Marist Brothers
MARCELLIN CHAMPAGNAT
Saint Marcellin Champagnat, one of the original Marist aspirants, began the first arm of Marists in 1817, just six months after the pledge to form the Society of Mary made at Notre Dame de Fourvière on 23 July 1816. His "Little Brothers of Mary", more commonly known as the Marist Brothers, became the fastest growing and the most numerous of the branches of the Marist project. This in itself says a great deal about this most attractive of characters who did so much for the enterprise in his short life.
From beginning to end Marcellin was a practical person, and everything about him reflects this: the way he understood the ideas exchanged at the seminary, the way he responded to needs, the way he formed his Brothers. Much of this can be traced to his background.
His mother was a woman of strong and robust faith who more then once accompanied Marcellin on foot to the shrine of St Francis Regis at La Louvesc when difficulties threatened his seminary studies. Marcellin's father was a farmer, tradesman, and local civic leader.
Marcellin was a child of the Revolution in more than one sense. He was born in the year of the Revolution, May 20 1789. As well as that his father welcomed the Revolution and from the start accepted its principles as a way to help the people. "Our rights were unknown; we have discovered them," he said as Colonel of the National Guard. He was, however, able to protect his town from the excesses of the revolution, the life of the Church in particular.
Marcellin's intuitive spirituality and pedagogy were shaped by his own experiences as member of this family, and later as a student, a seminarian and a priest. As a young boy he witnessed the cruelty of a teacher who emotionally and physically mistreated his class. Marcellin himself struggled as a student, and knew at first hand the challenges that children in country areas faced. As a priest he was called to the bedside of one such person, a dying boy who had no knowledge of God or the faith.
From experiences such as these came two great convictions in Marcellin's life: "We must have Brothers!" and "I can never see a child without telling him how much God loves him."
He formed his Brothers in a Marist spirituality, and a distinctive pedagogical style. From the ouset, the schools that the Brothers established reflected the personal traits of Marcellin himself. They were warm and affective places, defined by what he called a "family spirit". They were schools marked by lack of pretence and by strong endeavour. They focussed on the development of the whole person, leading their members to respond to the gospel of Jesus with the same faith, hope and love as Mary did.
The particular strand of Marist spirituality that grew out of Marcellin's life, and those of the first generation of Marist Brothers, has defined the educational style of thousands of Marist schools around the world, including the majority of members of AMSA.