Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception: Membership Questions

To become a member of the Confraternity, you must be a Catholic 18 years old or older and in good standing (ie: in full communion) with the Catholic Church. The Confraternity is open to all Catholic lay members, priests, deacons, vowed religious, or members of other lay associations as long as they are able to fulfill the requirements for membership in the Confraternity.

Members are invested by a Marian or Marian delegated priest or deacon, and the vesting must be performed by someone other than the new member themselves.

If You are a Catholic in good standing, 18 or older, and have prayerfully considered the obligations and graces of the confraternity, you may join. You will need a Priest or Deacon who is willing to be delegated or has been delegated by the Marians (or a Marian Priest) and your date of baptism.

USA & Canada:
Fill out the enrollment form, and a packet will be sent to you with a copy of the admission rite, the delegation letter for your priest or deacon, a blue scapular to use in your enrollment, and a return form to be signed, dated, and returned after your enrollment so we can add you to the register of the Confraternity.

After you have been added to the register, we will send you a certificate of enrollment.

International requests:
Upon filling out the enrollment form, you will be either sent a link to a local confraternity branch if one exists, or will be sent a digital registration packet.

Please return a scanned or photographed of your signed enrollment form from the packet so we can add you to the book of members, and we will send a digital certificate of enrollment.

No, the Confraternity is open for Catholics 18 and older. However, children may be invested into the Blue Scapular to foster a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, so that they may strive to imitate Our Lady Immaculately Conceived.

Yes, as long as the member is able to fulfill the membership requirements of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception and the other Lay Association of the Faithful they may wish to join.

Those who wear the Blue Scapular of the Immaculate Conception can receive a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions (receiving the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist; offering a prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father) on the following days:

• the day of their investiture with the Blue Scapular
• the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary (Dec. 8)
• the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (Feb. 2)
• the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary (Aug. 15)
• Christmas Day (Dec. 25)
• Easter Sunday
• the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
• the liturgical commemoration of St. Stanislaus Papczyński, Founder of the Marians (May 18)
• the Feast of St. Cajetan of Thiene, the founder of the Theatine Order (Aug. 7).

Yes, it is possible for a group to be received into the Confraternity on the same date as long as each candidate follows the standard procedures listed above. The admission rite has both single and group options.

Confraternity members do not take a patron saint’s name.

The confraternity is not for everyone and should be prayerfully considered. If you feel the obligations exceed your time constraints or abilities, then we encourage you to freely take up some of the confraternity practices such as praying for Holy souls or getting involved in your parish life without being a member.

Never underestimate how God can use a soul!

As faith-filled persons involved in the life of the Church, Confraternity members participate in the life of their parish community and support the priests in the work of evangelization in their own parish in many ways, only some of which require members to be physically present. For example,

• You can pray for the intentions of your pastor and/or parishioners.
• You can call or reach out through electronic means to parishioners who could use a reminder that someone cares about them.
• You can assist the pastor or parish secretary with office tasks like mailings and collation projects that could be brought to your home.
• You may request to be a remote intercessor for our prayer line ministry based at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Mass.

No, however, members of the Confraternity run by the Marian Fathers share in the spiritual benefits of the Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Conception of the Most B.V.M. located in the Basilica of St. Andrea della Valle in Rome, which is under the care of the Theatine Fathers.