February 2, 1947

 

Pope Pius XII’s Apostolic constitution Provida Mater Ecclesia opens a new avenue in the life
of Church : secular institutes

Ever since, secular institutes for men and women have been sanctioned by the Church

July 2, 1952

The Oblate Missionaries of Mary immaculate (O.M.M.I), a secular institute for women, was
founded by Father Louis-Marie Parent, O.M.I. The group Volontaries de Dieu (Voluteers of
God) are affiliated to this Institute.

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May 8, 1958

The Voluntas Dei group receives the apporval of Bishop Henri Routhier, O.M.I. Vicar apostolicof Grouard, Alberta (Canada), and the Church’s official recognition of the group as aPious Society

 

July 2, 1958

Father Leo Deschatelets, O.M.I. Superior General of the Oblate Fathers, asks Father Parent
to found a secular institute for men.

July 2, 1958

The Voluntas Dei Institute (I.V. Dei), a secular institute for all the baptised, was founded by
Father Louis-Marie Parent, O.M.I., in the chapel of our Lady of LaSalette (Trois-Rivieres,
Quebec, Canada). At its founding, the Institute numbered ten young men, of whom four were received into profession, five began probation, and one started aspirancy.

September 18, 1958

The I.V. Dei reachers out to the world, first in Laos, then in the United States, Bolivia, Dcuador,
Sri Lanka, India, Chile, Mexico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Colombia.
 

1968

 

The Institute Voluntas Dei started its mission in India

 

July 12, 1987

The Voluntas Dei Institute is officially recognised as a Secular Institute of Pontifical right by
Pope John Paul II.

September 21, 1988

Our Constitutions are approved..

July 17, 2007

Rome grants the Director General the faculty of granting dimissorial letters to members of the
Institute who are candidates to holy order (diaconate and priesthood).

June 10, 2010

Spiritually affiliated persons are accepted in the Institute

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March 1, 2017

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The Tamil Nadu was erected to be a Region

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Our Founder:

His Life

Nom : Henri-Louis Parent
Name of First Profession : Louis - Marie Parent
Date and Place of Birth : July, 12 1910, into the Quebec City Region (Canada)
Entry in religious life : 1931
Religious Community : Oblates of Mary Immaculate
First profession : 21 July 1932
Ordination : May 12, 1937 in the Mont Laurier, Quebec Diocese
Death : May 17, 2009, 99 years at Richelieu (Quebec, Canada)

WHO ARE WE

The Voluntas Dei Institute is a secular institute of pontifical right in the Catholic Church. Secular Institutes are a new form of consecrated life, officially recognised since 1947. The Voluntas Dei Institute is composed of baptised and consecrated people who live the evangelical counsels of obedience, poverty and chastity in the midst of the world in order to be “salt of the earth”, “light of the world” and “leaven in the dough”.

The Voluntas Dei Institute is defined by three essential elements: 

Consecration : the members are called to give themselves totally to God, for His honour and service, in a given institute erected by the Church.

Apostolate : The members are called to work in the temporal order and in this way witness to Christ, Working with the power of love in the world and from within the world, they share in the evangelisation task of the Church.

Secularity : All of God’s people are called to dedicate themselves to Him, wherever they are. They do not need to live in community as the religious do. They are in communion with the Church and live in fellowship with their brothers and sisters, as it is their style of secular consecration.