Worksheet 4 in Religious Education 111

Topic: The Life of St. Marcellin Champagnat: A Heart That Knows No Bounds

Name: ___Clint Xavier F. Odango________________________________________

What to do: Read and understand the life story of St. Marcellin Champagnat and
answer the reflection questions comprehensively. Submit only your answers to the
reflection questions. Create another file or document for your answers.

Who was Saint Marcellin Champagnat? We know that he was a priest of the
Society of Mary, and the founder of its Little Brothers of Mary, recognized worldwide
today as the Institute of the Marist Brothers. Yes, he was all of those things, but he was
also so much more. The story of St. Marcellin Champagnat takes us back to late
eighteenth and early nineteenth century France. Marcellin walked its roads, cherished
its terrain, respected the people who shaped him, suffered through the adversity that
strengthened him, and, in the end, was seized by the God who was at the center of his
life.
Marcellin Champagnat was born on May 20, 1789. He was the second youngest
of ten children. During the French Revolution his father held public office in the local
town of Marlhes. Marcellin was born into a family where Christian values were put into
daily practice.
As a youth, Marcellin preferred manual work to things academic and so grew up
learning to farm and to build. Marcellin’s life was quite normal. Among his peers he did
not stand out as an exceptionally religious person.
It came as a great surprise to his father and brothers when, at age fifteen, he
decided to enter the priesthood hardly able to read. This deficiency was to be a cross
for him throughout his life. The initial years in the seminary were difficult ones, and after
his first year, Marcellin was asked to leave. However, his mother encouraged him to
continue and with the help of the parish priest he was readmitted.
Early on in the process of his formation as a priest, Marcellin became more open
to the transforming grace of God in his life. The Lord used some very human means to
focus the future saint’s mind, heart, and energy on this one aim: loving Jesus and, in
turn, helping others to do the same.
When Marcellin continued his seminary studies in Lyons, he joined a group of
twelve seminarians that together promised to found a society dedicated to the Blessed
Mother. On July 23, 1816 the twelve newly ordained priests went to Fourviere, a famous
local shrine to the Blessed Mother, and formally pledged to found the Society of Mary.
They intended it to include the whole world and have priests, Brothers, Sisters, and lay
people. Marcellin’s dream was to organize a special group of Brothers, whose main
work would be the Christian education of youth. He declared several times that it was
the difficulties he had in school that caused him to conceive the project of preparing
religious teaching Brothers for country children.
Reflection Questions
1. Marcellin Champagnat faced challenges on his road to the priesthood. What
challenges have you faced in the pursuit of your goals? How have they strengthened
and shaped you? What means did you take to overcome them?
In life, we face numerous obstacles in accomplishing our objectives. I struggled
with my parents' expectations when I was in high school and had failing grades. My
parents are very informed in our academic performance, therefore I believe this is my
chance to take the next step in college, particularly in the profession of nursing.I believe
I have lost the ability to achieve my objectives. I overcame it by doing well in school,
much like St. Marcellin did when he wanted to leave the seminary, but with Mary's
support, he was able to persevere. Because I am so devoted to Mary, she encouraged
me to work hard to attain my goals, despite of the challenges
2. Looking back on this period in the life of Marcellin Champagnat, what qualities do you
find in the person that you most admire? What about them fills you with admiration?
On many levels, I believe St. Marcellin Champagnat thought of me as determined
and kind. I admired him because he has had a significant impact on my development as
a member of the NDDU community. I am highly determined since I am dedicated to my
studies, especially now that I am in college, and I have ways to conquer the roller
coaster obstacles. Compassion because, as a child of Joseph and Mary, I must become
perseverant in all my works and faithful in order to overcome my fear, particularly of my
parents' expectations in terms of great academic performance. Growing up in the NDDU
community with the assistance of instructors and staff, particularly the affection of St.
Marcellin, has allowed me to adapt and expand my knowledge and abilities.
His studies now behind him and at age 27, he arrived as a parish priest to serve
the people of La Valla, a small parish consisting of a series of scattered hamlets in the
foothills of Mt. Pilat. His whole apostolic life was to be spent in this region of mountains
and valleys, but his vision would reach far beyond La Valla.
Marcellin also wanted to address the widespread lack of religious education and
spiritual formation found in his day. He is quoted as saying, “We must have brothers, to
teach catechism, to help the missionaries and to conduct schools”. Marcellin’s dream
was ambitious: to make Jesus known and loved among the young, particularly those
who were most neglected. The founder, though, was not simply concerned about
providing better educational opportunities for young people. He was also preoccupied
with helping to foster their religious development and experience of God’s love.
Marcellin was often heard to say, “I cannot see a child without wanting to let him know
how much Jesus Christ has loved him and how much he should, in return, love the
divine Savior”.
The young priest also saw education as a means for integrating faith and culture.
Champagnat had more in mind than providing primary instruction for young people or
even, than teaching them the truths of religion. He said, ‘We aim at something better:
we want to educate them, to instruct them in their duty, to teach them to practice it, to
give them a Christian spirit and attitudes and to form them to religious habits and the
virtues possessed by a good Christian and a good citizen.’”
Reflection Questions
3. Who are the people who have helped you shape your life’s dream and encouraged
you to live it out? In what specific ways did they help?
People who have assisted me in shaping my life's dream and who have
encouraged me, particularly my family and those that surround me. My family molded
me to encourage and assist me in living a wonderful life, especially in my education,
which brought me to school to mold me to achieve the goal I had. With my colleagues, I
am able to gain more respect and enhance my self-confidence in socializing. With God's
help, I am able to commit myself to my studies.
4. What events in your life gave you a sense of God’s dream for you? The Lord mapped
out a journey for you, what milestones along the road helped you find your way?
I remembered volunteering in our barangay to assist children and provide them
with food, especially in the poorest areas. I realized that this is not a barrier to me help
the underprivileged because God created us to treat all people equally. This is a path
for me to help others by providing them with the care and resources they need, so that, I
in line in the medical field which is nurse to help people. The lesson that I learned in that
milestone that help and treat everyone equally despite of their status in life.
A few months into his ministry, on October 28, 1816, Marcellin was called to the
bedside of a dying teenager, Jean-Baptiste Montagne, who was ignorant of the most
basic truths of the faith. Marcellin instructed him, heard his confession, and prepared
him for death. He then left to visit another sick person in the area. When he returned to
the Montagne household, the young priest learned that Jean-Baptiste had died.
Marcellin’s encounter with this adolescent transformed him. Jean Baptiste
Montagne’s lack of knowledge about Jesus convinced the young priest that God was
calling him to found a congregation of brothers to evangelize the young, particularly
those most neglected.
Returning from the Montagne home, Champagnat immediately approached a
young man of La Valla, Jean-Marie Granjon, and asked him if he wanted to become a
teacher. Granjon, who was 22 years old, said yes and Marcellin borrowed money to buy
a house in La Valla. He repaired it, cleaned it, built beds and a dining table. A second
young man, Jean-Baptiste Audras, who was 14 years old, joined Granjon and the three
of them moved into the house on January 2, 1817. This date is regarded to be the
foundation day of the Marist Brothers. They worked together, prayer together, visited
the sick and elderly, made nails to earn some money, and trained to be teachers. In
May 1818, in La Valla, the first six Brothers opened their first school. Throughout the
next few years, many others joined Marcellin’s band of Brothers. At the time of his
death, at age 51, there were 280 Marist Brothers working in 48 schools.
Marcellin Champagnat loved young people. They, in turn, found his enthusiasm
and energy contagious. Three elements fuelled his passion for life and shaped his
spirituality: an awareness of God’s presence, an unwavering confidence in Mary and
her protection, and the two uncomplicated virtues of simplicity and humility. The practice
of the presence of God was more and more, at the heart of Marcellin’s spiritual life. His
path to a deeper relationship with Jesus and Mary, however, was not an easy one; the
young priest encountered many rough stretches along the way.
Marcellin and his brothers were poor. Brother Laurent, an early and faithful
disciple of the founder, described the material circumstances of that initial community
this way. “We were very poor in the beginning. We had bread that was the color of the
earth, but we always had what was necessary”. Despite harsh conditions, the spirit of
generosity and good humor that marked this first group of young recruits never failed to
shine through. The early brothers did not have an easy life materially. The deprivation
they suffered, however, bound them one to another and caused them to share what little
they had. It also kept them mindful of their need to live close to the circumstances of
those they were called to serve.
In February 1823, Marcellin learned that Brother Jean-Baptiste in another hamlet
had come down with a serious illness. Concerned about his condition, the young priest
set out on the twenty-kilometer journey across rough countryside to visit him. Brother
Stanislaus was at his side.
On their return trip, walking through heavily timbered territory, the two men were
caught in the full fury of one of the region’s snowstorms. Both were young and
energetic, but hours of wandering lost on the slopes of Mount Pilat led eventually to
exhaustion. Stanislaus had reached the limits of his stamina. Night set in; the possibility
of death in the snow increased with each passing hour. Both men turned to Mary for
help and prayed the Memorare.
Within a short while, they spied lamplight, not too far away in the distance. A
local farmer, Mr. Donnet, had left his house to enter a nearby stable. This particular
evening, though, he had taken an unusual route, especially with the storm underway. By
habit, he entered the stable through a convenient door in the wall of the house. For
reasons that can be explained only by faith, this particular night he braved wind and
snow and chose a route that took him outdoors with his lantern. For the rest of his days,
Marcellin saw his deliverance and that of Brother Stanislaus—henceforth referred to as
the Memorare in the Snow—as an act of Providence.
The episode that came to be known as the Memorare in the Snow opens another
window on the man and his spirituality. What caused Marcellin to set out on his journey
in the first place? Concern for a sick brother. The founder’s great love for the early
brothers was one of his most memorable qualities. Marcellin’s world might have been
small when compared to that of many people today. But there was nothing small about
his heart. He lived a “practical Christianity”; love always translated itself into concrete
action. A brother was sick; the founder set out to visit him.
Whatever other reasons motivated the timing of his return journey, we can
speculate that his sense of God’s presence and confidence in Mary and her protection
caused him to undertake the trip where others might hesitate. His recourse to the
Memorare in the face of danger was not the final effort of a dying man. Marcellin was,
by this time in his life, aware of God’s continual and powerful presence; Mary had also
come through for him often enough that he counted on her protection without question.
The Memorare in the Snow was simply an external manifestation of the much deeper
spiritual reality of the man. When the Revolution of 1830 broke out, and soldiers
invaded the Brothers’ home, the Hermitage, Champagnat turned again to Mary who
came to his aid. From that point on, the community decided to start each day with the
Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen), a practice retained by the Brothers to this day.
Reflection Questions
5. The needs of others and their suffering often shape and transform us. How did both
affect Marcellin’s character, outlook on life, and his spirituality? How did they work
together to make him the person that he became?
I believe that with the support of Jesus and Mary, I am very faithful and devoted
to my work, and that I adopt the character of St. Marcellin, who is highly faithful in life
and spiritually devoted. My mother, who is a teacher and a religious person, instills in us
the importance of life as well as the religious virtues of fearing God and constantly
looking up and being humble. As a student in this community, we learn religious and
spiritual lessons that help us become more devoted to God.
6. How have the needs and sufferings of others shaped and transformed you made you
the person that you are today? How have they moved you to take action for the
gospel’s sake?
I had an illness that made me more phobic because I was easily affected when I
was younger. Now, I am more aware in many ways to avoid becoming committed. With
the assistance of God, who has truly given me a new and healthy life.
There was nothing petty about Marcellin Champagnat. He had a passion for the
gospel. It is not surprising, therefore, that obedience and love were the two virtues he
recommended to his early followers. They are, after all, the foundation of community.
Obedience is its mainstay; love binds all other virtues together and makes them perfect.
Of this second, there was to be no limit. Marcellin loved his brothers; he expected no
less from them, each one for the other.
Throughout his life, the founder was fond of saying, “to bring up children properly,
we must love them, and love them all equally”. The virtue of love, therefore, was to be
not only the foundation of community but also of a distinctive Marist method of
evangelization and education. It had been Mary’s way with Jesus; it was now to be the
way of all who followed the dream that so captured the heart of this country priest and
his early brothers.
Shortly after Christmas in1825, Marcellin’s health began to fail and, as usual he
turned to Mary and he regained sufficient health to continue directing the Brothers.
When he completed his last will and testament, it included a summary of the
spirituality of his “Little Brothers”. Practice the presence of God, he told them it is the
soul of prayer, meditation, and all the virtues. Let humility and simplicity be the
characteristics that distinguish you from others, and maintain always a spirit of poverty
and detachment. Have a filial and tender devotion to Mary, he counselled, make her
loved in every place. Love and be faithful to your vocation, and persevere in it
courageously. Marcellin took seriously the Good News of Jesus Christ. Having
discovered the joy of the gospel and letting it transform him, the founder wanted to
share with others, particularly the young, all that he had seen and heard.
Reflection Questions
7. Marcellin was aware of God’s presence and relied completely on Mary. After hearing
about his life thus far, are there other aspects of his spirituality that are apparent to
you? If so, what are they and how did they develop in the man?
I'm a Mama's boy, and because I'm not close enough to my father because of my
gender preference, I'd like to look up to my mother. St. Marcellin has totally spelled out
Mary on his supervision as a protector and a disciple, and I believe Mary is just a
striving and dedicated person. I believe that St. Marcellin was just a beloved to look up
to, and as a result, he grew to be more dedicated and devoted to Mary as his guide
throughout his life as a patron of hope.
8. Sometimes setbacks in life can turn out to be a great source of personal and spiritual
growth. Identify a setback in your own life; in what ways did it challenge you to grow
more as a person and as a disciple of Jesus?
When my grandparents died, I believe it was a difficult task for us, their
grandchildren, to manage the life they had given us as well as the family relationship.
As of now, we've contended with life's problems in terms of our family's financial needs.
We are affected by our parents' difficulties as children, so I am working hard to become
more respectful to all people and to put Jesus Christ at the center of our lives to save
and protect us. So, despite the difficulties, Jesus shaped a quality in me to honor my
relatives: respect. Because not everyone has a perfect family, we must learn to develop
and grow appropriately.

Marcellin’s dream lives on today in the lives of his Brothers. Over 3500 Marist
Brothers in 79 countries strive to continue Marcellin Champagnat’s legacy of strong
family spirit in community and ministry, manual work, active concern for the
marginalized and most neglected, deep faith in God and a filial devotion to Mary, our
Good Mother. Along with tens of thousands of others who share in the Marist spirit, the
Marist Brothers work to make Jesus Christ known and loved as they minister in schools,
parishes, and other educational and youth settings.
Marcellin Champagnat was not a theologian, spiritual writer, or educational
innovator, but he was an originator. There was no task too small or too great for him to
tackle, especially when the task was to serve his Brothers and the people to whom he
ministered. “I beg of you, dear Brothers, with all the affection of my soul, and by all the
love you have for me, do all you can to ensure that charity is always maintained among
you… Let it be said of you as of the first Christians, see how they love one another.”
Marcellin was an ordinary man who did extraordinary things because he did the
ordinary things with an extraordinary amount of love. This “ordinary man” was
proclaimed a saint of the Church by Pope John Paul 2 on April18, 1999. The world into
which Marcellin Champagnat was born in 1789 was beginning to convulse with the
tremors of change. The one he left fifty-one years later had seen war and peace,
prosperity and hardship, the death of one Church and the birth of another. A man of his
times, he carried within himself all the greatness and limitations of the people of his age.
Suffering tempered him, setbacks strengthened him, determination drove him, and
grace helped him move beyond his circumstances.
Saint Marcellin Champagnat, “priest of the Society of Mary, Superior and
Founder of the Little Brothers of Mary”… An example of “practical Christianity”. He was
a man our Church calls a very modern-day saint, an apostle to youth. Marcellin
Champagnat was both for his time in history; he is no less for ours today.

Reflection Question
9. What are your realizations from the life story of Marcellin? What struck you most in
the story of Marcellin? Why?
I believe that everything happens for a reason, and Mary was given the life she
deserved. The story of Marcellin, who is very dedicated to building the Little Brother of
Mary, has the greatest impact on me because I believe it is his accomplishment to serve
Mary and Jesus by assisting the needs of the children to become more educated and
religious. I believe it is his responsibility to convey love to children in order to provide
them with a better existence.
10. How can you imitate him in your own way as a son or daughter, as a brother or
sister, as a student, as a member of the community and as a member of the church?
Cite concrete ways that you can manifest in your day-to-day life.
For us at the institution, he is a legend because of his dedication and
perseverance. As a son, I've been able to assist God's children in carrying out religious
duties and principles. As a brother, it is my responsibility to assist each member of our
family in deserving love and respect in religious matters. As a student, I should be
teaching the importance of caring and helping others, which is in line with my course's
goal of assisting everyone, and I should create a hospital someday. As a community
member, I dedicated myself to teaching the value of assisting others by simply
volunteering and committing an attribute of being a community leader. As a priest, I
pledge myself as a member of the church to assisting and offering the life that not only
St. Marcellin but also Jesus taught us the value of love and care.