Hikoi of Faith: Sub Tuum Praesidium - St Marcellin Champagnat

Continuing my visits to the origins of the holy men and women of Lyon who have influenced the Church in New Zealand...

What follows is largely my photos and a cut and paste of a much larger history, see
: http://www.champagnat.org/510.php?a=1a&id=2735

Marcellin Champagnat was born in village of Le Rosey, some 80 km south of Lyon on the 20th of May 1789, two weeks after the start of the French Revolution. He was the son of Jean Baptiste and Marie Thérèse Champagnat. He was their ninth child; three had died in infancy, as would later be the case with her tenth and last.

The next day, Ascension Thursday, Marcellin was baptised in the parish church at nearby Marlhes.

Marlhes today

The current church

Window the church at Le Rosey

The baptismal font in which Marcellin was baptised

As the Revolution spread Marcellin's father had many sympathies for what it hoped to achieve. In 1791 he accepted the position of town clerk of Marlhes, which was then an administrative center. About a year previously, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy had been promulgated, making all bishops and priests functionaries of the State. In addition to suppressing a privileged social class, it aimed at setting up a national church, controlled by the State and independent of Rome. The clergy became divided into those who swore allegiance to the new Constitution and those who defied it. Although he served the ideals of the revolution, he gave priority to the concrete realities of his region, protecting the interests of its inhabitants. Marcellin's father gave a speech in honor of the Goddess of Reason in the church in Marlhes and admitted to having taken the vestments from that church to burn them. None the less, he was able to avert the demolition of the church in Saint-Genest-Malifaux, gave sanctuary to his sister Louise, a Sister of St. Joseph, and tolerated the secret night time participation of members of his family in a Mass celebrated by a priest hiding in one of the hamlets of the township.

The Champagnat house - the right hand part is now in private ownership while the left hand part is still owned by the Brothers

The Champagnat family

The Champagnat house... Marcellin's room is up the stairs where you can see someone standing

The church at Le Rosey built by the Marist brothers' family from around the world

While these various political developments were taking place, Marcellin remained close to his mother and his aunt Louise. His mother was a moderating and well-balanced presence in her husbands life. Her strong temperament, their age difference, and her competence in managing the family and their upbringing made their task easier. She carefully educated her children, showing special predilection for Marcellin, stressing values such as piety, good manners and moderation. Marcellin's aunt Louise, three years older than Jean Baptiste, was a Sister of St. Joseph, driven from her convent by the Revolution. The impression she made on the young man by her prayers, teachings and good example was so deep that he frequently recalled her memory with pleasure and gratitude.

In France, the school situation had become dramatic. In 1792, all religious congregations had been suppressed, among them the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Everything had disappeared. There simply was no more public education. Young people were on the road to ignorance and depravity. Towards the end of 1799, Napoleon staged his coup and promulgated a new constitution. With new opportunities his aunt undertook to teach Marcellin to read. The results were disappointing. Marcellin set himself to followed his father and learn all he needed to maintain a farm. He gave himself enthusiastically to all those tasks, motivated by his dynamic temperament and his love for manual work. At the same time, he grew in piety and virtue in the school of his mother and his aunt. He took on himself the task catechizing young people. Something that happened at this time left a deep impression on him: Around that time Marcellin received his first communion and his confirmation.

In 1804 a priest was sent to his area to recruit students for the seminary. Visitng the Champagnat home Marcellin's brothers Jean Bartholomew and Jean Pierre said no. Marcellin, on the other hand, stammered a few unintelligible words. The priest questioned him more closely. His ingenuousness, modesty, and open and frank character delighted the priest: My son, you must study and become a priest. God wants you to!

Marcellin went to school during 1804-1805 He made little progress and his teachers tried to persuade him to give up but despite the difficulties facing him, the boy had faith in his calling. He prayed often to St. John Francis Regis. His decision was irrevocable: I want to go to the seminary. I will succeed, because God is calling me.

St Jean-François Régis, (31 January 1597 – 31 December 1640) was a French Jesuit priest. He lived an amazing life. One of the things he did was to walk around the rural area and preach outdoor homilies to bring bring people back to the faith. In each of these places there is a cross as shown below.

From 1805 to 1813 he went to the minor seminary in Verrières. After the Revolution the teaching staff were few and poorly prepared. At sixteen and a half, Marcellin was already very tall. His rough country manners, his habit of speaking his local dialect rather than French and his shyness in the face of such a new situation at first made him the butt of his companions jokes, which with the passage of time turned to admiration and friendship. Two of his seminary companions also entered the pages of history: Jean Claude Colin, superior general of the Society of Mary, and Jean Marie Vianney, the Curé of Ars.

The oldest document in his own handwriting is dated 19th January 1812

My Lord and my God, I promise not to offend you again;

to make acts of faith, hope, charity and the like, every time I think of it;

not to return to the tavern without necessity;

to avoid bad companions;

in a word, not to do anything that goes against serving you;

rather, on the contrary, to give good example;

to lead others to practice virtue, as much as lies in my power;

to instruct those who are ignorant of your divine precepts

and to teach catechism to everyone, rich or poor, without distinction.

Divine Savior, help me to carry out faithfully these resolutions I have just taken.

Marcellin entered the major seminary in Lyons, on 1st November 1813. He was then 24, as he began his first year of theology. In his first examinations in December 1813, Marcellin received a grade of insufficient. The future Curé of Ars was graded as very insufficient. Pierre Zind comments: It is almost as if the charisms of the Spirit were inversely proportional to intellectual accomplishments.

On the 23rd of June 1815, the bishop of Grenoble conferred the diaconate on Marcellin Champagnat, together with Jean Marie Vianney and Jean Claude Colin. Meanwhile a group of fifteen seminarians was gathering around Jean Claude Courveille to found the Society of Mary. Marcellin was one of them. Their plan included priests, sisters and a Third Order. Marcellin, however, had his own special concerns. He wanted to found a teaching congregation. The imperative need for education at that moment in history, and his own personal experience, lay behind his decision: I have always felt a special attraction for founding a group of brothers. I am glad to join the rest of you, and if you are interested, I will take care of that part of the project. My own initial education left much to be desired; I would like to offer others the advantages of which I myself was deprived. On the 22nd of July 1816, Marcellin was ordained a priest. The next day, twelve newly ordained priests, Marcellin among them, went on pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Fourvière, to place their plans under Mary's protection. After Mass, Jean Claude Courveille read the text of a special consecration which can be considered the first official act, even though a private one, of the Society of Mary. This can be considered the date of its foundation.

Marcellin, now a 27-year-old priest, went to La Valla to serve as curate. When he reached the priest's residence, the scene that greeted him could not have been more disappointing. The parish priest, lived in total disorder. His Sunday homilies consisted of a few announcements. The parish was, for all purposes, abandoned. Three days later, on 15th August 1816, Marcellin officially introduced himself to the parish by giving a heartfelt homily, probably drawn from a pious book. He made an enormous impact. His first step toward the Christian renewal of the parish was to draw up a rule of life for himself. It laid great stress on his life of prayer, daily study of theology, and pastoral work: I will strive especially to be gentle, and in order to bring souls back to God, I will treat everyone with great goodness. Change would be possible only if he studied the realities of the parish. He lost no time in doing just that. The way in which the children had been abandoned only increased his concern and care for them through catechizing, education and instruction. His affectionate approach preferred rewards and encouragement to punishments, to which he hardly ever resorted. He turned his attention to the adults in his homilies and in the confessional, but the objects of his greatest concern were the sick and the poor. A young man named Jean Marie Granjon became friendly with Marcellin and accompanied him on some of his visits to the sick. He would become the first Marist Brother. An event that took place on 28th October set in motion his plans for his foundation. He was ministering to a dying boy of 17, Jean Baptiste Montagne, in the hamlet of Les Palais. He became aware that the lad was totally ignorant of the mysteries of the faith. For two hours he spoke to him of the faith and reconciled him. The boy died a few hours later. Marcellin could no longer fold his arms and wait.

Within the week two men had embraced Marcellin's vision for education. His first task was to teach them to read and write, and formation them as religious educators. Three months later, he gave them a habit and a religious name. Jean Marie kept his own name, while Jean Baptiste received the name of Brother Louis. Before the year was up, a third brother entered the novitiate: Jean Claude Audras, who received the name of Brother Lawrence. Four new vocations joined the group during 1818. In November 1818 the school in Marlhes was opened. Brother Louis was its first principal. Despite his youth and inexperience, the results obtained in a short time were obvious to the eyes of all. Behind the technical elements, there lay a whole style of education imparted by Marcellin: to share the life of the young people, to love them, and to lead them to Jesus under Mary's maternal protection.

In February 1823, after visiting a sick brother, Marcellin was returning to La Valla with Brother Stanislas. A blizzard obliterated all trace of the road. The cold was intense. Brother Stanislas collapsed. Marcellin directed a Memorare to his Good Mother. A fortuitous light from the Donnet house led them to a safe refuge. It was a fortuitous event which to the eyes of faith was providential.

During that same year, Jean Claude Colin took steps toward the authorization of the Society of Mary. Meanwhile the new Bishop of Lyons encourage Marcellin in his work, and suggested the construction of a new and larger house, Notre Dame de L'Hermitage, which could hold more men.

Brother Maurice and L'Hermitage... the block in white was built in Marcellin's time

Marcellin's story goes on including the foundation of the Marist brothers... but on the 6th June 1840, some 3½ years after two of his brothers set sail for Western Oceania and New Zealand, on the Vigil of Pentecost, after an hours death struggle, he gave up his soul to God while the brothers were singing the Salve Regina. At the time of his death, there were 280 brothers (49 others had already died) and 48 schools, in which 189 brothers were teaching 7000 students.

Touchstones of Marist Brothers' spirituality, the crib, the cross and the altar

The crib, the cross and the altar are also features of my shield as bishop... wheat swelling and coming to birth in the sheaf of wheat/incarnation - the crib, the wheat dying and falling to the ground to yield a rich harvest - the cross, and communion in the life of the Trinity foreshadowed in the host of Holy Communion the altar

He was canonised St Marcellin Champagnat by Pope John Paul II on 18 April 1999.

And today Marcellin's legacy continues in our Diocese in St John's College, Hamilton and throughout the world.