About
One community, many ways to serve
Mary’s Little Children Community brings together lay members and religious men and women in a shared mission of healing, deliverance and evangelization.
- Beginnings
- Cebu, 1998; a public association of the faithful since 2003
- Our family
- Priests and brothers, sisters and nuns, and lay members
- Our mission
- Healing, deliverance and evangelization
- Our home
- Tabunok, Talisay City, Cebu
Who we are
Mary’s Little Children Community — MLCC — took shape in Cebu in 1998 through its early healing ministry. Its mother house is in Tabunok, Talisay City. The Community’s founding documents describe a family of three groups, united in prayer and mission while living different vocations.
Our vision
“God glorified in Jesus Christ through the healing and renewal of His priests and people.”
This vision gives direction to the Community’s prayer and service: seeking God’s glory while accompanying His priests and people towards renewal in Christ.
Our mission
“We commit ourselves in the disposition of Mary at Nazareth, Calvary and Upper Room to total renewal and transformation in Jesus Christ crucified and risen. We hope to attain this by living the Gospel of Christ and partaking of His Eucharistic Body in an ecclesial or a stable community animated by the Holy Spirit and accomplishing our work and prayer life in view of the personal and family oriented, integral healing mission of the Father.”
In the words of the Rule, this makes the Community’s spirituality “Marian, Evangelical, Eucharistic, Ecclesial, and Charismatic”, lived out in healing, deliverance and evangelization. See what this looks like in practice.
The people who make up MLCC
Priests and brothers
A life of prayer, formation and service, with priests offering the sacramental ministry at the heart of the Community.
Sisters and nuns
Women called to consecrated life, sharing in the Community’s prayer, formation, intercession and mission.
Lay members
People living their faith through family, work and service, sharing in the Community’s spirituality and mission according to their state of life.
The lay community includes full members and associates. Family responsibilities, work and a person’s state of life shape how they take part. Religious men and women follow their own path of formation and vows. Learn about these paths.
Our spirituality
The Foundational Charism describes six closely connected aspects of the Community’s spiritual life:
- Trinitarian: Living in relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
- Evangelical: Letting the Gospel shape everyday choices and service to others.
- Eucharistic: Placing the Mass and adoration of Christ in the Eucharist at the heart of community life.
- Ecclesial: Living and serving within the Catholic Church.
- Marian: Learning from Mary’s trust, humility and response to God at Nazareth, Calvary and Pentecost.
- Charismatic: Welcoming the gifts of the Holy Spirit for prayer, service and the building up of the Community.
Why “Mary’s little children”
The name expresses a desire to learn from Mary and to depend on her maternal care. In the words of the Foundational Charism, “We are called ‘little’ in our relation to Mary in the order of grace, to express a radical dependence on her in our dealings with Jesus …” Members consecrate themselves to her daily as the Lady of Nazareth.
At Nazareth she responds to God’s call; at Calvary she remains with Jesus; in the Upper Room she prays with the disciples. These moments shape the Community’s commitment to renewal in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. The Community’s records name Our Lady of All Nations as its patroness, and it has celebrated her feast on 31 May since 2001.
Prayer, fellowship and service
The Rule places the Word of God, fellowship, the Eucharist and communal prayer at the centre of life together. Formation joins spiritual growth with human maturity, community life and service to others. Read our prayers or explore our ministry.
Our beginnings and our homes
Mary’s Little Children Community was founded in 1998 by Rev. Msgr. Frederick “Fred” Kriekenbeek, who prepared it to become a community the Church could approve. On 22 August 2003, the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal canonically erected Mary’s Little Children Community as a Public Association of the Faithful in the Archdiocese of Cebu. On 25 January 2006 he approved its two Institutes of Consecrated Life, for priests and for sisters.
Our history follows these beginnings and the development of formation and mission. Our houses introduces the places where the Community gathers and serves.