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

God's unfolding plan of salvation - Our First Mass in Lyon

Having arrived from New Zealand and other parts of the globe we had a Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception which was a few minutes walk from our hotel...

Readings for today's Mass

Genesis 3:9-15,20

After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. 
‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ 
‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ 
The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ 
The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’
Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, ‘Be accursed beyond all cattle, all wild beasts. You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust every day of your life. I will make you enemies of each other:  you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head and you will strike its heel.’
The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.

Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.

The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.

Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12

Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.
Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ,
to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence,
determining that we should become his adopted sons and daughters, 

through Jesus Christ for his own kind purposes,
to make us praise the glory of his grace, 
his free gift to us in the Beloved.
And it is in him that we were claimed as God’s own,
chosen from the beginning,
under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things
as he decides by his own will; 
chosen to be, for his greater glory,
the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.

Luke 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 

He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ 

She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ 

Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ 

‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

The immaculate Conception is more about Jesus than Mary. Adam, the first man, was created from the dirt of the earth, a virgin earth untouched by sin. 

So too, the new Adam, the Christ, had to be born sinless of a virgin untouched by sin. And so in 1854 Pope Pius IX declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception which state, "from the first moment of her conception, the Blessed Virgin Mary was, by the singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of Mankind, kept free from all stain of original sin."

But like us Mary had to say yes to God and to his plan of salvation. She said yes at the annunciation, she said yes at the wedding feast of Cana - it's time to start your mission even though this is not your hour, she said yes at the cross as she silently offered this is my body, the fruit of my body, that I offer back to you and to the world for it salvation, and yes to the Church as she prayed with the disciples for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

But even in the midst of Adam and Eves disobedience in the garden God promises a coming salvation... Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, ‘Be accursed beyond all cattle, all wild beasts. You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust every day of your life. I will make you enemies of each other:  you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head and you will strike its heel.’

But Christ is the obedient one. 
His state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God

but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave,

and became as we all are; and being as we all are,
he was humbler yet, even being obedient to death, death on a cross...

You and I are called to participate to embody in our lives the obedience of Christ. God doesn't want to save us without our "yes"... Mary said it for us and the new mother of all those who live, but Mary's obedience shows what is asked of all the disciples of her Son and her Lord. 

The disobedience of Adam and Eve was reflected in their being ashamed of themselves in their nakedness and before each other. They hid from God and disrupted their relationship with the earth. This is what sin does - it disrupts and even destroys our relationship with God, neighbour, self and the creation of which we are apart.

Like us, Jesus and Mary had to face the temptations of the evil one.

Let us pray in our pilgrimage that broken or wounded relationships with with God, neighbour, self and the creation might be healed, restored and or deepened.

The head of the serpent being crushed by Mary's yes... the Mary who on the Feast Day of the Annunciation 1858 announced to a poor peasant girl Bernadette in the village of Lourdes I am the Immaculate Conception.

A beautiful image of a sleeping Jesus being held by Joseph

St John Vianney

Our Lady who Unties Knots

St Anthony of Padua

St Therese of Lisieux

Te Ara o te Tūmanako - The Way of Hope Jubilee Year Pilgrimage 2025

On Christmas Eve 1836 Bishop Jean Baptiste along with a group of Marist priests and Marist departed France on a journey to pick up their Western Oceania. Bishop Pompallier,Fr Servant and Br Michellarrived in the Hokianga on the 10th of January 1838.

Last evening 32 pilgrims boarded an Emirates flight further Dubai where we meet two more. Then another flight to Lyon birth place of Bishop Pompallier and a number of our first missionaries. There we meet the other 15 pilgrims. 27 hours to Lyons by aeroplane compared to 12½ months on a ship... perhaps our pilgrims need to toughen up. 

I invite you to journey with us each day at this blog as we our ancestors in faith, hope and love in the hope that we will be inspired in our time to be pilgrims of hope.

Meanwhile, to give you a little taste, in a pre-pilgrimage visit some of our pilgrims visited our Diocesan archives and saw some of our archives of Bishop Pompallier...

Bishop Pompallier's instruction for mission... the original and the translation

Bishop Pompallier's chalice - which has reminded me I forgot to bring his pectoral cross

His ring - the stone is glass - sold to help keep the mission financially float. 

His writing desk which was also sold - but some found it in a second hand store, bought it and gave it to the Diocese