A charism is a gift given by the Holy Spirit to a canonised saint for the benefit of the whole Church. In the case of St Eugene De Mazenod, he was given a keen awareness of the specific needs of the Church, a deep desire to minister in particular for those neglected, abandoned or overlooked. He sought to build a close community around him. All this was driven by a passionate love for Jesus Christ, whom he sought to present to all he met. The De Mazenod charism considers means in which we are able to access those in our community who are spiritually abandoned, or socially isolated. A means of taking the Gospel to the community in a way that presents Jesus to the those that the Church touches the least.

To embody this charism, St Eugene identified various Constitutions for his religious order (see Constitution and Rules Handbook for full details ). For the laity the essence of the Constitution includes:

• Hearing the voice of Jesus in our everyday life and acting upon this through our everyday tasks.

• Instilling a desire in us to be detached to the worldly aspects of life in order to better cooperate with Jesus and so grow more deeply in faith

• Enhance our ability to notice the needs of others around us and develop missionary hearts that seek to serve the other

• Strive to better understand who Christ is for us, and help others do the same

• Findings new ways of sharing the Gospel with others by reaching the heart of anotherand keeping our own hearts soft enough to hear their needs.

• Seeking to hold loosely the blessings in our lives so we are not controlled by them

• Allowing our focus to remain on Christ so that all tasks and events in life provide us a personal encounter with Him

• Bringing life’s pressure to God so that they may be become a prayer that draws others to God

• Finding ways to bear witness to God within our own communities so that Jesus is drawn into our midst

• Seek Mary’s help to be open to the Spirit, so that we might take the crucified Christ to the world