Sharing Our Marianist Stories

In June 2024 Tom Mengler will conclude twelve years of serving as the President of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas and Winston Erevelles will begin his tenure as the University’s President. This episode provides a brief inside look into their lives. They each share how they came to the Marianist Family, how the Charism has impacted their lives, how they have seen the Charism at work through their work and leadership at ...

Al Prendergast has been a Lay Marianist since he took the vow of stability in 1970. Sr. Laura Leming, FMI made first vows as a Marianist Sister in 1978 and, later, also took the vow of stability. They each participated in MSP 2.0 in 2019-2020 which focused on the topic of “Marianist Stability: Rooted Presence.” In this episode, Al and Sr. Laura share their historical and sociological research on the vow of stability and reflect on ...

Meghann Naveau and Nancy Woeste are Lay Marianists serving on the Dayton Marianist Family Council and have been part of the Queen of Apostles Community (or QAC) which transitioned from a non-territorial Marianist parish to a Lay Community on January 1, 2024. They share about their experiences of serving on the temporalities committee of the Dayton Marianist Family Council and how that engagement positioned them to help the Marianis...

Sr. Nicole Trahan, FMI professed first vows of June of 2008 and serves as the Vocation Director for the Daughters of Mary Immaculate amongst many other professional roles. In this episode of Sharing Our Marianist Stories, Sr. Nicole shares about her experience in Nairobi, Kenya as a participant in the Nazareth Program, a formation program for emerging formators within the Marianist Family. After giving a brief framework of the...

Laura Koonce and Jon Watase are two staff members at Saint Louis School in Hawaii, a Marianist school serving boys in kindergarten through twelfth grade. In this episode of Sharing Our Marianist Stories they share about the impact of the agricultural program that Jon helped establish, how their lives have been impacted by the Marianist Family, and their experience of the 2023 Lay Marianist Assembly in St. Louis. Their insights abou...

Ann Mueller has been connected to the Marianist Family since 1988 when she began working for the Society of Mary’s Province of St. Louis. In this episode of Sharing Our Marianist Stories, Ann gives an insider’s view of what it’s like to work for the Society of Mary. She shares how her work with the Society of Mary impacted her spiritual life and reflects on the experience of working for the Marianists before and after the...

Marianist PULSE, a postgraduate year of professional non-profit service rooted in the Marianist Charism, has had an impact on numerous individuals and communities. In this episode, Abby Shahady, Ani Artero, and Dominic Sanfilippo share their stories of discerning, engaging in and completing a year of service with Marianist PULSE. Each of these PULSE alums share the impact the program had on their engagement with the Marianist Famil...

The Catholic Church’s annual celebration of National Vocation Awareness Week, during the first week of November, promotes and celebrates vowed religious life. In recognition of this celebration, Bro. Mark Motz, SM and Sr. Rose Rucoba, FMI share their stories of discerning and living vowed religious life within the Marianist Family. Their stories highlight significant influences in their discernment journeys, the blessings and ...

Bro. Bob Moriarty, SM has been professed with the Society of Mary for over sixty years and now lives in community in Philadelphia, PA. In this episode of Sharing Our Marianist Stories, Bro. Bob shares about his journey with the Society of Mary, professional experience in parish ministry, vision for the Marianist Family in parishes, and The Best of Quest, a resource he developed that NACMS has published. Learn more about B...

Marceta Reilly has a long tenure of familiarity and engagement with the Marianist Family. Jeri Albright came to know the Marianists as a result of her friendship with Marceta. In this episode of Sharing Our Marianist Stories, Jeri and Marceta share their experience as Lay Marianists living near Topeka, Kansas, where there aren’t many Marianists. Marceta and Jeri share the origin story of the Harvest Prayer Marianist Lay C...

In celebration of the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative’s (MSJC) 25th Anniversary, Sarah Gray moderated a panel of current volunteers serving on the MSJC’s Issue Teams. Maureen O’Rourke (Racial Justice Team), Ish Ruiz (LGBTQ+ Initiative Team), and Julia Love (Adele Social Justice Team) share their passion for social justice, the MSJC’s impact, and their hopes for the future of the MSJC. This episode compliments our p...

Bro. Jesse O'Neill, SM has been a Marianist Brother for over 25 years and is the Assistant for Education on the Provincial Council for the Society of Mary. In this episode, Bro. Jesse shares about his first exposure and discernment with the Marianists. He gives a glimpse into his role on the Provincial Council and a few of the programs and institutions within the Office of Education including Mother Seton Academy in Baltimore, Mary...

This special episode is a joint production between NACMS and the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative (MSJC) who is celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. This podcast is a recording of a Zoom conversation that took place between MSJC Director Sarah Gray and three people who were present at MSJC's foundation: Sr. Leanne Jablonski, FMI; Jim Vogt; and Fr. Ted Cassidy, SM. These three Marianists reflect on the origins of MSJC...

In this episode, Patti and Gabby interview each other about their time at NACMS as they prepare to transition to new endeavors: retirement for Patti and PhD work for Gabby. Tune in to hear them share about highlights from their NACMS career, which Founder inspires them the most, and their future plans.

See a transcript of this episode here.

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In this episode of Sharing Our Marianist Stories, Gabby Bibeau sits down with Brother David Betz to talk about his role as the promoter of the Marianist Saints in the United States. They talk about who are the Marianist religious and lay people on the path to sainthood, the process of canonization, and the possibility of a US-born Marianist having their cause introduced. 

Want to learn more about the Marianists on the ...

Patti Gehred and Gabby Bibeau are excited to share this interview with Brother Andrew Kosmowski and Teresa Trimboli, who are the very talented (and very hard working!) librarians at NACMS. Listen to them talk about the history of the library, its importance for Marianist studies, and share some fun facts about rare items in the collection.

Send your reference questions to Brother Andrew or Teresa by emailing them: kosmowski...

Patti Gehred and Gabby Bibeau are excited to share this interview with Fr. Quentin Hakenewerth that follows up on a previous podcast episode with Rob Brodrick, which heavily featured this quote by Fr. Quentin: "The quality of our presence is more important than our work." Fr. Quentin elaborates more on this quote in this episode, as well as touching on what Marianist presence is and how it is articulated by Fr. Chaminade.

In line with the tradition of praying the Stations of the Cross during Lent, NACMS is offering these guided reflections on what we are calling the Stations of Easter, each one reflecting on a different moment in the Easter season. Tune in each Saturday in Easter for a new Station and accompanying reflection. We hope these reflections will guide us in our journey into the mystery of the Resurrection of Jesus and our relationship wit...

In line with the tradition of praying the Stations of the Cross during Lent, NACMS is offering these guided reflections on what we are calling the Stations of Easter, each one reflecting on a different moment in the Easter season. Tune in each Saturday in Easter for a new Station and accompanying reflection. We hope these reflections will guide us in our journey into the mystery of the Resurrection of Jesus and our relationship wit...