SAINT MARCELLIN CHAMPAGNAT

On January 2, 1817, a young French priest working in the mountainous region of Eastern France founded an order of teaching Brothers, driven and inspired by a dying boy’s ignorance of even the fundamentals of his faith. In 2000, 4,657 Brothers were carrying out his work in 74 nations in Africa and Madagascar, North America, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania and the Pacific (FMS, June 2001, p.35). The Brothers conduct schools for all classes of people, from barrio primary classes to pontifical universities.

Marcellin was a child of the French Revolution. Born on May 20, 1789, he dedicated himself to the service of God and his fellowmen in the turbulent years following Napoleon’s downfall. He died on June 6, 1840.  In his short lifetime, he did great things for God and for the Blessed Virgin Mary whom he always call “Our Ordinary Resource”. He founded the “Little Brothers of Mary”, known today as Marist Brothers of the Schools (in Latin, Fratres Maristae á Scholis). This congregation is founded for the “education of youth”. Marcellin devoted to pastoral and missionary work, was also a co-founder of the Marist Fathers (S.M. – “Society of Mary”). He hoped that both orders would do quietly and lead souls to Jesus through Mary. His tenet was that love for the Mother was a sure way of developing love for the Son.

The founder of the Marist Brothers was a radical religious who lived in dangerous times, but was always loyal to the church. He was a man of faith and charity, practical common sense, daring, hardworking, virile, and austere. Above all, it was his warm and tender love for our Blessed Mother that inspired his life and enabled him to do so much for God in such a short time. His motto was, “All to Jesus through Mary” or “All to Mary for Jesus”. The greeting he perpetuated in the congregation, was “Praised be Jesus Christ, and Mary His Mother.”

He was proclaimed a Saint of the Universal Church by Pope John Paul II on April 18, 1999 at St. Peter’s Square in Rome, Italy.

The spirituality bequeathed to us by St. Marcellin is Marial and Apostolic. It flows from God’s love for us, gains strength as we give ourselves to others, and leads us to the Father. Jesus was the whole focus of Mary’s life, He is to be the focus of ours. In whatever we do, we act as she did, with her discretion, her sensitivity, and her respect for each person.

St. Marcellin Champagnat was alive with zeal born of the Gospels and knew how to respond effectively to specific problems. He saw the mission of the Brothers as helping children and young people to become good Christians and good citizens. Good example and constant presence are the other important elements of Marist Pedagogy. which he summarized into- “To bring up a child properly, you must love him.”