Colloquium Marianum was an elite type of Marian sodality, founded by

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Father Jakob Rem of the Jesuit Seminary at Ingolstadt in 1594 AD in

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, with the aim to reach holiness of life through an ever-deeper love of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

.''Jesuit Saints & Martyrs'' by Joseph N. Tylenda (1998) Loyola Press page 344

Description

Membership in the Colloquium Marianum, an elite group within the Sodality of Our Lady, was based on a virtuous life, free of cardinal sins. Daily masses in front of the picture of the

Mater ter admirabilis , literally "Mother thrice admirable", is a Marian title in Latin given to a miraculous copy of the '' Salus Populi Romani'' icon, enshrined at the Münster Zur Schönen Unsere Lieben Frau in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. The title is a variant ...

and weekly meetings and discussions under her picture were to assist the members in apostolic fervor and a spiritual Marian life style. The congregation was approved in 1612 by

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V (; ) (17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a mem ...

and thereafter, Father Rem admitted 400 new members. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

(1618-1648), the Colloquium Marianum contributed to the prayerful defence of the faith with thousands of male members. Being an elite organization, it included well-known members from politics and Church politics at that time. During the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...

, and after the Jesuit Order was outlawed by

Pope Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV (; ; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in September 1774. At the time of his elec ...

in 1773, the colloquium lost membership and gradually disappeared. The Schönstatt movement and the Legion of Mary resurrected the idea of Father Rem successfully in the 20th century.

Notes

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Sources

* Rudolf Graber, Colloquium Marianum (Romanum), in Lexikon der Marienkunde, Regensburg, 1967 * Sr. M. Danielle Peters, "400 Years 'Mother Thrice Admirable,'
The Mary Page
2004. Mary, mother of Jesus Jesuit history in Germany History of Catholicism in Germany Ingolstadt Counter-Reformation 16th-century Catholicism 1594 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire