Hardon was responding to the Holy Father’s call for a New Evangelization when he founded the Marian Catechist Apostolate. He established the Marian Catechist Apostolate in order to form catechists, both spiritually and doctrinally, for the teaching of the Faith. He was elated when His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, then-Bishop of La Crosse, Wisconsin, decided to use his home study courses to form catechists in the Diocese of La Crosse. On December 12, 1999, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, then-Bishop Burke established the Marian Catechist Apostolate as a Public Association of the Faithful. The Apostolate has been placed under the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of all America and Star of both the first and the new evangelizations.
In the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, Father Hardon completed and published the Marian Catechist Manual, which sets forth the nature and structure of the Apostolate.
Shortly before his death on December 30, 2000, he asked Cardinal Burke to assume leadership of the Marian Catechist Apostolate. Cardinal Burke accepted and remains today the Episcopal Moderator and International Director of Father Hardon’s apostolate of catechesis.
Father John Anthony Hardon, S.J., Master Catechist
For Father Hardon, the work which God had given him was to be carried out with every ounce of his energy and at every moment of his life.
Saint Mother Teresa on Marian Catechist Coursework
Rome – October 23, 1988
This manual is a clear exposition of the teachings of the Church. Written in simple style, it is easy to understand, and it leaves no doubt in the mind as to what is required of us by the Church, as children of God and followers of Jesus Christ. To be fruitful, our study of catechism must be a prayer, for if we pray, the fruit of prayer is deepening of faith and we will believe, and if we believe we will love, and if we really love we will be able to go and proclaim the good news to the poor – through works of love – that are always works of peace.
My prayer for you who use this manual is that through its use you may grow in the knowledge of the faith taught by Christ through His Church and become holy as your heavenly Father is holy.
God bless you,
Mother Teresa, M.C.
