Our Rule

We coordinate our missionary activity with the overall pastoral plan of the local Churches where we work, and we collaborate in a spirit of brotherhood with others who work for the gospel. (Constitution 6)

It is in an apostolic community that the Oblates accomplish their mission to proclaim the reign of God. This radical demand of the Gospel is manifest in their religious vows.

Through the vow of chastity, Oblates choose the path of consecrated celibacy in light of the Gospel. This consecrated celibacy invites them to develop the riches of their hearts. An expression of life and love, it is the total gift of self to God and humans with all their affective energies and the living forces of their being.

Through the vow of poverty, Oblates hold everything in common. Animated by the Spirit who led the first Christians to share everything, they adopt a simple life where everyone contributes to the support and apostolate of the community.

Through the vow of obedience, Oblates listen to one another in fraternal love. As personas who live in community, they have the responsibility to seek and respond to the desire of God, manifested in the cooperation with their chosen superiors.

On February 17, 1826, Pope Leo XII formally approved Constitutions and Rules of the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. In 1982, the Oblates revised the Constitutions and Rules in order to adapt them to the needs of today. These are some of the highlights:

The call of Jesus Christ, heard within the Church through people’s need for salvation, draws us together as Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Christ thus invites us to follow him and to share in his mission through word and work. (Constitution 1)

We are a missionary Congregation. Our principal service in the Church is to proclaim Christ and his Kingdom to the most abandoned. We preach the Gospel among people who have not yet received it and help them see their own values in its light. Where the Church is already established, our commitment is to those groups it touches least. (Constitution 5)

Mary Immaculate is patroness of our Congregation. Open to the Spirit, she consecrated herself totally as lowly handmaid to the person and work of the Saviour. She received Christ in order to share him with all the world, whose hope he is. In her we recognize the model of the Church’s faith and of our own. (Constitution 10)