Marcellin Champagnat - All to Jesus through Mary, and all to Mary for Jesus

 

Morning Prayer and Reflection

Genesis 1:1-5

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, and God's spirit hovered over the water. God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that light was good, and God divided light from darkness. God called light 'day', and darkness 'night'. Evening came and morning came: the first day.

In the Jewish faith the sea is a symbol chaos - imagine being out in the Pacific or the Tasman sea at a night where all is darkness with a heavy wind and a rough sea... This is the image Genesis paints, a place of fear, isolation, darkness... 

But out of this state or place of chaos God created light... and much more

We see that fear, isolation and darkness when the disciples of Jesus were with him in the night of the storm. They were so afraid. But when Jesus stood he rebuked the winds and the waves and all was calm, they asked, Who is this?  Even the winds and the seas obey him.' (Mt 8:27).

The French Revolution was a time of chaos of death and destruction but out of this God created something new in the Church of Lyons, the something new that was to be shared with the Church in New Zealand.

Meet the Saint...

Marcellin Champagnat was born on May 20, 1789, in Le Rosey, small hamlet south west of Lyon just two weeks after the start of the French revolution. Le Rosey was a poor area, the soil was not very fertile and conditions were difficult there and life relatively harsh. Marcellin was the ninth child in a devout Catholic family. His mother Marie Thérèse and Aunt Louise, a religious expelled from her convent, nurtured in him a deep faith and devotion to the Virgin Mary. In 1792, all religious congregations had been suppressed by the Revolution and there was no more public education.

The Parish Church of Marlhes built in the 19th century well after Marcellin

The old baptismal font that it is thought in which Marcellin was baptised 

A place to renew our own baptismal promises

His father Jean Baptiste became captivated with the aims of the Revolution and a local leader. As the Reign of Terror began he found it more and more difficult to avoid the violence, or at the very least, to avoid making controversial choices. He was present at the burning of the feudal land-titles of Citizen Courbon, gave a speech in honor of the Goddess of Reason in the church in Marlhes, 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 nocturnal participation of Marcellin and members of his family in a Mass celebrated by a priest hiding in one of the hamlets of the township of Marhles.

When he was 14 a visiting priest inspired Marcellin to pursue the priesthood, despite his lack of formal education. He entered the minor seminary at Verrières in 1805, where he struggled academically but grew spiritually. Later, at the major seminary in Lyon, he studied alongside future saints like Jean-Marie Vianney and Jean-Claude Colin. With Colin, they envisioned a new religious congregation—the Society of Mary—dedicated to re-Christianising post-Revolutionary France.

Marcellin was ordained on the 22nd of July 22 and assigned to La Valla. There, he was deeply moved by the spiritual ignorance of rural children, especially after encountering a dying 17-year-old boy who had no knowledge of God. This experience galvanised his mission. On January 2, 1817, he founded the Little Brothers of Mary (Marist Brothers) with two young men, aiming to educate and evangelize youth, especially the poor and neglected.

Despite poverty and skepticism from clergy, Marcellin built schools and trained his brothers in pedagogy, spirituality, and apostolic service. In 1825, freed from parish duties, he focused entirely on the congregation, establishing “Our Lady of the Hermitage” as their home. His motto, “All to Jesus through Mary, and all to Mary for Jesus,” guided his life and mission.

In 1836, the Church recognized the Society of Mary and entrusted it with missions in Oceania. Marcellin sent brothers to the Pacific, expanding the congregation’s reach. He believed, “When God is on your side, and you rely only on Him, nothing is impossible.”

Marcellin Champagnat died on June 6, 1840, at age 51, worn out by illness and labour. His final message to his brothers was: “May you be of one heart and one mind. May it be said of the Little Brothers of Mary as of the first Christians: see how they love one another!”

He was canonised in 1999. Saint Marcellin’s legacy lives on through the global work of the Marist Brothers and their schools, who continue his mission to “make Jesus Christ known and loved” through education, simplicity, and presence.

Readings for today's Mass

Acts 20:17-18,28-32,36

From Miletus Paul sent for the elders of the church of Ephesus. When they arrived he addressed these words to them:

‘Be on your guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you the overseers, to feed the Church of God which he bought with his own blood. I know quite well that when I have gone fierce wolves will invade you and will have no mercy on the flock. Even from your own ranks there will be people coming forward with a travesty of the truth on their lips to induce the disciples to follow them. So be on your guard, remembering how night and day for three years I never failed to keep you right, shedding tears over each one of you. And now I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace that has power to build you up and to give you your inheritance among all the sanctified.’

When he had finished speaking he knelt down with them all and prayed.

Matthew 9:35-37

Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness. And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’

Reflection

The readings the Church put before us in the readings for Marcellin Champagnat reflect the time of the Revolution and the time of turmoil and chaos he grew up in - Fierce wolves will invade you and will have no mercy on the flock. Even from your own ranks there will be people coming forward with a travesty of the truth on their lips to induce the disciples to follow them. In the same way we live in revolutionary times and we need to ask where are the fierce wolves in my life, those who have no mercy, where are the ones who have come forward speaking a travesty of truth. Perhaps we can also ask, how am I false wolf, who do I not show mercy, and is what I speak the truth of Christ. 

Paul commends us to God, and to his word of his grace that has power to build us up and to give us an inheritance among all the sanctified.’ But we have to be opened to that, to have a heart of Christ, a heart for others... When Jesus saw the the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected. Who are the people we see who are harassed and dejected... and what do we do about it?

‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’ Yes it is good to pray to labourers to the harvest, but we need to recall we too are called to be labourers, tireless workers like Jesus, Paul and Marcellin who speak words of inspiration, who love with mercy and whose truth is the one who is Truth.

Bishop Jean-Yves Riocreux joined us for Mass at Le Rosey, the hamlet Marcellin was born in, just a couple of kilometres from Marlhes

Near to the crib, at the foot of the cross, around the altar - Draw near to the one who comes close to us, who died for us, and who brings us into one family

The part of the Champangnat house that includes Marcellin's room

The incredible outreach which started with the call to one man

St Marcellin Champagnat’s words for the way of hope…

This is an extract from a letter written by Marcellin Champagnat on 1 January 1837 after three of his Marist Brothers Joseph-Xavier Luzy, Marie-Nizier Delorme, and Michel Colombon departed from France with Bishop Pompallier on Christmas Eve 1836. Xavier and Nizier stayed at Futuna and Wallis, while Michel Colombon went to New Zealand…

Dearly beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. My wishes and desires at the beginning of this year are very different from those which the world tries to express in lying words: a certain abundance of material goods, honours, pleasures which the heart never tastes, that is what the world wishes. For my part, my very dear ones, my beloved, I beg our divine Master every day I go up to the holy altar that he rain down on you his graces and his most abundant blessings, that he help you to flee sin as the only evil to fear, that he smooth the way for you to the virtues proper to religious, and especially proper to children of Mary.

Finally, I beg our common Mother to obtain for us a holy death, so that having loved one another on earth, we will love one another forever in heaven.

Our fathers and brothers assigned to Polynesia embarked the 24th of last month. What a vast field the Sovereign Pontiff, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, has entrusted to our zeal. Let us accompany those to whom this vast field has personally fallen, with our good wishes and our fervent prayers.

Bishop Pompallier, Fr Servant SM, and Br Michel Colomb FMS arrived in the Hokianga Harbour, New Zealand, 12½ months later,

At the age of 27, Marcellin Champagnat was ordained priest in Lyon and appointed Vicar at Valla en Gier, where he served for 8 years. 

It was during this period that Marcellin Champagnat met, in a small village in Pilat, the young Jean-Baptiste. He realized while giving the last sacrament to this dying young man that he knew nothing about God. “I can’t see a child without wanting to tell them how much God loves them.” This thought of Marcellin Champagnat led him to realize his idea of forming Brothers intended to provide instruction to children.

He then bought a small house near the presbytery of La Valla to house a few young men from the surrounding area, eager to devote their time life in the service of God by educating children from the surrounding countryside. These were the very beginnings of the Little Brothers of Mary or Marist Brothers. He surrounded himself with a teacher to give primary education to the children. The Brothers were also inspired by his method to teach in their turn.

In 1825, Marcellin Champagnat was relieved of his duties as vicar in La Valla. He was thus able to devote himself entirely to the Little Brothers of Mary. 

“To raise children well, you must love them, and love them all equally.” This way of seeing the world quickly led to the success of the school. To cope with very large numbers of people, Marcellin Champagnat acquired land located in Saint Chamond in order to build his novitiate there. This is the place where the current Notre-Dame de l’Hermitage is located.

The original building is built against the rock of the valley.

But very quickly this large building became insufficient: the values and motto of Marcellin Champagnat “All to Jesus through Mary, all to Mary for Jesus” attracted ever more people and Notre-Dame de l’Hermitage never stopped to expand until 2010, the last phase of major works.

Exhausted by illness and concerns linked to the founding and development of the congregation, Marcellin Champagnat prepared his succession and had Brother François Rivat elected as general director of the Marist Brothers, with the mission of continuing his work.

On May 18th , 1840, very weakened, Marcellin Champagnat read his spiritual testament.

The main message? “Let there be among you one heart and one mind. We can say of the Little Brothers of Mary as of the first Christians: see how they love each other! “.

Marcellin Champagnat died shortly after, on June 6, 1840.

When he died, 48 schools had already been created, 7,000 students trained and the congregation already had no less than 280 Brothers.

In 1920, Pope Benedict XV declared Marcellin Champagnat venerable.

He was then beatified in 1955 by Pope Pius XII before being canonized and recognized as a saint of the universal Church by Pope John Paul II on April 18, 1999 in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.

Notre-Dame de l’Hermitage

The cost of discipleship

The Marist family

In 1901 The Law of Associations was adopted by the French Parliament on 3 July 1901 to limit the influence of Catholic teaching orders as the first step toward the formal separation of church and state that would follow in 1905. Of 16,904 religious teaching institutions, almost 14,000 were closed. Many brothers chose to leave on mission

Brothers and sisters in the simplicity of Nazareth

The reliquary of Marcellin