Emmanuel Community

The priests of Maternity of Mary, Holy Childhood, and MMSA School are members of the

Emmanuel Community.

Here are a few videos introducing our priests…

Did you know that Emmanuel is primarily a lay community?

Many of our local lay community members are at Masses on Sunday and during the week, collaborating with parish activities, etc. 

In the summer of 2024 we welcomed Bas and Cissy Suijkerbuijk along with their family from the Netherlands. Bas has held the position of International Music Director for the Emmanuel Community for several years, and he and his wife have come to Minnesota to assist us in our mission here at Maternity of Mary and MMSA School and to also develop and compose music for the community in English.

If you are looking for some new praise and worship songs, check out these links:

What exactly is the Emmanuel Community?
Here is a description of the Emmanuel Community from the international website:

The Emmanuel Community is a Catholic Lay International Community that brings together faithful that share a common call to strive for holiness and commit themselves to actively live their faith in their daily lives through adoration, compassion and evangelization; thus, fulfilling their call as the first believers did who had “only one heart and one soul!” (Acts 4:32).

The Emmanuel Community was born out of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in 1972. It started with a prayer meeting in Paris with Pierre Goursat and Martine Laffitte-Catta and grew quickly in France and around the world.

In 1992, the Holy See recognised that the Emmanuel Community acts for the common good of the whole Catholic Church. As a Public Association of the Faithful, it brings together priests, consecrated men and women, families and single people who testify to the ecclesiology of communion encouraged by the Second Vatican Council. In 2017, this call to live the complementarity of the states of life for the new evangelisation led the Congregation for the Clergy to erect the Clerical Association of the Emmanuel Community (gathering priests and deacons). It is indissolubly linked to the Association of Faithful.

Today, the community is present in 60 countries. It reaches several hundred thousand people each year through its apostolic activities. It has:

  • 12,000 members

  • 275 priests and about 100 seminarians

  • 225 men and women consecrated in celibacy

  • 10 bishops are from the Community

Are you interested in being part of the community?

For a taste of the Emmanuel community and to connect with some of the members, come to 5pm Mass on Tuesday at Maternity of Mary and stay for our praise and worship session afterwards! 

You can also check out more links and resources below: