MOTHER BUTLER GUILD

A Community of Women Disciples placed by the Father alongside His Son in the service of the Church as servants of our Servant-God, Jesus Christ, who became one of us, and who gave us the Holy Spirit to enable us to enhance the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist through our gift of self in our work and witness in our family, parish, community and country, so that we may have life, His Fullness of Life.

To open ourselves in prayer, contemplation and action to hear the Word of God and heed it, humbly, lovingly, joyfully, as we take care of the House of the Lord in our parish church, in the persons we relate to, and in ourselves, so that the everyday stories of our life and mission are always placed alongside the story of Jesus in order to form a seamless garment of the Mother Butler Guild apostolate, giving life and receiving life.

His Eminence Rufino Cardinal Santos, the first Filipino Prince of the Church, was so moved by the pitiful condition of the altar of a number of parish churches in the Archdiocese of Manila, that he immediately decreed the creation of service guild organized on the parochial level and composed of Catholic lay women whose main concern would be to make and take care of priestly vestments and altar lines, as well as ensure the cleanliness and beautification of their respective parish churches – that this work would be a means for their sanctification.

The decree was officially promulgated on 28 April 1961 and that particular organization of Catholic lay women was named MOTHER BUTLER GUILD in honor of Marie Joseph Butler, an Irish religious of the Congregation of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary.  

The MBG started with five parish units – Christ the King in Project 7 Quezon City, Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Project 6 Quezon City, Sta Rita in Philamlife Homes, Quezon City, and the parishes of Malolos and San Miguel Bulacan. The first set of officers of the Manila Archdiocesan Council, the MBG’s highest governing body then was inducted into office on July 1961 at the Sta. Rita Parish in Philamlife Homes, Quezon City by His Excellency Bishop Pedro N. Bantigue who was appointed by Cardinal Santos as the first Spiritual Director of the Council.  

In July 1976, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), through the Episcopal Commission on the Laity (ECLA) gave official recognition to the Mother Butler Guild as a mandated national religious organization of Catholic lay women. Among the first dioceses that welcomed the MBG apostolates were: Caceres, Jaro, Lucena, Ozamiz and Palawan.

The first set of officers of the MBG National Council were inducted into office on 09 February 1978 at the Most Holy Redeemer Parish by His Excellency Bishop Bienvenido M. Lopez who was appointed by the CBCP as the first MBG National Spiritual Director.

The Lord has been faithful and generous. He has blessed the Mother Butler Guild with an abundance of fruits. To date, 47 years of service, over a thousand parish units and some fifteen thousand members are among these fruits.

The highest governing body in the MBG is the National Council Composed of the National Executive Board of Directors, all Archdiocesan and Diocesan Council Presidents, and the National Spiritual Director. The MBG National Executive Board of Directors, responsible for the day to day executive and operational functions of the Guild, as well as recommend and formulate policies affecting the organization is composed of 15 members chosen by the National Spiritual Director from among the nominees of a special ad-hoc selection committee and ratified by the members at large assembled at a National Convention. The National Executive Board of Directors elect from among themselves the officers of the National Council.

The Archdiocesan/Diocesan Council, responsible for the implementation, standardization and supervision of the MBG apostolate in the local Church is composed of the officers (elected at large by MBG members in the archdiocese/diocese convened for this purpose, or by all the Parish Unit Presidents or appointed by the Local Ordinary of said archdiocese/diocese), and all MBG Parish Unit Presidents in said archdiocese/diocese.

The Parish Unit, organized in each parish with the consent of the parish Priest, is composed of Catholic lay women of good moral standing in the community who have undergone the requirements of membership and duly elected into the MBG organization, shall implement and actualize on a day to day basis the functions of the Mother Butler Guild in the parish. The Parish Unit is the base of the MBG apostolate. It is the first basic Church community of the MBG. The officers of the upper levels of the MBG organizational structure acting as agents and at the same time subjects of the MBG charism are to animate, urge, support and nourish this in all Parish Unit MBG members.

• Clean/wash, maintain and/or restore liturgical paraphernalia
• Sew, wash, maintain altar vestments and linens.
• Clean, beautify, decorate and maintain order in the sacristy, especially the altar preparing this for the celebration of the Eucharist.
• Special projects or activities the Local Ordinary and/or Parish Priest may assign to the MBG from time to time.
• Implement an ongoing formation program on all levels covering both the spiritual growth and competence in MBG tasks and governance in the members, as well as the resolutions adopted in the National Convention.

1175 United Nations Avenue

Paco, Manila