Remembering Ouur Founder

 Note: We are deviating from our usual pattern of a Gospel passage and reflection to this reflection on St. Marcellin Champagnat, Founder of The Marist Brothers, whose feast day is today.

 

While June 6 is the feast commemorating the death of Marcellin Champagnat,
it is important to see this day as one commemorating the gift of Marcellin’s life,
vision, and mission which we enthusiastically embrace today in 2023, 183
years after his death.
As the inheritors of Marcellin’s legacy and the bearers of his vision and
mission, let us reflect on these passages from Water from the Rock:
Today, those of us who follow in the footsteps of Marcellin and his first
disciples are seized by the same inner dynamism. We develop a way of being,
loving and doing, in the spirit of our origins. Gradually, day by day, we deepen
our experience of the loving presence of God within ourselves and in others.
This presence of God is a profound experience of being personally loved by
God, and the conviction that he is close to us in our daily human experiences.
(Water from the Rock: Marist Spirituality Flowing in the Tradition of Marcellin
Champagnat, # 16)
We endeavor to develop our relationship with God so that, just as for Marcellin,
it is our daily source of renewed spiritual and apostolic dynamism. This vitality
makes us daring, despite our short-comings and limited resources. Drawing
from Marcellin’s experience, we embrace the mysteries of our life with
confidence, openness, and self-giving. (Water from the Rock: Marist Spirituality
Flowing in the Tradition of Marcellin Champagnat, # 18)
Mostly young men gathered around his bedside. In his Spiritual Testament, he offered
the answers to their questions of “What will happen now?” and “How will we go on?”
Marcellin died in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 6, 1840. Brother Jean-
Baptiste, author of the first biography of Marcellin wrote, “Several times during his
illness, he had expressed a desire to die on a Saturday, but he always added that he
did not deserve such a favor. Not only was that grace granted to him, but it was given
him to die during the very hour which, for more than thirty years, he had devoted to
meditation and union with God.” (Brother Jean-Baptiste, Vie, Vol 1, p. 270)
Today in Marist History:
The Death of Saint Marcellin Champagnat
June 6, 1840
When Marcellin gave his spiritual testament to the Brothers on May 18, 1840, it was
clear that he was dying. The anguish of the Brothers gathered at the Hermitage was
evident as they wondered to themselves and with each other, “What will happen now?”
“How will we go on?” For Marcellin was not just the founder of a religious order, he was
their spiritual father and older brother. The Marist Pillar of Presence, like all the other
Pillars, had its origin in the life and witness of Marcellin Champagnat.
reflection:
In presenting his Spiritual
Testament, Marcellin stated his
vision for what he hoped the Little
Brothers of Mary (the original name
of the Marist Brothers) would
become in the days, weeks,
months, and years ahead. Like the
good father and an older brother
that he was, Marcellin offered
comfort and encouragement to the
Saturday is a day that Marist
Brothers have always dedicated to
Mary, so right after Marcellin died
the Brothers gathered in the chapel
at the Hermitage to sing the Salve
Regina (Hail, Holy Queen) and offer
prayers to Mary for the repose of
Marcellin’s soul.
In his book, The Life of Joseph
Benedict Marcellin Champagnat,
Brother Jean-Baptiste gives many examples of the love that the Brothers had for
Marcellin. We also have testimonies from some of the people who came to know
Marcellin during his years in La Valla. Here are some of their recollections

 

 I still remember Father Champagnat, who prepared me for my First Communion in
1817. It was the first time he had the pleasure of preparing children for First
Communion. I will never forget the touching exhortation he gave me before giving
me absolution for the first time; I could hear his deep faith in his earnest words. It
was as though he poured his whole soul into them. He taught catechism in his
surplice, standing in the middle between us and the boys. Everyone's eyes were
riveted on him. He was strict with those who didn't know their lesson, but he was
also very just.
--Catherine Prat--
All I can tell you about Father Champagnat is that, having had frequent dealings
with him, I considered him a peerless man, very strict with himself and strict with
others also, but always for their own good. Gentle, affable, always on good terms
with everyone. He was the father of the town of La Valla. He did incomparable
good through the whole area. Everyone loved and venerated him.
--Jean-François Badard--
I went to Father Champagnat's catechism lessons, and though I was very young, I
loved to listen to him, and especially to see the church full of grownups who
followed his explanations so carefully. He spoke simply so that the most
uneducated could understand, but he said such beautiful and moving things that
he delighted everyone. People used to say, "Let's go to the catechism lesson;
Father Champagnat is giving it." And the church would be full.
--Françoise Baché--
As for his catechism lessons, we hurried to them, and despite the cold, the snow,
the terrible roads and the distance (it took us over an hour), we were always the
first to arrive. Then he would tease our friends from the town, telling them, "You're
lazy! Look at the children from Saut-du-Gier: they have to walk more than an hour,
and they're always the first ones here. You're two steps away, and you're always
the last." He made us feel very proud of ourselves.
--Louise and Marie-Anne Duvernay--
I have seen older Brothers go to pray at his tomb as at the tomb of a saint. I have
often seen tears on their faces, when they spoke to me about him. What touched
them most of all was the memory of his fatherly goodness.
--Father Pierre-Louis Mallaure--
While June 6 is the feast commemorating the death of Marcellin Champagnat,
it is important to see this day as one commemorating the gift of Marcellin’s life,
vision, and mission which we enthusiastically embrace today in 2022, 182
years after his death.
As the inheritors of Marcellin’s legacy and the bearers of his vision and
mission, let us reflect on these passages from Water from the Rock:
Today, those of us who follow in the footsteps of Marcellin and his first
disciples are seized by the same inner dynamism. We develop a way of being,
loving and doing, in the spirit of our origins. Gradually, day by day, we deepen
our experience of the loving presence of God within ourselves and in others.
This presence of God is a profound experience of being personally loved by
God, and the conviction that he is close to us in our daily human experiences.
(Water from the Rock: Marist Spirituality Flowing in the Tradition of Marcellin
Champagnat, # 16)
We endeavor to develop our relationship with God so that, just as for Marcellin,
it is our daily source of renewed spiritual and apostolic dynamism. This vitality
makes us daring, despite our short-comings and limited resources. Drawing
from Marcellin’s experience, we embrace the mysteries of our life with
confidence, openness, and self-giving. (Water from the Rock: Marist Spirituality
Flowing in the Tradition of Marcellin Champagnat, # 18)
St. Marcellin Champagnat: pray for us!
Mary, our Good Mother: pray for us!
Let us remember: to pray for each other!