"What I regard as a really distinctive trait of our two orders, and what seems to me to be without a precedent in all religious orders I know of, is the fact, as I have said, that we embrace the religious life in the name and for the glory of the Blessed Virgin, and for the sake of devoting ourselves to her, that is to say, our bodies and all we possess, in order to make her known, loved and served.(From Fr. Chaminade Letter of August 24, 1839 Letter to the Retreat Masters.)
