The Marian Vow of Unlimited Consecration to the Immaculate:

A Spiritual Profile

As the Founder and Father General of the entire family of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (Friars, Sisters, Poor Clares, Tertiaries, and M.I.M.), Fr. Stefano Maria Manelli has distilled and put into writing for his children the illumination he has received over the decades about the Marian Vow. This work is the fruit of his life of prayer, study, and missionary activity. It is the fruit of his profound union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The following are some excerpts of the writings of the Founder on the Marian Vow, which is the essence of the Franciscans of the Immaculate.

One could say, in fact, that [the Marian Vow] enriches the spiritual life [of the Franciscans and Poor Clares] in such an extraordinary manner as to bring it to the absolute peak of all spirituality, placing it upon the summit of the entire ascetical and mystical journey. After all, we are speaking of a journey which brings about the transfiguration of the person into the Immaculate, that is, into She who is the “most holy Woman,” the one who is “full of grace” (Lk 1:28), the one who has “the face which most resembles that of Christ” (Par. 32, 85-86).

The splendid models of this marianiziation-christification in accordance with the potential and vitality of the Marian Vow are, above all, the four Patron Saints of the Franciscans of the Immaculate: the Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi, the Seraphic Mother St. Clare of Assisi, St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe and St. Pio of Pietrelcina. These four models are a paradigm of superlative sanctity and beauty.

Reflection, meditation, study, and prayer, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, will help us to penetrate evermore deeply the Marian Vow which is centered in the ineffable mystery of the Immaculate Conception, in She who is the Paradise of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.