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Marist Notebooks

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Edited and printed in Rome, containing articles on research being done on Marist patrimony.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EDITORIALBr André Lanfrey

DOSSIER

The trials of war for the Brothers: a Centenary

The Institute in World War IBr André Lanfrey

The Marist Brothers of Belgium during World War IBr Augustin Hendlmeier

German brothers in World War IBr Augustin Hendlmeier

Jean Claude Berne (Br Claude-Casimir): soldier in War of 1914-1918Éric Perrin

STUDIES

Colin and Champagnat – PART II : Revelations from the correspondence: 1828-1835Br Frederick McMahon

The personality of Brother François as reflected in his personal letters on the government of the Institute and Letters related to his giving of spiritual directionBr Louis Richard

An icon of Marist mission: the young MontagneBr Manuel Mesonero

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DOCUMENTS

Mathieu Patouillard, neighbour of the HermitageBr André Lanfrey

Brothers who died in the War of 1914-1918Br André Lanfrey

Extracts of Brother François in his NotebooksBr Louis Richard

Two new douments about Champagnat Br André Lanfrey

NOTES IN BRIEF

A look into Marcellin Champagnat’s heartBr Patricio Pino

An essay by Dr D.Pedro Felipe Monlau Br Antonio Martinez Estaún

IN MEMORIAM

Br Henri RéocreuxBr André Lanfrey

FMS MARIST NOTEBOOKSN° 33 Year XXV May 2015

Editor in chief:Patrimony Commission

Publishing Director:Luiz Da Rosa

Contributors to this edition:Br André LanfreyBr Antonio Martinez EstaúnBr Augustin HendlmeierÉric PerrinBr Frederick McMahonBr Louis RichardBr Manuel MesoneroBr Patricio Pino

Translators: Br Aimé Maillet, Br Aloísio Kuhn, Br Carlos Martín Hinojar, Br Charles Filiatrault, Br Claudio Girardi, Br Edward Clisby, Br Fabricio Galiana Martínez, Br Gilles Hogue, Br Joannès Fontanay, Br Moisés Puente, Ricardo Tescarolo, Robert Clark, Br Salvador Durante.

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Cover photo: Br Adolphe-Louis (Héctor Ammel), of the former province of Beaucamps.He was born on 20 January 1883, in Halluin (59 - France) and died in Pommeroel (Belgium) on 1 June 1940. He waswounded on 11 June 1915 by a piece of shrapnel in Hébuterne (62 - France). He is represented as a soldier and witha cassock, with his military medals.

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We are preparing to celebrate thebicentenaries of the Society of Mary(1816) and of our Institute (1817). Atthe same time, it is an opportunity toremind us that the centenary tookplace during the First World War(1914-1918), in which more than athousand Brothers were mobilised,around one hundred and fifty killed,and many others deeply affected bywounds, illnesses and various typesof trauma.

Revolution, persecution and war,moreover, have accompanied thehistory of the Society of Mary fromthe beginning, since it was consti-tuted immediately after the FrenchRevolution and the Napoleonic Em-pire, the first Marist aspirants havingknown the times of persecution andescaped military service through theirecclesiastical commitment. In thedecades following, peace remainedprecarious. Up to 1840, military serv-ice was one of Fr Champagnat’smain preoccupations. Revolutionary

phases (1830, 1848, 1870-71) werenot wanting and, if they did not havea lasting effect on the Institute, theycreated a feeling of uncertainty. Thelaw of 1889, obliging religious and ec-clesiastics to military service, was in-terpreted by the Institute as one ofthe clearest signs of a return of thepersecuting spirit of the Revolution.

The war of 1914-1918 followed,then, from the clash of military ambi-tions and became the matrix of atragic twentieth century marked onevery continent by revolution, civil war,totalitarianism, which many Brothershad to confront suffering, exile, mortaldangers, persecutions, captivity andother consequences. If the Institutehas been careful to honour the mem-ory of the Brother martyrs, it has not,perhaps, been sufficiently mindful ofthe numerous Brothers who suffered,over long periods, from a multiformand often violent compulsory militaryservice, while trying not to lose theirhumanity or their identity.

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EDITORIAL

Br André Lanfrey

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THE INSTITUTE IN WORLD WAR I

Br André Lanfrey

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The war which broke out in Europeat the beginning of August 1914 af-fected a multinational institute but oneof which the French personnel (about50 % of the effective total) had beenvery widely scattered since 1903. Nu-merous brothers mobilised, therefore,had to return from China, America,the Middle East. The German Broth-ers, formed in Arlon, already consti-tuted a very significant group. Theyoungest (80 novices and postulantsand 140 juniors1) were conducted tothe Dutch frontière for the return toGermany, while the German and Hun-garian novices in Italy were trans-ferred to Fribourg in Switzerland.

The mechanism of the Institutewas thus seriously affected : inFrance obviously, in Belgium whereBelgian, French and German broth-ers were working, but also in the Ot-toman Empire, China, and the

houses of formation. Yet eventhough the war indirectly affectedthe whole world, mobilisation in-volved only the brothers native tofour countries: France, Germany,Italy2, Belgium. In the United King-dom and in most of the British Em-pire, clergymen were dispensedfrom military service and, despitealerts in 1915 and 1917, it appears nobrother was mobilised3.

MOBILISED AND KILLEDIN THE 1914-1918 WAR

There were 9281 French religiousmobilised4 (including 708 MaristBrothers) and 1517 (16.3 %) killed (101Marist Brothers). Of 45 congrega-tions, the Marist Brothers ranked 3rd

after the B.C.S. (1896 mobilised, 280killed) and the Jesuits, (855 mo-bilised, 177 killed5).

1 Br Augustin Hendlmeier, “The beginnings of the province of Germany” in Marist Notebooks No 27, p. 68. 2 It entered the war only on 23 May 1915. 3 Brother Clare, History of the province, New Edition, 2011, p. 154. 4 Christian Sorrel, La République contre les congrégations, Cerf, 2003, p. 211. 5 Statistics taken from Le prix du sang. Le livre d’or du clergé français, t. II, 1925. Other sources give

slightly lower figures.

D O S S I E R

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6 The Institute in World War I

For the Marist Brothers, the mostreliable global balance of the broth-ers engaged in the war is to befound in the acts of the GeneralChapter of 1920:

“During the war, we had 1037 mo-bilised ; 154 dead and disappeared;193 citations in the order of the day;140 Croix de Guerre; 5 Military Medals;one Cross of the Légion d’Honneurand 4 other decorations”6.

As for the number of wounded, itrose on the French side to 91 broth-ers and a total of 120 wounds, somehaving been wounded severaltimes7.

The statistics in the archivesunder the heading “Marist Brothers

soldiers during the 14-18 war”8 whichserved as the basis for these figures,also reveals the small number ofFrench brothers who returned fromSpain, Canada, the United States,Brasil,9 the British Empire…while theFrench provinces of Mexico, China,Constantinople and Syria were badlyaffected. The Work of St FrancisXavier was particularly affected be-cause it had numerous French, Ger-man and Italian aspirants. Thefollowing table is also a good indexof the degree of internationalisationof the provinces: this is particularlyvisible with the province of Beau-camps comprising a large number ofGerman brothers, but also Constan-tinople, and the province of SaintPaul where Italian brothers were nu-merous.

6 If the figures of the mobilised and the dead concern the whole of the institute, the decorations ap-pear to concern only the French Brothers.

7 This figure is with doubt much lower than the reality and might refer only to the seriously wounded. 8 AFM France 600. Undated dossier, folder “letters of the year 1914”9 Nothing is said of Colombia.

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Movilised Killed

Provinces Fr. It. Ger. Belg. Other Total Fr. It. Ger. Total

St Genis L. 85 2 5 92 17 2 19

Hermitage 95 17 112 18 18

St Paul 49 53 102 10 5 15

Aubenas 45 45 5 5

Beaucamps 49 169 20 238 4 39 43

Varennes 56 10 66 6 1 7

Lacabane 27 27 1 1

Islas 1 1

España 17 17 1 1

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In fact, eleven provinces (half ofthe administrative units) and thework of St Francis Xavier suppliedmore than 90 % of the mobilised andalmost all the dead. As most of theseunits were already ageing, the war of14-18 contributed to reinforcing anearlier division of the Institute intozones of expansion (essentially theAmericas and Oceania) and areas incrisis (Europe, Middle East, China).

LEGITIMACY OF THE MOBILISATION?

But let us return to 1914. The gen-eral mobilisation decreed in France on1 August 1914 was liable to affect notonly the men of the reserve, classes1900 to 1910, but also those of the ter-ritorials, that is to say, classes 1886-1899. In France, one had to be over48 to escape mobilisation.

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10 Fourteen Hungarians, 1 Rumanian, one Bulgarian.

Movilised Killed

Provincias Fr. It. Ger. Belg. Other Total Fr. It. Ger. Total

Canadá 20 20 2 2

Estados-Unidos 17 17 2 2

México 58 58 15 15

China 32 32 1 1

Constantinopla 59 8 1610 83 9 3 12

Siria 58 58 5 5

Brasil central 11 11 3 3

Brasil sur 1 1

Brasil norte 6 1 7

Africa del sur 1 1 2

Nva. Celanda 1 1

Nva. Caledonia 2 2

Seychelles 3 3

St Fr. Xavier 16 5 21 42 2 4 6

Total 708 88 205 20 16 1037 101 6 48 155

% 68 8,4 19,7 1,9 1,5 65 3,8 30,9

Remark: Volume XIV of the Circulars (p. 348) gives the last list of the dead containing the pro-fessed, novices and postulants who died in the war. To the list of deceased above could be ad-ded 3 novices and 3 postulants not taken into account previously.

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Most of the French religious livingoverseas could object that, since thelaw of 1901 and the Combes decreesof 1903 had condemned them toexile, they had no duty to a countrywhich had rejected them, even if thisposition of categorical refusal hadbeen weakened by the circular of theMinister of the Interior, Louis Malvy,asking the prefects on 2 August1914, to suspend the application ofthe decrees against the congrega-tions. But this measure could beseen as hypocritical even odious, theaim of the government being to re-cover the exiled religious to serve ascannon fodder11 without offeringthem in exchange the least seriousopening, since the circular grantednothing in the long term12. In theshort term, this suspension waswithout any practical effect because,since 1906, the State had beenquasi- powerless against the secu-larised and the congregationalschools had nearly all been closed.

This mobilisation could appear ir-rational for a large number of Frenchbrothers who had not done any mili-tary service for, having left Europebefore the age of military service,they had benefitted from Article 50 ofthe law of 1889 dispensing from mil-itary service (except in the case ofwar) young men living abroad at the

time of their incorporation and stay-ing there at least ten years. Withoutmilitary training and forced to under-tale long voyages to return, theycould hardly see their usefulness ascombatants.

The superiors of the congrega-tions obviously had no sympathy forthe persecuting Republic. For exam-ple, Br Jean-Joseph, superior of theBrothers of Ploërmel, consideredthat duties towards God were supe-rior to the interests of the homelandand hoped that none of his brotherson mission would join the army13.But, as it was not a question of im-posing a line of conduct in this areaon the brothers, the superiors of theMarist Brothers sought to alleviatethe effects of the mobilisation as faras possible, taking advantage ofcontacts made before the war be-tween the French Ministry of ForeignAffairs and the Institute in view of theopening of missionary novitiates inFrance.

Thus, a letter of Rev. Br Stra-tonique to the French Minister of Waron 6 October 191414, explains that ofthe 250 brothers working in the Mid-dle East and China, half have alreadybeen mobilised. As for the deferredbrothers, their mobilisation in theauxiliary services would destroy the

The Institute in World War I8

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11 The law of 1904 forbidding congregational teaching had given them 10 years to close. 12 This will be seen in 1924-26 when the Left Block, led by Edouard Herriot, has the impudence to re-

launch the anti-congregational policy.13 Christian Sorrel, La république contre les congrégations, Cerf, 2003, p. 210-211. 14 Letter No 14798. There is a question about its date : perhaps 6 September 1914.

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thirty-six establishments conductedin that country up to this date. So heasks that the latter be dispensedfrom military service and adds:

“In France they could be no more than an insignificant contribution; for, being for the most part a great distance away andcommunications being rare and difficult, it is to bepresumed that by the time they arrived, the war would be almost over15.”

Another letter of 10 November1914 asks the Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs that the houses of Italy not bedeprived of their formators, a petitionthat was granted16.

Nevertheless, the superiors wereoutstripped by events: at the end of1914 a large number of brotherswere expelled from the OttomanEmpire which had sided with theCentral Powers. The provinces ofSyria and Constantinople were thusdestroyed and “the general councilaccepts that they (the expelledbrothers) be employed for the timebeing in our establishments inFrance17 “to replace the secularisedbrothers mobilised. It was on theirbehalf that the Rev. Brother wrote toMinister Delcassé (Foreign Affairs) inorder “that they be permitted to ac-cept the offers of employment madethem almost everywhere in freeteaching, and without the obligation

of laying aside either their title or theirreligious costume”.

Such a request had no chance ofbeing successful, but it was a meansof reminding the French governmentthat the “Sacred Union” decided bythe parliament on 4 August 1914ought to have as consequence aneffective re-establishment of the rightof religious and not simply purely for-mal concessions. And all through thewar, the Institute knew how to assertthe services rendered: in 1916 the su-periors would recall that 2600 Frenchbrothers were overseas; nearly 600under the colours, and 55 alreadydead for the homeland18.

THE REFRACTORY BROTHERS

The majority of the missionaries,and the Marist Brothers in particular,were patriotic, easily amalgamatingdefence of the homeland and of theChurch: they felt themselves, as afamous hymn says: “Catholics andFrench” and most considered thecall of the homeland as a duty bothcivic and religious. But, for fortuitousreasons (distance, difficulties ofcommunication) or more deliberateones, a significant number of Frenchbrothers called up by the authoritiesdid not obey.

15 This idea of a short war was widespread at the time, including among the military.16 See letters 14880, 14882… 17Ibid.18 Letter 14926.

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19 Christian Sorrel, op. cit. p. 212-216. 20 AFM, France 600, dossier 1918. Official file: Théodore Naudet (1882-1983) born in Paris, of the

province of Beaucamps, arrived in Porto Alegre in 1902, perpetually professed in1906. He did not do warservice in France. In 1923, he did the Second Novitiate in Grugliasco. In 1924-31, he was administrator atGravatahy. He seems to have been sent on mission to France.

21 A dossier of 1914 indicates fifty-six refractory French in Brasil Central and twenty-three in BrasilSouth.

22 Volume VI a, ch. XI, p. 354.

The Institute in World War I10

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This problem would become par-ticularly embarrassing around 1920-25 when the superiors were tryingto have the French government au-thorize the opening of novitiates inFrance for the works abroad19. Thearchives of the Marist Brothershave preserved a report by BrJoseph Prosper20 (January-Febru-ary 1925) after his interviews withthe military and the politicians aboutthe insubordination of the brothers,particularly notable in Brasil21. Andin his manuscript history of the in-stitute22 Br Marie-Nicet, himself re-fractory, explains in detail the argu-ments justifying the refusal torespond to call-up.

“In the new provinces: China, South Africa, Colombia, Brasil, Mexico…, made up almostexclusively of “young brothers”, the mass departureof those mobilised would fatally cause the ruin of the works. On this occasion, that is to say in these exceptional circumstances, the consul in Rio,not being able to say to the brothers “stay”, made this wise observation: “The Germans are staying; if you leave, they will supplant you”. It was frank and clear: Intelligent in pauca!

Shortly after, Senator Baudin, onmission in the countries of LatinAmerica, exclaimed: “How could youabandon now these magnificent

works which do honour to France? Itwould be a crime; or rather a greatstupidity: to give up what you havefor something you don’t know.”

However, the superiors remainedperplexed. It is sometimes more dif-ficult to know one’s duty than to per-form it. “One serves one’s countrybetter by making friends for it than bykilling its enemies”, this is indubitable.But, on the other hand, the order ofmobilisation was general…; the fam-ilies of the refractory would be dis-honoured, so to speak…; and ifextradition took place…?

Let us note also that the greatestnumber of expatriates affected bythe mobilisation were the expatriatevictims of the Combeist persecution,outlawed after numerous vexations,struck out of the number of citi-zens…It is clear that this dispensedthem from going to serve an unnat-ural mother who had rejected them.

The Apostolic Nuncio to Brasil,consulted by the Brother Provincialsof the Centre, fully agreed:

“If at least the sectarians who persecute youwere honest pagans, they would abolish at this tragic hour the exceptional laws theyhave brought against religious, so that you

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could return properly to your country andboldly fulfill your military duties. But it isaltogether illogical for you to returnclandestinely, so to speak, to a country whichhas not wanted your services and has treatedyou against the law of peoples23. So much themore, since you are doing here in America awork not only humanitarian but excellentlypatriotic; for you are making loved andesteemed the France which others (alas) seemdoing their best to revile.”

Finally, the provincials of Brasil es-tablished a line of conduct on threepoints:

“1º To abstain from discussing this burning questionin public (that is, in community);

2° To those who insisted on going, to allow them;3° To those who asked advice, to invite them to stay”.

In 1914, the risk of extradition wasnot purely theoretical, since it wasdifficult to forsee the political futureof the host countries in favour of onecamp or the other. Moreover, inMexico, the hostility of the govern-ment towards religious obliged fifty-nine French brothers to return toFrance24. On the other hand, thecountries of North America and theBritish Empire offered great security,

something which partly explains thesmall number of brothers who re-turned and allows one to suspectsome cases of disobedience and dif-ferent arrangements25. Thus, BrLéonida, born on 25 February 1886and having left for Mexico on 5 Au-gust 1902 before the age of call-up,a brilliant teacher in 1915, would bedispensed from all military obligationby the Legation of France26.

Even if non-compliance with mo-bilisation affected only the brothers ofBrasil, it seems to have been the onlycase which created a problem, fortwo reasons: the massive scale of therefusals and the letter of one provin-cial to the French authorities, proba-bly to justify the lack of submission27.Such a refusal was not confined to theMarist Brothers: an historical studyshows that in Lozère, a very Catholicarea, the number of refractory wasmore numerous than eleswhere,many brothers (of various congrega-tions) who had left for Spain not re-turning for mobilisation28. Among theBrothers of the Holy Family of Belley,fifty French brothers established inUruguay declared that they refusedto return29.

23 This word helps make understandable the request of the superiors with regard to the soutanementioned above.

24 F. Gabriel Michel, Nos supérieurs. F. Léonida, Maison générale, Rome, 1976, p. 3525 No French brother returned from Colombia. In the Histoire de l’Institut of 1947, p. 121, Br Jean-

Emile specifies that in China and New Caledonia mobilisation took place on site. 26 F. Gabriel Michel. Nos supérieurs. F. Léonida, Maison générale, Rome, 1976, p. 36-37.27 Br Joseph Prosper will specify that it was not signed and therefore without juridical value. In any

case, the massive insubordination of the French brothers of Brasil explains the very small number ofbrothers who returned from that country: nineteen in all, three of whom were killed.

28 Antoine Prost, Jay Winter, Penser la grande Guerre, Seuil, 2004, p. 122. 29 Information from Br Teodoro Berzal, archivist of the Holy Family.

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30 This was the case in Belgium. 31 Paul Christophe, Ibid. p. 41.

The Institute in World War I12

PATRIOTISM AND INCULTURATION

Although Br Marie-Nicet showsevidence of a violent resentment to-wards the anti-clerical Republic, heextols a peaceful service of themotherland, the only one fitting formissionaries. But he suggests an-other sentiment: the brothers haveremade their lives elsewhere and donot wish to choose between the oldand the new homeland. In short,they have become inculturated andthis attachment to their country andprovince of adoption comes throughsometimes in the letters and biogra-phies of the soldier brothers. Havingknown the high seas, they can feelFrance as a narrow world, malevo-lent and no longer familiar.

Finally, the strict anti-clericalismof the French government, whichthe beginning of the war showed upmore than it toned down, was in sin-gular contrast with the religious free-dom and the respect which theBrothers enjoyed in most of thecountries where they were im-planted. Also, whether they were re-fractory or consented to return,many of them had towards theircountry an ambivalent feeling of re-sentment and devotion. Once thewar was over, most returned to thecountries they had left temporarily.

BEHIND THE NATIONALITIES, RELIGIOUS RIVALRIES

The brothers could even considertheir insubordination as a religiousduty, for international public opinionwas shocked that a so-calledCatholic country forced military serv-ice on priests and religious. It wasscandalised above all that it imposedarmed service on them, instead ofusing them in the auxiliary services(chaplaincy, medical30…). At the be-ginning of the war, a French mission-ary bishop in Korea31 reported that inthe eyes of the Protestants “Francecould not present itself as a Catholiccountry since, counter to the rules ofthe Church, it imposed armed serv-ice on all the clergy. It was necessarythen, they said, to hope for the vic-tory of Germany, a much more Chris-tian country than France”. And whenBr Marie-Nicet says “The Germansare staying”, he is doubtless puttingtwo factors together: the enemy na-tion but also the Protestant power.And the problem persisted through-out the conflict: even when compul-sory military service was establishedin England in January 1916, clergy-men, and thus the brothers, were ex-empted. Again in 1917, the director ofthe Propagation of the Faith in NewYork indicated that the opinion ofCatholic Americans had been partic-ularly alienated by: “the iniquity com-mited by the French government inforcing priests to bear arms”. But he

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32 Paul Christophe, Des missionnaires plongés dans la Grande Guerre. Lettres des Missionsétrangères de Paris, Cerf, 2012, p. 326.

33 Some letters come from Italian brothers.

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also criticised priests who had lefttheir missions without trying “to ex-empt themselves from a bad lawmade out of hatred of religion”32.

It is understandable, then, that theFrench government had to showproof of flexibility towards the con-gregations who were fighting abroadthe accusations made against aFrance enemy of Christianity. But al-ready, for the Brothers of 1914, to re-main refractory was to declare one-self a follower of Catholic universalismbefore being a Frenchman. One re-mained “Catholic and French”, butthe two terms ceased to be equal.And, even among the brothers whoagreed to return, the patriotic fibrewas in some measure balanced by awider vision of the world.

REALIZATION OF A LONGAND DEADLY WAR

Obviously, the opening monthsof the war were particularly con-fused and it was only slowly that the

Institute realized the unexpectedcharacter of the event: a verydeadly war without an end in sight.Starting from September 1915, TheBulletin de l’institut instituted a col-umn “Our soldiers” which listed thenames of the brothers killed, some-times their province, the place anddate of their decease when known.In numbers 37-51 appeared twentybiographies of brothers dead in thewar, almost all French for communi-cations with the Central Powerswere very difficult33. The woundedand prisoners were rarely men-tioned, but always those cited in theorder of the day or decorated be-cause they were good arguementsagainst the French anti-clericalswho claimed the Church was notparticipating in the patriotic effort.However, as internationality re-quired, any nationalism or outra-geous words against the enemywere banned, even if here andthere there appeared the idea of astruggle for justice and right. Thetable below gives some of the maininformation supplied.

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N° of Bulletin Mobilised Killed Year Remarks

36 (1915) 3 à 400 7 Only the names of the killed are indicated

37 (1915) No new death

38 (1915) No death mentioned

39-40 (Sept. 1915) 12 1914 22 deaths since the beginning of the war.10 1915 Indicates the wounded (30…) and half a dozen prisoners

41 (Nov. 1915) 8 1915 11 wounded

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34 The suppression of this correspondance in the Bulletin at the end of the war appears due to fi-nancial difficulties which made paper scarce.

35 Did they pass through military censorship or were they sent by roundabout ways?

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N° of Bulletin Mobilised Killed Year Remarks

42 (1916) 10 1915

43 (1916) 4 1 killed in 1914, 1 at an unknown date, 2 in 1916.

44 (1916) 6 1916

45 (Sept. 1916) 8 1916 Indicates a total of 62 brothers killed. (58 in thelist)

46 (Nov. 1916) 4 1916

47 (March 1917) 9 19165 1917

48 (1917) 8 1916-17 One killed in 1916; the others in 1917.Indicates a total of 85 killed. (84 in the list)

49 (Dec. 1917) 850 15 1917

50 (1918) 6 1918

51 (1918) 13 1918

52 (1918) 10 1918 Indicates a total of 145 brothers killed.(128 in the lists)

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THE LETTERS OF THE SOLDIER BROTHERS

No 36 of the Bulletin (January1915, p. 53) commenced to publishsome series of extracts from lettersof the soldier brothers which were tobecome an important element of thebulletins right up to July 191734. Theseighty letters, most often addressedto the Br Assistant but sometimes tothe Superior General or other superi-ors (Provincial…), recount with rela-tive accuracy the harshness of the

battles, the very hard life of thecamps and the front35, the mostpeaceful employments (hospitals,secretariat), even captivity. Manyhave come back from Mexico, Syria,the province of Constantinople andrecall memories of their previous lifein those countries to which they ap-pear already to be attached. Theyare replying most often to the letter-circulars of the Assistants who alsosend the Bulletin and the circulars ofthe Superior General as well as,sparingly, money. As is fitting, one of

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the recurrent themes of these lettersis love of the congregation, thesoutane, religious and brotherly life,in the end quite easy compared withthe harsh military life. It is a devotionto the Institute, rather than to FrChampagnat who is not often men-tioned.

The tone of the letters evolves ina notable way. At the beginning,marked by the events of 1903-1905which made them think of an anti-re-ligious France, the brothers are verysurprised to see a large number ofvery religious officers and troopersvery respectful of their state. Thenthey seem more pessimistic eventhough they do not complain of anyhostility in their regard. They indicatethe indifference, the religious igno-rance, the blasphemies of the massof the soldiers; and some feel a bitisolated or grouped in little rings ofpriests, religious and soldiers, al-though they attempt and sometimessucceed in apostolic activities. Theyhave practical experience of a worldalready very secularised.

Obviously, the brothers give anaccount of their spiritual life in a con-text which has nothing to do withconventual life. For many, the prac-tice of the sacraments is rare andthey have hardly any books for spiri-tual reading. None of them indicatesthat he possesses a bible, but theNew Testament does not appear tobe part of their kit either. Their reli-gion is founded on the sacraments:Mass, confession and communionas much as possible. Several men-tion the Imitation of Jesus Christ. Asfor personal practices, the Little Of-fice being more or less easy to recitein a context of marches, exhaustingwork and numerous constrictions,they mainly use the rosary, ejacula-tory prayers and meditation, notablyduring their long hours of watch. Onebrother, returned from the East inAugust 1914, even gives his personalretreat programme (T. VI, p. 464) ofthree days in August 1916, based onmeditations proposed by the maga-zine Le prêtre aux armées, the read-ing of L’Imitation de Jésus-Christ andthe rosary. He recalls nostalgically

May2015

WWI veteran Brothers of theformer province of Beaucamps.

From left to right: Br Marie-Gervais (seated),

Br Laurent (standing), Br Edmond-Paul (standing),

Br Adolphe-Louis (seated) and Br Mathurus (standing).

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his entry into the congregation andthe retreats followed in exile. A letterof 8 January 1916 (Tome VI, p. 176),from a brother preparing to go to thefront for the first time, seems to us tobetray a general enough state ofmind:

“Happy New Year! The adjective “happy” seemsrather derisory amidst the current tragic events;[…] Let the war with its bloody horrors end!Make room for victorious peace, peace grantedto right, to civilisation! And may a glorifiedChristianity freely resume its benefits again on a new society!

Another letter of a brother “oncampaign” returned from Lebanon(he invokes Our Lady of Lebanon)writing in his “guitoune” (tent) ex-presses a more profound sentiment(T. VI, p. 177):

“We have need of pure victims who makeatonement and sway heaven. And where to findthese innocent victims? Isn’t it especially amongreligious? …Where is the soldier apostle’s heartwhich has not dreamed of being a holocaustagreeable to God, of offering itself, after theexample of Jesus Christ, in sacrifice for thesalvation of its dear motherland? […] For mypart, I can tell you that I never, thanks be to God,lose sight of this double aim: to expiate and tomerit, in imagining that Providence has made ofthese current events a subject of improvement for me. And if only you knew how I have been in interior peace since I surrendered myself,without reserve, into her maternal arms!There are thoughts which are of supreme comfort in times of anguish […] “Christ suffered more than you… United to his sufferings, yours will be of an exceptional

price…Thus you will realize the letter of the sayingof the Gospel: Carry my Cross and you will be truly my disciples. […] You would not believe how in reasoning in this way,one comes easily to accept death”.

This is the fundamental spiritualityof many of the soldier brothers,made up of abandonment to divineprovidence in imitation of Christ cru-cified. This sacrificial spirituality whichmixes intimately patriotism and theChristian spirit does not preventquestions in the face of the extent ofthe massacre and destruction andespecially the length of the war.While in 1915 the war is seen as a re-generating trial, in 1917 the tone isless assured. In a letter of 10 July1917 (T. VII, p. 221), a soldier brotherdeclares he can do good only bygood example for, he says:

“My regiment unfortunately is composed mostly of men who appear to me to be strangers to any religious notion and have hardly any concern for self respect in their words”.

At the same period (T. VII, p. 223),another brother affirms:

“It is impossible after having seen what one hasseen to remain indifferent, stationary (in religiouslife): one becomes worse or better”.

In sum, confronted with unex-pected events, the soldier brothersleave a relatively simple mental uni-verse to enter into a more personaland deeper spirituality which doesnot prevent their perception of theabsurdity of an endless war in which

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36 He does not appear to have been temporarily professed but to have still pronounced the vow ofobedience. He made the second novitiate. His brochure seems as well to have been partly based on hisnotes from this period.

the regenerative aspect is hardly ev-ident. They often perceive clearlythat their life, if it is not cut down, willno longer be the same and evensometimes that the world will bechanged. This is what a brother ar-tillery officer (T. V, p. 150) evokes on18 February 1915:

“The much vaunted progress is evident everywhere in this frightful war; only (in) its tragicand unique role of destruction”.

The brothers who had beenthrough the war and who, in thegreat majority, rejoined the ranks ofthe congregation, were, humanlyand spiritually, new men.

THE APPENDIX TO THE CIRCULAR OF 24 MAY 1917

It goes without saying that not allof the brothers mobilised shared thesentiments revealed above. The war,moreover, created for the temporaryprofessed and the novices a novelsituation: novitiate interrupted andtemporary vows reaching expiry.Thus, for the good of the brothersunder the colours, the canonicalbond with the Institute was brokenand the length of the war threatenedto transform what was, in the begin-ning, regarded only as a transitorysituation into definitive separation.

In order to respond to this dan-ger, the circular of 24 May 1917 wasaccompanied by a brochure of fortypages written in September-Decem-ber 1916 by a brother mobilised36 forover two years, and entitled “Bene-fits of my congregation. Its inwardand outward beauty, its great men”.The introduction of the Rev. Br in-sisted on family spirit and the super-natural spirit “among most of oursoldier brothers” but at the sametime betrayed concern about their fi-delity after an interminable separa-tion. The brochure itself is a hymn tothe Institute as a mystical body:

“I will compare you, as a society, with otherorganisations established by man, and I amconvinced that I would fine none whoseconstitutions are so perfect; then I will see yourrapid expansion into all the countries of the world; Iwill count the establishments founded, the childreninstructed, the religious saved within you; finally, Iwill briefly examine the life and works of your holyfounder and his first disciples, the virtues of yourmembers, especially of those who are kept far fromyou by a terrible war and of whom more than sixtyhave already died for their motherland”.

And it is an invitation to the soldierbrothers to remain worthy of such anelection:

“To you my life; I wish to devote myself to yourworks until my dying breath. My God, grant me thisgrace. Blessed Virgin Mary, obtain for me toalways remain your child”.

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This powerful reminder preparedfor the circular to the soldier brothersof 25 December 1917 in which the Rev.Br informed the temporary professed,who had been unable to renew theirvows while their active military servicecontinued, that they would now beable to do so thanks to an indult ob-tained from Rome on 3 December1917 (Circulars, T. XIV, pages not num-bered). One is a little surprised by thelate date of this measure, whichshows that for a long time an earlyend was hoped for this war.

WAR ANDSECULARISATION

At the Chapter of 1920, the com-mission of secularisation stated thatof 197 secularised mobilised 180 hadreturned to the congregation and

that 12 had died. This was an argue-ment for the rehabilitation of the sec-ularised and an invitation to the Chap-ter to give them other than sporadichelp. But, as we saw above, theproblem of the secularisation of thereturned brothers free of military ob-ligations had arisen since 1915 with theexpulsion of the brothers from the Ot-toman Empire. It was also certain thatbrothers waiting for call-up or wound-ed in the war or still free from militaryobligations during the conflict, re-mained in France. Of the fifty-nineFrench brothers of the province ofMexico who left for the war, fifteenhad been killed and only a dozen re-turned37. So, in 1915-18 and up to 1922authorisations for secularisations be-came numerous. Here is a table ofthem drawn up according to the reg-isters of deliberations of the Gener-al Council:

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37 Ibid. p. 39.

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Province 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 Total

Lacabane 1 1

St Paul 3 1 7 1 12

Aubenas

Varennes 2 1 11 2 17 33

Hermitage 1 2 2 20 4 14 2 +2 47

St Genis 2 1 2 2 4 3 14

Beaucamps

TOTAL 107

Remark: the figures underlined indicate the brothers who changed province and did not only

obtain a provisional permission. After 1922, there is no trace of permissions from the General

Council. The absence of figures for Beaucamps probably comes from the fact that this province,

situated in a battle zone and under German occupation, was disorganised.

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One can estimate at around 750(688 in Beaucamps) the secularisedof 1913 who would be no more than664 in 1920, with a very high medianage38: The reinforcement receivedduring the war and in the immediatepostwar period only partly compen-sated for the mobilisation of theyoungest secularised elements.

THE INSTITUTE IN OCCUPIED COUNTRIES

From the first weeks of the war, al-most all of Belgium and a large part ofthe north of France were occupied bythe German army. By this fact, almostthe whole territory of the province ofBeaucamps, Germany included, wasisolated from the rest of the institute,Br Diogène, Assistant General, findinghimself confined to the provincialhouse with the old brothers. Through-out the war he would serve as medi-ator between the occupying powerand the civil population while theboarding school was occupied by amilitary hospital. At the end of the war,he succeeded in evacuating the oldbrothers of the house, first to Belgiumand then to St Genis-Laval, passingthrough Switzerland39. The histoiry ofthe province of Beaucamps40 recordsthat in France as in Belgium – and in

Germany – the brothers had to sufferhunger, numerous requisitions, ex-treme difficulty of movement, andthe absence of relations with the restof the institute. Several boardingschools and houses of formation(Péruwels, Pommeroeul, Lille-Ozanam…) were, like Beaucamps,partly occupied by military hospitalsand troops. Up to 1918, the schoolsfunctioned more or less well with theaid of lay teachers, but in 1918 themen were evacuated to Belgium and,during their retreat, the German armydestroyed the boarding school ofBeaucamps and a great part of thevillage.

RAPID INTERNATIONALISATION OF PERSONNEL

The war contributed to acceleratethe internationalisation of the con-gregation and the superiors wouldthen use this fact as an arguementwith the French government to ob-tain the opening of novitiates on itsterritory41. In a history dated 20 No-vember 1920, Br Stratonique, Supe-rior General, observed that theFrench element abroad which was50% in 1914 had decreased to 37% in1920.

38 According to the provinces, the brothers older than sixty were between a third and a quarter ofthe total.

39 Nos Supérieurs, St Genis-Laval, 1953, p. 352-363. 40 History of the province of Beaucamps, 1838-1944. 41 Which they would partly obtain in 1929.

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For the Institute, this result is re-markable since despite the war theeffective total has increased, coun-tries other than France (in particularSpain) having taken the baton of themission while in many places(Canada, United States, Oceania…)the growth is endogenous. One caneven ask if it is the positive effect ofthe withdrawal of the French broth-ers which obliges the provinces torely more on local recruitment.

Nor did the war seriously affectthe perseverance of the brothers asmight have been expected. Cer-tainly, the Acts of the Chapter of1920 state:

“From 1908 to 1918, the withdrawals of perpetuallyprofessed Brothers had followed a constantlydiminishing progression, passing from 71 in the firstof these years, to 26 in the last ; unfortunately, in1919, it climbed to 94, principally because of themobilised who did not return.

A survey made based on the indi-vidual files of the brothers42 gives 93withdrawals of perpetually professedin 1919, including 54 French broth-ers43, 4 Germans, 4 Italians and 1

Year Schools Total of French Pupilsbrothers (prof.) brothers

1914 395 2646 1370 69090

October 1920 418 2778 1044 84087

Belgian recently demobilised. Almostall had been mobilised in 1914 or 1915and so had lived a long time awayfrom the Institute. But it should benoted that in 1914, the number ofwithdrawals of perpetually professedrose to 35 and that the median of1915-1918 had fallen to 24. In 1921, itwas 43 and in 1922 the 37 with-drawals of perpetually professedseems to rejoin the rhythm of 1914.The war therefore would haveslowed down the movement of with-drawals to concentrate them in theyears 1919-21.

It is more difficult to know whatwas the perseverance rate for thetemporary professed. Nevertheless,the Chapter of 1920 noted that be-tween 1907 and 1920, of 3086 broth-ers admitted to profession 35.4 %had withdrawn and 7.7 % had died(about 90 of them in the war, or 2.9%). But in the same time bracket, of1437 brothers admitted to perpetualprofession 32 % had withdrawn. Sothere was hardly any difference be-tween the perseverance of the onesor the others. Globally and statisti-cally speaking, deaths and depar-

42 Carried out by Br Henri Réocreux43 But half of them had returned before 1914 after a longer or shorter stay abroad.

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tures caused by the war had only asecondary importance: in 1907 therewere 4093 professed and 4513 in1920. The impact of the war wasmore qualitative than quantitative.

THE WAR EXPERIENCEDBY THE BROTHERCOMBATANTS

I have already said that from 1915to 1918 the Bulletin de l’Institut hadpublished 20 biographies of brotherskilled in the war44. Up to the years ofthe 1960s, the biographical noticesfrequently mention the war service ofsuch and such a brother, but ratheras a sad parenthesis in an apostoliclife. However, three biographies ap-pear to me to constitue three ex-treme cases in the range of attitudesof the ones and the others.

Br Salutaris (Louis Goutaudier,1880-1966) entered the province ofVarennes in 1900, then sent to theMiddle East, returned to France atthe beginning of the 14-18 war. Herevealed himself there as a remark-able leader of men, amalgamatingwithout scruple patriotism and devo-tion to the Sacred Heart: “The wholeRegiment knew him, and an artillerylieutenant, a man of faith, seeing himset out on a hazardous mission, said:“he’ll come back because he has the

insignia of the Sacred Heart on hisleft arm”. The rosary, his favouriteprayer, was his “combat weapon”.He recited it in the trenches, undershelling, and had his soldiers recite it.The fact is that, despite an extremelyrisky life, he came out unharmed andbecame an officer. At the end of thewar, he found himself charged by theFrench army to resupply a starvingLebanon. Once back in France, hecarried out in a notable way the func-tions of recruiter-fund raiser andeconome.

A quite different sensibility ismanifested by Br Felice (NoëlBertrand 1886-1961), born in the vil-lage of Chabotte (Hautes Alpes),formed in the novitiate of St Paul,then leaving for Mexico. During hissecond novitiate, before returning,he reveals in his notes an amazingthanksgiving: “My God, thank you!But what am I going to do to get ridof this mud which is covering me?Blessed Virgin, I am counting onyou, for I have need of your help!”.And the day of closing, he writes: “I feel, my God, that if I do not goaway with a will resolved to repara-tion for what five years of war havedestroyed in me, I am lost...”. Thewar that Br Salutaris seems to havelived as a soldier-monk, Br Feliceexperienced as a corruption of thesoul.

André Lanfrey, fms 21

44 Five are temporary professed and one with stability. Nineteen are French and one Italian (BrBrunone).

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the case of Br Joseph-Lucien45, (Lu-cien Gillard) (1878 - 1929) a Belgianbrother mobilised as a stretcher-bearer on the Yser front. During anevacuation, a railway accident andan aerial bombardment createdsuch panic that the Brother cameout of it severely shocked andhenceforth afflicted with tremblingswhich gradually crippled him46.

It can be said generally that thebrothers were better equipped thanthe “civils”, through their better edu-cation and their faith, to overcomethe traumatism of the war. Their highperseverance rate would argue infavour of this, but the question wouldneed to be examined more closely.

A NEW WORLD OR SIMPLY A TRAGIC PAUSE?

On the more global plane, the warannounced a setback to the Insti-tute’s extensive penetration into cen-tral Europe and the Middle Eastbegun before 1914 along two routes:on the one by the expansion of theprovince of Beaucamps into the westand south of Germany; and on the

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45 Bulletin de l’Institut, n° 80, 1930. 46 The historian of the province of Beaucamps mentions (p. 175) several cases of brothers affected

by an ailment of the spinal cord called « trembling paralysis ».

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Brothers of the Province l’Hermitage who died during WWI.Plaque recently given by an Antique dealer to the Provintial House of l’Hermitage. This plaque must have been placed in the cemetery of l’Hermitage just after the war and later replaced by a more discreet marble plate, which is the one that exists today beside the pedestal of the cemetery’s cross.

The war thus deeply markedmany of the brothers in their inmostselves, as much as a certain numberreturned with physical wounds andchronic health problems. We knowas well that psychosomatic sequelswere often serious among the formercombatants. We have an example in

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other by that of the province of Con-stantinople penetrating into Bulgaria,Hungary, Greece, while the provinceof Syria was beginning to be solidlyestablished in Lebanon-Syria, Iraq(Bagdad), Egypt and Palestine. TheHistory of the Institute of 1947 alreadygives an idea of the difficulties duringthe war: dissolution of the juniorate ofOrsova in Hungary; in Serbia, theBrothers of Monastir taking refuge inGreece. Finally, the Brothers ofGreece forced for a time to takerefuge in Grugliasco. The collapse ofthe Austro-Hungarian and OttomanEmpires was going to make it verydifficult for any resumation of expan-sion in this zone. It remains true,however, that the effect of the war onthe whole of the Institute in the shortterm, was relatively limited and notwithout positive aspects. Whencethe temptation to consider this con-flict as a parenthesis, while it accel-erated a worldwide secularisation ofStates and societies and limited the

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field of expansion. The time of aworld largely open to missionary ini-tiatives is coming to an end and theconcept of Christian civilisation haslost its credibility.

Brothers of the Province of l’Hermitage who died during WWI.

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25

The year 1914 marked the historyof the Marist Brothers of Belgium in aparticular way. The occupation of thecountry by German troops and theconsequences that resulted werefelt in many of our houses and led todeep changes and much hardship.Many Brothers were recruited intothe army and some lost their lives, aswas the case for Brother Emile-François, who died in a battle on theMarne River, near Verdun (see theannals of Verviers). Several Brothersalso decided to leave the country.

The German troops – and also theAllies after 1918 – occupied some ofour schools. Even if the Brotherstried to work the best they could,there was much turmoil and evenloss of human lives.

We unfortunately have little infor-mation about this difficult period. Thearchives of the Belgian Province in

Brussels-Linthout hold the annals ofmany but not all the houses, andthey offer little information regardingthe events of this challenging periodof 1914-1918. It is likely that, given thecircumstances, they refrained tocomment on the political events ofthe time. However, I discoveredsome precise indications on theevents of these years in three of theannals, those from the houses ofMouscron-Centre, Warnetonand Verviers (where the Brothersdirected the primary school of SaintFrancis Xavier College, run by theJesuits). I have tried to get a pictureof our Brothers’ life and the situationof our houses in Belgium duringthese tragic events by using the an-nals of Mouscron, and I will try tooffer a faithful and brief summary.The city of Mouscron was in thecombat zone, and we can assumethat other houses faced a similar sit-uation.

THE MARIST BROTHERS OFBELGIUM DURING WORLD WAR I

Br Augustin Hendlmeier

D O S S I E R

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1. PART I : IN THE HOUSE OFMOUSCRON-CENTREThis is what we read in the annals of our houseat Mouscron-Centre:

1915-1916

Back from vacation without par-ticular events. The aeroplanes divertour students’ attention from time totime. Soup distribution every day at9 o’clock. During the first days ofJanuary, a German army officer (thetext uses the pejorative term ‘boche’for German), accompanied by 4 sol-diers, broke into the house while weprayed the Office. He requisitionedabout 500 bottles of wine for histroops. We were given a receiptwhich, of course, will be honoured indue course! The military also in-spected our small farm. Once thevisitors had left, we hurried to hidethe many chickens that were still left,so that the ‘boches’ could not takeadvantage of us. The number of stu-dents this year went from 435 to465.

1916-1917

The new school year starts nor-mally. The number of students goesfrom 465 to 485. We try to save fueland we even have to cut down treesfor firewood. We still serve soup onschool days.

The occupants have forced us togive them all the wool from the mat-tresses. Each week, there is a per-son in charge to attend the supplypost on our behalf. We rent a field toensure a potato crop. No chance tofind beer. Due to lack of fuel andlighting, we are forced to drop theyouth recreation activity on Sunday.

We try to get food from local farm-ers: cereals, eggs, etc. Gas runs outregularly, which forces us to limit light-ing time. We must speak to the Com-mander to get sacramental wine.

Some Brothers leave the centralhouse and go to Pommeroeul. For awhile now we are no longer in touchwith the Province Superiors. It is notpossible for them to visit us.

1917-1918

We resume classes again despitethe fact that some parents are afraidto send their children over becauseof the dangers that threaten them.

There is an ammunition depot just200 metres away from the school.Sometimes bombs fall in the imme-diate area at night, but we are underthe protection of God who answersour prayers. On the other hand, holyBrother Angonius is a good “lightningrod” for us.

A few German soldiers have set-tled on the property but they stay

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away from the school area and ourhouse. We regret the death of twostudents in the bombing of the trainstation. We are trying to exploit theslightest piece of land for crops.Every Thursday, usually a day offfrom school, we set out to search forfood. Sometimes we find ourselvesin the combat zone and stumbleupon many soldiers. But we areunder the protection of Providence.We harvest potatoes together with afew students. More animals kept inthe barnyard, otherwise the dog…

1918-1919

We are unable to resume classes:lack of fuel, and the Germans oc-cupy all the classrooms. In March,we managed to set up classrooms insurrounding buildings and privatehouses. On October 7 we stopteaching because the Germans letus know we must leave the house…,but the Allies liberate us on October18. We spent eight days in the cellar.Mouscron was bombed for threehours. On October 29 we resumeclasses without further interruptionbecause the weather remainedrather mild. The armistice wassigned on 11 November.

We “relocate” gradually. The Irishtroops occupy the property and thestudy room. The playground is full ofhorses and mules. We do what wecan! The British supply us with foodand different commodities. A team of

25 German prisoners is brought foreight days to restore the damagedone by the British… We receivecompensation for the accommoda-tion of troops.

2.PART II : THE FATE OF SOME BROTHERS

In the Annals of our house inVerviers we find a number of uniqueremarks regarding the events of the1914-1918 war. Some comments tellus about the fate of some of ourBrothers. Other Brothers elsewhereprobably experienced similar situa-tions.

1914-1918Dispersion of the community

Upon the declaration of war,Brothers Alphonse-Adrien andEmile- François, who could becalled to service in the French army,hurriedly left Verviers.

On August 4, the German troopsoccupied the city. The number ofmilitary increased each day and thetroops took quarter in Saint FrancisXavier College. The classrooms, gath-ering room, and other spaces wereoccupied by the soldiers. The horsesfound shelter in the courtyards and insome classrooms.

The three Brothers stayed in theschool, spent their vacations there,

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and were not disturbed in any way.On October 15, posters put up by theoccupying authority invited all alliedcitizens to appear before a controlcommission. Brother Charles-Gabriel, a Frenchman, deemed itmore appropriate to leave Belgium.M. Maystadt, a dentist, helped himcross the border safely. He took theboat to Vlissingen, Holland, andreached England, where he was tostay for a few months. Recognizedas fit ‘for auxiliary service’ by a newInspection Council, he was directedto France and incorporated into theMilitary Logistics Corps (Intendance),where he served until the end of thewar. Brother Joseph-Liguori,however, left the congregation, ashe had planned for some time. Healso reached Great Britain. The lastBrother who stayed – in charge ofthe first grade of primary school –was Urban-Joseph. Other classeshad religious and diocesan priests,and also laymen as teachers duringthe first months. These frequentchanges did not favour the students’preparation and progress at all.

The late Brother Emile-Françoishad been enrolled in the 310th InfantryRegiment of Dunkirk at the beginningof the conflict. He suffered his firstbaptism of fire on August 20, and hadto undergo the fatigues and privationsof a rapid retreat to the Marne River.

Injured first with a piece of shrap-nel in the Battle of the Marne, he wasevacuated and treated in Brittany.Having fully recovered around Christ-mas, he was sent to the 8th Infantry

Regiment in the Eparges sector, southof Verdun. That is where BrotherÉmile died for France in the field of ho-nour. He went missing during a violentbombardment that levelled thetrenches and made the shelters col-lapse. The letters from his parents andfellow Brothers were returned with thelabel “disappeared”. A glimmer ofhope was kept for a few weeks, butit finally surrendered to evidence.

Brother Emile was part of thecommunity of Verviers for three years:1911-1914.

Excellent religious, of solid piety, hewas also gifted with a happy, cheer-ful and accommodating nature. Hewas appreciated by all his students.His name is on the honour roll ofteachers and students from SaintFrancis Xavier College who died forGod and their country.

Brother Alphonse-Adrien wasenlisted in the 1st Section of MilitaryNurses and appointed to the militaryhospital of Bergues (North), where hestayed for a year. He was then as-signed to a stretcher-bearers team,and spent the second year in differentsectors of the Rivers Oise and Somme.Then he left for the East. He sailedfrom Marseilles on January 1st, 1917,landed in Salonika on the 10th, and im-mediately started a trip in stages to thearea of Monastir in Serbia. After 16months in Macedonia, he was sentback to the Verdun front in France.When the armistice arrived, hemarched in stages to the Rhine in or-der to occupy the right bank of the

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Koblenz bridgehead (General Marc-hand’s division). Brother Alphonse-Adrien was demobilised in March 1919.

The only Brother who remained atthe school was Urbain-Joseph. AtChristmas, he went to Arlon, togeth-er with the Director of our school ofDison, in order to find some Brothersto join him and come back with him.But the effort had no success andthey returned alone on December 28.In late January 1915, Brother Urbain-Joseph wrote to Brother Raymond-Célestin in Recklinghausen, with theFathers’ permission, to ask if Broth-ers Meinrad and Denis-Adrien couldjoin him. Brother Visitor, Marie-Agath-on, was passing by Verviers at that

time. He did not hesitate to takecare of the first grade of primaryschool for fifteen days. Brothers Mein-rad and Denis-Adrien arrived inVerviers on February 5. However,Brother Meinrad had to leave imme-diately the next day.

The example of Brother Emile-François is emblematic of the fate ofsome Belgian Brothers who died inthe First World War. We cannot forgetall those Brothers who died for theircountry. This article can encourage usto remember them. May they rest inpeace, next to all their German fellowBrothers who also suffered a tragicfate during these appalling events inworld history.

Augustin Hendlmeier, fms 29

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The number of German Brothersalready serving in the army in the firstweeks of the War in 1914 was 70. Atthis time also 28 Belgian and 26French Brothers from the Province ofBeaucamps were also in the army1.

During the whole war the number ofGerman Brothers on the frontline was160 or even 205, the number of thosewho were killed was 45. These num-bers are to be found in the report Dis-trict d’Allemagne- Origine et progrès2:

31

GERMAN BROTHERS INWORLD WAR I

Br Augustin Hendlmeier

D O S S I E R

“When the war was ended the released Brothers found a home in Furth thanks to the alteration inthe building. The war has – what a disaster – left big gaps in the rows of our Brothers. Of the 120, who were called to the flags, 45 have lost their lives. Others returned worn-out or sick.What a joy for the Superior in the house to see the zeal and the warm affection for these Brothers.”3

1 Familienchronik (magazine of the German Marist Province), 1971, p. 8. Quotation from Relève, Mag-azine of the Beaucamps province, Number 40

2 AFMS: Doc. 612. H. 007: handwritten report in French, no author, no date, probably 1927, 12 pagesDIN A4. Here and in other documents the number of Brothers involved in war or military service (e.g.Brothers who worked in the hospital in Recklinghausen) is 120. But according to recent research by BrAndré Lanfrey the number of these Brothers is 205.It can be found in lists in the Archive in Rome. The dif-ference in the numbers can be explained by the question as to how to define who really was a “GermanBrother” and the definition who really was considered to be a member of the army. And above all, the frac-tion of Brothers killed (45 out of 120) would be much too high and not at all realistic. That’s why the num-ber 205 seems to be more accurate.

3 A list in the Province archive in Furth with all the deceased Brothers, novices and postulants from1914 until 1969 enumerates 45 brothers and 3 postulants killed in the war. The first Brother, Michael Fer-dinand Hamacher died in August 1914, the last one, Kamillus Wagner, on the first of September 1918. From11 Brothers there is no information about the place of death. As for the others, 7 were killed in Russia, 17in France, 6 in Flanders, 1 in Palestine, 1 at sea, and 3 of them died in military hospitals. A list in the Archiveof the Beaucamps Province names all the German Brothers including those from Alsace-Lorraine, whichwas part of Germany from 1871 until 1918). 41 are listed as killed as soldiers (“Heldentod” or “death in ac-tion”). Unfortunately there is no system in the list and there are also false details. The number of Broth-ers with German nationality is 313. They all belonged to the Province of Beaucamps, of which Germanywas part until 1920. Among these Brothers were 64 from Alsace- Lorraine.

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Soon also many wounded sol-diers from France, Belgium, Italy,Great Britain and other countrieswere admitted into the house. Nowthe zeal of the Brothers could de-velop completely. All these prisoners

of war soon got the feeling of beingin one great family and competed inthe desire to please the Brothers,whose zeal and commitment, whichlet them overcome all difficulties,they admired so much.

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“Three months after the opening of the house the Great War broke out. The juniors had to returnhome, since the house was transformed into a military hospital. The Brothers after having beentrained as nurses4, had to care for the wounded soldiers, who came in great numbers. The goodnow done by the Brothers will remain a mystery of God.

They especially appreciated the Superior, Brother Laurian, who besides caring for all the materialissues cared first of all for their spiritual and emotional welfare. Therefore he installed a day ofretreat every three months, which proved to be a great success. Many of the solders found theirway back to God, and so they had celebrations of first communion and conversions of heretics.The great gratitude, which for these rough soldiers was not only an empty word, was expressedin many gifts to the house.The date of the centenary of our congregation on the second of January 1917 was a greatcelebration both for Brothers and inmates. And there were without any doubt some celebrations,which were unique in the history of our Institute: already in the morning special presentationswere held in honour of the sons of the venerable Founder and they expressed their thankfulnessfor the work and care being done by the Brothers.The farewell at the end of the war was extremely touching and will always remain in the hearts ofall who were witnesses. 7000 wounded were cared for by our Brothers. 82 of them were guidedto first communion.”

In Recklinghausen (first Maristhouse in Germany since 1914) a mili-tary hospital was installed.

In the above mentioned reportwe find the following remarks onthis:

Brothers at home caring for wounded prisoners of War

4 Some Brothers were already trained in the normal school in Arlon for this job and got a “Diplomed’Ambulance”. See: Metzger, Anton: Chronik der deutschen Ordensprovinz der Maristen-Schulbrüder,Erster Teil, Furth 1975, p. 57. There is also the remark, that some of the Brothers worked in a hospital ofthe St John of God Brothers in Dortmund from 1914 until 1916, where they lived in a community of 10 to 20Brothers.During the same time two Brothers worked in the welfare institution of Rüdesheim. Doing this the Broth-ers were exempted from military service until 1916. Those in Recklinghausen were exempted during thewhole wartime because the house was declared a military hospital.

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In the Extrait des Annales da la Maison Provincial de Furth/Bavière1918/195 the following notice can be found:

Augustin Hendlmeier, fms 33

5 AFMS: Doc. 612. H. 010. 0 46 Chronologie de L’Institut des Frères Maristes, Rome 1976, p. 198; Rome 2010, p. 315.7 Inquiry about war dead: www. Volksbund.de/Graebersuche and www.weltkriegsopfer.de/ Krieg-

sopfer. The information is sometimes quite incomplete and vague. But this is the official institution for re-search on war victims and soldiers killed in action during the great wars.

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“Les frères mobilisés retournent peu à peu, 43 restent sur les champs de bataille.”

The 3 postulants were not includ-ed. Then the number would havebeen 46. These figures could also betrue, because of some contradictoryremarks in the statistics.

Officially, statements of the Institutesay that 1037 Marist Brothers from allnations at war took part as soldiers inthe war, and 118 were killed6. Thismeans that 37% of the German Broth-

ers were killed, whereas the percent-age of those in general only was 17%.

To date, the graves of 14 GermanBrothers and two postulants whowere killed have been identified ex-actly. The rest have not been foundbecause of uncertain or vague infor-mation. These graves are located inFlanders and in the North of Francelike Menen or Neuville-St. Vaast7.

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The “Ledger of the reserve-com-partment of the military hospital‘Konvikt’ in Recklinghausen: Prison-ers of war: numbers 1261-4141; Ger-mans: numbers 368-740” containsexact information about the number,the personal data, the kinds of sick-ness, the length of stay and otherdata of the patients. It is kept in thelocal archive of the Marists in Reck-linghausen.

The meticulous registrations givea rather clear picture of the life in atypical military hospital for prisonersof war during World War I. 2880 pris-oners of war are registered and also382 German soldiers, so the sum-mary is 3262. This was done in theperiod from May 1916 to April 1919. Alist of former patients does no longerexist.

The statistics contain exact dataabout age, place of birth, date ofentry, date of leaving, kind of sick-ness and workplace of the prisoners.Also cases of deaths and causes ofdeaths are mentioned. So the bookis to be seen as an important contri-bution to research the history of pris-oners of war in Germany during theFirst World War.

The first two patients admitted tothe hospital who are registered in thebook on 31st May 1916 may be men-tioned personally: Francois Addéfrom Ste Nidoque, France, 37 years

old, suffering from bronchitis. He lefton 30th June. The second one, Con-stantin Michewski from Jaklowo,Russia, 34 years old, suffering froman injury of his hand. He left on 21stJune and worked in the coalmineEwald.

The great majority of the patientswere Russians and Frenchmen. Butthe number of British prisoners isconsiderably high. They were 430,among them 22 from Scotland (7from Glasgow, 4 from Edinburgh, therest from other places). 8 were fromIreland (among them a man calledHarry Castello from Dublin). Thenthere were 97 Belgians, 39 from Italy,and some from Switzerland, Portu-gal, USA and even from Argentina.Besides these special patients fromother countries the bulk came fromRussia and from France. The work-place for almost all of them were thecoalmines near Recklinghausen andthe famous Ruhrgebiet, perhaps thethen biggest coalmining area of Eu-rope.

From May 1916 until November1918, there was a continuous comingand going. On some days up to 16new patients were admitted, usuallythe number was two to five. Thecauses of admittance normally wereinjuries at the workplace like bruisesand fractures, but also quite often ill-nesses like bronchitis, influenza,pneumonia, enteritis and so on.

34 German Brothers in World War I

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SUPPLEMENT concerning the Military Hospital “Konvikt” (marist house)

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During this period 74 prisoners ofwar died in the hospital, most ofthem of pneumonia. Among the deadthere were also 8 from Britain. Thelast admitted prisoner was JohnBrown from Edinburgh. He arrived on7th November 1918 and stayed until15th November. Since 12th April 1918more and more German soldierswere admitted in the military hospital“Konvikt” and got surgery besides the

prisoners of war. On 15th April 1919 fi-nally all the patients were sent homeor to hospitals in the town.

So a single and special work ofapostolate in the history of the Con-gregation of the Marist Brothers cameto an end. It deserves not to be for-gotten and to be admired. MarcellinChampagnat certainly would havedone so.

Augustin Hendlmeier, fms 35

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A group of Brothersnurses inRecklinghausenjuniorate during the war (Institute Bulletin, N° 72, 1927, p. 395).

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Eric Perrin 37

Thanks to Mme and M. Panel for the communication of their family documents.1 45 km from Notre-Dame de l’Hermitage.

The commemorations of the cen-tury which separate us from the dec-laration of the First World War are anopportunity to recall the war experi-ence of one of the Marist Brothers,whose correspondence, preservedby his family, I came across one day.

Jean-Claude Berne was born on3 July 1885 into a family of soft fur-nishers in the hamlet of Lachaud,commune of St Médard-en-Forez(Loire)1. His father, Jean-MarieBerne, was born on 28 August 1852and died on 4 November 1919. Hemarried Catherine Tisseur withwhom he had 5 children:

– Michel Marius, on 8 January1883, (died on 16 January 1973)who became a soft furnishingsmaker like his father.

– Jean-Claude – the MaristBrother who is the subject of

this article – on 3 July 1885(died on 22 July 1974).

– Benoît, on 21 May 1887, (diedon 28 February 1938), whomarried Françoise Clavel on 31December 1919.

– Claude-Marius, on 5 Novem-ber 1890.

– Pierre-Marie, called Pétrus, on22 October 1893, (died on 1October 1954) who marriedElisabeth Meiller on 30 De-cember 1922.

Jean-Claude was, therefore, thesecond of the Berne children and thelast of the brothers to die. He at-tended the school of the MaristBrothers founded in 1842. He madehis First Communion on 2 May 1897,in the church of St Médard, as indi-cated on the memento card of hisFirst Communion, on the back ofwhich he later chose to write downhis war record.

JEAN-CLAUDE BERNE, (Br CLAUDE-CASIMIR)SOLDIER IN THE WAROF 1914-19181

Eric Perrin

D O S S I E R

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Recalling later “his destiny” whichhad “torn him from the paternalhome” and a family life full of pitfalls,he remembered the evening of 6February 1898, when only 12 yearsold and accompanied by his father,he spent his first night in one of thebare and narrow rooms of the Her-mitage. That same morning, on leav-ing Lachaud, he had left hisgrandfather, Michel Berne, who, likethe scriptural Jacob, had placed hishand on his head, saying in the di-alect of the area “Adji mon Daude,preï bien la Sainte Viergi parme, teserez le plus heureux de tousfrores!” (Farewell, my Daude,2 prayto the Holy Virgin for me, you will bethe happiest of your brothers3).

One of his letters recalls “our holyBrother Casimir”, his great-uncleJacques Berne, born on 17 March1811in St-Médard and deceased 10January 1887 at the Hermitage4. Hehad been a Marist Brother beforehim and Jean-Claude rememberedhaving visited his tomb “on the leftside of the central alley of the ceme-tery of the Hermitage”. It was doubt-less in memory of this uncle that hereceived the name of Br Claude-Casimir. In the Annals of the Houses(school of St Médard), Br Avit notes

that Br Casimir “has spent his life inthe Hermitage garden where he is atpresent (July 1886) looking after thecemetery”.

Jean Claude Berne entered thejuniorate at La Valla on 6 February1898. In June, he was confirmed inthe church of Izieux by CardinalCoullié, Archbishop of Lyon. He en-tered the postulancy at the Her-mitage in October 1900 and tookthe habit on 19 March 1901. He pro-nounced his first vows on 15 August19025. He was then appointed cookat Moret-sur-Loing (Seine-et-Marne, to the east of Paris) as wasthe custom at the time6. That wasdoubtless where he obtained his el-ementary teacher’s certificate in1903.

This was a particularly trying year,for on 3 April the Combes govern-ment notified the Congregation of itsdissolution. So each Brother had tomake a difficult choice: leave for aforeign country or remain as a secu-larised Brother, dressed as a civilian,and threatened with prosecution forattempting to reconstitute the Con-gregation. Unlike most of the youngBrothers, Jean-Claude Berne be-came a secularised Brother7.

38 Jean-Claude Berne, (Br Claude-Casimir) soldier in the War of 1914 - 1918

2 Diminutive of Claude. 3 More happy than his brothers. 4 His personal file indicates he made his temporary profession (vow of obedience) on 10 October 1841.

As he was born in 1811 he was a late vocation. He made perpetual profession on 25 September 1853. 5 Information drawn from his personal file. It was probably at his taking of the habit or his first vows

that his photo as a young Brother was taken. 6 The Brother cook also assisted the Brother of the junior class and prepared for his teaching certificate. 7 As he was a minor, his family could have opposed his going abroad or he could himself have opted

for secularisation.

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Accordingly, he became ateacher at St Médard, his hometown, from October 1903 to 1910 withone interruption because of militaryservice8. Called up with the class of19059, he was enlisted as a soldieron 6 October 1906 in the 16th InfantryRegiment. He became a corporal on20 July 1907 and obtained his goodconduct certificate. He was underthe colours until 25 September 1908.He pronounced his perpetual vowsat Arlon, Belgium, in August 191010,and then taught in the boardingschool of Valbenoîte in St-Etienne,

from 1910 to 1913, and at St Félicien(Ardèche) from 1913 to 1914. He did arefresher course in the same regi-ment from 21 August to 12 Septem-ber 1911 before being “called up foractive service” on the declaration ofwar. He rejoined his unit on 4 August191411.

Like many former “poilus”, he hadlittle to say about his war experience,the unspeakable being by definitiondifficult to express in ordinary lan-guage. The regiment register pro-vides no information about his firstcontact with the War, but the historyof the 16th infantry regiment reportsthat three trains left Montbrison(Loire) on 6 August 1914 for the Vos-ges, on the Franco-German border.After three days of station and ac-celerated training, they departed forthe front. On the 14th, the regimentpassed through the first destroyedvillage, where a strong smell ofburned flesh reigned, and crossedthe frontier with German Lorraine onthe 16th, under the first enemy bom-bardments12.

Only two postcards addressed tohis brother much later, in 1958-59,give a glimpse of the physical andpsychological shock of this inhumansituation. The first, from St Félicien,

Eric Perrin 39

8 His personal file does not place him at St Médard until 1908. 9 ADL 1R153 – Regimental Register for the subdivision of Montbrison for the class of 1905.10 Since the congregations were officially suppressed in France, the formation and retirement houses

were situated outside its borders. 11 16e Régiment d’infanterie. History of the regiment during the war of 1914-1918. Montbrison, military

press J.-L. Serre, 1919.12 The French general staff had planned an offensive in Alsace-Lorraine from the beginning of the

war. It failed very quickly.

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Jean-Claude Berne, young Marist Brother

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dated 13 September 1958, recalls:“This date, 13 September, remindsme suddenly of 13 September 1914,a day, also a Sunday, which waswithout a doubt the most dramatic inmy life: taken prisoner at 5 in themorning, rain and shells all day, tofinish machine-gunned by our 7513

and deliverance by the Alpine Chas-seurs!...”14. The history of the 16th IRmentions on this date the arrival inPicardy after 15 days of retreat.Lapse of memory or not, the battleof Dreslincourt, where the regimentendured heavy fire from the Ger-mans and heavy losses, dates to 16and 17 September 1914. Still from StFélicien, 20 September 1959, a sec-

ond post- card notes “the finest es-capade of my life”, in recalling 20September 1914 “date of one of mymost tragic days of the war”.

And, in fact, this was the period ofthe war of movement, particularlydeadly, before the armies dug them-selves into the trenches. Most of the1037 Marist Brothers mobilised didnot experience this phase for, havingto return from abroad, they did notenter the conflict until 1915.

A postcard addressed by Jean-Claude Berne from Le Puy-en-Velayon 20 January 1915 tells us of a shortbreak in his military life:

The regiment register then men-tions, on the date of 21 February1915, the transfer of Jean-ClaudeBerne to the 175e infantry regiment .

Of this period under the banner ofthe 175th IR, he wrote ironically muchlater of his “honeymoon voyage of1915” , in fact his dispatch to the

40 Jean-Claude Berne, (Br Claude-Casimir) soldier in the War of 1914 - 1918

13 Slang name for the 75 mm. gun in service in the French army.14 Since none of the daily logs of Jean-Claude Berne’s units have been preserved, it is difficult to know

what specific events he is alluding to. (www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr).15 The boarding school of the Marist Brothers where he wants to pay a visit whose duration he un-

derestimates. 16 Neologism. An escapade is an action consisting of shirking one’s obligations in order to amuse oneself. 17 On the site www.gallica.bnf.fr one can consult the History of the 175th Infantry Regiment during the

war of 1914-1918. 18 Letter read at the golden wedding anniversary of his brother Michel Berne, on 14 July 1961.

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Dear family

It is over a nice bottle of vin rosé that I am writing to you before leaving Benoît. I have obtained 4 d.of leave starting from the 21st. […] I will arrive in St Médard tomorrow Thursday evening or Friday.It depends on Valbenoîte15.

Your escapader16

Jaude

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“At Moulins, stop, a joker comes up to shout at us ‘You’re going to Marseille !…’ […] The next morning, in the full sun of the South, the regiment disembarks in the park of the city ofMarseille. Then shouts of: ‘We’re sailing!’. Where to ?… Serbia !… Turkey !… Greece ?… Peoplesalute Bizerte, people point towards Malta, Crete, the Aegean Sea, Patmos, Lemnos… Wait. Suddenlywe are off again to head straight south: 15 days on the sea shore at Alexandria… (Of Egypt I sawsome luxurious villas, the invasion of the little frogs, a cloud of locusts, but I didn’t see the pyramids)…Then when all the barbed wire was ready, even in the water, we embarked for the Dardanelles .Wounded on the 11th (or 15th ?) June, I was evacuated to Lemnos and 15 days later I was back at the front in the Dardanelles19… On going to embark, I thought I saw someone I knew well.

This image, distributed withoutdoubt to the soldiers in transitthrough Paray-le-Monial, is typical ofthe Catholic sensibility amalgamating

love of country (tricolour flag) anddevotion to the Sacred Heart. Butthe story of the “honeymoon voy-age” continues:

battle of the Dardanelles:

“In the spring of 1915, the 4th of March to beprecise, Claude left again for the front”.

Of the beginning of his voyage hekept all his life a momento, fastenedto his communion certificate, ac-companied by the following caption :

« Banner of the Sacred Heart of Jesus offered to meBerne Jean-Claude on 22 March 1915 when a soldierin the great war, I passed through Paray-le-Monialthinking to be leaving for the French front whenactually I was leaving for the East by a roundaboutroute. This banner has followed me faithfullyeverywhere as far as the Hermitage today, 24 August 1969”.

Eric Perrin 41

19 The battle of the Dardanelles or Gallipoli had as objective to take control of the Sea of Marmara inorder to be able to besiege the Turks, control the shipping lanes of the Bosphorus and eliminate the Ot-toman Empire from the war by a naval action. After the naval campaign, a land campaign was engaged.75,000 allied soldiers disembarked on 24 April 1915. But it did not have the expected surprise effect. A newdisembarkation of troops on 6 August only extended the list of the victims. In the heat of summer, the al-lied soldiers experienced the hell of rats, dysentery, thirst and insects. This failed operation caused some250,000 victims on the side of the allies, against about 211,000 on the Ottoman side. The survivors wereevacuated from December 1915 to 9 January 1916. A funny honeymoon voyage!

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Flag of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

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Jean-Claude Berne and his broth-er Benoît, arriving both on leave thenfollowed a folklore tradition encour-aged by the festive atmosphere onthe occasion of the great fair of Saint

Catherine by singing a traditionalsong in patois : the one about the sol-dier returned from the war who wantsto make himself recognized by hisbeloved.

42 Jean-Claude Berne, (Br Claude-Casimir) soldier in the War of 1914 - 1918

20 ADL 1R155 – Regimental Register of the subdivision of Montbrison for the class of 1907. BenoîtBerne, born on 21 May 1887 in St Médard. Class of 1907. Wounded 1st April 1917, he was cited on the reg-imental order n°40 of 3 June, “brave and courageous gunner ; continued to serve the piece with calm andcoolness despite violent artillery fire”: War Cross, Bronze Star.

21 Good once again for service. 22 Grand Fair at St Galmier (a dozen km from St Médard)23 Dialect word meaning “at” or “towards”. 24 Translated into French by Br Michel Fatisson.

33 fms Marist NOTEBOOKS

Some days after, Benoît, of the 2nd Colonial, writes to me of hisarrival in the Dardanelles20. Secretly, I make some enquiries, andI find my brother. What hugs ! … in what circumstances ! … inwhat a place !… Three months later, Benoît comes to tell me: “I have been evacuated!” … Eight days after, me too. […] At the end of eight days a hospital ship passes […] It takes usback to Alexandria… A forced regime of 4 enemas a day toflush out the jaundice and 2 glasses of milk for the question ofnourishment and at the end of eight days, the doctor who hadnot seen us pronounced that we had won the fight. Here we areon our feet, both of us ; my brother 42 kg and me 44 !… 45 days of convalescence and good again14 for service21 !…23 November (1915) disembarkment at Marseille after a veryturbulent crossing (one evening the rolling made me sit on aplate of macaroni !…). And 25 November, Saint Catherine’sday, feast of my mother and grand fèri vé Saint Garmin22.Arrival at 10.30 at night at Viricelles and at midnight vé23

Lachaud, where I heard my mother was ill. An original idea asquite often crossed my mind ».

Original in patois

Et pan, pan, pan ! à grands coups deboton à la petchita porta !… Veux-tu savoil’histoire d’un grenadier !… Il partit pour la guerre… Elle dura bien sè-tan-an ! …Et pan, pan, pan ! Au bout de la sep-tième sa porte vint frapper pan, pan, pan !Ouvrez-moi donc main’zello. Ouvrez augrenadier !…

Translation24

And bang, bang, bang! Great blows of astick on the little door!... Do you want toknow the story of a grenadier!… He leavesfor the war… it lasts a good seven years !And bang, bang bang! At the end of theseventh he comes to knock at his doorbang bang bang bang ! Open to me thenmademoiselle. Open to the grenadier!…

The two Berne brothers, hospitalized. Jean-Claude is standing

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The song continues :

Eric Perrin 43

May2015

Surprise of the family who protest :

J’entends le loquet de la porta de la méson

qu s’ure… Et le père Jean Marie que guèle;

« Ou fodre po to zou crevo !… Et de la fe-

nêtra de la chombra la Marie que criait :

« Ou vé de soulans que venons de la fairi…

laissi lou don guélo… ».

I hear the latch of the house door being

opened … and father Jean-Marie who

shouts: “You’d better not break anything”.

And from the window of the bedroom

Marie25 who cries: “It’s the drunkards com-

ing from the fair…so let them yell”.

Bon jou, bon jou ma demoisello, con-

nais-tu grenadierer ? (parlé) Non, non beau

militaire, connais point grenadier !... (chan-

té) Qu’on apporte des cartes, aux cartes al-

lons jouer, allons jouer la bello... La bello

connaitrezez mé. Et pan, pan, pan.

Good-day, good-day mademoiselle, do

you know the grenadier ? (spoken) No no

handsome soldier I do not know the grenadier!

(sung) Let someone bring the cards, we will

play cards, we will play belote…At belote you

will recognize me. And bang bang bang.

Le papo djize plus rin et Marie s’ètche

quézia, et la maman malade… et je me

dis : « Faudrait pas leur faire trop peur fât.

Et moi qui n’en savais plus de la chanson…

Allons chanta don Benoît, que je nin sé

plus !...

The father says nothing more and

Marie is silent, and the mother ill … and I

say to myself: “You musn’t give them too

much of a fright, must you ? And I don’t

know any more of the song … Come sing

Benoît, I don’t know any more ! …

The family is perplexed and the joker addresses his brother, revealing hisidentity.

Ah !... il an trop parlo... il an trop

parlo !... Et le père Jean Marie vint ouvrir la

petchita porta... Vous devinez le reste... ».

Ah ! they have said too much ! … they

have said too much ! …And father Jean-

Marie comes to open the little door… you

guess the rest…”

The family recognise them; the door is opened and they are joyfully con-gratulated.

25 Servant or relative?

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26 On the site www.gallica.bnf.fr one can consult the History of the 52nd Infantry Regiment during thewar of 1914-1918.

As for J.C. Berne, as the regimentregister mentions, he was attached tothe 52nd IR as from 26 April 1916. Fromthat date to the end of the war, his lifeis only known from the official honourshe received. He was cited in the orderof the 52nd Infantry n°167 of 30May1918: “Liaison agent of great cool-headedness, performed his service

with devotedness and courage for 12days in circumstances made difficultand dangerous by violent enemybombardments”. He was made ser-geant on 23 June 191826. Woundedthree times in the course of the war,he was decorated with the La Croix deguerre and La Médaille militaire on 15September 1918 with this mention:

44 Jean-Claude Berne, (Br Claude-Casimir) soldier in the War of 1914 - 1918

33 fms Marist NOTEBOOKS

“Very dear brother. I have received your amusing card which gave me pleasure at knowing you are ingood health and still at la Palud, and especially in the warmth in your kitchen. As for me, afterspending a bad spell in the trenches, I am now at rest and in good health except for the feet whichhad started getting frozen. Here we are having humid and cold weather. Finally, every evening I go tothe church to warm myself in prayer. At this moment I am thinking of all the family. Accept dearbrother the greetings of your brother who loves you and thinks of you.

Berne”.

“Excellent non-commissioned officer who distinguished himself by his courage and cool-headednessin the course of the operations of 27, 28 July 1918. Wounded in the course of a counter-attack. Two previous wounds. One citation.”

Pétain

This account gives an exceptionalglimpse of the culture of origin of nu-merous Brothers coming from fami-lies where the Franco-Provencaldialect was still very much alive andwhere the social and family life didnot disdain jokes and farces. Thewar strongly accelerated the declineof this culture.

But this leave was only a rare in-termission in an endless war. A letterof his brother Benoît of 10 March 1916written in pencil on paper for militarycensure lets us know that Jean-Claude was corporal in the 175th In-fantry, C company, at La Palud (Vau-cluse), very far from the front. Therehe shows a mix of humour, stoicism,sincere piety and affection :

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A Marist teaching Brother oncemore, he was teacher-director atMonastier sur Gazeille from 1919 to193527, Panissières from 1935 to1936, St Julien Molhesabate from1936 to 195728. He was teacher thenretired at St Félicien from 1957 to1969. In a letter of 1959, when he hadcaught a cold and was confined tobed, he discreetly recalls his wartraumatisms: “Everything revolts:dysentery in the Dardanelles andswamp fever ... and the more racketthese microbes make, the moresilent I become”. After 1969, BrotherClaude-Casimir Berne retired to N.D.de l’Hermitage, where he died on 22July 1974.

Jean-Claude Berne (Br Claude-Casimir) was, in the strongest senseof the term, an old soldier who expe-rienced, in a little over four years,three forms of war : that of the firstmonths which, it appears, left himwith the most vivid memories; theexpedition to the Dardanelles (1915)which he describes for us in somedetail, where he was wounded andthe victim of illness; finally the war ofthe trenches (1916-1918), withoutdoubt the most testing, and aboutwhich he remained discreet despitehis wounds and decorations. Likemost of the former combatants, hewas marked for life by the hardshipshe endured.

As a Marist Brother, he is no lessinteresting. Through his correspon-dence we discern the characteristictraits of the culture of so many of theBrothers coming from rural milieuxgeographically and culturally close tothe Institute on the cusp of the nine-teenth and twentieth centuries. He isquite typical of a generation of Broth-ers born around 1885, and who diedaround 1960-70, who would havegone through a short twentieth cen-tury made up of upheavals andtragedies. Yet retained a constancyfor which they scarcely thought ofclaiming merit.

Eric Perrin 45

May2015

19 His personal file indicates that he made the vow of stability on 15 September 1927 and that he wasbased at the Hermitage as recruiter in 1931-32.

20 According to Brother Joannès Fontanay who knew him, he would have been greatly appreciatedin this commune.

Br Claude Casimir (J.C. Berne)

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INTRODUCTION

In this section of the developmentof Colin and Champagnat as Marists,we set out to consider the letters ofthe period of between, roughly, 1828and 1835.

The first subject to arise in this pe-riod is the matter of the Marist priestselecting a “Central Superior” with au-thority over the aspiring Maristpriests in both dioceses – Lyon andBelley. Champagnat is insistent onthis, the result being the election ofColin as the leader. The Marists inLyon then choose Champagnat as

their head within the archdiocese, anaction which is confirmed by thearchdiocesan authorities.

The troubles caused to theMarists by the French Revolution of1830 are then considered; this is fol-lowed by exposing the problems thatarise from the move of some of theMarist priests to Valbenoîte. Follow-ing this move, Colin proposes a newelection for Superior in the archdio-cese, but the men there are opposedto such an action. Consequently,Colin defers the matter. Further trou-ble occurs in the matter of theJoseph Brothers, where Colin’s ac-

Frederick McMahon, fms 47

COLIN AND CHAMPAGNATMarists in the making

Br Frederick McMahon

S T U D I E S

A Study in three Parts of the personal and spiritual development of Jean-Claude Colin S.M. and Marcellin Champagnat S.M. and the relationship be-tween these Marists in their respective apostolates. Letters are alsoexamined for their bearing on events and characters.

PART II

Revelations fromthe correspondence: 1828-1835

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tions cause difficulties for Champag-nat and some of his Brothers.

The departure of some of LyonMarist priests from the Hermitage intoother apostolates are to be seen bothin the activities of Pompallier and For-est in parish missions and in Pompal-lier’s association with a Third Orderconfraternity of men and a “ChristianVirgins” group of women. Colin’s de-layed move for another electionamong the Lyon Marists results inSéon becoming the new leader there.

Colin makes the journey to Rome,seeking approval for the Marist con-gregation. In his own diocese hebacks Bishop Devie in the latter’s ef-fort to induce Champagnat to openan agricultural school at Bresse.

Vexatious Valbenoîte againcomes into focus with Champag-nat’s action in his concern for thespiritual welfare of the aspiring Marist

priests there. As a remedy, he offersa superb, secluded property to thearchdiocese for the priests’ accom-modation. In regard to this matter,Colin shows sensitivity to Séon’sleadership position.

The final section of Part II dealswith correspondence about the po-sition of Joseph Brothers in theMarist movement and also aboutChampagnat’s rejection of the pro-posal to have Marist Brothers assacristans.

We shall now examine the lettersfrom Colin to Champagnat, in wholeor in part, reflecting on their signifi-cance for the notable events in theMarist story and also for what theyreveal of the persons involved.

An early letter we have from Colinto his confrère Champagnat is dated22 May 1828. In part, it reads:

48 Champagnat and Colin

33 fms Marist NOTEBOOKS

My very dear friend,

I will tell you nothing about our little journeys in the last campaign; the good Lord wished to continuehis protection over us and to crown our little efforts with some success for the salvation of souls. I contracted an illness there which lasted nearly two months, but finally here I am, quite ready to setout again. When you come to Belley, you will see a new building going up at Bon Repos and also the novice you sent to the community; everyone is very happy with her. Fr Déclas rejoices to see youand meanwhile sends all kinds of good wishes, as does Fr Pichat and my brother.In the midst of the rapid success of your establishment, I am very pleased that the cross appearsfrom time to time; it is the best proof of the love that God has for your Brothers. Tell them that theyare often present to my mind, that I embrace them all and that I recommend myself to their prayers.…

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This is a buoyant, joyful letter froma man who has suffered physicallybecause of the exigencies of theapostolic work which he is accom-plishing with a light heart.

There is also some light banter to-wards the end of this letter (notrecorded here). Colin is jesting at therise in archdiocesan position of Ter-raillon, whom he still hopes to retainas a Marist.

Evidence of the growth of the Sis-ters’ congregation is clear, as is also,in the spiritual exhortation of the sec-ond last paragraph, a perceptible as-sumption of a leadership position onthe part of Colin.

Then in 1829, when the suddendeath of Fr Pichat at the age of forty-one created a vacancy for the posi-tion of Superior of the minorseminary, Bishop Devie appointedColin to the post in spite of Colin’s

entreaties. And so the Marists in Bel-ley were now engaged in two mainapostolates— as diocesan mission-ers preaching in parishes — and asstaff members of a minor seminaryand secondary school. It is to benoted that some students who hadno desire for the priesthood werealso accepted at the minor seminary.

In appointing Colin to this newrôle, Devie may have been influ-enced by the comments of VicarGeneral De la Croix, who was con-scious of the exhaustion of theBugey missioners, especially Colin.Although he was aware of Colin’slack of experience in matters per-taining to secondary schooling,Devie had been impressed by Colinand by his splendid work on theBugey mission; he had confidence inthe man chosen.

After his appointment as Superiorof Belley College in Easter 1829,

Frederick McMahon, fms 49

1 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 182.

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We will receive with pleasure and great gratitude the Mass stipends you tell us about, for in thismountain region we receive hardly any. You could bring them with you when you come if it is no hindrance to you. I have found in my breviary a souvenir of Fr Séon; I keep it as a preciousmemorial. I embrace you both a thousand times in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

I have the honour to be, with esteem and a very special affection, Your very humble and obedient servant,

Colin, junior, missioner.1

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Colin settled to the manifold tasksthat came his way. In early January1830 Fathers Champagnat, Bourdinand Pompallier [the last-mentionedhaving replaced Séon at the Her-mitage in the autumn of 1829] re-turned from the Retreat at Belley.What had been proposed on thatoccasion by the Marist aspirants ofboth Belley and the Hermitage,namely, the project of a re-union at

Lyon for the election of a central su-perior, is related to us in the followingletter from Jean-Claude Colin. Sucha move was designed to strengthenthe unity of the two groups whileleaving the members under immedi-ate dependence on their ecclesiasti-cal superiors. Colin here invitesChampagnat to prepare the way forthe approbation of this idea by thearchbishop’s Council:

50 Champagnat and Colin

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M. Champagnat Belley, 25 January 1830(in his absence the one who replaces him)

My very dear Confrère,

For some time now I have been looking for time to write to you— and I could hardly find any. We will be pleased to hear that your return from Belley to the Hermitage was happy, as also that of the two missioners [Fathers Bourdin and Pompallier]. All were pleased with them at Belley; the Retreat went off very well [that is, a Retreat given by Bourdin and Pompallier to the minorseminarians at Belley]. I hope that the remembrance of it will be preserved for a long time. The bad thing was that all three of you departed too promptly.On the Belley front all appears to be moving towards the success of the work of Mary; I do not knowwhat those in Lyon think of it. You could gradually prepare the way and dispose their minds to a centre of unity, that is, induce the archbishop’s Council of Lyon to agree to the nomination of a central superior. This could occur without our withdrawing for the present time from the control ofour respective superiors [Bishops de Pins and Devie] and it is well that we make representations to them in advance, and even indicate to them the time of our re-union in Lyon, so as to preparethem to view it favourably and to agree to give us their consent. Our missioners are still out on their work; one of them, Fr Girard, was dangerously ill, but has now recovered.Fathers Pompallier and Bourdin have promised to return to Belley in Lent. Our bishop, who appearsto esteem them greatly, has commissioned me to remind them of their promise. They will give several discourses at the cathedral or elsewhere. Try to do what lies in your power so that we will not be deprived of the pleasure of seeing them again soon. I embrace them both with all my heart.

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About three weeks later we findColin again writing to Champagnat,who had informed Colin about thesteps he intended to take in regard tohaving the teaching Brothers autho-rised. Champagnat had also sug-

gested that the Marists elect a cen-tral superior for the priests withouttelling the two bishops. Colin wasprompt to reply, approving the firstmeasure but firmly rejecting the second:

Frederick McMahon, fms 51

2 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 209.

3 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O. M. 1, Doc. 212t.

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While awaiting our reunion in Lyon, as it was decided, let us pray our tender Mother to preparehearts and minds so that at length she may reunite her scattered children under one same Rule andinflame us all with the fire of divine love and with a holy zeal for the salvation of souls. All are well at Belley; I speak of those who are of concern to you.

Believe me to be, with most sincere affection,Your very humble and very devoted confrère,

Colin, Superior 2

Belley, 13 February, 1830My very dear confrère,

I was unable to reply to you earlier because on two occasions I went to the bishop’s house and on both I was unable to speak to our worthy bishop. At length, he replied that he persisted in advising you to have your Brothers approved on the Statutes of Brothers already approved. He thinks that this approach will encounter fewer obstacles. He has written to Valence.As to the proposal of electing a centre of unity in secret, we reject it more firmly than ever. We havenever done anything for the work of Mary secretly and without the knowledge of the superiors. We must not start to change this way of acting; we must go straight towards the goal. The work isencountering difficulty in no place more than in Lyon. God wills it so as to purify it, but let us not bediscouraged at all. You should, I think, address a request to your superiors and, if I may say so, andif you agree, we will tell you in what sense we think you should further the matter. Reply to us and, if it suits you, we will convey our ideas to you at once. I embrace you with all my heart.

I am, with respect, your very humble and very obedient servant,

Colin, Superior 3

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Seeing that it was impossible toobtain approval for an inter-diocesanmeeting of would-be Marists or foran act that affirmed both the reli-gious nature of the Society of Maryand its supra-diocesan character,Colin was on the horns of a dilemma.Nine months had passed since the

Belley meeting where the Maristshad decided in principle on the elec-tion. Champagnat, sensing that thetime-lag might “stretch out to thecrack of doom”5, put pressure onColin. In his reply of 10 September1830 Colin was at his cautious bestin suggesting reasons for delay:

Bishop Devie had previously beenapproached by Champagnat on thematter of legal authorisation for theBrothers. Devie, who previously hadbeen Vicar General of Valence,where the Brothers of Christian In-struction had obtained approval in1823, could have been quite useful tothe authorisation project. Unfortu-nately for Champagnat, Archbishop

de Pins of Lyon preferred a differentmethod – a direct approach to thegovernment.

A letter from Vicar General Cattetto Champagnat dated 18 Februaryshows that Champagnat had al-ready contacted the Lyon authoritiesabout the proposed meeting of theMarists:

52 Champagnat and Colin

4 Letter of Fr Cattet to Fr Champagnat, O. M. 1, Doc. 213, Lines 30-34.

5 W. Shakespeare, “Macbeth”, Act IV. i. 117.

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We can do nothing about the priests. To bring about the meeting and to extend the Society beyond the archdiocese it is therefore necessary either for the Pope to intervene or for the bishopsto agree.4

To Fr Champagnat, priest, Belley, 10 September 1830.at Our Lady of the Hermitage, near St Chamond, Loire.

My very dear friend,

I am a long time in answering your letters. Don’t be angry with me; it is not through indifference orforgetfulness. You will learn later of the reasons which forced me to examine matters for a long time.I still cherish the work of the Blessed Virgin more than ever; the circumstances of these times

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Perhaps the meeting at Lyon be-tween Champagnat and Colin, sug-gested by the latter in the aboveletter, did take place, for it was inSeptember or October 1830 that theMarist group gathered. September,in the middle of the holidays, was in-deed a favourable time. Obviously,the reticence of Colin concerning aclandestine meeting was occa-sioned by the political crisis of theJuly Revolution and by the possiblereaction of the diocesan administra-tions.

We know, for example, that theLyon chancery had raised objectionsto such a reunion. Despite all that,Colin’s hesitation had now subsided;Champagnat’s forcefulness had pre-vailed. The Lyon men came to Belley(with the exception of Terraillon).There the combined group electedJean-Claude Colin as Central Supe-rior of the two groups. They alsoagreed that a local superior (Provin-cial-Rector) should be elected by theLyon group. He would, of course, besubject to the Central Superior.

Frederick McMahon, fms 53

6 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 220.Despite Colin’s earlier misgivings, the Marists in Lyon at this period came to be better accepted by

their Archdiocesan authorities than their confrères were by the Belley authorities. A letter from Fr Cattetof 18. 12. 30 (O.M. 1. Doc. 226—18) officially appointed Champagnat Superior of the Society of Mary inLyon.

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only serve to increase my confidence and my courage. But I do not know whether the meeting youask for would be prudent. I know that the election of a central rallying point is necessary for the piousundertaking. I desire it as much as you do, but it seems to me that it would not be prudent to have alarge number travelling in these times. Moreover, for the election we would have to be all together. We are seven; you are only four. It would be easier for you to travel to us than for us to travel to you.Furthermore, if we come together, even for a few days, without the consent of our superiors, they will take offence. It seems to me therefore that we should put everything off to a moreopportune time, or else decide to hold this election secretly by letter, collecting the votes at yourplace and here. This latter method is not the best.Let us be patient; let us work to form ourselves well. I will not be annoyed to see you increase. Write to us what you think of our way of looking at things.Fr Terraillon, whom I embrace with all my heart, has sent 300 Masses and you, 100. I thank both ofyou for them. If you have a journey to make to Lyon, you could write to me; it is possible that I may gothere to talk to you. Very best wishes to your three confrères, whom I embrace with all my heart. Our priests also greet you with all their hearts. The new members would be very pleased to makeyour acquaintance.

Trust me till death. With very special esteem and affection, Your very devoted servant and confrère,

Colin6

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The following letter, which directlyacquaints us with these facts, revealsneither the exact date nor the names ofthose who participated, and no Minuteswere preserved of the election which

was then made. But the very fact of theelection is undeniable, and it is as Su-perior, anxious above all to maintain theunity of the work, that Jean-Claude Col-in addresses himself to his confrères:

54 Champagnat and Colin

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Belley, 22 October, 1830. My very dear confrères,

May the grace, peace and mercy of Our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. I have deferred writing to you for a longer period than you thought. It is not through forgetfulness, for you are present to mymind every day and several times a day, but through a feeling of confusion and astonishment at thechoice which I had no grounds for expecting, and which can only do harm to the project to which weall aspire and for which I feel myself ready to sacrifice everything, if such were the will of God and of Mary our Mother. What consoles me, however, is that your choice is but provisional and that, at another reunion, the Lord will show you the one whom He destined from all eternity to direct the pious undertaking for His greater glory and for the salvation of each of us.In the meantime, my dear confrères, let us love one another as being all members of the one samebody, of which Jesus Christ is the head. Let there be among us neither contention nor any of thosekinds of contrariety which, without shattering charity, nevertheless spoil its sweetness. Without being religious, we must try to learn the virtues of religious, to accustom ourselves to lovepoverty as our mother, and humility and obedience after the example of Jesus and Mary, our divinemodels. These virtues, so necessary for religious, will become for us an unfailing source of thatpeace which God’s children enjoy even here below. It is in the novitiate that the novices are chieflyformed to virtue. Let us all consider ourselves as novices and, so as to have the merit of obedience,choose the one among you to be at the head of the others. You could have regard for age. Let usrecall that merit is found much less in the commandment than in the act of dependence and that the happiest man is not he who commands but he who obeys for the love of God.In due course and by sure means I will send you the plan of the Society, which you can communicateto people who ask to be aggregated to it, and also, for yourselves, a summary of practical rules for the present. Meanwhile, these are our practices at Belley: We take about seven hours sleep; wesay three Hail Marys and the Sub Tuum on going to bed and getting up; we have evening andmorning prayer and meditation in common; we also recite Office together and at set times; each day these Fathers have a conference on Theology when they are at home.As regards the establishment of the Brothers and a group of missionaries at la Côte-St-André,Grenoble diocese, if you see no difficulty about it, we will take steps to favour it and enter into the views of that priest.[Fr Douillet] But we must maintain that those Brothers are dependent on the mother house of Lyon and also that the group of missioners is one with the other members ofthe Society. As for the rest, we leave that to your prudence. If one of you has the occasion to see thebishop of Grenoble, you must not fear to inform him about our objective and the plans of our Society.

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This important letter showsColin’s reluctance to accept the po-sition of superior of the group, but, atthe same time, for the benefit of theSociety of Mary as a whole, he con-scientiously sets about exercising hispowers as leader. The employmentof “we”— our English “royal plural”-shows one aspect of the assumptionof leadership; the directive he givesfor the expansion into the diocese ofGrenoble manifests another. More-over, his spiritual exhortations aredefinitely in line with the role of a su-perior.

It is to be noted that the referenceto Bourdin and Séon “whom wehave not seen for a long time” is anindication that perhaps they were notpresent for the election of the centralsuperior.

Also to be noted is that the aspir-ing Marist priests in Lyon and Belley

were now moving into similar apos-tolic works. The Belley priests wereengaged in parish missions and insecondary schooling at the minorseminary. And now, starting withPompallier and Bourdin, Maristpriests living at the Hermitage werebecoming engaged in conductingRetreats and parish missions and in“schooling” Champagnat’s Brothersfor the religious life and for theteaching apostolate.

Shortly after their return to theHermitage, the Lyon contingentgathered to elect a Provincial-Rec-tor. They spent five days in prayer,meetings, and discussion beforeproceeding to the election. The Min-utes of these proceedings havebeen preserved – the first knowncopy of a meeting of the aspiringMarist priests. A summary of rulesfor community living was also com-posed, probably by Pompallier. The

Frederick McMahon, fms 55

7 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat , O.M. 1, Doc.221

May2015

These Belley Fathers, who are particularly attached to you, embrace you wholeheartedly. I do thesame myself, and especially Fathers Bourdin and Séon, whom we have not seen for a long time.Let us be full of courage and place our confidence in Jesus and Mary alone. Let us not allow eithertrouble or discouragement to enter our souls. The time is coming when our reunion will become stillmore perfect on earth and eternal in heaven.

Believe me, all of you, with special affection to be Your very devoted servant,

Colin, Superior 7

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young priests elected the seniormember, the experienced Cham-pagnat, as their leader – and this de-spite his manifold activities with anever- expanding congregation ofteaching Brothers.

A month after writing to his Lyonconfrères, Colin was in touch withChampagnat again about a matterwhich was later to cause muchheartache — the Valbenoîte situa-tion. He writes:

56 Champagnat and Colin

8 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M.1, Doc. 222.

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Belley, 24 November 1830.My very dear confrère,

I am very pleased to receive your letter, as also one from Fr Bourdin. We think that yourarrangements with the parish priest of Valbenoîte [Fr Rouchon] will turn to the advantage of ourproject. Establishments which are founded during the course of storms are usually more solid andmore stable. [This is a reference to the uncertainties of the political situation in France at the time,not to any trouble with the arrangements.] …If I can get away for a while, I will willingly go to the Hermitage. What a pleasure for me to see you allthere and to be able to discuss several matters relative to our Society. You could let me know theexact week when all of you would be there. But I am hardly at all master of my house. The more I examine it, the more difficulties I see in being able to draw up for you a summary of theRules, and for this reason: All of us would have to read and discuss them so as to avoid seriousinconveniences later on. See if that is not right. I think that the rules for the week, the month and the year, and the exercises for each day will sufficefor you at the moment. Once again, they are not all practicable unless the community is present.I write to you in haste; our Retreat is about to begin and I have time to tell you only that we havenoted 600 Masses to your credit.I have written a long letter to Fr Cholleton. If I can go to the Hermitage, I hope to see him. Yourconfrères at Belley embrace you, and I with them.

Your very devoted servant, Colin, Superior.

P.S. I forgot to tell you that I am thinking of renewing our correspondence with the former Nuncio atParis, today a Cardinal. But I will speak to you later on.8

The prelate alluded to is VincenzoMacchi, created Cardinal on 2 Octo-ber 1826. It seems obvious that Colinis hoping to pursue the establishmentof the Society of Mary with the assis-tance of this former acquaintance.

In regard to Fr Rouchon, the Maristsat the Hermitage had previously beendirected by Vicar General Cattet tosend one of their members to helpRouchon in the Easter period at Val-benoîte. Rouchon hoped to attach

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the Marists to himself in a more stablearrangement, which he was later ableto do, much to the mounting regret, forseveral reasons, of Champagnat.

Two weeks after Colin’s letter of lateNovember another arrived for Cham-pagnat and the other Marists at theHermitage:

Frederick McMahon, fms 57

May2015

Belly, 6 December 1830.My very dear confrères,

…I cannot make the journey to the Hermitage at this time: 1. Because it is said that priests arereadily arrested. 2. Because our house demands my presence at this difficult time. 3. Because, fromone important aspect, my journey would not have the result I desire. … I beg you to believe me,however, that I have no less eagerness than you yourselves could have to make the journey and toconfer with you. I do not think that it is advisable for you to send the summary of the rules. On careful reflection, I think we ought to discuss them in council all together. Providence will provideus with the opportunity. Let us always be full of courage; very soon we will reach the time when our work can expand more.Act together so that you may have the reward of obedience and so that the greatest union may reignamong all. It seems to me that this is not the time to settle at Valbenoîte; you will perhaps be safer at the Hermitage. Consult the Lord well. It is hardly the time for action, but rather for forming oneselfto religious virtues, and especially to a great abnegation.Let us still say nothing of what happened at our last reunion at Belley. The choice is regarded ashaving being made among ourselves only, but in time it must become obvious to our superiors. I have written to Fr Cholleton and conveyed to him the need for the Society to have a central point. He replied in a most satisfactory way. His letter greatly consoled and encouraged me. Lyon will placeno obstacle to it, but they advise us to postpone it because of the times. If new subjects come along,receive them if it suits you. As for us, we would also have received subjects if we had had rooms in the seminary. Our priests embrace you; they are full of courage and good will. It’s a long time since I’ve seen Fr Bourdin, and longer for Fr Séon. What a pleasure for me if I could make it to the Hermitage! But the pleasure is only postponed.I intend to write to Cardinal Macchi, the former Nuncio in Paris. We are praying about that particularmatter; join us. I leave you in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and I am, with most sincere affection and the most entire devotedness,

Your very humble and very obedient servant, Colin, Superior

P.S. In providing us with Masses, you do us a service. I ask you to leave the money with Madame Goiffon, a Sister of St Charles, Superior of a refuge in the parish of St Nizier, Rue 4Chapeaux No. 12 — and to advise me by letter.9

9 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 225.

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This letter shows that anti-cleri-calism was still rampant after therevolution of July 1830; priests werenot as yet in safety on the streets.For the Marists this climaxed with theofficial inspection of the Hermitage inJuly 1831. The magistrate who con-ducted the search for weapons andfor evidence of royalist troop-trainingleft with nothing – except with admi-ration for Champagnat’s thoroughco-operation in the fruitless search.

The postscript’s mention of“money for Masses” refers to thecustom of stipend offerings for cele-bration of Masses for the deceased.Bearing in mind the great Indul-gences disaster that split the Churchin the Sixteenth century, we need tohave some form of explanation forthese stipends. Their justification liesin the payment, not so much for theMass itself, as for the priest’s timeand the use of church facilities andmaterials. It is obvious that Colin,whose men received little in the wayof Mass stipends during the countrymissions, was grateful for the mone-tary support that came from the bet-ter-placed brethren in well-populatedareas.

It seems that Colin was obliviousto the fact that, at the time of hiswriting, his confrères in the archdio-cese of Lyon were meeting to drawup rules and to elect a regional su-perior. It is also obvious that theRules drawn up at the Hermitage did

not enter into the plans of Colin, whowanted “to discuss them in councilall together”.

In the archdiocese of Lyon, thearchbishop and his Council, havingbeen informed of the election ofChampagnat as community leader ofthe priests at the Hermitage, has-tened to name the Director of the Her-mitage as Superior of the Society ofMary in Lyon. They were careful, how-ever, to avoid any reference to theelection .Yet the Council recognised inset terms both the existence of theSociety of Mary and its name, at thesame time appointing a Superior:

All the priests and Brothers of Mary will obey you as their Father…You will really have the sentiments of a father towards those who will be members of that Society.10

In Lyon glimmerings of archdioce-san recognition were breakingthrough for the Marist priests. In Bel-ley, however, the Marists couldglimpse no such rays to arouse hopein their hearts.

Soon afterwards, in January 1831,Fr Séon, formerly at Charlieu, wasappointed (by the archdiocese) cu-rate to the parish of Valbenoîte, nearSt Etienne. Fr Rouchon, parish priest,had acquired the old Cistercianabbey of Valbenoîte in 1817. Thisproperty he offered to the Marists oncondition that they would supply himwith curates. He was thinking of join-

58 Champagnat and Colin

10 Letter of Fr Cattet to Fr Champagnat 18/12/1830 O.M.1, Doc. 226, line 22-26.

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ing the Society himself, but Colin dis-suaded him. Séon’s appointmentwas followed by that of Fr Font-bonne, thus making a second Maristcommunity in the archdiocese (atValbenoîte). Cattet’s letter to Cham-pagnat on this occasion also an-nounced that Fr Chanut would stayon at the Hermitage and that FrBourdin had permission to transfer toBelley for two years, there to teachHumanities at the minor seminary. Infact, but certainly not in word, thearchdiocese was moving towards awider recognition of the priests’branch and of the supra-diocesancharacter of the Society of Mary.

Colin was again in contact withChampagnat on 25 January 1831.Evidently, he replied to a letter from

Champagnat in which the new Supe-rior at Lyon informed the central Su-perior of several things: the electionin Lyon which had taken place in De-cember; the compilation of rules forthe Lyon community; and the instal-lation of Séon at Valbenoîte. Colin’sresponse ratified these different ini-tiatives, but not without some reti-cence on Colin’s part in regard to therules composed at the Hermitage;he accepted these only provisionally.With this letter the normalisation ofthe juridical situation of the twogroups was completed, exactly ayear after the preliminary invitationsof Colin to elect a centre of unity. Theletter contains many passages ofspiritual exhortation, as was becom-ing to a superior in those times. Partsof it read thus:

Frederick McMahon, fms 59

11 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 227, Lines 13-23.

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25 January 1831.My very dear confrère,

…We are quite at ease that you have taken possession of Valbenoîte; establishments which aremade in times of storm are ordinarily more durable because they are generally founded on a greaterconfidence in God. We rejoice no less that the choice of a superior has been made among you.That will be an additional means of forming you to obedience. I still hope soon to find the opportunityto spend a few days among you, and then, all together, we will accept a common Rule. While waiting, follow the one which you have fashioned, but with a disposition of then accepting the one which will be recognised to be the most useful to the glory of God and for the salvation of our souls.11

Colin felt himself unable to cometo visit the Hermitage Marists, who

were anxious to see their central su-perior. Instead, he wrote to them,

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By August Colin had still not visited the Marists in Lyon archdiocese, buta letter in that month tells of his near approach:

trying to inspire them to remain constant to their zeal and devotedness tothe work of Mary:

60 Champagnat and Colin

12 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 228, Lines 14-33.

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Belley, 6 May 1831My very dear confrères,

…So let us be patient. In June, if the conditions of these difficult times impose no obstacles, we willhave the pleasure of seeing and embracing you. Meantime, this is what seems to me most useful andmost according to God at the present time. I think that during May we ought to suspend all kinds ofprojects and not think of any foundations. Banish all solicitude, every kind of anxiety from our hearts;think only of the actual day and put aside all thought of the future. So, if you allow me to give you thisadvice, let us offer this act of obedience in honour of the Blessed Virgin. We will find therein ouradvantage, and the Society’s likewise. Let us refrain from even speaking of our pious projects. Let usgive this whole month to our advancement in virtue. Let us offer ourselves without ceasing to theBlessed Virgin to work for the glory of her Divine Son and for her own. I thank you greatly for the kindness you have shown in supplying us with Masses; we will keep themfor ourselves.I pray you to ask the Lord, with us and with your dear confrères, for the lights necessary for the approach we are thinking of making to the Roman court. We could say the ‘Veni Creator’ and the ‘Ave Maris Stella’. …

Your very devoted servant, Colin.12

Belley, 9 August 1831.My very dear confrères,

… At last the time is drawing near when we will be able to see you at the Hermitage. …Yesterday we received a letter from Rome itself on behalf of Cardinal Macchi, former Nuncio in Paris.This letter pleased us. His Eminence invites us to pursue our work with zeal and to make the journeyto Rome to speak to His Holiness. He promises us his protection for the success of the venture. Thisjourney, however, will be unable to be made for a while yet.

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13 Letter of Fr Colin to his Hermitage confrères, O.M. 1, Doc. 233.

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We have many things to finalise together before All Saints. We are thinking of having a Retreat alltogether at Belley. We will invite to it all our confrères of the diocese of Belley who are asking to bereceived and who appear to suit us. We also very much desire to see nearly all of you; this will bevery necessary. But we will speak of it together at the Hermitage.We aim to have in our house next year only professors who are admitted to the Society and we intendto give the house a new time-table — one conformable to our purposes. … I do not know whetherany one of you would want to enter into teaching; in that case he could obtain permission from Lyon.Let us redouble more and more our prayers, my very dear confrères. It is in times of storm that the works of God are made solid. [This is a theme very dear to Colin.] It is then that couragewhich has its source only in God becomes stronger, more daring…

I am, with most tender affection, your very devoted confrère, Colin.

P.S. Very affectionate greetings from me to Fr Terraillon. What a pleasure I will have to see him againand embrace him!. I do not regard him as a deserter.13

Belley, 7 November 1831.My very dear confrère,

I am not sorry about the little contradictions you meet with; the work of the Blessed Virgin advancesonly through crosses and sufferings. Be glad, therefore. We must pass through periods of cuttingremarks; we must at first be despised, sometimes even calumniated, before we are solidlyestablished. The Valbenoîte question is important in the interests of the Society. I advise you torecommend it to God in a special way. Make a novena for this intention, that is, in order to know thewill of God. Have this novena made by all the Brothers who are in the house.

In speaking of Terraillon, Colin isreally saying that he does not regardTerraillon as being lost to the Society.While preserving the same hope,Champagnat does not hesitate lateron to designate as desertion themanner in which Terraillon quit theHermitage in 1826.

By November 1831 the situation inLyon had changed. A second Marist,Fontbonne, had been appointed bythe archdiocese to Valbenoîte (inSeptember), so a second commu-nity of Marists now existed in thearchdiocese. We now find Colin writ-ing to Champagnat seeking prayersfor a solution to the problem:

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A second letter from Colin (31 De-cember 1831) caused much conster-nation among the priests at the Her-mitage and Valbenoîte. Having beenelected central superior a year before,Colin thought to implement what hethought to be best for his confrères inthe archdiocese of Lyon. He feared thatthe priests’ group might be subordi-nated to the work of the Brothers andthat the priests might not be able to ac-quire an autonomy and character of

their own. Colin therefore decided tohave separate leaders for the Brothersand the priests. Champagnat would re-tain authority over the Brothers; some-one else was to be elected for thepriests. This was the substance of thisletter and this was the proposal thatprovoked much perturbation.

The apposite sections of the let-ter addressed to Champagnat nowfollow:

62 Champagnat and Colin

14 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 239, Lines 5-10, 20-23, 27-32.

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On our part we are seeking before God to know the designs of Providence in this matter. …The Lyon administration seems well disposed towards the work; they have just granted us Fr Bordat,deacon, as a teacher. So you see that, while Providence tries us on the one hand, He consoles us onthe other. …I embrace Fr Pompallier and your other confrères and recommend myself to your Holy Sacrifices.

I am, with the greatest affection, your very humble servant, Colin, Superior.

P.S. Remember me to all your good Brothers.14

Belley, 31 December 1831.My very dear confrère,

… Since All saints we have prayed God to enlighten us and make us know what would be most for his glory. After examining the matter well and having taken advice from our Belley confrères, wethink the time has come to give more stability and strength to the Society in the Lyon diocese so that,if times become more favourable, it may go on extending and thus bring more help to the faithful. To this end, we think that the group of missioners ought to be separated from the group of Brothersand that each group ought to have its own particular superior. There will result from this an appreciable benefit to each group. If, therefore, after taking advice from your confrères of Lyon,especially the seniors, you do not see any obstacle to what we propose, we ask you to proceed with the election of a superior for the group of missioners in Lyon. …

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For once Colin miscalculated. Onlya year before, the Lyon Marists hadspent five prayerful days in settling ona Rule of life and in electing a leader,a leader who had subsequently beenappointed — not merely approved —by the archdiocese. They were upsetby Colin’s directives and they werenot slow to let him know it. After all,he had stated: “If you do not see anyobstacle to what we propose.” Theycertainly did!

Presented with “obstacles” andprotests, Colin had the good graceand wisdom to defer matters. He didnot change his views, however, forhe intended to have consultationwith the Lyon authorities (who had

appointed Champagnat as Superior)and with Fr Rouchon of Valbenoîte,whose offer of property was verytempting, not only because of thepossession of the abbey premises,but also because accommodationthere would give the Marist priestsmore scope for apostolic work notso closely tied to the Hermitagecommitments.

In his wisdom Colin decided thatit would be prudent not to push theissue at that particular time. Ad-dressed to Champagnat, but in-tended for the whole group ofpriests, Colin’s conciliatory letter de-ferring the matter of a new Lyon Su-perior is dated 3 February 1832:

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15 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. Vol. I, Doc. 241, Extracts.

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You will order three days of prayer and a fast for the intention of learning the Lord’s will. Then youwill all assemble at the Hermitage to cast your votes. …You will regard Fr Terraillon as a member ofthe Society; he will cast his vote like the others. [With about eighteen others, Terraillon had attendedthe Marist Retreat at Belley in September 1831 and, with them, signed the Act of Consecration to theBlessed Virgin which ended the Retreat.] I thank you for all the Masses you have sent us. You can retain the money; I hope to collect it myself when I have the honour of seeing you.

We would advise that the election be held as soon as possible. Later on, we will inform the Lyon superiors of this choice, and we will discuss ways of giving a new structure to the group of our missioners.15

The letter ends in the customary way. In a postscript, Colin states:

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Belley, 3 February 1832.My very dear confrères.

I do not know how you could have taken as you did my proposal regarding the election of a superiorfor the group of missioners in the diocese of Lyon. My interest in the work, the desire to see itassume greater stability and to prevent greater difficulties later on— these alone prompted my suggestion. I feel sure that I have not offended any one of you; certainly, that did not enter intomy intention. We must draw closer the bonds which unite us and neglect nothing for the success of a Society for which we have all made so many sacrifices.We must not be surprised to see that Fr Rouchon at times thinks differently from us. On the other hand, we should not oppose him or grieve him, without, however, swerving from our endor varying in our sentiments. But we should have regard for his age and show him all possiblerespect. I think Fr Rouchon would do better not to become a member of our Society, for it would bedifficult for him to accept our ideas and agree to depend on those younger than he. [The signatureof Rouchon, however, appears on the Consecration to the Blessed Virgin of 8 September, 1831.]But, as he has the intention of doing a good work, it seems to me that he could hand over to the missioners the apartments which he has to spare. The missioners could lend him the help of their ministry in his parish and those adjoining. In this case it would be easy for you to assemble at Valbenoîte and choose among you a superior and a vice-superior. I even venture to tell you that, if things were arranged in this way, I would not fear to come and spend some time with you to helpyou establish at Valbenoîte the same procedures, the same spirit as at Belley. But, for that, you must all be of one mind, and the authorities in Lyon must intervene. Meanwhile, redouble your prayers in a spirit of humility and charity. We here still think that the group of Marist priests will acquire little stability while it remains in the Brothers’ house; that the Brothers’ superior cannot be the superior of the priests, and that the first thing you have to do is to see, when the time comes, in which place the missionerpriests should assemble and who is the one it would be proper to put at their head. There, my dearconfrères, is what I dare not yet settle, and what I will never settle without the consent and advice of the Lyon superiors. Remain, therefore, all of you, as you were hitherto, submissive to Fr Champagnat until the new order. I hope soon to have an interview with Fr Cattet V.G., and then wecan take up matters with Fr Rouchon and make some proposals to him. But, until then, remainpeaceful and continue to form yourselves to solid virtue, to the knowledge necessary for a missioner.Let us love to be humiliated, to suffer for Jesus and Mary. Let temporal views never influence us in ourconduct. Let the glory of God and Mary, let the good of the Society alone rule our steps and efforts.God is rich enough; He will supply us with all we need.As for the arrangement regarding Marist and Joseph Brothers, of which we have spoken, we here atBelley think that there will be only one group of Brothers, that this body will be composed of twokinds of Brothers, Marist Brothers and Joseph Brothers. Those who have been received as JosephBrothers will never be able to become Marist Brothers, unless for a very grave reason, but MaristBrothers will be able to become Joseph Brothers; the employment to which they are assigned willmake among them the distinction of being either Marist Brothers or Joseph Brothers.

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This letter manifests Colin’s de-termination to pursue the matter ofseparating at least some of the LyonMarists from the Hermitage and ofelecting a new leader for the Lyongroup. His words, “I feel sure that Ihave not offended any one of you”,clearly show an insensitivity towardsChampagnat, who was not onlyelected by his peers as Superior butwas also appointed by the arch-diocesan authorities. Perhaps Colin’slong acquaintance with Champagnatgave him the certainty that Cham-pagnat was both humble enoughand generous enough to accept thechanges that Colin now postponesbut intends to implement. One wouldhope that “Let us love to be humili-ated” was a sentiment strongly heldby Champagnat; he certainly hadopportunity to practise humility.

In this letter we have the first writ-ten reference of another group ofBrothers besides the Marist Brothers,a group that was destined for materi-al tasks, not for teaching. These Broth-ers were certainly envisaged at thetime of the Fourvière Pledge, and theincrease in the numbers of priests atBelley rendered it necessary to set upthis group of auxiliary Brothers whichColin is trying to integrate into the gen-eral plan of the Society at the risk of al-terations to Champagnat’s Institute.This is an issue that was destined tocause friction in future years.

As for the suggestion concerningChampagnat’s possible journey tothe diocese of Grenoble, we havehere sufficient evidence of Colin’slack of interest in, and knowledge of,the affairs of Courveille since 1826.

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16 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 242.

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We will see later on if the latter will have the same religious costume. We will, however, examine this further.When the time comes to form at Belley an establishment of Brothers, I will be happy to write to you. I have made a favourable reply to Fr Douillet. If you have a journey to make in the diocese ofGrenoble, I would be very pleased if you would obtain some information about the Sisters of St Clair.You could see them and find out to which group they are attached and if they are still thinking of the Society of Mary.The difficulties which occur and which seem to oppose your organisation console me and encourage me, and become for me the proof that the undertaking may be in God’s will since it bearsthe character of His works.My confrères and I embrace you all in Christ and Mary, and I am, with the greatest affection, your very devoted servant and confrère,

Colin, Superior16

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Knowing nothing of the establish-ment of the Sisters at St Antoine,Colin believes these Sisters to be stillat St Clair, where Marie Jotillon,Jeanne Marie Chavoin’s first com-panion, had lived for several years,helping in the management of the

school there. Marie Gardet, the thirdrecruit, had also been with MarieJotillon at St Clair.

Jean-Claude Colin pursues someof the above-mentioned topics in aletter written in April:

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Belley, 8 April 1832.My very dear confrère,

…I was expecting that you would have decided with Fr Cattet whether it was advisable or not to setup the group of priests at Valbenoîte or elsewhere; that you would have made some proposals to Fr Rouchon, and, from his replies, would have seen whether it was possible to think of Valbenoîteat this time. If I had foreseen that you would do nothing, I would have endeavoured to see Fr Cattet at the time of his departure and would have asked to accompany him to the Hermitage. …I even venture to tell you that I made the Lyon journey purposely to speak to him, but, having learntthat you had preceded me by a few days in seeing him, I returned without seeing him for fear ofbeing at variance with you. …Since then I have left the matter in God’s hands. It still seems to me that the first thing you have to do is to organise the group of priests in Lyon. In your present position, with some at Valbenoîte and others at the Hermitage with the Brothers,several of you run the risk of forming false ideas about the work and perhaps of losing the Marist vocation.As to the Brothers called ‘of St Joseph’, my intention would be to join this group to yours, so that the two groups, whether they be together or separated, would depend on the same Superior. Thereby we would restrict our plan and perhaps even make it easier. But, if your Brothers do not wish to agree with this arrangement, or if there are difficulties with it, we will form the group of Joseph Brothers at Belley; I already have five or six available to me. If you had been able to give us at least one old Brother full of virtue and devotedness, we would have placed him for the time-being at the head of the undertaking.It would not be advisable for the Brothers engaged in manual tasks in the colleges or other housesof the Society to have the costume you have given to the Marist Brothers. Their costume will be something very much more simple and more conformable to their employment.Show my letter to your confrères and to Fr Terraillon and give me your final reply. I do not consider the present time as an obstacle to our endeavours.

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There does not appear to be anyevidence that Champagnat wascommissioned by Colin to speak toCattet about the Valbenoîte situationnor about the restructuring of theMarists in the archdiocese. As hehad done in the past, Champagnattook no action, perhaps hoping thattime and the workings of DivineProvidence would bring a happyconclusion to this problem withouthis stirring. Unlike Mr Micawber, whowas always “waiting for something toturn up”, Champagnat here waswaiting for something not to turn up!

It is evident that Colin is deter-mined to pursue the Valbenoîte affairand also the Marist leadership posi-tion in the Lyon archdiocese, but heis prepared to wait for a suitable oc-casion. He now clarifies his ideasabout his “Joseph” Brothers and theteaching Brothers of Champagnat.His ideas would have brought nocomfort at all to Champagnat andthe Marist Brothers, who could seeall sorts of difficulties arising from any

implementation of Colin’s ideas. Itwas Champagnat who was one ofthe firmest advocates of a centralSuperior, but he is now encounteringdifficulties with that same Superior.As with Courveille’s assumption ofleadership, so now, with Colin’s elec-tion to leadership, there cameheadaches and heartaches to thefounder of the Marist Brothers.

Colin’s plan to join the two groupsof Brothers under the one superiorwould arouse the opposition ofChampagnat’s Brothers since itcalled in question the very structureof the Marist Brothers’ Institute. Like-wise, the concept of two differentcostumes for the Brothers would notfind favour among Champagnat’smen.

That section of the letter whichconcerns the Marist Sisters revealsthe fact that the Sisters’ house isnow crowded (Colin was not enthu-siastic about expansion for theMarist Sisters). It also shows Cham-

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17 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 246.La Capucinière was taken over in early November 1832 in exchange (with Bishop Devie) for a prop-

erty left to Fr Colin by his deceased friend, Fr Pichat. This house for Belley diocese and Valbenoîte for Lyonarchdiocese were two houses reserved for Marist priests.

The Sister Superior of Bon Repos will be able to receive two or three of the subjects you arepresenting. She agrees with your choice; you will postpone the others.Your Belley confrères embrace you with all their heart, as does the writer, who is, with the greatestesteem, your very humble and obedient servant,

Colin, Superior17

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pagnat’s active campaign for recruit-ing women for the Sisters’ congre-gation.

A letter from Pompallier to Cham-pagnat dated 2 May 1832 gives anenthusiastic account of the threeparish missions conducted by twopriests from the Hermitage — Pom-pallier and Forest. It also shows thatthe Marists in Lyon and those in Bel-ley, at this stage of their develop-ment, are engaged in similarapostolates — parish missions andeducation. Both groups were active

in diocesan parish missions and,while Marist priests in Belley wereconducting school at the minor sem-inary, other Marist priests in Lyonwere at the Hermitage, educatingthe trainee Marist Brothers.

A year after his request for theelection of a new Superior for thepriests in the archdiocese for Lyon,Colin had his positive answer. Sèon,now residing at Valbenoîte, was elect-ed and was then approved by Arch-bishop de Pins. Colin wrote about it toChampagnat, the former Superior:

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Belley, 13 November 1832. My very dear confrère,

I received your two letters in due course. I deserve your reproaches for my delay in replying but I did not want to interfere in any way at all with your arrangements, and this out of respect for the intentions of the Lyon superiors.I have just received a letter from Fr Séon, superior of the priests at Valbenoîte, which tells me that all is completed and that the Lyon superiors have given their approval. I cannot tell you howmuch I bless the Lord. Let us admire, my very dear confrère, the ways of Providence whichimperceptibly gain His ends. Let us not forget to give humble thanks to Jesus and Mary for it. This separation from your confrères will perhaps be painful to you, but it is part of the Lord’sdesigns. Although separated in body, you will not be so in spirit. May the greatest union exist amongus all, to whichever branch of the Society we belong and, as members of the same body, let us be ever ready to render service to one another, to support, encourage and help one another.Let us consider ourselves as children of the same Mother, the glorious Mary, and may the heart of this tender Mother become the bond which unites us all.I think my letter will arrive before your separation. If you allow me, I will tell this to all of you, my very dear confrères: perform your task; correspond with the Lord’s designs on you; regard Fr Séon as another Jesus Christ in your midst; comfort him in the trouble inseparable from beingSuperior by your docility, your cordiality, etc. Here we ourselves are likewise in a novitiate house. We are only three, with five Brothers; the others are employed in the seminary. I have not been able to leave the seminary myself, but the two houses form but one.

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This letter mentions many of thestrands of Marist activity, some ofwhich require explanation:

The mention of Pompallier and MrCollard refers to a substantial steptaken in the formation of the ThirdOrder of Mary. Some men of highquality (and of high qualifications),loyal to the “legitimate” King and dis-gusted with the regime of theVoltairian Louis Philippe, the so-called “Citizen-King”, quit their officialpositions and turned to other occu-pations, especially to that of con-ducting boarding schools. Theyaspired to a richer spiritual develop-

ment and sought guidance as mem-bers of a Third Order, choosing theMarists as guides. Pompallier wascommissioned to direct them.

At this period, in Bordeaux, FrChaminade was in process of estab-lishing the Marianist congregation. Itseems that Colin wrote to Chaminadeand that the latter extended an invi-tation to come to see him at Agen.Because Chaminade had govern-ment authorisation for his congrega-tion, Champagnat, seeking govern-ment approval for his teacher-Broth-ers, was particularly interested in ex-amining some form of liaison; Colin

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18 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O. M. 1, Doc. 255.

I cannot travel to Bordeaux at present. I don’t think that I can do it this year even. I urge you stronglyto do so if you can. In this case, make all the inquiries possible. I have just received a letter from Fr Chaminade, Superior of the Society of Bordeaux, in which he invites us, and tells me that he will be in Agen for some time yet and that we could meet him there.I now think that it enters into the designs of Providence to render service to Mr Collard and his associates through Fr Pompallier.The Bon Repos Sisters are all ready to form the establishment at St Chamond if the superiors allowit. Kindly confer with Fr Terraillon, and both of you make this request. One of the young ladies youpresented has come to Belley; the Sisters will receive her. As for the others, they will have to wait,for at present they are too crowded at Bon Repos.Embrace all your confrères for me. As soon as possible I will go to see you. I am also going to write to Fr Séon.Accept the full assurance of my sincere attachment and my entire devotedness. Your Belley confrères all share the joy which the success of your arrangements brings and theywarmly greet you. I am infinitely grateful to you for having left me Fr Bourdin for this year.

Your very humble and very obedient servant, Colin, Superior18

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wanted to help him in this matter. TheArchdiocese of Lyon, however, wasnot supportive of such a move. Even-tually, any thought about some formof union for these Societies was dis-missed because the ends proposedby the groups were different.

Marist high hopes for a founda-tion of Marist Sisters in the archdio-cese of Lyon (at St Chamond, soclose to other Marist centres) weredashed by the rejection of the proj-ect by Archbishop de Pins, probablybecause of the existence of suffi-cient Sisters’ establishments nearthe city of Lyon.

In regard to new arrangementsfor the Marist priests in Lyon arch-diocese, Colin eventually had hisway. Séon was now leader of theMarists in the archdiocese of Lyonand two establishments of Maristsexisted there — one at the Her-mitage, the other at Valbenoîte. Verysoon there was a third centre —Pompallier living separately as Direc-tor of the Third Order and chaplain toits boarding school.

Colin’s concern for the develop-ment of the branch of priests in Lyonwas matched by Champagnat’sworry about the formation of theBrothers, in which the Marist priests

played a most significant part. Afterall, apart from Séon’s enthusiasm, itwas Champagnat’s charism and ca-pacity that led to the Lyon Maristpriests making a second start afterthe disaster of 1826. His concern tohave sufficient priests at the Her-mitage is therefore understandable.This, however, was not the only rea-son for Champagnat’s opposition tohaving the priests centred on Val-benoîte. As we shall see, there wereother motives.

On the spiritual plane the ingredi-ents for the remedy to the Valbenoîteheadache were humility (Champag-nat), patience (Colin), prayer and fam-ily spirit (all). The spirit of fraternalcharity, of give and take, which ani-mated these early Marists was un-doubtedly strengthened by their par-ticipation in annual Retreats together,alternately in the dioceses of Lyon andBelley. At the Retreat of 1831 they com-posed a prayer of consecration toMary which was recited and signed atsubsequent Retreats. This consecra-tion harks back to the Fourvière pledgeand shows the continuity of their de-termination to continue their spiritualand apostolic endeavours in the com-pany of the good Mother. It conveyssome idea of what lay behind theconstant resolve which impelled them.An extract:

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…Tender and loving Mother, at this moment and forever, we place into your hands our hearts, ourwills, our persons, our goods, our entire selves. We promise you to pursue, by all the means at ourdisposal, the success and the extension of your Society; to work during our whole life for the glory

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A prayer such as this is a briefdrawing-back of the veil to disclosethe spiritual furnace burning withinthe hearts of these men of Mary.

In 1833 the troubles aroused bythe July Revolution of 1830 weresubsiding. There was less obviousanimosity towards the Catholicclergy and, as a result, travelling was

less dangerous. Since there had alsobeen troubles in Rome in thoseyears, Colin had not attempted toreach the Eternal City to advocatethe acceptance of the Society ofMary, a move which had been ad-vised by his friend Cardinal Macchi.A letter to Champagnat in March1833 speaks, among other matters,about this topic:

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19 Marist Consecration to Mary, made at Belley Retreat, 8 Sept. 1831. O.M. 1 Doc. 236, Lines 8-17.

20 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 266.

May2015

of your divine Son, and for yours, too; to extend devotion to you as much as possible; and never to do anything, to undertake anything, without imploring your assistance. Be always for us, Holy Virgin, a Mother full of tenderness and mercy. Be our advocate and protectress before God. …19

Belley, 17 March 1833.My very dear confrère,

I could not have answered your last letter earlier, as our bishop [Bishop Devie] is on his rounds [in Bresse]. I wrote to him regarding the kindly offer you made him of two Brothers for his foundationin Bresse and so far I have received no reply. …I hope to write to you about Easter time; then I will give you his Lordship’s reply.I ask you to tell Fr Terraillon that we have noted down 700 Masses to his credit, and to thank him for us by offering him the homage of our sincere affection. We have also noted down 50 Masses on your account at 1 franc 20 centimes. We must all thank the Lord for having given us Fr Cholleton to conduct and guide the efforts to bemade for the Society. It is an admirable stroke of Providence. We at Belley intend to write again to Cardinal Macchi, former Nuncio at Paris, to ask him if he thinks itsuitable to make the journey to Rome. Perhaps I will see you before that, and we will talk overeverything. I ask you to have a novena made for the success of this new approach to Rome. My love to all your Brothers. I commend myself to their prayers and also to yours, and I am withrespect and sincere affection.

Your very humble and devoted servant,Colin, Superior 20

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An important appointment by thearchdiocese, relayed to Colin byChampagnat, was that of Vicar Gen-eral Cholleton as custodian of Maristaffairs in the archdiocese. Cholletonhad been a great supporter of theMarists and eventually joined theirranks. On one occasion, however, inthe attempt to unite Champagnat’sBrothers to those of Fr Querbes, healmost caused heartbreak to Cham-pagnat.

The projected opening at Bressewas for an agricultural school ormodel farm, for which Champagnathad no Brothers available at thetime. Eventually, it was opened with-out Champagnat’s men; it proved tobe a financial disaster.

TO ROME

The election of Jean-Claude Colinas Central Superior of the Marists in1830 spurred this retiring cleric toplan and to act for a world beyondthat of the dioceses of Belley andLyon. Rome became a target. Re-taining the title of “Superior” of theminor seminary [such was thebishop’s wish], but having a vice-Su-perior for guiding its every-day af-fairs, Colin was able to give thoughtto strategies designed to win appro-bation for the Society of Mary. Thefact that there were now houses forMarist priests in the dioceses of Lyonand Belley meant that Colin could

approach the two bishops with con-fidence that he would at least beheard. In addition, Colin was wellaware of the impact made by Cham-pagnat’s Brothers in the sphere ofeducation, and of the effectivenessof the Lyon Marist priests in helpingin the formation of the Brothers andin ministry to the parishes of thearchdiocese. In regard to Belley, theMarist leader could point to the spir-itual uplift that came from the inlandmissioners and to the well-regulatedminor seminary in Belley – both beingworks of the Marist priests. All thesefactors gave him confidence andhope.

Colin possessed something fur-ther – his capacity as negotiator andhis patience in attaining his ends.Given the supra-diocesan nature ofthe Society of Mary (indeed, Cham-pagnat’s men were also in the dio-ceses of Viviers and Grenoble), Colinwas able to make use of the quasi-ri-valry between the two principal dio-ceses to further the cause of theSociety. “I play one off against theother — and God’s work getsdone.”21

These words encapsulate so wellthe mixture of human cleverness andsupernatural trust which are mani-fest in Colin’s letters, especially inthose dealing with diocesan affairs.The whole Colin is to be found there– quiet humour, real Faith and a pro-found knowledge of men.

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21 Words attributed by Fr Maîtrepierre to Fr Colin, O. M. 2, Doc. 752, Lines 337-338.

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Jean-Claude Colin was in touch with Champagnat again in mid-year 1833:

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22 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 272.

May2015

Belley. 24 June 1833My dear friend,

The bishop of Belley wishes you to supply him with two Brothers for a foundation in Bresse. At Easter you were disposed to grant them to him; I hope you will not change your mind. He must have them at once; he would desire that there might be one for Marboz. They will be employed, for a start, in agriculture, then, later on, in bringing up the orphans. Provided that they are solid in their vocation, it is not absolutely necessary that they be wellinstructed. Kindly give me a prompt reply, as his Lordship awaits it.I desire you, before anything else, to come and see for yourself the house, the situation. You would stop at Meximieux and Fr Maîtrepierre, who is the seminary superior there, would take you.From there you would come on to Belley. Cardinal Macchi addressed his reply to the bishop of Belley, asking his Lordship to allow us to go to Rome. The bishop is not opposed to it, so I am thinking of leaving at the beginning of September. We’ll see each other before that time. Meanwhile, prepare a summary of the Rules of your Brothers. I hope to write soon to Fr Terraillon. I will be very happy if there were at La Côte[St-André] an establishment of Sisters because I hope that the college will also belong to the Society one day. Do what you can that the venture may succeed. The bishop of Belley expects a prompt reply and we expect the pleasure of seeing you very soon. I write in haste. Our love to all of ours. I embrace you all with all my heart [toto corde], and am for ever,

Your very humble and very devoted servant,

Colin 22

This letter clearly reveals the ex-ercise of “political” (or “clerical”)pressure – by Colin on Champagnatand by Devie on Colin. Devie wantsBrothers for his agricultural project,but Champagnat just has not themen available. It is possible, too,that Champagnat is chary aboutentering into this new sphere of

apostolate (conducting an agricul-tural school) and that he hesitates tomake an establishment in the dio-cese of Belley, whose bishop had attimes been very difficult for Colinand his fellow Marist priests. TheBresse undertaking was eventuallytaken up by a Father Granjard; itfailed financially.

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Although Terraillon came andsigned, Champagnat could notcome, so Colin signed for him. In re-gard to the requested recommenda-tions from the bishops, a testimonialletter from the bishop of Grenoblereached Colin by post only at the be-ginning of October and was added tothe Marist dossier in Rome. TheBishop of Viviers, however, appearsnot to have written.

The three delegates duly arrivedin Rome, were presented to PopeGregory XVI and presented the casefor the establishment of the Societyof Mary – all four branches. Colinstayed in Rome for discussions con-cerning their application; Bourdinand Chanel made a return journey(not exactly by a direct route) toFrance, there to take up their teach-ing posts again.

In regard to the Côte St Andrémentioned in the letter, Champag-nat’s teaching Brothers had alreadybeen there for two years.

The time was now fast approachingfor Colin and two Marist companions(Fathers Bourdin and Chanel) to trav-el to Rome. Desiring to have some in-formation from Champagnat prior to hisdeparture, Colin wrote in August:

74 Champagnat and Colin

23 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 283.

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Belley, 25 August 1833.Father and dear confrère,

The hour of our departure for Rome is due; I will be leaving Lyon on Thursday morning, 29th. Severalof our confrères are accompanying me as far as Lyon. We will assemble there between 7 and 8 a.m.at Madame Chavassieu’s, Little Bombard Street. From there, at about 8 a.m., we will all go up toFourvière to place our journey under the protection of our common Mother. One of us will say theMass, which the others will attend. It is necessary for you to be at the meeting; you must sign thepetition to His Holiness which we all signed at Belley. This signature does not make us enter anyengagement. If anyone cannot come, he would have to authorise another to sign for him. I am writingby this same mail to Fr Séon. Fr Terraillon could likewise sign; show him my letter. I think you have obtained the certificate in favour of your Brothers from the bishops of Grenoble andViviers; kindly bring it along to me. Very best wishes to your good Brothers, to whose prayers Iearnestly recommend myself.

I am, with respect and very special affection,

Colin, Superior 23

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Frederick McMahon, fms 75

24 Fr Champagnat to Fr Cholleton, O.M. 1, Doc. 321, Lines 3-10, 31-32.

May2015

Colin wrote to Champagnat on 28September 1833, giving news of thevoyage to Rome and an account ofhis sojourn there. On 27 February1834, having just returned to Belleyfrom Rome, Colin again wrote toChampagnat. Without giving detailsof the discussions in Rome, hestated that the Marists must nowsimply await the result of the deliber-ations of the appropriate authoritiesin Rome. He also mentioned a meet-ing which would involve Champagnatand would deal with the applicationto Rome, but he gives neither datenor detail.

VEXATIOUS VALBENOÎTE

At the end of 1832 Séon replacedChampagnat as leader of the Maristpriests in the archdiocese of Lyon.That did not mean a diminution ofChampagnat’s interest in his brotherpriests. On the contrary, there soondeveloped in Champagnat an anxietyfor their future as Marists. In his eyesthe problem lay in the house of resi-dence at Valbenoîte, where the care

of the parish seemed to Champagnatto be incompatible with the religiousand missionary life to which theMarists aspired and in which thenewcomers needed formation. Thiswas Champagnat’s viewpoint andwas the substance of his complaint tothe archdiocesan authorities whowere in charge of clerical appoint-ments. His was no empty plaint, for heproposed a remedy. The Marist aspi-rants could live at La Grange Payre,the superb estate willed to Cham-pagnat by a generous benefactress.What was more, the property wouldbe donated to the archdiocese forthat purpose. It was a munificentgesture, typical of Champagnat’s big-ness of heart. It was also a measureof Champagnat’s concern for thepriests of the Society. The Brothers atthe Hermitage must have reflectedruefully on their founder’s largesse,for, with numbers burgeoning at theMother House, the Brothers couldhave made good use of the proper-ty thus proffered to the priests.

The following extract from Cham-pagnat’s letter to Vicar General Chol-leton is heartfelt:

The position of my confrères at Valbenoîte is not at all to their advantage. This parish and curacycannot suit the Society, especially as the priests are placed at present. The administration of the parish occupies all of them and will do so still more. The best subjects lose their vocationthere. Those who feel some attraction to the religious life do not dare offer themselves, for fear ofbeing employed as curates. ...There is no sacrifice I am not ready to make for this work.24

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The proposal to hand overGrange Payre came in this letter.

Champagnat also wrote of hisanxiety to Jean-Claude Colin. Itwould seem that the Marist authori-ties at Belley thought along the samelines as Champagnat — that the af-fairs of the priests at Valbenoîte

needed taking in hand and that, ifpossible, these priests should be ina separate house under the directionof Pierre Colin. Jean-Claude’s letterto Champagnat reveals quite clearlyhis esteem and affection for his fel-low-labourer of the first hour. This isColin’s reply to two letters fromChampagnat:

76 Champagnat and Colin

25 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc.322, Lines 1-34.

26 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 322, Line 36.

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Belley, 4 September 1834.My very dear confrère,

All the letters which come from your hand are dear and pleasant to me, but certainly I have neverreceived any from you which gave me more pleasure than your second last one, in which youinformed me of what you wrote to Fr Cholleton. I saw then your disinterestedness and your devotionto the Society of Mary in general. Let us be well convinced that we will be able to work effectively for the glory of God only in so far as we live by Faith and expect more from Him than from men. …As soon as Fr Cholleton replies to your letter, kindly, if you will, convey it to me, for my brother will not leave for Valbenoîte before we know the decision of the Council [of Archbishop De Pins] in this matter. Try to have this delay accepted by our dear confères at Valbenoîte.My intention still is to send you two of our Brothers so that they may make their novitiate with youand receive in your house the holy habit. It is time that these different Brothers become centralisedand attached to the Mother House of the Brothers. You know that my intentions are that the Marist and Joseph Brothers form but one body. I did not think you were making your Retreat so soon; I thought that it would take place in the monthof October. God be blessed. The two candidates will probably set out with my brother during October.But you must prepare me a good Brother to do the cooking. I am counting on this. 25

Colin’s letter goes on to tell ofthe reception from the SovereignPontiff of three Briefs for setting upthe confraternity “we call the ThirdOrder”.26 There is also a plea for

prayers for the recognition of theSociety by Rome and a desire thatMarist numbers may increase inLyon. The letter finishes in the usualway.

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Probably encouraged by Colin’sletter, and certainly anxious to havea decision from the archdiocesanauthorities who, of course, were re-sponsible for parochial appoint-ments, including those to Valbenoîte,Champagnat again wrote to Chol-leton, Vicar General. Champagnathad heard that Rouchon, parishpriest of Valbenoîte, had made over

the collection of parish dues to hiscurates, the young Marists, in muchthe same way as the State did in theAncien Régime – by farming out thetax collection to general agents. Thisletter touches on the matter ofmoney and also presents Champag-nat’s strong views on religious life.Once again he makes no attempt tohide his convictions and feelings:

Frederick McMahon, fms 77

27 Letter of Fr Champagnat to Fr Cholleton, O.M. 1, Doc. 323, Lines 18-107 (parts).

May2015

I see clearly that the work of the priests is going to collapse completely at Valbenoîte, for it is in a false situation. My God, what do you ask of me? There is nothing I am not ready tosacrifice to save Mary’s work from shipwreck. I assure you that I still believe more than ever that God wills this work, but in a situation other than that in which it is now. The concern, the desire to become rich will ruin everything. God preserve me from judging my confrères. Their unselfishness and devotedness have edified me so much since I have had the honour of having them with me. I wish to blame only those who gave them such advice. … Let Fathers Pompallier, Séon, Forest and Bourdin, or one from Belley instead of him, be all broughttogether, living their Rule, having no other ministry in the meanwhile than Retreats and short Missionsin the country, and then you will see things take a new turn. … I promise you again that I will not let my confrères want for anything, even if I have to sell my lastshirt. I tell you this with tears in my eyes. … It is only by living withdrawn from the world and by meditation on the great truths that we can maintain the religious spirit. 27

Champagnat then informed Colinof his second letter to Cholleton.Colin, the “Central Superior”, whilesupporting his colleague’s move andthe reasons for it, discreetly soundeda note of caution in his reply, for he

was aware that feelings might behurt. In particular was he sensitive tothe position of Séon, the new MaristSuperior in the archdiocese, andconfirmed in that position by the au-thorities:

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This letter shows the masterlymanner in which Colin could act as aconciliator. The first two sentencesare not mere flattery, because Colinis genuinely moved by Champag-nat’s disinterestedness and concernfor his confrères in Valbenoîte. It ap-pears that Champagnat’s letter toColin contained the substance ofwhat Champagnat wrote to Chol-leton on 8 September. Colin admiresthe generosity, concern and bignessof heart of his fellow-labourer.

There follows a request for adviceon what should be done and at whattime Colin should send his brotherPierre to help the situation. So far allthe running has been left to Cham-pagnat. Then comes Colin’s “littlefears” regarding Champagnat’s “ex-cellent proposal”. The ground is thusskilfully prepared for introducing Col-in’s big worry— Séon may so object tointerference that he may simply with-draw! We recall that Séon had beenelected leader by his Lyon confrères in

78 Champagnat and Colin

28 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat. O.M. 1, Doc. 324.

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Belley, 23 September 1834.My very dear confrère,

The good dispositions which, I see, the Lord has put in your heart fill us with joy and arouse ouremulation. We pray the Father of all perfect gifts to strengthen you more and more in this spirit ofFaith and in the disinterestedness which animates you. When you have received Fr Cholleton’s reply, I beg you to share it with us; and, whether it be affirmative or negative, kindly tell us what it is best to do, and at what stage it will be necessary for my brother to set out. I would be very happy if they could do without him until at least after our Retreat, which will probably take place towards the end of October. It behoves me, however, to convey to you my little fears regarding your excellent proposal to transferthe cradle of the Society of Mary in Lyon into your house near St Chamond. I fear that Fr Séon may become weary and take occasion to withdraw, which would be a serious setback. Arrange everything with peace and sweetness. Your ideas are good, but if they cannot be carried outwithout disturbing the peace and the union of hearts, it would be necessary then to temporise and take the time needed to know more and more the most holy will of Jesus and Mary.I hope you will send me a Brother cook immediately after your Retreat. I am awaiting his arrival so as to organise our house in a different way. My humble respects to Fr Terraillon and to all our dear confrères and Brothers. I leave you all in the holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and am, with the most sincere affection,

Your very humble servant ,Colin, Superior

P.S. Fr Fontbonne would suit us perfectly as a professor of Theology. Please make sure of hisconsent, and I will ask Lyon for him. Write to me forthwith on this matter.28

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November 1832 and had been con-firmed in the leadership by the arch-diocesan authorities. Colin is so obvi-ously right on this occasion. His finalcomment is a masterstroke. Whileacknowledging again that Champag-nat’s “ideas are good”, Colin’s plea “toarrange everything with sweetnessand peace” and, if necessary, to tem-porise, calls for a readier spirit ofcompromise on Champagnat’s part. Inraising Champagnat’s thoughts to thespiritual plane of seeking “the mostholy will of Jesus and Mary”, Colinreaches the climactic point of a won-derfully woven letter of persuasion.

In the above letter Colin is exer-cising those qualities of prudence,caution and consideration for conse-quences that mark his leadership. Inthis instance, the emotionally-stirredChampagnat needs cautioning andrestraining. It is the reverse of the sit-uation in 1830 where Champagnat’spurposeful drive was essential incleaving through the vacillations ofan over-careful Colin in the matter ofelecting a Central Superior.

Other points to note in the letterare:

1. Colin’s persistence with Ter-raillon, a persistence whichpaid off, for Terraillon madevows of religion with the otherMarist priests in 1836;

2. Fontbonne was with the LyonMarists for some years, but fi-nally volunteered for the NorthAmerican mission. Chanut, an-other priest who had been withChampagnat, eventually tookthe theology post in Belley.

3. Although the Grange Payreoffer was not taken up on thisoccasion, Colin, in a letter of 17January 1835, suggests theidea of moving the novitiate forMarist priests from Valbenoîteto La Grange Payre; such amove did not eventuate.

Three weeks after this classic let-ter of late September, we find Colinpenning a short letter to his friend:

Frederick McMahon, fms 79

May2015

Belley, 10 October 1834.My very dear confrère,

I write to you in a hurry to tell you that our little Retreat is to begin on 10th of this month. We do nothave a preacher, but we will make it at the foot of our crucifix in meditation. Then we will regulate severalarticles on the progress of our undertaking. I strongly desire you to come. I think it is even necessaryfor you to be here; several things are to be settled with you concerning the house in Lyon. If you cannotcome the first days, at least try to leave the Hermitage on 19th so as to arrive here on 20th.

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The reference to the house inLyon concerns whether or not totransfer the Valbenoîte group to laGrange Payre; it also concerns at-taching Pierre Colin to the group.

Pierre Colin eventually arrived at Val-benoîte, where, as a Marist priest ofexperience and standing, he was ca-pable of assuring the stability of thecommunity. Talk of relocating theyoung priest aspirants continued, butnothing came of it, despite an offer byFr Forest in January 1836 to set up a

priests’ novitiate at La Favourite, nearFourvière. Eventually, after Papal ap-probation of the Marist priests in 1836,the novitiate for all trainee Maristpriests was transferred to rue MontéeSt Barthélemy, Lyon — on the hill ofFourvière. That was in November 1836.

By January 1835 no substantialnews had been received from Rome,but a further letter from Colin toChampagnat sets out Colin’s ideasre Joseph Brothers and MaristBrothers:

80 Champagnat and Colin

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I beg you to bring with you a Brother cook for us, and, on returning, you will take back two of ourBrothers to make their novitiate with you. If Fr Bourdin is with you, kindly advise him of the time ofour Retreat. Please tell me whether Fr Fontbonne is still available to accept a Theology class.I have time only to embrace you in spirit and to say that I am, with respect,

Your very humble servant ,Colin, Superior.

P.S. Don’t fail to come, I beg you.29

Belley, 7 January 1835.My very dear confrère,

I received your letter and I thank you for the New Year good wishes you offer me and your otherconfrères at Belley. Have no doubt about those we formed here for you and all your house. Youalways have a share in our remembrance in the presence of God.I am very happy that my brother is of some service to our dear confrères of Valbenoîte and that theyare pleased to see him among them. I hope the Lord will bless their good will and that their numberwill gradually increase. Here we are happy, and could not be more so, with Fr Chanut. The only fear I have is that his health may not stand up to the work he is taking on. Our little novitiateis going reasonably well; a new subject will soon join the other novices, So, little by little, the Society of Mary will attain stability.

29 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 325.

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By the time this letter was writtenPierre Colin had gone to Valbenoîtein the office of a man of religious ex-perience, capable of assuring thestability of that little community.

Chanut, mentioned here, wentfrom Valbenoîte to Belley, perhapsby way of exchange for Pierre Colin,and took the Theology class that hadbeen intended for Fontbonne.

Frederick McMahon, fms 81

30 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 330.

May2015

I am pleased that you are happy with our two Brothers whom I brought to you. I note that you aregiving them the Habit very soon, but I leave that to your judgement. I think it would be fitting if bothwere reserved for manual work— in the kitchen, the garden, etc. The big one can do hardly anythingelse, and, as the small one has a taste for this kind of work, it would be good, I think, to assign him toit. I desire, if you find it suitable, that the big one be employed a little at carpentry, gardening, andother things of that kind, and the small one at cooking and at learning the care of the linen. We musthave Brothers who know how to do all that. I am also very happy with good Brother Timothée. He hasgood will and a desire to do well; he will make a good religious. But, as for Br André, he has not muchtaste for anything; he does not know how to cook or to garden and shows ability for nought. Br Timothée does not always venture to order him about. I think that, close to Lent, you will do well to recall Br André to the novitiate to train him to a more laborious life and to manual work. And, at this stage, I think we must have a gardener. Br Timothée would like Br Joseph or Br Jerome,but, before that, I hope to write to you.It also seems to me that it would be good if the Brothers engaged in manual work did not wear the rabat, and that, instead of the cross on the breast, they wore a Rosary hanging from theircinctures. You will examine all that in your wisdom. …I warmly embrace all your dear confrères, and especially the two whom I brought you. My best New Year wishes to your priest confrère whose name escapes me.Br Timothée and Br André wish you all the happiness that could be wished you.

I am, with the most sincere affection.Your very humble and very devoted servant,

Colin, Superior.

P.S. Recall me to Fr Terraillon’s remembrance and offer him the sincere prayers I never cease makingfor his conversion. When I say ‘conversion’, he knows what I mean.P.P.S. Mother Superior of Bon Repos still has in the world two nephews, brothers of the young Millotwhom you have in your house. She greatly desires to withdraw them from the world and see thementer the Society of Mary. The elder is 15 years old, the other is 12. We could in time make themBrothers for the colleges or other similar houses, but they would have to be instructed and formedearly. See what your charity can do for them.30

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The jocular words about Terrail-lon refer to Colin’s hope thatTerraillon would finally clearly decidefor the Society of Mary by giving uphis post as parish priest of NotreDame in St Chamond. It was onlythree years after his profession as aMarist in 1836 that Terraillon left hisparish.

No doubt Champagnat sent aprompt reply to the above letter, inwhich Colin proposed ideas about theformation of the Joseph Brothers anda distinct costume for them. Evi-dently, Colin had touched a sensitivenerve and Champagnat would haveinsisted once again that no distinctionbe introduced among the Brothers.Colin now replies to these objections:

82 Champagnat and Colin

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Belley, 17 January 1835.Very dear confrère,

The remarks I made to you on the Brothers’ costume cannot be put into effect for the present, but they are to be examined before God. I think that, with time, we will not wear the rabat ourselves; it would not be suitable for the Brothers to wear it – I speak only of the Brothers who will be in the Fathers’ houses. The Capuchins, the Jesuits in Italy and several other religious bodies wear the Rosary hung from the cincture. It seems to me that this costume would suit us more than them,we who will be especially under the protection of Mary. If one day we admit this rule for the priests, it would be suitable that the Marist Brothers, who form a branch of the Society, were also consistenton this point. I give you these ideas only to be examined before God; I myself have no fixed idea at all on the matter, and so, assuredly, there is no hurry.You must feel that Brothers intended for manual employments cannot be formed like the others.During their novitiate they ought to be especially employed at various manual occupations, asotherwise they would lose the taste for work and would thus become accustomed to a kind ofsluggishness which would render them unfitted for their functions. I strongly believe that the Brotherswho have spent several years in teaching school would indeed be hardly suited to become servantBrothers. It is this impression that induces me to advise you to apportion to manual work, from the start of their novitiate, those novices who appear to you suitable for these kinds of employment.I leave it to your judgement, however, to see if young Millot would be adapted to manage the tasks ofthe kitchen or any other work of this kind. I am not unaware that he is fickle; I think that age will correct this defect.My opinion would be that you recall Br André to your place and that, under the guidance of a goodBrother, he be continually employed at some manual tasks. Thus directed, he would then be able to make himself useful. We would have great need of Cartier, now Br Eugene. He would remain at La Capuchinière, would do the garden and have charge of the cellar in the seminary. See if you can send him back to me towards the middle of Lent and, at the same time, take back Br André. Nevertheless, I submit all this to your prudence.

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With reference to the two Broth-ers at Belley, we know that Francis-Xavier Girod received the Habit atthe Hermitage in July 1835, in whichcase Champagnat must not haveaccepted the solution proposed byColin. In regard to the other, Joseph-Mary Luzy, he does not appear in theregisters of the Marist Brothers, andthe registers at Belley conflict withthe diary of this Brother. He was oneof the early pioneers of the Pacificmission, and is buried in the MaristFathers’ cemetery at Villa Maria inSydney.

La Grange Payre and Valbenoîteare again mentioned, showing thatColin was favourably disposed tohaving the novices of the Maristpriests placed at La Grange Payre.Yet he was disposed to temporiseon this proposal because of the op-position that could come from someof those at Valbenoîte.

La Grange Payre never saw acommunity of Marist priests; it wassold by the Brothers in 1853 to payfor part of the cost of building a newGeneral House for the Marist Broth-ers at St Genis-Laval.

Frederick McMahon, fms 83

31 Letter of Fr Colin to Fr Champagnat, O.M. 1, Doc. 331.

May2015

We also have here at Belley two Brothers known for a long time now. If you consider it proper, they will take the Habit here; nevertheless, they will still belong to your house of Brothers. You willassign a religious name to them and they would likewise be dependent on you. You will let me knowyour opinion. We would thus avoid the travelling expenses.I have learned that Fr Fontbonne is at the Hermitage. Urge him to come and help us to preach the Jubilee; he would render us an important service and would also prepare himself for the greatmission for which his zeal destines him. I don’t dare to ask Fr Séon about it; I think his presence is necessary at Valbenoîte .Be assured that the good Lord destines you to found the novitiate house of the priests in yourGrange Payre. Do not lose sight of this idea. It seems to me that you could very soon propose itagain to your confrères at Valbenoîte. I embrace you with all my heart [toto corde], and am, with respect, Father,

Your very humble servant,Colin 31

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Following the canonisation of ourFounder in 1999, and in light of the im-pending or completed beatifications ofour Spanish martyrs, the time has come,perhaps, for a re-evaluation of the onewho was the right hand and first suc-cessor of Father Champagnat. I would goso far as to see him as a sort of co-founder. My interest in him has greatly in-creased since I computerised his manynotebooks and also his letters. Theyhave revealed to me insights into his per-sonality that are quite different fromwhat I was previously led to believe.

AN ALREADY IMPRESSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY

There are no obstacles to anyonewishing to know more about BrotherFrançois, for we have five biographieswritten about him. The first was writtenin 1899 by Father L. Ponty who was thechaplain at Notre-Dame de Lacabane.It was published in Lyon by E. Vitte.

On May 8, 1923, a certain BrotherPhilippe was given the task of providingan abridged version of the life of Broth-er François by the General Council. Hebased his work on the earlier version ofPonty. It appeared in Turin in 1924, 24pages long and included illustrations.

In 1949, Guy Chastel wrote a life ofBrother François that is interestingand rather easy to read. It was pub-lished by Alsatia in Colmar.

Brother Louis-Laurent, (Pierre Zind),published Sur les traces du FrèreFrançois, in which he uses an histori-cal approach, highlighted with the useof many photographs.

Finally, in 1996, Brother Gabriel-Michel also wrote a biography inwhich he makes extensive use ofBrother François’ notebooks and col-lections of his letters.1 Also includedin this work are references to the bi-ographies of Ponty and Chastel.

Louis Richard, fms 85

1 (301) Various. Personal notes and others. * 302, 303, 304 Retreat notes from 1825-1869 * 305 Tripto Rome. Various. Retreats from 1872-1880. * 306 « Outlines of instructions » 307, 308, 309* « Instruc-tions »* 310, 311, * “Various notes “* 312 Various Topics * 313 Politeness, Reports, Circular Manuscripts.*10, 11, 12 “Letter book”, from pp 1 to 1086 * 13 additional “ Letter book” * 41-49 Notebooks dealing with theareas of science and medicine* Printed Circulars (volumes one and two pertain to Brother François).

THE PERSONALITY OF Br FRANÇOIS as reflected in his personal letters on the Government of the Institute and letters related to his giving of spiritual direction

Br Louis Richard

S T U D I E S

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Additionally, there are other au-thors: the rich and picturesque An-nales of Brother Avit; the Life of theFounder by Brother Jean-Baptistewhich provides information that can-not be overlooked; The Memoirs ofBrother Sylvestre. These various au-thors were well acquainted withBrother François, and we shall latersee that they offer us a variety of in-sights and perspectives.

Finally, in 2003, Brother GiovanniBigotto wrote a little book, La joied’être frère, Frère François, in whichthe contribution of the personal let-ters of Brother François is evokedvery much to the point on page 4.

These letters, he writes “…bring us into directcontact with a Brother François who is extremelyinterested in all that concerns the Brothers. It is aninterest that comes from the heart, from his longexperience of administration and from the time hespent in the presence of God. These letters are atreasure without equal among the documents that wehave from the Brother, in which we find the depth andrichness of his brotherly love and the art of dialoguewith Our Lord and with the Good Mother.”

We shall later refer to numeroustestimonies presented at the Dioce-san Process for his Beatification.

A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

A brief review of his personal his-tory may be in order. Gabriel Rivatwas born in 1808 and pronounced hisfirst commitment into the hands of Fa-ther Champagnat in 1819. After hav-ing performed his duties as cook and

teacher in Marlhes, Boulieu, andVanosc, he became Father Cham-pagnat’s personal secretary at theHermitage and his correspondentduring his stays in Paris. He was ap-pointed Director General in 1839 andthen Superior General in 1852. In1860, he retired to the Hermitagewhere he died in 1881 at the age of 73.

Given the elements of time andspace that separate us from him andthe fact that all interpretations of hislife are ultimately personal ones, itshould not be surprising that he ap-pears a distant personality to us. Letme, if I may, interject a personalnote: my great paternal grand-moth-er was born some ten years after thedeath of Champagnat. She was in herthirties on the death of BrotherFrançois, and yet I have a very clearrecollection of her sweetness and herkindness. So, all that is not so distant!But let us return to the subject athand: the letters of Brother François.

THE PERSONAL LETTERS OF BROTHER FRANÇOIS

Among the treasures of our be-ginnings, on the shelves of ourArchives we preserve the 18,063“Administrative Letters of the Insti-tute” extending over the years 1834-1953 arranged in 17 volumes. Theydeal with all of the problems inherentin the administration of the schoolsand other establishments of the In-stitute, covering every possible ad-ministrative matter.

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There is another set of letters thatdeals primarily with the Brothers: theLettres Personnelles of BrotherFrançois. Often enough, the recipientof the letter is unknown. Originally

organised into eight notebooks, theywere rebound, most likely after thedeath of Brother François, in two vol-umes, according to the following or-ganisation:

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Volume 1 Volume 2

Letters pp 1-514 (1842-1852) Letters pp 527-1104 (1852-1858)

Table of contents pp 515-519 Administrative letters pp 1-144 (1852-1860)

56 pages un-numbered, 9 of which are used as a table

of content for both volumes

As a whole, the collection contains1,091 pages of letters dating from1842-1860 and 13 index pages con-taining cross-references.

When the personal letters ofBrother François were published in1996, the editors Brothers Paul Ses-ter and Jean-Pierre Cotnoir re-num-bered the letters and includedanother 30 found in other sources.The process had the added benefitof providing more accurate dates.The final collection is made up of 701personal letters, 670 of which aredrawn from the two volumes ofBrother François. The letters arearranged in chronological order from1841-1860 without including specificdates, in most cases, and the num-ber of letters varies greatly from one

year to another. For example, in Vol-ume 2, the authors date 136 lettersto the year 1853 but only 21 to 1858.

When editing his collection of let-ters, Brother François was most like-ly making a selection to serve as thebasis of data for giving instructionsand conferences just as he had donein most of his many notebooks. As, ingeneral, we no longer have the orig-inals, we may assume that he de-stroyed them, unless after his deaththey disappeared through negligencein the process of moving, or inten-tionally. Whatever the case may be,the letters should not be looked uponmerely as documents preserved fortheir own sake, but rather as a data-base, whence the indexes estab-lished by Brother François himself.

The 1996 collection is presented as follows:

• Volume 1 : Letters 1001-1418 (1841-1852)• Volume II : Letters 1419-1701 (1853-1860)

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Actually, the content of both col-lections is different. In the first vol-ume, if most of the letters are writtento Brothers, there are many othersconcerning parish priests, superiorsand other authorities and dealing es-sentially with administrative issues. Itis in the second volume that onefinds the letters dealing with spiritualdirection corresponding to the re-quirements of the Rule of 1837:

The première Brother Directorswill write to the Superior everymonth, and the Brother Directors ofeach establishment every twomonths, in order to inform him ofwhat is happening in their houses.

The Sub-directors will write them-selves every four months. The Supe-rior’s visitation will not dispensethem from this duty.

We know that until the election ofBrother Pascal as Assistant Generalon May 20, 1854, Brother Françoiswas in charge of the little “Province duNord” (29 Brothers in 1852) in additionto his responsibilities as SuperiorGeneral. The comparison of datesand numbers of letters written inclinesus to believe that a great part of hisspiritual direction effectively involvedthe Brothers of this Province, as theabrupt decrease of his correspon-dence in 1855 seems to indicate.

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1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858

26 15 8 60 36 49 14 9 16 21

Nevertheless, every Brother hadthe opportunity of writing to him asSuperior General and his spiritual di-rection certainly extended to Broth-ers of other Provinces.

Whatever the case may be, it is inthe correspondence of the secondvolume that he best expresses hispersonal feelings. And it is on theseletters, personal, even intimate,often written to persons still un-known to us, that I would like tofocus, in order to throw light on hispersonality and the main axes of hisspirituality.

PRECIOUS INDEXES

As these indexes were first intro-duced by Brother François himself,we may consider that they give anexcellent idea of what he consideredmost important. In all, Brother Fran-cois’ general index contains 107items, almost all concerned with spir-ituality or the ascetical life. Those heconsidered most important weresubdivided into sub-themes with asmany as 8 entries in each. For exam-ple, the headings: Temptation, Voca-tion, and Children, each have 8sub-divisions; the headings Jesus,

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Mary, and Directors, 6; Ministry, Rule,and Prayer, 4. Corresponding to eachitem, page numbers were assigned.At times very similar items could becombined; for example: Prayer (16

cross-references), and Piety (8), orThe Rule (8 cross-references), andFidelity, (11). In the following table, anoverview of topics that have at least10 cross-references is presented:

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2 Number of cross-references3 Very short abbreviated prayers

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CR2 Topics Subdivisions

43 Vocation (benefit, gratitude, temptation, uncertainty, advice of confessor, thought, word against, discouragement, constancy)

37 Combat obstinacy, fall, God and the Devil

33 Director (responsibility, conduct, for the Brothers, challenges, qualities,trust)

33 Prayer (distractions, periods of dryness, subjects)

30 Children (progress, education, rewards, prayer, vigilance, confession,sensual affection, relationships, supervision)

30 Temptation (advantages, courage, wiles of the Devil, means of resisting, scorn, invocations, victory, cleanliness)

28 Jesus (imitation, sufferings, love, dedication, in the children, trust, all)

25 Employment (challenges, duties, indifference, temporal, cooking)

18 Piety

16 Encouragement

16 Generosity

16 Types of prayer aspirations3

15 Advice Religious

15 Our Lady recourse to, protection, temptation, filial love, for the children,consecration

14 Transfers requests, resignation, of Congregation

14 Charity community spirit

14 News about the Society, General Chapter, Brothers in Oceania

14 The Society Plan to withdraw, applying to re-enter, leaving

13 Discouragement

12 Fraternal correction

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These topics certainly reflect thecontent of the letters in which theBrothers shared their difficulties withtheir Superior: temptations (30), dis-couragement (13), unhappiness (11),sufferings (11), sorrow (12), short-comings of the Brothers (12), orproblems of charity (14)… To which

the Superior responds by bringing tomind what is essential: first vocation(43), the spiritual combat (37),prayer (33), following Jesus moreclosely (28), and Mary (15)… A sum-mary list of all the headings of thisindex could be synthesized as fol-lows:

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Great truths 57 Combat 37; Death of the religious 10, the World 5, State of soul 5

Prayer 67 Community prayer 33, Piety 18, prayers 16

Spirituality 82 Jesus 28, Mary 15, Trust in God 10, The Will of God 8,

Love of God 7, Presence of God 5, Grace 5,

Communion 4

Charity 29 Fraternal charity 14, Short-comings, support 12

Virtues 51 Cheerfulness 8, Enthusiasm 7, True devotion 3, Religious Study 4, Willpower 3, Prudence 3, Generosity 16, Zeal 7

Defects 21 Tepidity 4, Sin 4, Discouragement 13

Vocation 103 Vocation 43, perfection of state 10, regularity 11, Spiritual direction 33, Particular examen 3

Exhortation 19 Encouragement 16, Success 3

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12 Faults support

12 Obedience (respect union with the Director, failure, follow-up)

12 Sorrow (anxiety, of the bad religious)

11 Spirit of Institute (of faith, family spirit)

11 Regularity

11 Sufferings

11 Superior (openness, docility, correspondence)

11 Unhappiness

10 Trust in God

10 Death of

the religious (good - thoughts)

10 Perfection

of state (means)

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However, any effort to systema-tise information is risky, and for manytopics there are many possible ref-erences overlapping. I have, there-fore, chosen to dwell upon foursalient themes of the collection:

1. Treatment of personal prob-lems (570 cross-references)

2. Matters dealing with the inte-rior life (314 cross-references)

3. Teaching, (226 cross-refer-ences)

4. The Institute, (138 cross-refer-ences)

Given the fact that the Superior isconducting a correspondence with hisBrothers according to Rule, it is nor-mal that we should find that the ma-jority of letters are addressed to theirpersonal problems. It is first necessaryto confirm them in their vocations (43references). The Institute is youngand the Brothers even younger, sothe direction (in the spiritual and in-stitutional sense: 33 references) is acapital duty in continuing the work ofa short postulancy and novitiate or tocomplete the work of the directors.He encourages, demands generosi-ty and effort, urges putting up with tri-als, sufferings or sicknesses.4

His Brothers are religious and thisquality has to be maintained by anactive interior life. Community prayer,personal prayer, turning frequently toGod in love, trust and confidencethrough Jesus and Mary, fraternalcharity, mutual support and religiousstudy are all indispensable means ofkeeping oneself a good religious,faithful disciple of the Founder.

They are also teachers and thisreminder appears as a secondaryobservation, for it is a matter of amore structural problem which is of-ficially settled with the Directors. Allof these cases are concerned withthe children, recreations, personaldedication, but also transfers andemployments.

Although the letters are personal innature, they do not overlook the In-stitute, or the “Society”, as Françoisoften refers to it. In them can be foundgeneral advice, recalls to the spirit ofthe Institute and the Rules, newsabout general chapters, the mission-aries in Oceania and the progress ofthe Institute. At times, the Superior re-quests information he needs and heacknowledges the New Year greet-ings of the Brothers.

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4 It is interesting to note, however, that prior to being nominated Director General, Brother Françoisnever officially held the position of local Director which would happen only after he had completed hismajor leadership role at the Hermitage, that is to say, when he was no longer writing.

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Existential problems 91 Temptations 30, sufferings 11,Worries, anxieties 12, Unhappiness 11, Illness 8, Annoyances 8

School ministry 86 Students 30, employments 25, Dedication 7, establishment 6, Boarders 4, transfers 14, Recreation 3

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However, it is important to movebeyond generalities to particular ex-amples which show Brother Françoiswith a mother’s heart, suffering withthose who suffer, instructing, tire-lessly explaining but without depart-ing from resolute firmness.

READING HIS LETTERS

The first impression that one hasupon reading his letters is thewarmth that one finds in the intro-ductions and conclusions, whetherhe is writing to young Brothers or tothe Directors. For example, when therecipients are most likely youngBrothers:

1424 I received your letter with a very affectionateinterest.

1495 I embrace you with all my heart and promise notto forget you and to take the most fatherly careof you.5

To a Brother Director:

1582 You know that from the first time we met, I havealways had a high regard for you. I regard youeven more highly now that you represent me andare going to form for me a family of saints. Youwill pray for me every day, and I will pray for you!”

What we have in Brother Françoisis not a chief directing his troopsfrom a distance and on high, but a

father – and a mother - watchingover those in his care and lettingthem know in all sincerity and truththe loving concern of his heart. Andthis personal love leads quite natu-rally to the quest for brotherly loveand unity in the little communities ofthe period.

1421 Preserve this peace and sweet harmony among yourselves, this fraternal charity which isthe joy of religious life and which provides thestrength to overcome the difficulties andobstacles opposed to our salvation. 6

It is not a matter of simply humanlove, but of applying the sentimentswhich reigned in the Holy Family. Thislove pushes Brother François to sufferwith the sufferings of the Brothers as torejoice for the happy events recordedby his correspondents, never forgettingthe positive role of joy.

1425 I sympathise with you in your trials and concerns in the role confided to you.

1434 How I would like to see you happy, gay, joyful and satisfied among your good Brothers! 7

There is even a certain humour inthe images that he uses:

1436 Always cultivate your spiritual garden well: till the soil, remove the stones, rake, sow, plant,water, pull out, cut, replant, etc…There isalways something to do in our garden, both inand out of season.

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5 Also: 1427, 1430, 1472, 1481, 1653 6 See also: 1422, 1428, 1447 7 See also: 1439, 1540, 1559

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1572 It is not by what he does in the barracks that asoldier earns the Medal of Honour, but what hedoes on the battlefield.8

However, this human warmth isnot only sentiment. It must be imi-tated by the Directors who have to,over and above their pupils, directand form young men full of good willand ignorance. Let them then giveproof of patience, kindness and quietbut determined support:

1470 The first thing that you must do in dealing withthe Brothers is not to be more surprised at theirfaults and shortcomings and all the irritationthey may cause you than to hear the North windwhistling in winter. You should even expect these things and count on them as certain. And whatever their defects, faults and failings,never give up on them.

Like knowledge, virtue is acquiredgradually by degrees, with much ef-fort, by frequent lessons often re-peated, as our pupils witness. In thesame way, virtue enters the heart lit-tle by little, over time and so tospeak, drop by drop. It must bepoured gently, introduced into theheart of a young man much like fill-ing a bottle with a very narrow neck.If one tries to fill it too quickly, the liq-uid flows to the side. Almost nothinggets in. If one pours gradually, dropby drop, or in a trickle, nothing is lost,and the bottle soon fills up.

1491 Another thing I would recommend is that youtake good care of the young Brother and

neglect nothing to form him well and make agood Brother of him. You should not be overlyconcerned or upset over the minor annoyancesthat he may cause you; they are a fact of humanweakness. We all have our own tastes,temperaments, characters, inclinations, whimsand ways of doing things which we cannotalways master even in spite of ourselves andwhich we can overcome only with great difficulty.This Brother forgets himself at times, is childish,shows himself insubordinate, neglects his duties.It is not that I excuse his behaviour, much lessapprove of it. But how much effort, how manysacrifices has he to make, at his age, toovercome himself, to restrain himself in manycircumstances and not to abandon everything.

Was it because of the fact of hisfrail health that Brother François wasalways interested in the medical caregiven to the Brothers? As BrotherAvit notes (2nd section, 1819), it wasalso because “The Good Fathergave his follower lessons in Latin andhad him study medicine. The futureGeneral was first of all the guide ofthe infirmarians and the friend of thesick whom he cared for as best hecould.” Later, as infirmarian at theHermitage, he would further hismedical knowledge by meticulouslycopying the symptoms and reme-dies used at the period, as his nu-merous notebooks indicate. Weknow that life expectancy in the mid-nineteenth century was lower than itis today, but sanitary conditions,work and diet contributed to an evenshorter life expectancy among theBrothers. One can imagine, then,

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8 Also: 1462, 1617.

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this concern of a superior seeing somany young religious die prema-turely.

1475 You tell me that I have two very ill children. Youknow well that this touches me to the heart andthat if I so desire to know all of the details oftheir condition I am even more concerned toknow what medication is being given and themeans used for their cure. So, I would like youto tell me simply and honestly if you have asmuch affection for these two as you have for theothers, and even more than the others, becausea person who is ill needs more love andattention than the others.9

He often suggested his ownremedies: the first and most prudentbeing to live a prudent, regular andbalanced life and to have propernourishment.

1591 I also want you to take reasonably good care ofyour health and that of the Brothers. Feedyourselves well according to the Rule. Beprudent. Take precautions when travelling or onoutings not to get too hot or too cold. In class,do not shout or speak too loudly. Enter andleave exactly on time.”

1664 “As far as your indisposition is concerned,besides following the advice of the doctor, Iwould suggest that you follow an appropriateregime, that is to say, eat the proper foodwithout worrying or getting in a state. Whenevera person is indisposed or suffering from achronic illness, he should be, to some extent, hisown doctor, and when he finds what isnecessary, follow that course of action.”

He even uses the medical modelas an image of the spiritual life.

1563 A good dose of these virtues taken everymorning, noon and night would quickly reducethe fever and soften the bitterness that youmight feel at these encounters and agreeablyrestore the peace, tranquillity, gentleness andholy contentment of a soul who receiveseverything from God’s hands, and rejoices athaving to suffer something for love of Him.

The goodness so evident in himtook nothing away from the firmnesshe showed when the need de-manded it. To a Director who seemsprecisely to lack this virtue he doesnot mince words:

1475 I am well accustomed to fight, but I cannotresign myself to giving in. I do not want the Devilto get the upper hand and the passions triumph.I prefer fighting the good fight the whole year,the whole life. There are some Directors whohave faced extraordinary challenges, especiallythis year, either from the Brothers or fromoutsiders. I have not yielded and I have reasonto congratulate myself, for issues have beenresolved, and the Brother Directors are happy. Ifyou read my letters carefully, you will notice thatthey have quite a different purpose. Since thebeginning of the year, I have tried to share withyou the importance of reflecting the spirit of theSociety and form you in the proper direction ofthe Brothers and the school. You are taking myplace and representing me with the Brothers. Iwould like you, accordingly, to speak, act, treatthem in everything as you know I do, to havesame care and attitude for them that I have.

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9 1524: 1688.

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That way, it is not possible for the Brothers notto submit, not to surrender. Long experience hastaught this to be true.10

He is the one who is in charge.Like a good leader, he does not fearto go into details when addressingsomeone who is without doubt aMaster of Novices:

1449 I was very happy to receive the writtencompositions by your good Novices. I was alsopleased to see that some of them have madeexcellent academic progress. But I would alsolike you to provide me with a note on each oneof them, as dear Brother Marie-Protais did lastyear. You could consult with him and withBrother Director when he returns. For eachNovice, this note would include his name, age,country of origin and when he entered. Youcould also note the condition of his health, hisaptitude, his character, his mental ability, hisdispositions, whether he is devout, compliant,sociable, attached to his vocation, if he hascommon sense and good judgment and if he ishappy to do what he is asked to do and if hedoes it well. Finally, I would ask you to provideme with all the details and information necessaryto know a subject well in order to be able toguide him correctly.

In 1860, Brother François nolonger has the responsibility of di-recting the Institute, but is living inthe quiet and peaceful atmosphereof the Hermitage. However, he doesnot tolerate any infraction of theRule, and that is why he calls a Di-rector to task for being somewhatnegligent:

1672 I am sorry to say that it has come to myattention that your Brothers came to bathe inour enclosure yesterday without saying a wordto me or submitting a written note indicating thatthey had permission. You can understand thatthis has caused scandal for the house andembarrassment for the Superiors. Haven’t wealready received strong lessons in this regard?If your Brothers need to bathe, they should getthemselves in order and show it. This is thesecond time that I have been forced to write toyou to call them to order in the space of a fewweeks. When we were together, I did not need to do it.

A letter that reflects his spirit ofpoverty also seems to shed somelight on the circumstances of his de-parture from St. Genis-Laval in 1860,which does not appear in the begin-ning to have been considered defin-itive:

1679 As it appears that I will be remaining for sometime here, where I have found myself so happywith my numerous and good family of novicesand postulants who are returning to you, wouldplease send me my old habit, my old culottesand two pairs of stockings as soon as possible?They can be found in my room in the bottomdrawer of my dresser.

If there was one concern for him,never finished, always on the go, thebalance here being gained throughan imbalance there, it was certainlythe matter of transfers. The Superiorhad to jockey between need and ob-ligation. For example, to a Brother inthe Province of Beaucamps:

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10 1547: 1561

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1701 I have often thought of sending you someone tohelp you. As much as I would have liked to sendyou someone, in light of the enormous debt thatyou have inherited from your predecessor I haverefrained from doing so. On the other hand,during your visit to Beaucamps, you were able toobserve for yourself the lack of subjectsavailable. You were well aware that we have hadto make use of Brothers who have nocertification and have not even completed theirNovitiate.

Faced with such an enormoustask, a lesser person would havebeen discouraged. However,Brother François, faithful imitator ofhis master, Marcellin Champagnat,relied upon the same conviction thatOur Lady would protect us, oftenusing the same terminology. In sev-eral of his letters (1433, 1510, 1513) heappeals to the tender protection ofMary: “We are so much at easewhen we rely upon her!” To another,he writes:

1538 Often ask for the Blessed Virgin’s protection andconsecrate yourself to her service every day.This Good Mother, who looks upon you as herchild, will take care of you. If you follow her, youwill never be lost. Pray to her, and you willalways succeed. I leave you with confidence inher hands.

I cannot conclude these excerptswithout referring to what he wouldoften repeat to the Brothers: theRule, the Institute, it is “the good Fa-ther.”

1650 I am with you in the warmest affection and unionof prayer in the chapel, in the house and at thetomb of Father Champagnat.

1666 I also urge you to be imbued with the Rules andthe Constitutions so as to be able to cite them inyour advice and recommendations, in such away that the Brothers perceive it is not you whospeak, command, require, but that it is the Rule,it is Father Champagnat.

1678 (1872) I am overwhelmed with joy andsatisfaction when I see how much our HolyFounder’s family has grown and expanded somuch in spite of all the difficulties of the time.

THE PERSONAL LETTERS AND THE TRADITIONS ABOUT BR FRANÇOIS

His letters confirm his image asthe first and fervent disciple of theFounder. But they also present himas a Superior both brotherly and firm.On these two points, they appear tous to be in contradiction with a tradi-tion particularly transmitted to us byBrothers Louis-Marie, Jean-Baptisteand Avit.

Nothing could be more striking inthis regard than the Circular dedi-cated to the memory of BrotherJean-Baptiste (t. IV p. 239) after hisdeath in 1872 by Brother Louis-Mariewhile Brother François was still living.For him “…the Venerable Founder isindebted (to Brother Jean-Baptiste)for having lived on himself for thirty-two years” and therefore “is he notfor us like a second founder?”Brother Jean-Baptist “had a veryspecial mission in the Institute whichwas to shape and bring it to fulfil-ment,” no one else being able to“penetrate as he could into the inti-

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mate and original thought of the Fa-ther Founder… to go back with thesame knowledge of persons andthings to the origins of the Institute;and to determine, with the same au-thority, the spirit, the end, the rules inconcert with the Régime and theGeneral Chapter.”

So Brother François, although firstSuperior and the oldest follower ofthe Founder, seems to be quite for-gotten. But already in his biographyof Brother Louis (Biographie dequelques frères 1868 p. 30,) BrotherJean Baptiste had formulated arather ambivalent eulogy:

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Brother François has always been distinguished by a marked attraction for the hidden life, for the lifeof prayer and for union with the mysteries of Our Lord. That is how he has risen to this virtueregarded so highly by everyone and how he has contributed so much to the Institute. When hebecame Superior, he generally left the practical aspects of administration to his assistants; he letthem treat of matters with men while he, raising his hands towards heaven, treated of them with Godand thus obtained these graces of benediction which have been the main reason for theextraordinary development and prosperity of the Institute.

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In his Annales, Brother Avit would, as was his custom, formulate muchmore critical judgements:

Although he was held in high regard by all, dear Brother François did not have the character, drive,and initiative of Father Champagnat. He did not have the ability to win hearts and rule wills as the Holy Founder of happy memory did so well. His cold, slow and sententious style in his instructionswas not appreciated. We found him meticulous, someone who attached sometimes too much importance to minor infractions, rarely tolerating excuses and too afraid of comments.

Referring to the Circular on Faith,(1850, § 53) published by BrotherFrançois beginning in 1848,11 Avit ap-pears surprised by the quality ofteaching he finds in it and writes:

“We allow ourself to say that for the most part it was the work of Father Matricon and of Brother Louis-Marie.12

11 It would be done in four parts. 12 Brother François was certainly not the only one involved in the writing of this Circular. However

Brother Avit overstates his case when he maintains that he played only a minor role in the endeavor.

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“Nonetheless, we will not add anything further to what has already been said about the holydeceased, other than he combined with his knowledge of medicine a sweet aptitude for religiouspoetry. It was he who composed four of the hymns in our Hymn Book.”

Under his immediate successor, vocations increased, new establishments multiplied, so much so, thatthe Hermitage, or as Brother François, the first General, called it: ‘the great reliquary of Father Champagnat’, was no longer a house large enough nor suitable enough to be the centreof the Institute. Saint-Genis Laval, a canton a few kilometres (p.225) from Lyon was designated to be the place for the new Mother House of the Congregation, with the Hermitage becoming no more than an offshoot, precious in every respect. And, still under his successor, Brother François,the Congregation was approved by the Holy See with the faculty to canonically elect a Superior General and make the simple vows of religion.

Brother Sylvestre is the bearer ofthe opposite tradition. In his recollec-tions of Father Champagnat, hementions Brother François by name35 times,13 and not only as a modelBrother. When he refers to “…thewonderful development of the Con-

gregation” after the death of FatherChampagnat, (p. 224-225), hestrongly emphasises the eminentrole of Brother François and avoidsmentioning Brother Louis-Marie inthe acquisition and construction ofSt. Genis-Laval:

Furthermore, Brother François wasbeginning to become frequently ex-hausted by his headaches which ren-dered any serious work very painful.

When Brother François resignedin 1860, Brother Avit insists a bit too

much on his attachment to the Her-mitage and his wish to relinquishthe responsibilities of administration(1860 § 25, 67). Finally, commentingon news of his death, (1881 § 35)Brother Avit is content with thesewords:

12 Bother Louis-Marie is mentioned 21 times and Brother Jean-Baptiste very little. But it is true thathis work relies heavily on the Life of the Founder.

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AN INVITATION TO FURTHER STUDY

The study of the letters above, Ibelieve, contributes to strengthenthe thesis of Brother Sylvestre, bringinto question the judgement ofBrother Avit and to add nuances tothat of Brothers Louis-Marie andJean-Baptiste. In fact, it was underthe mandate of Brother François thatfundamental changes were made inthe Institute which cannot be attrib-uted solely to his two Assistants.Furthermore, Brother Avit seems tohave forgotten that after his resigna-tion, Brother François continued tobe involved in the formation of theBrothers (lectures, retreats, etc), ashis notebooks testify. However, it israther unfortunate and curious thatnothing remains of his correspon-dence after the year 1860, for it is notvery likely that his activity as spiritualdirector came to an end. Whateverthe case may be, it is difficult to avoidthe stated facts (health problems, hispremature retirement) as well as thereservations existing in his regard. Inspite of the work that has been un-dertaken to improve our knowledgeof Brother François, he continues toappear to us as far too “hidden andunknown.”

In conclusion, what do thesepages contribute to us about BrotherFrançois? They confirm especiallywhat we knew about him:

As a ten year old child, he wasbrought to the recently appointedcurate of Lavalla by his older brotherto receive a holy picture and thenlater by his mother who entrusts himto him in complete ignorance of hisfuture. Father Champagnat beginsteaching him Latin (which he himselfhad such difficulty learning) andgives the rudiments of medicine; andhe binds him to his nascent Institute,seeing in him one of his first disci-ples, and for us a model of obedi-ence and docility as Brother Avitdescribes him in his ‘Annales”. Hewas always reserved, reflective andprudent, but when responsibilitieswere proposed to him, and he couldsee God’s will channelled throughthe will of his Superior, he acceptedthem and carried them out with skilland foresight. All his Brothers werefor him true brothers of heart. Whenevening came, he discretely retired,remaining always at the service ofhis own in the house of the Her-mitage, the Reliquary of his masterand model, Marcellin Champagnat.

And so it is, that in revealing thedepths of the heart of Brother François,these personal letters, throw light forthe reader of the XXI Century on theessence of our specific nature. Al-though the conditions of all orders aredifferent, among us and in the worldaround us, this spirit of our origins mustcontinue to inspire us in the necessaryevolution of the Institute.

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INTRODUCTION

The story of Jean-Baptiste Mon-tagne “has become the archetype ofall those children and young peopleto whom Marist mission should bedirected”1. To find the precise andcomplete meaning of Marcellin’s en-counter with the Montagne boy, weneed to know the context in which ittook place, but above all, to under-stand the meaning he gave to theevent, and how it affected him, sinceit took place just a few weeks beforefounding his work.

To this end, let us try to analyseand to understand a number of Mar-cellin’s writings which convey thesource of his inspiration to found theMarist project. By doing so, we cangain an overall picture of what theprovidential encounter with thisyoung man meant to him. Therefore,

before turning to the story itself, weneed to understand what happenedbeforehand so as to get a broaderview and to discover the underlyingmeaning of the event. Hence theneed for a deeper exploration, whichI invite you to share with me.

AN INSPIRATIONALREADY PRESENT AT HIS CONVERSION: TO CATECHIZE

Writers hold that in the middle ofhis ecclesiastical studies, in 1810, theyear his mother died, Marcellin had aconversion. The suffering and mourn-ing caused by her absence, togeth-er with the significant improvement inthe conduct of the Seminary of Ver-rières2, led him to reflect on themeaning of his life, and the goals hewanted to achieve. Our seminarian

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1 Cf. Origines Maristes [OM]. IV, p. 120.2 The change was brought about by a new Director, Jean-Joseph Barou, who had better organiza-

tional skills and more authority over the young seminarians.

AN ICON OF MARIST MISSIONThe young Montagne

Br Manuel Mesonero

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was 21 years old. Two facts that con-firm this conversion are the improve-ment of his grades in the area of be-haviour, and his resolutions note-book which includes the followingtext3:

My lord and my God, I promise never to offend youagain (…); never to go back to the tavern withoutnecessity; to avoid bad companions and, in a word,not to do anything which would go against myserving you. I promise, on the contrary, to give goodexample (…); to instruct others in your divineteachings; to teach catechism to the poor as well asthe rich. Divine Saviour, help me to carry out faithfullyall these resolutions I am taking4.

The manuscript contains all theessential elements that occur in atrue and sincere conversion. The firstresolution, “never to offend youagain”, is straightforward: Marcellinassessed his life from a moral per-spective, and tried to move awayfrom any offence to God. The com-mitment to “never to go back to thetavern without necessity” revealsthat attending bars in his spare timewas an ongoing activity. The expres-sion “never go back” indicates thathe wished to stop something he wasactually doing, and implied detach-ment from a well-established habit.The resolution to “avoid bad com-panions” is a well-known strategy,and spiritually a sort of perennialrule-of-thumb: to flee from danger.

Bad friends corrupt good morals,and hence the need to take distancefrom them.

The second series of resolutionswithin the text begins with “to givegood example”. Marcellin sees him-self as light and witness: “You arethe light of the world” (Mt 5:14). Thetext goes on “to instruct others”which shows he is willing to try outhis future mission as shepherd of theflock.

And the last resolution, “to teachcatechism”, certainly moves us be-cause it offers a glimpse, in this earlymanuscript, of his deepest inclina-tion: to teach children, to evangelisethem, to bring them to God. And thecatechesis is for a particular group:young people. At a time not too dis-tant from that moment he would findprecisely in this very kind of work hismission as a Founder. From the firsthour of his conversion, we can seehow the Spirit was already movinghim in that direction.

The testimonies about his holi-days in Le Rozey that year show thathe actually followed his resolutions:

He would tell several people in the hamlet, ‘If you come, I will teach you the catechism and tellyou how you should live’. His little room filled up; on the following Sundays, people came from

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3 This manuscript is actually undated. The date of 1812 is only a remote possibility. The text is inde-pendent and written before the other manuscript dated that year, because it includes a beginning, a num-ber of concrete resolutions, and an ending. Brother Alexandre Balko held that it dates from the end of1810, which seemed most reasonable to him, and more in agreement with the context and the rest of theinformation we have about Marcellin.

4 Resolutions 28.

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La Frache, La Faye, Ecotay, Marconière, Montaron,Allier, and the room was too small; so he stood on the doorstep and spoke to his listeners who filledboth his room and the adjoining one. He was very young, but he preached so well that childrenand adults stayed sometimes for two hours without growing bored. As for me, even though I was only twelve, I never tired of listening to him,because he explained everything so well5.

These words from Julienne Épalle,a little girl who was his neighbour,show that she realized the changethat had taken place in Marcellinwhen he came back to Le Rozey inthe summer holidays, and appreciat-ed the quality of the catechism les-sons as a particular gift the youngseminarian had.

HIS INSPIRATION IS CONFIRMED

If we go on exploring his notes, wefind that he wrote his holiday plan in1814, at the end of his first year of The-ology in Lyon. Marcellin was goinghome, and his parents had bothpassed away by then. He confirms hisproject: despite the rigor and preci-

sion suggested by the Seminary’s hol-iday manual6, he was at ease, look-ing for family love, but with a passionevident for his favourite apostolic ac-tivities. His family ranks as his firstduty, even above prayer7. In his rela-tionship with them, he stepped awayfrom the social privileges that “wear-ing the soutane” already gave him,and intended to adapt himself to “hisfamily’s lifestyle”. Moreover, the res-olutions about his favourite apostolicactivities portray the most genuine el-ements of his personality:

12º I will instruct the ignorant, whether rich or poor,in what concerns salvation.

11º I will visit the sick as often as I can”8.

As we can see, his program fo-cused again on teaching catechesis toall, “rich or poor”, so this resolutionstresses the importance of being con-stant in this activity over time. The lat-er accounts of people who recalledtheir childhood memories, indicatethat Marcellin actually implemented hisplan: “Elderly people recall with emo-tion the pious instructions he gavethem during his seminary holidays”9.These children help us understand that

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5 (SUMM 44) Julienne Épalle, SUMMARIUM, PRIMA POSITIO, 1910. Cf. also Witnesses on MarcellinChampagnat p. 20, at: http://www.cepam.umch.edu.pe/Archivum/Archivum02/3380001.doc

6 The seminary’s manual devoted twenty pages to preparing the students for their holidays in a sec-tion called: “Life rules for the holidays”, which gave many concrete and practical guidelines. Gaston dePins. J.P. Petit manuel à l’usage du séminaire de S. Irénée. Lyon. Rusand. 1833. p. 214 -235.

7 These are the resolutions regarding his family:

1º I will spend my vacations with my family.

2º I will seldom go from home.

3º I will conform, as much as possible, to the way of living of my parents. I will treat them withrespect, meekness, and love. I will endeavour, both by word and example, to gain them toJesus Christ. I will not say anything that may vex or annoy them” (Marcellin’s Resolutions).

8 RESOLUTIONS.9 CPO, fol. 315.

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Marcellin first discovered his person-al charism as an educator and cate-chist specifically in his birthplace. Fewmonths later, this personal gift turnedinto his charism as Founder:

He frequently spoke to us about the missions and the joy of converting the souls to Jesus Christ. And when my brother – martyred in Oceania in 1845 – left home without saying a word to anyone, my fathershowed resentment against Father Champagnat,because he was convinced that the idea of going to the missions came from the exhortations of the then seminarian Champagnat10.

Along with this gift of teaching, hisvisits to the sick appear in his writ-ings here for the first time. We seehis compassionate heart moving himto action through this apostolic serv-ice. We are particularly interested infollowing Marcellin’s developmentregarding these two apostolic activi-ties because they both meet pre-cisely at the Montagne event: caringfor a seriously ill person, who ur-gently needs basic catechism.

THE CALL TO ESTABLISH ANEW CHARISM AS FOUNDER

When Marcellin returned from hisholidays to begin the second year ofTheology (1814-15), the monarchy

had not established itself securely. Asa result, Napoleon came back toscene, returning from Elba to seizethe throne, while the Bourbons fled toBelgium. That historical period isknown as The Hundred Days11. OnJune 23, 1815, five days afterNapoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, theBishop of Grenoble ordained Marcellinand his companions as deacons.

With the restoration of Louis XVIII,the Church began to organise itselfand decided to foster popular reli-gious practices in an effort to re-Christianise French society. Thispolitical shift elicited enthusiasm inthe seminary of Lyon. One result ofthis strong ecclesial climate beingpropagated by the seminary profes-sors – who sensed that the seminar-ians would be indispensable for thishuge task12 – was that various reli-gious institutes appeared, such asthe Society of Mary.

The Society started with a groupof about fifteen seminarians gath-ered around Jean-Claude Courveillewho was the initiator and leader13.Marcellin was also invited by him andbecame part of the group. Theirmeetings envisioned an apostolicand missionary future that filled themwith enthusiasm.

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10 The witness is Julienne Épalle. Her brother was younger than her, became a priest, and was mar-tyred. Brother Gennade Rolland FMS witnessed the murder of Bishop Épalle in the Solomon Islands in1845. SUMM 71.

11 It goes from March 20, 1815, to June 28, 1815, date of the second restoration of Louis XVIII as Kingof France. This time the monarchy would last longer.

12 In this context, there was an explosion of institutions that very quickly and within a few years wouldoccupy a significant place alongside the great ancient Orders.

13 Courveille was a new seminarian, who joined the Seminary of Saint Irenée during the second yearof Theology. He had been inspired on August 15, 1812 in Le Puy (cf. OM 2, doc. 718 (5), p. 580).

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Marcellin was an active and cen-tral figure in the group. He stronglyfelt the project of this Marian con-gregation should include a branch ofcatechist brothers. He often stated:“We need brothers”. The othermembers of the group were not op-posed, but Marcellin’s idea seemedtangential to them14. After much in-sistence, the group resigned itself tothe foundation of the brothers: “Well,since it was your idea, you see toit!”15 Many years later, his confrereColin – who would later become thefirst Superior General in the Societyof Mary – recalled the facts and Mar-cellin’s specific position:

The idea of such an Institute was entirely his own. It was he who – vividly recalling the difficultyexperienced in his own education – said to his fellow seminarians: ‘We must also have teaching brothers’.16

The day of his ordination finally ar-rived, after eleven years of forma-tion. It was July 22, 1816. Marcellinwas 27 years old. The next day, July23, a group of twelve young priestsmade its way to the shrine of theBlessed Virgin Mary at Fourvière,where they made a written pledge tofound the Society of Mary. This cere-mony is considered as the founda-tion of the Society of Mary:

All for the greater glory of God and the honour of Mary, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We (…) declare (…) our sincere intention (…) to dedicate ourselves (…) to the foundation of the pious Congregation of the Marists (…)seeking only God’s glory and the honour of Mary,Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ (…). We solemnly promise to give ourselves (…) for the salvation of souls in every possible way (…).Amen17.

Let us read the text with the eyesof Marcellin: what did the pledge ofFourvière mean to him? They com-mitted to found a Congregation in-cluding different branches: fathers,brothers and sisters, but within a sin-gle structure. He felt particularlycommitted to develop the branch ofthe brothers:

Ordained to the priesthood in 1816, even beforeleaving the seminary in Lyon, I thought seriouslyabout creating a society of teachers, whom I felt Ishould consecrate to the Mother of God18.

The text is clear: “before leavingthe seminary in Lyon” means that,when he was close to ordination, butbefore ending his formation as aseminarian, he seriously thoughtabout the Institute of the brothers.The consecration of the Institute toMary began at Fourvière. Unawareof the problems ahead of them, the

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14 P. Zind, Voyages Maristes [V-M], No. 138, p. 3.15 The expression comes in the biography. LIFE, Ch. 3.16 OM, doc. 171, p. 470.17 OM, doc. 15, p. 58-64.18 Letter 34 to King Louis-Philippe.

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young priests welcomed their ap-pointments in the diocese full of en-thusiasm. Marcellin would go to LaValla.

But before going to his parish, hewrote four guiding rules for his futurepriestly life. These emanate fromboth his personal initiative and theformation received from his profes-sors at the seminary. In this little plan,Marcellin asserts himself again. “Theprospect of an imminent apostolicaction makes him return to his natu-ral dynamism and spontaneity”19. Hisfirst resolution in this context indi-cates his disposition to compassion:

After lunch, I will visit any sick person in the parish.Before leaving, I will make a visit to the BlessedSacrament, which I will repeat whenever I leave the parish or town. On my return, I will visit the Blessed Sacrament again.

Beyond his own obligations – suchas the proper celebration of the Eu-charist, the Liturgy of the Hours, anddaily meditation – he assumed, on hisown initiative, the commitment ofcaring for the sick20. Once again, heis moved by his compassionateheart. He framed this apostolic activ-ity within his devotion to the BlessedSacrament, which he intended to visitbefore and after attending the sick.

The fact that visiting the sick be-came Marcellin’s first commitmentjust a few weeks after encounteringthe Montagne boy inescapably cap-tures our attention. It is obvious thathis heart was open to the inspira-tions of the Spirit, and that he waswilling to follow them.

THE ENCOUNTER WITH MONTAGNE

Marcellin arrived in the parish ofLa Valla on Thursday, August 13. Thepopulation was spread throughoutthe deep valleys and steep moun-tains of Pilat21, and only 23 kilome-tres away from his hometown. OnSaturday, Feast of the Assumption,he celebrated his first Mass there, in-troducing himself to his parishioners.At the beginning of his apostolic min-istry, Marcellin was not ad-libbing butfollowing a plan, realising his writtenresolutions.

On October 6, scarcely eightweeks after arriving in the parish, hecontacted a young man and decidedto invite him into his project. Hisname was Jean-Baptiste Granjonand he was 22 years old22. Marcellinmade the decision on Saturday 26th

of the same month23. One day,

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19 BALKO, p. 64.20 This is the text of the Resolutions: “2nd I will review once a year, the rubrics of the missal. 3rd My

meditation, lasting half an hour, will always be, if possible, before leaving my room. 4th Never say Masswithout a quarter of an hour of preparation, more or less, and the same time afterwards to give thanks”.

21 Populated parish in the canton of Saint-Chamond (Loire). The census of 1820 indicated 2423 in-habitants.

22 OM II, 741.23 OM II, 754.

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Jean-Baptiste asked him to visit asick person in his hamlet of La Rive,which was about a fifteen-minutewalk from the La Valla. Along theway, Marcellin got to know him a bitbetter, and the next day, in similarcircumstances, invited him to takepart in his project and asked him tothink about it24.

The Montagne incident took placethe next day, Monday, October 28. Inthe morning, Marcellin was asked tovisit a sick youth in Le Bessat25. Thename of the person who asked himto go was not recorded by history. Itcould have been François, the youngman’s brother, who was a carpenter.This village, the largest in the parish,was also the farthest and most diffi-cult to reach. In a little less than tenkilometres, altitude increases over600 metres. It takes a couple ofhours to get there in good weatherconditions. In the winter, however, itwas inaccessible, as half the year itwas covered in snow.

Although he was aware of the dif-ficulties, Marcellin went there straightaway, because caring for the sickwas a priority in his ministry. Situa-tions like this won the hearts of theparishioners, and later on, theywould express their appreciation:

Father Champagnat loved the sick with his whole heart. He visited them, took care of them,helped them to die well, and all this with fatherlytenderness. Nothing stopped him, whether bad roads, darkness or snow; he wanted all of us to have the consolation of dying strengthened by the Sacraments of the Church26.

Marcellin, a newcomer to theparish, had to be guided to his des-tination. The road crosses very steepslopes, forests, rocks and streams,offering spectacular scenery at thattime of the year. When they reachedLe Bessat – at an altitude of 1179 me-ters – they had to walk half a kilome-tre further, because the Montagnefamily lived in the hamlet of Les Palais.

When he finally reached thehouse, Jean-Baptiste Montagne, 52,and Clémence Porta, were waitingfor him, because their 16-year-oldson, Jean-Baptiste, was very ill. Atthat point, the only encouragementand dedication that Marcellin couldprovide through his ministry was toprepare him to die well.

Marcellin’s pastoral attention tothe young man took very long be-cause of the particular circum-stances. Besides the severity ofJean-Baptiste’s condition, his reli-gious ignorance was great. Marcellin

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24 That same day, Sunday 27, another young man from La Valla, Jean-Baptiste Audras, went to SaintChamond to apply for entry to the De La Salle Brothers. But given his age, 14, he was asked to wait, andto speak to his confessor, who was Marcellin. OM IV, 189.

25 Le Bessat belongs to the municipality of Saint-Étienne, on the side of Saint-Genest-Malifaux. Lo-cated at an altitude of 1179 meters, it had 71 households and a population of about 500 people.

26 WITNESSES. Angélique Séboujard.

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had to invest his best efforts as cat-echist to lead him to understand thebasic truths of the faith in such a del-icate moment. When he thoughtJean-Baptiste was ready, albeit in avery limited way, he heard his con-fession27.

After spending quite a while withthe adolescent boy, Marcellin tooksome time to visit other sick personsin the area, intending to visit the fam-ily again before leaving, wanting tobe close to them at that critical time.But when he returned to the Mon-tagne home, he found out that Jean-Baptiste had died at seven in theevening. The only thing the priestcould do was to comfort the family intheir pain for the death of a son atsuch a young age. Marcellin was notable to stay long with them becausenight was falling, and a long walkback home awaited him.

Back in La Valla, the challengeMarcellin had expressed to his sem-inary companions resounded deeplyin his heart: “We need brothers!” Butthe events of the day gave immedi-acy to his feelings: he had just as-sisted a teenaged boy whosereligious ignorance made him unableto receive the Sacraments at a cru-cial moment of his life, and it was all

due to the lack of Christian educationin his childhood: How many childrenare in the same predicament everyday, away from the road to salva-tion!28 After having spent the day inLe Bessat, Marcellin crossed thegate of his parish house late in theevening, tired, and with a deep feel-ing of how URGENT it was to beginhis work.

Five days after the Montagne inci-dent – on Saturday, November 2, AllSouls’ Day – another teenaged boycame to confession. His name wasJean-Baptiste Audras and he was 14years old. He mentioned his interestfor religious life, and how the De LaSalle Brothers had not admitted himbecause of his young age. Marcellinsaw this providential circumstanceas an opportunity for a second can-didate. He invited Jean-Baptiste tohis project, and gave him time to re-flect29.

The following month, Marcellinmanaged to buy a house near theparish30. He spent two months ofhard work to make it habitable, andon January 2, 1817, a Thursday, thetwo young men he had invited beganliving there. This is considered as thefoundation date of the Marist Broth-ers’ Institute.

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27 The Synod’s dispositions at that time indicated to withhold absolution in different cases. The 8thparagraph read: “Those who ignore the central mysteries of faith”.

28 Cf. OM 754. ch338001.doc. The quotation is not verbatim but respects the basic meaning.29 OM IV, 189. He gave him the book entitled Think Well About It (Pensez Bien)30 It was an old building belonging to a neighbour, M. Bonner.

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HISTORICAL AUTHENTICITY OF THE STORY

The historical authenticity of theMontagne story is beyond question.In 1966 Brother Gabriel Michel pro-vided us with a copy of the birth anddeath certificates of the youngman31. These documents confirm hisname, the precise location, who hisfamily was, and the date of his death.Marcellin’s biography did not providethis basic information.

His age became clear thanks tothis research. The biography de-scribes him as a child, while BrotherFrançois mentions he was 17 yearsold because he only knew theteenager’s date of death32. Whenwe compare the dates on both cer-tificates (born May 10, 1800, and diedOctober 28, 1816, at 7 p.m.) the mis-take becomes clear. The young man,therefore, was 16 years old.

Regarding the narrative itself, theoldest testimony we have is a letterfrom Father Bourdin, who lived withMarcellin in the Hermitage from 1828to 1831. He kept a record of the con-versations he had with the Founder,and this spontaneous notes confirmthe core of the narrative:

[6] Which made the work urgent: a child sick in the foothills of Pilat, needed the sacraments... Goes to a neighbour for a moment, returns [to find]child dead, reflection: ‘How many children far from the means of salvation33.

These notes are an evidence ofthe story’s essential elements: theplace, although imprecise; the illyoungster and his death; the ap-proximate timing of the event, pre-dating the foundation of the Brothers;and the mistake about his age (“achild”) by the same Marcellin, forreasons we ignore.

FROM STORY TO MYTH

Beyond the basic facts of thestory we can consider some inter-pretations that have resulted insome mythologising. Here are acouple of texts that can help us:

– Jean-Baptiste’s lack of knowledge about Jesusconvinced the young priest that God was calling himto found a congregation of Brothers34.

– With the episode of Jean-Baptiste Montagne,Marcellin Champagnat’s resolution firmly materialised.It became an unavoidable duty to move from theproject to its realisation35.

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31 Marist Bulletin 204.32 There was a confusion regarding his age at death, supposedly 17, but comparing the dates of

birth and death, we undoubtedly know he was 16.33 OM 754. ch338001.doc.34 Water From the Rock. Marist Spirituality.35 Pierre Zind.

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The expression “it convinced himthat God was calling him” is inexact,for it contradicts Marcellin’s ownwritings and the accounts from theSociety of Mary’s founding group,both of which reveal that Marcellinmade the decision to found thebranch of the Brothers before be-coming curate in La Valla.

It is neither true that visiting thesick youngster had the effect ofmaking Marcellin “move from theproject to its realisation”. In fact, weknow that Marcellin had alreadytaken steps for the practical realisa-tion of the Marist project, proposingit to Jean-Marie Granjon the day be-fore the event.

Marcellin himself later wroteabout the experience of the first fewmonths in La Valla and mentionedthe plan he already had before arriv-ing there:

Ordained to the priesthood in 1816, I was appointed as curate to a rural parish; what I saw with my own eyes made me feel morekeenly the importance of putting into practice,without delay, the project I had long meditated36.

“What I saw with my own eyes”meant a general lack of education inthe parish. Marcellin did not specify

a situation, or mention concretenames. On the other hand, by saying“it made me feel more keenly” he re-ferred to a previous conviction. Infact, the draft of this letter, slightlydifferent before the corrections,specified the time of his decision tofound the institution: “Even beforeleaving the seminary of Lyon”37.

It is true that the Holy Spirit canact immediately and independentlyof a person’s life story, but it is alsotrue that it seldom happens that way.The Montagne incident should beconsidered as “the culmination of ajourney the course of which was ev-ident from 1810-1812”38. It is not co-incidence that one of Marcellin’sresolutions after his conversion wasto teach catechism, or that his firstresolution was to take care of thesick, or that he felt the need for abranch of Brothers during the meet-ings of the Society of Mary’s found-ing group.

If we consider all these data, werealise that the Montagne incidentwas providential, and had a great im-pact on Marcellin. It certainly influ-enced him deeply, and made himgrasp that his project was urgentand admitted no delay. It was like thestraw that broke the camel’s back.

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36 Letter 34B to King Louis-Philippe. January 28, 1834.37 Letter 34A to King Louis-Philippe. January 28, 1834.38 Brother André Lanfrey FMS. Essay on the Origins of Spirituality.

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MEANING OF THIS ICON

An icon is “a sign that is in a rela-tionship of consistency with the ob-ject which is represented”39. Hence,it is important to understand whatthe encounter with this young manmeant for Marcellin. In order to doso, let us return to Father Bourdin’snotes regarding his conversationswith Marcellin. We already quotedwhat he wrote about the Founder’spondering on the Montagne incident:

[6] Which made the work urgent: a child sick in thefoothills of Pilat, needed the sacraments... Goes to a neighbour for a moment, returns [to find]child dead, reflection: ‘How many children far fromthe means of salvation40.

Marcellin’s reasoning is clear: theyoung Montagne lacked religious in-struction and therefore he did notknow what the Sacrament of Con-fession or repentance were. If youngpeople had an appropriate religiousinstruction, such dire situationswould occur. Marcellin’s biographymakes the same point, and has himsay: “How many children are in thesame predicament every day, ex-posed to the same dangers becausethey have no-one to teach them thetruths of faith”41.

The utmost importance of reli-gious education or the lack of it af-

fected Marcellin and moved him tofind an urgent answer. The expres-sion “which made the work urgent42”confirms the effect of the Montagneevent as something which movedhim to act without delay.

Today there is a tendency to seethe Montagne boy as the prototypeof the poor: a needy and sociallymarginalised young person, the can-didate par excellence for Marist mis-sion. The following text could beinterpreted in this way:

“Let’s go in haste (…) to the side of young Montagne, bringing Jesus Christ to the young,especially the poorest, in all the dioceses of the world43.

It is true that the young Montagnecould have belonged to a poor fam-ily. However, the historical sourcesquoted do not indicate so. A goodstory concentrates on the most im-portant facts. Since this is not men-tioned, we can logically think it wasnot the case, or that it was consid-ered a secondary element of thestory.

According to the narrative, thetwo circumstances that shook upMarcellin were the lack of religiouseducation and the urgency to pro-vide for it. But socio-economic infor-mation is lacking, and remains

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39 Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.40 OM 754. ch338001.doc.41 Life, Ch. VI.42 The original French text reads: « Ce qui nécessitat LA HATE de l’œuvre ».43 XXI General Chapter.

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uncertain. Therefore, rewording theGeneral Chapter, we could put it thisway: “Let’s bring Jesus Christ to chil-dren and young people, especiallythose who are most in need for reli-gious instruction”.

This fact does not deny – obvi-ously! – that the Marists were startedto educate and evangelise primarilythe children and young people whowere most poor and needy. To showthis, we only need to look at the de-tailed information about the littleschools Marcellin founded, or readsome of the Founder’s basic texts,such as the following:

We are too committed to making good Christians and good citizens among the inhabitants of the rural areas44.

The Institute of the Brothers is also aimed atdirecting providence houses or shelters for young people45.

Rural areas had fewer resourceswithin society at that time. In addi-tion, the Institute was also aimed at“non-regulated” education throughhouses of providence or shelters formarginalised children and youngpeople, usually orphans, who couldnot be cared for by their families.

The Montagne icon can find abroader meaning if we cite anotherhistorical source: the work Marcellincarried out in Le Bessat after en-countering the young Montagne inthat village. He took note of the chil-dren’s situation in Le Bessat, whereformalised instruction had not beenfor centuries:

Its inhabitants lived for more than three centuries in blunt ignorance and a really deplorableroughness46.

Therefore, as soon as Marcellingathered some young men that be-came educators and catechists, hesent Brother Laurent to instruct therest of the “Montagnes” in the vil-lage.

The initiative of this mission be-longed to Marcellin. He consultedthe brothers and listened to theiropinions and suggestions about theproposal. This is why, when BrotherLaurent insistently asked for the mis-sion, the Founder assigned it tohim47.

The mission of Le Bessat is asymbol of audacity and courage togo beyond conventional Church lo-cations, in order to reach the places

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44 Letters 27345 The Rule of 1837, p. 10.46 « Délibération du Conseil Municipal de Lavalla, 28 mars 1827 : Lettre du préfet de la Loire à Frayssi-

nous, 7 juin 1827 ». ARCHIVES NATIONALES, PARIS, F-19, 750B.47 Regarding some of the mission appointments for the Brothers, the Founder used to present them

with the possible pastoral work and listen to their reflections before deciding who should be sent.

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with greater need for religious in-struction. The same biographer de-scribes this pastoral work as if itwere a charismatic model of the ori-gins, which was not carried on be-cause of the regulations that were inplace at that time.

Through many acts of zeal andsacrifice, Brother Laurent achievedoutstanding results. He stayed in aprivate home; cooked his own food;went to La Valla each Thursday tostock up on supplies; taught cate-chism twice a day, ringing a bell tocall the children. He went on with thiswork for two years, and earned suchrespect that the farmers would takeoff their hat when he passed by. Thevillage underwent a genuine trans-formation.

At the end of 1822, Brother Lau-rent was sent to open a school atTarantaise, close to Le Bessat, byrequest of the parish priest, FatherPréher. He taught in a granary there,and went on visiting Le Bessat onSundays and Thursdays.

The information we have aboutBrother Laurent indicates that hewas a born catechist, and that hismost cherished mission was that ofLe Bessat. The following text showshow he asked Brother François for amission similar to that of the earlydays:

You let me hope that I would go teach catechesis to the children in the diocese of Angouleme. Oh! I beg you to let me go as soon as possible! I just need a catechism book and a bell. I can hear those poor children telling me: ‘Ah! If we knew that great God who created us, who gave his life for us, we might serve him better than our unfortunate parents’48.

Brother Laurent’s text is magnifi-cent, because it reveals his funda-mental understanding of his missionuntil the end of his life: catechesis asthe essence of the charism. It re-flects, in a faithful way, the meaningMarcellin gave to the Montagneevent: take religious instruction ofchildren to the places where it ismost needed.

CONCLUSION

After the previous reflections, wecan now draw some conclusions asto the significance of the Montagneicon:

For Marcellin, this encounter wasthe culmination of his inspiration as aFounder, urging him to address thelack of religious instruction. Followinghis conversion, God elicited in himthe personal charism of becoming acatechist. The first witnesses whoattest to this gift were the children ofLe Rozey, Marcellin’s home hamlet,when he was a seminarian. This

Manuel Mesonero, fms 113

48 Letter to Brother François, 26.12.42. Laurent was already 49 years old. Delorme, Alain. Our FirstBrothers, p. 35.

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charism, with his interest in educa-tion, led him to ask for the branch ofthe Brothers to the Society of Mary’sfrom its founding group when he wasstill in the major seminary. For Mar-cellin, the Pledge of Fourvière, madewhen he was a newly ordainedpriest, was a public commitment tofoster all the Marist branches, espe-cially that of the Brothers. For thisreason, when he arrived in his parish,“what he saw with his own eyes”confirmed his decision; and then theMontagne incident prompted a deepsense of urgency in him. It was likehammering down the last part of anail already stuck on the wall.

The sources of the story are reli-able and consistent in its essential el-ements and the impact this youngman had on Marcellin, caused by avery serious lack of religious educa-tion. Remedying this situation is theessence of the Marist mission.

The first beneficiary of the new In-stitute’s mission, that is, the place tostart, is the person who is most in

need of this religious education. Weare talking about the children andyoung people who are not taken careof by other Church institutions49.

The mission at Le Bessat, begunas a result of the Montagne incident,represents a charismic model for theMarist Institute because of its ful-some enthusiasm and also becauseit does not conform to the parame-ters of The Rule that appeared later.It is an heroic life personified byBrother Laurent in Le Bessat, livingon the charity of the Brothers fromLa Valla since his school had no in-come of any kind. However, overtime the Institute developed andgrew, acquiring pastoral and educa-tional commitments to large workswhich are difficult to leave behind.So, an institutional drama presents it-self, one which we could call renewalor rebirth: to leave what we have,and return to the place where wewere born: to the children and youngpeople for whom no-one or almostno-one cares. Difficult, very difficult,but exciting and challenging!

49 From this point of view, the priority target groups for the Marist Brothers are on the frontiers, thatis, in locations that are distant, secluded, not necessarily from the geographical point of view, but re-garding the lack of pastoral attention.

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The present buildings at the Her-mitage occupy both sides of the Gierbut it was not always so. When, on 13May 1824, Fathers Champagnat andCourveille purchased, in the com-mune of Saint Martin-en-Coailleux,the land where they wanted to erectthe house of the Hermitage de NotreDame, on the other side of the riverwere the industrial buildings belong-ing to Antoine Thiollière-Laroche, inthe commune d’Izieux.1 He sold it on3 July 1824 to Mathieu Patouillardwho thus became the neighbour ofthe Hermitage until 1 January 1839,the date of the sale of the property toChampagnat for the high price of39,000F. So, despite its name, theHermitage remained for 15 years ahouse that was forced to co-exist toa very close neighbour and with quitea different vocation.

We know a little about Patouillardfrom the Marist sources thanks tothe deed of sale passed in 1839(OFM3, doc. 677 p. 480). He had awife, Françoise Touillieu, and threechildren: Jeanne, Vincent and André.The deed describes him as a “fuller”and gives an exact description of theproperty purchased in 1824: “con-sisting of a fulling machine, a work-shop for bleaching cotton, a house,hayloft, stable, reservoir, levee,canal, a water course and supplypoint in the Gier river, meadow, or-chard, pastures, lands and woodsand rocks, outhouses, lean-tos andoutbuildings”. So he was a minor in-dustrialist specialising in the cleaningand combing of fleeces (fulling ma-chine) and the dressing of cottonfabric, thanks to the power suppliedby the waters of the Gier. He was

André Lanfrey, fms 115

1 According to the Annales de l’institut, this establishment had been created in 1668 by the Dugas fam-ily (T. 2, 1840, § 22).

MATHIEU PATOUILLARD, NEIGHBOUR OFTHE HERMITAGE

Br André Lanfrey

DOCUMENTS

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also the owner of farmland in Izieu andSt Martin-en-Coailleux2. In purchasingit all, Champagnat more or less dou-bled the surface area of the Hermitageand acquired the right to make use ofthe driving force of the Gier.

The marriage certificate of the Pa-touillards3 on 19 January 1813 gives ussome important family details. Math-ieu Patouillard was then a carpenter inla Bruyère, commune of Izieu, wherehe was born on 11 September 1784.He was the son of Jean Patouillard,deceased at Lavalla 21 October 1806,and Jeanne Salichon. His wife,Françoise Touilleux, a linen maid, wasborn on 30 September 1792 and wasstill living at Moulin de Soulage, rightbelow Lavalla. She was the daughterof François Touilleux, an edge-toolmaker4 resident in the same place,and Antoinette Dumaine deceased atIzieu on the thirtieth of Ventôse, year115. The witnesses, the father of thebride and her uncle, a blacksmith, to-gether with Mathieu Lassablière agedfifty years, an innkeeper in le Creux(Izieux), signed the certificate. Onlyone, Vincent Rivori, aged forty-five, afarmer, did not know how to write hisname.

We are, accordingly, in the worldof craftsmen who were still close toits country origins but already literate.At the time of his marriage, Mathieu

Patouillard was twenty-nine years old(five years older than Champagnat)and his wife twenty-one. This wasthe age difference common at thetime, the husband needing time toset himself up before establishing afamily. He chose his spouse from thecircle of craftspeople of which hehimself was a part. Thus it is a mat-ter of the lower middle-class but onewhich shows some ambition, be-cause the purchase of the propertyof les Gaux in 1824 would certainlyhave obliged some borrowing.

116 Mathieu Patouillard, Neighbour of the Hermitage

2 The deed indicates that they caused him a legal suit with the widow Motiron, concluded in 1837.3 Registry of Marriages, A.D. de la Loire4 An edge-tool maker is a craftsman who makes tools with a sharp cutting edge, such as axes, etc. 5 Date in the French Republican calendar equivalent to 21 March 1803.

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Portrait of Mathieu Patouillard – Picture taken by Br André Lanfrey on 5 December 2011, in the home of

Miss Maryvonne Arnaud in Saint-Chamond, in thepresence of Mr Marius Arnaud, her cousin.

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In the meantime, two childrenwere born: Jeanne on 20 November1813 in Izieu, when her father wasprobably still a carpenter ; but herbrother Vincent was born on 13 Feb-ruary 1816 at Moulin Soulage in thecommune of La Valla. In purchasingthe Thiollière-Laroche property, thePatouillard couple were thus comingcloser to the town and becomingproprietors of a textile industry work-shop at the time when Champagnatwas in process of building the Her-mitage on the other side of the Gier.We may add that a third child wasborn in March or April 18316. In thedeed of 1839 he has the Christianname of André but in his marriagecertificate of 17 October 1855 he usesthe Christian name of Vincent, aged24 years and five months7.

Obviously, a relationship of neigh-bours over 15 years has left traces inthe Annales of the Institute. A prelim-inary question may be examined: whydid Champagnat and Courveille whopurchased the rocks and meadowsopposite the industrial establishmentnot go as far as acquiring the work-shop which would have correspondedto one of the articles contained in theprojected prospectus of 1824:

“The instruction of children in general and of poororphans in particular is the aim of our establishment.

As soon as we have finished the house ofthe Hermitage and our means allow us to make useof a good supply of water […] we will take in children from the Houses of Charity; we will give them a trade in giving them a Christian education (F. Pedro Herreros, La Regla del Fundador p. 23) ».

One can imagine the many difficul-ties: too high a price, care to respectthe industrial vocation of the property,an area judged too confined…but thequestion is worth posing. It may evenbe asked if Champagnat and Cour-veille did not at one time hope to buythe Thiollière-Laroche property andits water rights.

In any case, relations betweenChampagnat-Courveille and M. An-toine Thiollière-Laroche, a merchantresident in St Etienne, were not bad,since on 3 July 1824, the very day heceded to Patouillard his property onthe left bank of the Gier, he sold thetwo priests “a holding of rock andwoods” of 57 ares and 40 centiaressituated on the right bank, for threethousand francs, advanced by M.Benoît Bonnard of Rive-de-Gier8.

The Annales (T. 1 1824 § 51) indi-cate that, during the construction ofthe house, the Brothers and FrChampagnat lodged in “a shed be-longing to M. Patouillard9”. On 6 Jan-

André Lanfrey, fms 117

6 A.D. de la Loire, Registry of civil status. 7 With children with several Christian names usage establishes a dominant one. It is probable that the

last son was called André Vincent, (his brother being his godson) but was known in St Chamond as Vincent. 8 OFM 3 doc. 647. 9 But, since he did not buy until July, it can be supposed that at the beginning they were lodging with

M. Thiollière-Laroche.

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uary, when Champagnat, very ill,composed his will, “Mathieu Patouil-lard, fuller and landowner10, residentin the place des Gauds, commune ofIzieux” was one of the signatory wit-nesses. And in 1839 (T. 1 p. 469-470)the Annals sum up the 15 years of re-lations between the two neighbours:

“The Patouillard family had sometimes accused the Brothers of throwing stones into its meadow and taking water from the Gier to water the garden.Moreover, the proximity of this family, and especially the numerous people who had business with it, deprived the Brothers of all the advantages of solitude, advantages which had moved the holy Founder, in 1824, to locate here the mother-house of his Institute”.

Leaving aside the matter of thestones thrown into the Patouillardgarden, which appears anecdotal,we can accord more importance tothe water problem, since the Her-mitage having no right to a watersupply point and drawing its waterfrom the Gier upstream from the Pa-touillard reach, spells of droughtcould lead to conflicts11.

As for the concern to enjoy soli-tude, this is to be seen as relative,since Champagnat was looking forthe least bad compromise possiblebetween the desire for retreat fromthe world and the needs of a teacher

training establishment. His purchaseof 1839, then, certainly correspondedto spiritual motivations, but the ma-terial factors (water, proximity of thetown…) were not without importanceeither. It may also be asked if hewere not finally realising a purchasehe had had in mind since 1824.

The account books and severalother documents show us that, over-all, relations between the Patouillardfamily and the Champagnat familywere not bad. In fact, the first to ben-efit from the closeness was PhilippeArnaud, son of Marie-Anne Cham-pagnat and Benoît Arnaud, the teacherwith whom the young Marcellin hadspent some time before the seminary.The Annales (T. 1 p. 8 § 32) tell us thatPhilippe, born in 1805, had first takensome lessons in Latin with his uncle inLavalla in 1821 and had even been ca-pable of teaching the Brothers thereading of manuscripts, the final stepin learning to read. Although alreadywell educated, he did not continue hisstudies but became a carpenter andjoined Champagnat at the Hermitagein 182812. The account books of theHermitage testify to his activities overmany years, as carpenter and jack-of-all-trades. On 29 January 1834, hemarried Jeanne (or Jeannette) Pa-touillard13 creating a bond of distantkinship between Champagnat andthe Patouillards which certainly helped

118 Mathieu Patouillard, Neighbour of the Hermitage

10 That is to say, a peasant landowner.11 In the purchases made by Champagnat the water question is raised a number of times. 12 Or did he do his apprenticeship between 1821 and 1828 ? It could be that he worked for a time for

Patouillard.13 Letters of Champagnat, Vol. 2 p. 53.

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in the conclusion of the sale of 1839.Philippe Arnaud and Jeannette Pa-touillard were also present at thesigning of the deed in 1839.

The account books also show intheir way the business relations be-

tween Champagnat and Patouillard.On 20 October 1824, Champagnat re-ceived 200 F. from his neighbour whowas then in the process of installation(Origines des Frères Maristes (OFM)doc. 105.8). Then transactions followon quite regularly.

André Lanfrey, fms 119

Document Date Sum

OFM

121.5 20/8/1827 Given to P. in settlement 180 F.

125.2 7/2/1831 Paid to Patouillard in settlement up to

1st February 1831 8

126.4 27/2/1832 Given to P. in complete payment 27

111.3 27/2/1832 Agreed with P. for our little carts from

Saint Chamond to the Hermitage at 20 F. a year

126.17 26/10/1832 Given to P. in complete payment 87

127.5 6/6/1833 Loaned to P. to buy a cow 140

9/6/1833 Patouillard has repaid 140

128.4 5/7/1834 Account to Patouillard. 4 pairs of shoes 26

Resoling and repairs 4, 5

129.2 21/2/1835 Given to P. in complete payment 246

27/2/1835 Given to P. in payment for the carts from

St Chamond to the Hermitage 30

25/3/1835 Received from P. 1000

129.3 Févr. 1835 Agreed with P. for the carts… 30

129.3 8/4/1835 Given to P. for the payment of Remilieu

de Sorbiers and for balance 211, 50

130.13 19/10/1837 Given to P. in settlement 263

130.16 19/12/1837 The lime from P. is paid 30

130.17 26/12/1837 Given to P. (for) money borrowed 100

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If the accounts are to be believed,relations between Champagnat andPatouillard, relatively few before1830, then became more regular. Butthis difference could come from theaccount books being less faithfullykept in the beginning. In 1832, rela-tions were obviously good, sinceChampagnat and Patouillard cameto a lasting agreement, the lattermaking himself responsible for theHermitage’s minor transports and er-rands in Saint Chamond. One alsonotes between them the borrowingsand lendings typical of people livingon good terms.

As for the sale of 1839, which roseto 39,000 F. officially but was doubt-less in fact higher, the advance ofpayments before the death of Cham-pagnat was thus14.

Date Sum

1/3/1839 10,000

5/8/1839 500

7/9/1839 300

20/12/1839 1000

? 200

20/1/1840 4000

20/4/1840 1000

End of May 1200

Total 18,200

The remaining debt was one ofthe great concerns of Br François,Champagnat’s successor. Br Avit(Annales T. 2, 1840, § 19-21), more-over, gives the conditions of a loan of22,000 F. for 5 years by Br Françoisand Br Jean-Marie arranged with thetwo sons of the notary Finaz, at aninterest of 4.5% and at the cost of amortgage registration on all thegoods of the Civil Society located atles Gaux and at la Grange Payre.Fortunately, M. Antoine Thiollière, in-dustrialist of Saint Chamond andbenefactor of the congregation,would soon have paid the amountowing for the purchase of this “littlefactory”.

But before this providential pay-ment intervened, Br François wasconsidering “using the fulling ma-chine, the mill and the oil press15

which were in the said buildings” tocreate financial resources. His twoassistants, who did not agree, ap-pealed to Fr Colin who strongly dis-approved of the project (Annales, T.2, 1841, § 41-53). Also, in the Patouil-lard buildings were installed “the sta-bles, the workshop of the blacksmithand the locksmith, the bakery andthe different storerooms which oc-cupied the buildings situated in thecourtyard. These buildings were de-molished”. It is legitimate to wonder,however, if Br François was not wish-ing, in adopting it, to realise Cham-pagnat’s desire of 1824: to set up asort of apprenticeship centre for

120 Mathieu Patouillard, Neighbour of the Hermitage

14 OFM 1, doc. 136.715 The deed of 1839 does not mention this press.

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adolescent orphans, some of whomcould become Brothers.

As for Philippe Arnaud andJeanne Patouillard, they had eightchildren, the first four born whilePhilippe and his wife were still living atthe Hermitage, under the presentchapel in the renovated memorialspace. The eldest, Jean-Baptiste,born in 1835, would even have as-sisted with his father at the reading ofthe testament of Fr Champagnat.The Founder would as well have ad-vised Philippe to buy the Patouillardwoods situated on the left bank ofthe Gier above the present build-ings16. Philippe then established hiscarpentry business at La Bruyère,perhaps in the former Patouillardworkshop, on the road linking SaintChamond to La Valla. He died thereon the 1st of August 1886 aged 81.His wife was then aged 73.

But let us return to M. Patouillard,asking the reasons for the sale of his“factory”. In 1839 his wife (47) and he(55) were still relatively young. Butduring the sale, she could not signthe deed “because of her greatweakness from her illness” and themarriage certificate of her son Vin-cent lets us know that she died on 8January 1839. So the sale had some-thing to do with the death ofMadame Patouillard, doubtlessly ex-pected for some time. Their daughterJeanne had been set up since 1834.The first son married in 1848 at 32

when he was a wool-carder atMoulin Dion in the commune of Izieu,son of “Mathieu Patouillard living”wool-carder in the same place. Asfor the second son, we know that,according to his marriage certificatein 1855, he was a master baker inSaint Chamond, “legitimate son ofMathieu Patouillard, living, proprietorand wool-carder aged seventy-twoyears, resident at the said place of leCreux”.

We sum up, then, what the differ-ent deeds mentioned above aretelling us: Mathieu Patouillard, havingbecome a widower some days afterthe sale of his property at les Gaux,retired with his sons to the placecalled Moulin Dion in Izieu where heappears to have specialised in thecarding of wool. His first son wasthen aged 23 and the second only 8.In 1855, at the age of 72, MathieuPatouillard was not a man of inde-pendent means but still exercisinghis trade, certainly together with hiseldest son. As for the second, hemust have entered rapidly into ap-prenticeship in the bakery. Even if wedo not know the date of his death,we know enough about M. Patouil-lard to clear up his portrait presentedat the beginning of this article.

This canvas 61 cm high 50.5broad was kept up to 2012 byMaryvonne Arnaud recently de-ceased. It came from her father,Jean-Baptiste Arnaud, eldest son of

André Lanfrey, fms 121

16 Bulletin de l’institut n° 218, 1976, « La ‘descendance’ Champagnat » par le F. C. Déchaux.

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Camille Arnaud son of Philippe. Thereexisted a similar painting of JeannePatouillard kept for a time in theVerdier family, Madame JeanneVerdier being an Arnaud girl, sister ofCamille. As we know the date ofdeath of Madame Arnaud, we maypresume that the two paintings wereexecuted at the same time, that is,before January 1839. It is not verylikely that the date of compositionwas much before, for Mathieu Pa-touillard appears to us as a man withpronounced features. He could eas-ily be some fifty years old. And as hewas 55 in 1839, one can suppose thatthe paintings were done between1835 and 1838, at a time when thePatouillards were reasonably well off.

In having these portraits made,Mathieu Patouillard and his wife veryconsciously situate themselves in theworld of the middle class, the only onehaving the financial means and thesense of its own respectability to al-low itself this type of operation. In sum,these portraits testify to the social as-cension and the solidity of one familyin the course of the early nineteenthcentury. In as much as the clothesworn by M. Patouillard – black frockcoat, hat with a broad brim, waistcoatbuttoned very high, a little white linen– seem to us typical of the lower ormiddle bourgeoisie. But it would re-quire a specialist in art history to refine

or correct this commentary. A restora-tion of the painting, now darkened bytime, would permit a new approach towhat may be considered a portraittypical of the middle of the nineteenthcentury. And the question is alsoposed about the painter, who couldhave been Joseph Ravery.

EPILOGUE

Maryvonne Arnaud having died in2012, the family has generouslymade a gift of the portrait of M. Pa-touillard to the house of the Her-mitage.

122 Mathieu Patouillard, Neighbour of the Hermitage

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Maryvonne and Marius Arnaud, standing on both sidesof the portrait of Mathieu Patouillard, on 5 Dec 2011.

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Marist sources contain inconsis-tent information regarding the num-ber of Brothers who died in the FirstWorld War. We have therefore tried toclarify it by confronting the lists pu-blished in the Bulletin of the Institute,and the military records consulted byBrother Henri Reocreux. Brother Au-gustin Hendlemeier provided someclarifications regarding the German-

born recruits. The process indicatedthat the most reliable figures arethose provided by the acts of the1920 General Chapter: 1037 mobilisedand 155 dead1. After identifying eachof the Brothers who died in the warby name, we got the following sum-mary, with slightly lower figures com-pared to those from the GeneralChapter

André Lanfrey, fms 123

1 The latest edition of Marist Chronology indicates a total of 118 dead, which is well below reality.2 He went missing in 1916.

BROTHERS WHO DIED IN THE WAROF 1914-1918

Br André Lanfrey

DOCUMENTS

Year French German, Others Total Profesos ProfesosAlsace- Temporales PerpetuosLorraine

1914 14 14 2 12

1915 24 6 1 Italian 31 15 16

1916 23 10 1 Hungarian 34 20 14

1917 18 16 1 Italian 35 27 8

1918 21 11 2 Italians1 Romanian2 35 29 6

Totales 100 43 6 149 93 56

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Estamos, pues, seguros de que elInstituto ha tenido al menos 149 pro-fesos muertos en la guerra, de loscuales 62.4% eran de votos tempo-rales. Las listas que dan las Circularesmencionan además un novicio y trespostulantes alemanes así como unnovicio francés, lo que daría un totalde 101 Franceses, 46 Alemanes, 6

Hermanos de otros países (ningúnbelga) o sea 153. Pero es probableque no se tomaron en cuenta una se-rie de Hermanos (desaparecidos,profesos temporales perdidos devista a lo largo del conflicto...) y que elbalance real de la guerra habría quesituarlo más bien en torno a los 160profesos muertos o desaparecidos.

124 Brothers who died in the War of 1914-1918

Year Family Religious Year Place Province T.V.. P.V. Death.name name of birth of birth

1914 CHAREYRE Adelaido 1893 Ardèche - France Spain 1910-09-27 1914-08-20Aimé (n° 37)

1914 NEGRIÉ Marius Léon 1893 Aveyron - France Carmagnola 1912-11-01 1914-09-00Marius Joseph

1914 BRUN Jean Marcel 1886 Haute-Loire - France Syria 1903-09-20 1908-08-13 1914-09-09Pierre Bernard

1914 JACQUIN Paul Marcel 1888 Doubs - France Grugliasco 1905-04-23 1912-09-10 1914-09-12François Louis trabajos man

1914 RESSICAUD Dioscore 1883 Rhône - France Constantinople 1900-09-16 1906-07-15 1914-09-30Pierre Antoine Antoine

1914 COMPAGNON Ange Emile 1883 Loire - France Canada 1900-09-26 1905-08-23 1914-10-15Claude (n° 38)

1914 MISSONNIER Pierre 1878 Puy-de-Dôme - France Varennes 1895-08-29 1901-09-19 1914-10-23Pierre Sénateur

1914 PION Joseph 1885 Isère - Francia China, 1902-09-04 1907-07-28 1914-10-31Joseph Antoine Procule Grugliasco

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LIST OF NAMES ACCORDING TO THE BULLETIN OFTHE INSTITUTE AND THE MILITARY RECORDS

The Provinces indicated below areonly an estimate, since the documentsdo not clearly state the Province towhich they belonged. But the place ofbirth allows us clearly to determinetheir nationalities, except for some ofthose from Alsace-Lorraine enlisted inthe German army. For the youngerBrothers and those working in the for-

mation houses of Italy, I indicated thehouse they were at when they left forthe War. Together with the religiousname, I have indicated the Bulletin ofthe Institute issue containing some ofthe Brothers’ biographies. The deathdate of the Brothers who went missingindicates only the year, plus the signof “00.00” for month and day.

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Year Family Religious Year Place Province T.V.. P.V. Death.name name of birth of birth

1914 DEPALLE Cassiodore 1873 Lapalisse - France Varennes 1894-09-09 1907-09-15 1914-11-04Louis Allier

1914 BAUQUIN Joseph Albert 1882 Doubs - France Constantinople 1899-09-19 1905-08-15 1914-11-16Marie Léon Emile

1914 CROSET Marie Théotiste 1881 Haute-Savoie - France Seychelles 1898-09-28 1902-08-28 1914-12-08Alexis (n° 39) (St Paul)

1914 DUCULTY Léon Casimir 1881 Ardèche - France Hermitage 1898-09-13 1907-09-15 1914-12-20Jean Henri

1914 LIEFOOGHE Marcellianus 1884 Nord - France Beaucamps 1901-08-15 1911-09-10 1914-12-03Henri Rémi

1914 CROSET Marie Théotiste 1881 Haute-Savoie - France Seychelles 1898-09-28 1902-08-28 1914-12-08Alexis (St Paul)

1915 HOCKE Jules Xavier 1893 Palatinat -Germany Beaucamps 1909-09-02 1915-00-00Adam Antoine

1915 DUPUY Joseph 1875 Loire - France Hermitage 1894-09-06 1900-09-16 1915-03-02Jean Adonis

1915 PETITJEAN Marie Donat 1890 Meurthe-et-Moselle Beaucamps 1906-09-11 1915-04-01Rémi René Evariste France

1915 PARA Didace 1882 Hautes-Alpes - Francia St Paul 1899-09-17 1907-09-15 1915-04-08Albert Henri (n° 39-40) (Italy)

1915 LEININGER Louis 1894 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1911-03-19 1915-04-09Louis Boniface

1915 CHAVAS Louis Vitalien 1883 Loire - France Canada 1900-09-26 1905-08-23 1915-04-25Henri Joseph (n° 39-40)

1915 BAUD Louis Adrien 1894 Ardèche - France Grugliasco 1910-09-04 1915-04-28Joseph Noé Camille

1915 DEVIERS Joseph 1881 Gourdon, Lot - France Lacabane 1898-09-23 1911-09-10 1915-05-09Albert Néophyte

1915 PINQUIÉ Louis 1896 Constantine - Algeria San Maurizio 1912-11-01 1915-05-17Louis Isidore Marcellin (manual work)

1915 SARRAZIN Vit 1887 Hautes-Alpes - France Mexico 1903-12-16 1908-09-03 1915-06-14Alexandre Marius (n° 39-40)

1915 MAIRE-D’ÉGLISE Louis Kostka 1890 Haute-Saône - France China 1906-09-17 1911-08-15 1915-06-16Joseph Honoré

1915 MAZET Daniel 1894 Haute-Loire - France Hermitage 1911-09-10 1915-06-16Jean-Claude Joseph (San Mauro)

1915 AUTH Laurentius 1894 Rhenish - Prusse Beaucamps 1911-03-19 1915-06-17Henri

1915 MERCADIÉ Fidel 1892 Tarn-et-Garonne Spain 1908-12-08 1914-08-05 1915-06-21Emilio France

1915 POTHAIN Marie Augustalis 1879 Ain - France Constantinople 1896-09-13 1901-07-28 1915-06-24Charles Constant (n° 39-40)

1915 BADIE Gélasin 1887 Pyrénées-Orientales Spain 1903-08-06 1908-12-08 1915-08-07Vincent (n° 41) France

1915 KRELLMANN Henri 1895 Westphalie - Germany Beaucamps 1913-08-15 1915-09-08Henri Ferdinand

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Year Family Religious Year Place Province T.V.. P.V. Death.name name of birth of birth

1915 JUNG Marie 1888 Territoire de Belfort Constantinople 1904-02-02 1910-10-30 1915-09-25René Louis Germain France

1915 DELDON Artémidore 1880 Ardèche - Francia Aubenas 1896-09-17 1901-09-19 1915-09-25Bruno Firmin

1915 CHEVALLIER Paul Gabriel 1894 Savoie - Francia Constantinople 1911-01-06 1915-09-26Candide Louis (n° 43)

1915 HOFFMANN Joseph 1895 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1911-09-01 1915-10-00Charles Mauricius

1915 AYGALENC Louis Marie Attale 1884 Aveyron- France Hermitage 1912-09-12 1915-10-03Urbain Daniel (manual work)

1915 CHALIER Brunone 1892 Torino - Italy St Paul - Italy 1909-09-29 1915-10-09Onorato (n° 42)

1915 BOUVRESSE André Chanel 1893 Jura - France Constantinople 1909-10-16 1915-10-15Albert Eugène

1915 RÉVOL Rupert 1875 Le Grand-Serre, Drôme St Paul - Italy 1892-08-21 1897-09-21 1915-10-25Joseph (n° 42) France

1915 MONÉ Gentius 1885 Pyrénées-Orientales Mexico 1902-08-15 1907-12-25 1915-11-03Joseph Jean (n° 42) France

1915 DENIS Joseph 1884 Dunkerque, Nord Beaucamps 1902-03-30 1909-09-12 1915-11-10Constant Charles Alexandre France

1915 REYBARD Jules Ernest 1892 Jura - France Constantinople 1909-03-19 1915-11-14Jules Joseph

1915 CHABERT Honeste 1870 Gard - France St Paul- Italy 1889 1894-09-16 1915-12-10Victor Hippolyte (n° 46)

1915 VANOOSTEN Emile 1886 Nord - France Beaucamps 1903-03-19 1911-09-10 1915-00-00René Auguste C. François

1915 BERAUD Louis Régis 1894 Haute-Loire - France Syria, 1911-08-02 1915-07-17Jean-Baptiste Varennes

1916 SUTAK Marie 1897 Hungary Fribourg 1914-10-04 1916-00-00Michel Bernardin (Switzerland)

1916 MAURIN Ulpien 1875 Ardèche - Francia Hermitage 1892-09-14 1900-09-16 1916-01-29Jean Baptiste Seychelles

1916 LAUX Louis 1896 Grand Duchy Constantinople 1912-08-24 1916-02-17Louis Bertrand of Baden

1916 BRUNEL Jean Louis 1885 Lozère - France China, 1902-09-04 1907-08-15 1916-03-00Baptiste, Jean Pierre Benoît Constantinople

1916 PLANCHON Elie 1893 Mende, Lozère Brazil 1911-08-02 1916-03-03Henri Philippe Etienne (Mendes)

1916 ROBERT Joseph 1886 Loire - France USA 1903-11-09 1908-08-25 1916-03-04Jean Baptiste Floribert

1916 BLANCHET Dimitrien 1883 Savoie - France Mexico 1900-09-13 1904-12-19 1916-03-07Pierre-Marie (n°45)

1916 HAUSTEIN Léon Corsini 1896 Bavière- Germany Beaucamps 1914-03-19 1916-03-08Germain

1916 AOUSTET Régis Ignatius 1889 Haute-Loire - France USA ( ?) 1906-05-06 1911-08-22 1916-03-09Marius Joseph (n° 45)

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Year Family Religious Year Place Province T.V.. P.V. Death.name name of birth of birth

1916 MOULIN Illidius 1881 Ardèche - France Spain 1901-08-06 1904-12-08 1916-04-14Léon Jean-Pierre

1916 ZWICK Paul 1895 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1912-03-19 1916-04-24Hermann Georges

1916 DAVIN Chrysanthien 1887 Hautes-Alpes - France Mexico 1905-12-08 1909-12-25 1916-05-24Adrien-Louis (n° 46)

1916 RICHIER Marie Fidèle 1880 Bouches-du-Rhône Mexico 1897-09-16 1903-12-08 1916-06-12Paul Denis France

1916 LINDEMANN Gerhard 1895 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1912-03-19 1916-06-12Nicolas

1916 LENHART Etienne 1890 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1907-08-29 1912-09-10 1916-07-02Jacques Marius

1916 VEZIN Théophile 1894 Lozère - France Grugliasco 1912-09-12 1916-07-08Théophile Joseph

1916 ROTERING Edgar 1896 Mülheim - Germany Beaucamps 1913-08-24 1916-07-17Bernard Frédéric

1916 CAYLA Pierre 1895 Cantal - France Syria 1913-08-02 1916-07-30Pierre Maurice

1916 THOMACHOT Marie Thomas 1882 Saône-et-Loire Syria 1900-08-15 1905-08-15 1916-08-01Jean-Antoine (n° 46) France

1916 PAND Dominique 1896 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1914-08-15 1916-08-04Joseph Joseph

1916 MOURET Solemnis 1881 Drôme - France Mexico 1898-09-20 1905-01-01 1916-09-00Auguste Antoine

1916 PIOTTE Marie Abel 1883 Allier - France Brazil, 1900-08-15 1904-01-21 1916-09-13Siméon China

1916 DUSSERRE Epagathe 1886 Hautes-Alpes - France Mexico 1902-09-11 1908-01-01 1916-10-24Fernand

1916 BOYER Pablo José 1895 Hautes-Alpes - France Argentina 1911-03-19 1916-11-02Pierre

1916 ROSTAIN Paolo 1896 Hautes-Alpes - France Italy 1913-07-16 1916-11-02Emile Jean

1916 WESSENDORF Joseph 1896 Westphalie - Germany Beaucamps 1913-03-19 1916-11-13Joseph-François Patrice

1916 BERTRAND Marie Gatien 1896 Ardèche - France Chippis 1914-08-15 1916-12-00Victor-Pierre (Switzerland)

1916 BLASS Joseph 1899 Prusse - Germany Beaucamps 1915-00-00 1916-12-06Joseph Georges Ernest

1916 LABROSSE Louis Louis Etienne 1894 Saône-et-Loire - France Bairo 1910-10-02 1916-12-15

1916 CHAZALON Jean Arsène 1893 Ardèche - France Mexico 1912-12-08 1916-12-21Jean Baptiste

1916 RIEUBON Joseph François 1896 Ardèche - France Aubenas 1912-03-19 1916-12-29Paul André Ernest (n° 47)

1916 DIONNET Ezéchias 1873 Haute-Loire - France Hermitage 1890-09-14 1898-09-20 1916-07-12Frédéric Charles Joseph

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Year Family Religious Year Place Province T.V.. P.V. Death.name name of birth of birth

1916 ROTERING Edgar 1896 Mülheim - Germany Beaucamps 1913-08-24 1916-07-17Bernard Frédéric

1916 MALLET Marie 1896 Haute-Loire - France San Mauro 1913-08-15 1916-10-30Jean François Amédée

1917 JOHANN Georges 1897 Palatinat - Germany Grugliasco 1914-08-15 1917-01-05Auguste Auguste

1917 SCHMITT Charles 1896 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1912-08-24 1917-01-13Charles Ignace

1917 PERRELLE Paulin 1897 Rhône - France San Maurizio 1913-10-06 1917-01-20Claude-Marie Antoine

1917 BLASS Marie Ernest 1896 Rhine Province Fribourg 1913-10-06 1917-02-07Ernest Ludwig Germany (Switzerland)

1917 KELLER Reinhold 1897 Palatinat - Germany 1914-03-19 1917-02-17Albert

1917 BAUER Bonaventure 1884 Bayern - Germany Copenhague 1904-07-27 1909-09-12 1917-03-12Auguste Léon

1917 BERAUD Antoine 1896 Haute-Loire - France Syria 1913-08-02 1917-04-06Antoine Emile

1917 SCHÖNEBERGER Agathon 1895 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1912-08-24 1917-04-12Eugène-Hugues Eugène

1917 ALLEC Noël Natale 1893 Hautes-Alpes - France Italy 1910-03-19 1917-04-16Victor-Antoine (St Paul)

1917 LANIEL Joseph 1878 Haute-Loire - France Varennes 1895-08-29 ? 1917-04-17Maurice Alphons Victoire

1917 LAMERS Armandus 1894 Dusseldorf - Germany Beaucamps 1913-03-19 1917-04-29Gérard

1917 SÉRAYET Marie Victor 1887 Ardèche - France San Maurizio 1905-12-08 1911-09-10 1917-05-00Claudius-Ambroi

1917 BILLAMBOZ Marie Kostka 1896 Doubs - France San Maurizio 1913-10-06 1917-05-05Louis Marie

1917 CAMPELS Henri Marie 1891 Aveyron - France San Maurizio 1910-10-16 1917-05-25Henri Louis

1917 BILLARD Louis Daniel 1893 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1909-09-02 1917-06-07Louis

1917 SPLENGER Paul Antoine 1894 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1910-08-31 1917-06-07Hubert

1917 IMHOF Galdius 1897 Westphalie - Germany Beaucamps 1914-03-19 1917-06-08Guillaume Bruno Norbert

1917 CLERC Louis Rémi 1896 Haute-Savoie - France San Maurizio 1913-10-06 1917-06-19Louis Félix

1917 MÜLLER Marie Emile 1893 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1909-09-02 1917-06-20Eugène

1917 SIEGENTHALER Marie 1897 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1914-03-19 1917-07-01Alois Sigisbert

1917 DUNY Humérien 1879 Ardèche - France Aubenas 1895-09-10 1900-09-16 1917-07-06Pierre Basil C. (n° 50)

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Year Family Religious Year Place Province T.V.. P.V. Death.name name of birth of birth

1917 FISCHER Joseph 1893 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1914-03-19 1917-07-29Joseph Willibrord

1917 RAYNAL Joseph 1886 Aveyron - France Central Brazil 1904-01-21 1909-01-15 1917-07-31Lucien Othon

1917 DODANE Joseph 1885 Doubs - France Constantinople 1901-09-05 1906-09-08 1917-08-00Louis Gustave Emmanuel

1917 BAUMGARTEN Marie Adon 1886 Haute-Alsace - Germany Constantinople 1905-12-08 1910-12-08 1917-08-28Marcel-René-Emile

1917 PONS Jean 1897 Lozère - France Grugliasco 1914-08-02 1917-09-03Jean Baptiste Sébastien

1917 PRADIER Ildefonsus 1895 Gard - France Aubenas 1911-08-15 1917-10-13Fernand-Laurent (Pontos)

1917 SARRAZIN Maurizio 1897 Hautes-Alpes - France En su familia 1914-07-16 1917-10-23Louis

1917 PASTOUR Carlo 1893 Aosta - Italy Italy 1910-03-19 1917-11-01Alessandro Balt Borromeo (St Paul)

1917 RANCHER Mario Pietro 1896 Alpes-Maritimes Vintimille 1913-07-16 1917-12-27Barthélemy France

1917 DUFFAUT Lucis 1873 Haute-Loire - France Hermitage 1890-09-14 1897-09-21 1917-00-00François-Baptiste

1917 LAURENT Charles 1898 Loire - France San Mauro 1915-08-15 1917-00-00Pierre Louis Joseph

1917 BLASS Marie Ernest 1896 Rheinprovinz - Germany Fribourg 1913-10-06 1917-02-07Ernest Ludwig

1917 SÉRAYET Marie Victor 1887 Ardèche - France San Maurizio 1905-12-08 1911-09-10 1917-05-00Claudius Ambroi

1917 MÜLLER Marie Emile 1893 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1909-09-02 1917-06-20Eugène

1918 GADIN Giulio 1893 Aosta - Italy Italy 1909-09-29 1918-01-15Carlo Basilio

1918 GASTAUD Ariston 1884 Var - France Spain 1901-09-12 1906-12-18 1918-02-18Roch Claude

1918 CHASTEL Charles 1886 Savoie - France China 1902-09-04 1907-08-15 1918-03-25Marius Auguste

1918 GERTZ , Edgard-Louis ? ? ? 1918-4-4Joseph3

1918 REITH Joseph 1897 Hesse - Prussia ? 1914-03-19 1918-04-19Joseph Lambert

1918 WEIMAR André 1896 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1913-08-24 1918-04-24André Joseph Camille

1918 LINDNER Emmanuel 1894 Bavière - Germany Beaucamps 1912-08-24 1918-04-30Joseph Joseph

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3 Brother without clear documentation, probably German, who died in Palestine.

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Year Family Religious Year Place Province T.V.. P.V. Death.name name of birth of birth

1918 REY Léon Xavier 1897 Savoie - France Carmagnola 1913-10-06 1918-06-09René Julien

1918 MATHON Crescentius 1887 Drôme - France Spain 1904-12-08 1909-12-25 1918-06-10Emmanuel

1918 HIRBÉ Marcel Louis 1897 Territoire de Belfort Lausanne 1913-10-06 1918-06-11Marcel Emile France

1918 BILLE Joannès 1897 Ardèche - France Grugliasco 1915-08-15 1918-06-22Léon-Clair Louis (n° 51)

1918 MAZET Armand 1892 Haute-Loire - France San Mauro 1909-08-30 1918-07-19Jean Pierre Joseph

1918 ESCOT Emile Léon 1897 Loire - France Sangano 1913-08-15 1918-07-23Pierre Marie

1918 TEYSSIER Gabriel José 1898 Privas, Ardèche Spain 1914-11-21 1918-07-25Edmond-Marius France

1918 MERCIER Marie 1895 Rhône - France San Maurizio 1913-10-06 1918-08-30Claudius-Antoine Maximin

1918 BRÉDY Brunone 1900 Aosta - Italy Italy 1917-07-26 1918-10-03Michele Giovanni

1918 MARTIN Régis Henri 1888 Loire France Hermitage 1905-08-30 1913-09-10 1918-10-07Jean Gabriel (San Mauro)

1918 MALZIEUX Marie 1896 Haute-Loire San Mauro 1913-08-15 1918-10-20Charles-Louis Cécilien France

1918 LIABEUF Ansbert 1886 Le Puy, Haute-Loire Santa Maria 1903-11-09 1918-10-20Jean Pierre Aug France

1918 MARTEL Bernard 1898 Haute-Loire -France San Mauro 1915-08-15 1918-10-29Jean Baptiste Louis

1918 PICAUD Louis 1887 Jura - France Constantinople 1905-02-02 1910-08-15 1918-12-11Francis Charles Clémentin

1918 BOURRET Pierre Marie 1895 Haute-Loire - France Polistena 1911-09-10 1918-12-22Jean Claude Liguori

1918 DIETL Louis 1895 Upper Palatinat Beaucamps 1912-03-19 1918-00-00Aloys Sébastien Germany (Copenhague)

1918 FUCHS Léon 1895 Palatinat - Germany Beaucamps 1912-03-19 1918-00-00Philippe Martin Dominique

1918 ANHALT Joseph 1896 Rhenish - Prussia Beaucamps 1915-05-28 1918-00-00Joseph Emiliani

1918 GEISELMANN Gottfried 1895 Wurtemberg Beaucamps 1912-08-24 1918-00-00François Germany

1918 VINCENT Henri Albert 1896 Ardèche France Grugliasco 1914-08-15 1918-04-24Ludovic Albert

1918 GÉRARD Isidore 1894 Lorraine - Germany Beaucamps 1910-08-31 1918-05-00Jean Pierre Pierre

1918 SCHNEIDER Joseph 1895 Wurtemberg Beaucamps 1911-09-01 1918-07-14Joseph Engelbert Germany

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Year Family Religious Year Place Province T.V.. P.V. Death.name name of birth of birth

1918 PATUEL Sérapien 1884 Pyrénées-Orientales Mexico 1901-08-23 1905-12-08 1918-07-18Barthélemy Améd France

1918 MAZET Armand 1892 Haute-Loire - France San Mauro 1909-08-30 1918-07-19Jean Pierre Joseph

1918 MARCÉROU Alphonse 1896 Aude - France Grugliasco 1914-08-15 1918-07-27Alphonse Léon

1918 BRUNEL Marius 1898 Lozère - France San Maurizio 1916-10-01 1918-08-24Albert Albert

1918 WAGNER Camille 1893 Lorraine - Germany Beaucamps 1910-03-19 1918-09-01Nicolas Nicolas

1918 SCHEER F. Antonius 1896 Palatinat Beaucamps ? 1912-24-08 1918-13-02Anton

1918 JOVANELLI François 1896 Romania Constantinople 1912-11-01 1920-00-004

Romulus Gonzague

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4 No news since 1916.

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Bergner Joseph Br Joseph-Clémentin 1898, Palatinat Beaucamps Novice/ Postulant 1918-17-.2

Br Pierre Léon Nov. 1918-5-19

Thiewe Johannès Post. 1918/5/31

Spittler Frantz Post. 1918-6-4

Mettendorf Post. Missing

We can add some novices and postulants to this list:

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Subsidiarity was a concept whichwas recalled to prominence by Vati-can II, drawing on Thomas Aquinasand Rerum Novarum. It is a conceptthat was already strongly evident inthe Notebooks of Brother François,as he tried to prevent local superiorsfrom confusing who they are with theposition they may have had. A bodyof wisdom is revealed in the quota-tions cited below: wisdom acquiredby life, experience, and the interiorlife. Are not these wise considera-tions still relevant for us?

The formulation may be changed,but I hope that the sense remains.

NOTEBOOK 303

Old age is a tyrant which forbids,at the risk of life, all the pleasures ofyouth (p.448)

One should speak little, oneshould speak quietly; speak without

passion; speak with reason; speaksoftly; speak simply; speak sincerely;speak without affectation; speak un-hurriedly; speak without vanity; speakwith charity; speak when it is neces-sary; keep silence when necessary.(Ibid., 6th Saturday) It is rare thatthose who do not know how to keepsilent know how to speak well. (p.517)

We would be much happier if wethought less about being so. (p.640)

It is a great failing in one who is incharge of others to like coming andgoing from one side or the other, inthe house or elsewhere, and to doby himself many exterior things heshould confide to others. (p. 706)

Nothing resembles more what willbe done than what has already beendone. (p.718)

The insights of those who teachoften come from those who listen.(p.759)

Louis Richard, fms 133

EXTRACTS OF BROTHER FRANÇOISIN HIS NOTEBOOKS

Br Louis Richard

DOCUMENTS

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NOTEBOOK 304

Superiors who work, who dis-patch matters, who do the mostbusiness are those who governleast. They do the work of others;and yet their own work, they don’tdo: no one takes care of it.

The true Superior is the one who,appearing to do nothing, gets every-thing done; who thinks, invents,looks into the future, goes back tothe past, who compares, resolves,decides, arranges, shares out, whoprepares from a distance, whoceaselessly steels himself to strug-gle against difficulties, who is atten-tive night and day to let nothingdecline through the negligence ofthose who must work under him.

As he never throws himself intoexhausting details, he has a mindmore free to take in the whole of hisgreat work in one glance and to seeif it is making progress, if it is movingtowards the principal end. In a word,a true Superior should do only thethings that no other can do withouthim. He must supervise everything,but he should not apply himself toany work other than making the de-cision on important matters. Activityforms the man, strengthens thecharacter, enlightens the mind, givesexperience; but it is not necessaryfor the activity to be excessive, over-burdening. (p.801)

The most painful things becomeagreeable to us when we do them

willingly, just as those which are inthemselves agreeable become te-dious when we do them under suf-ferance. (p.825)

The rule for all the pleasures andall the satisfactions in this life, is ne-cessity, usefulness or convenience.But it should not be that pleasurealone is the reason for it. (p.877)

It is to have a petty soul not todare to become wise, because foolsmake fun of it. It is regarded as agrave fault in a Superior not to ac-cept the advice and counsel givenhim; as far as saying that a man oflimited intelligence who knows hisfailings and takes advice is moresuited to governing than one who ismore intelligent but who is full of him-self, and who so believes he knowseverything that he resents anyonewarning or giving him advice. (p. 932)

Those who are raised to great re-sponsibilities will place themselves inway of being enlightened by God,taking comfort in making use of thecommon, ordinary means, and ac-cepting the advice of others. Forthey must not imagine that they areas elevated above all other men bytheir intelligence as they are by theirauthority. (p.933)

The Superior should return eachmatter to the one responsible for it,without wanting to decide or regu-late everything by himself. Our Lordsends St. Paul to Ananias. The angel

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tells Cornelius to fetch St Peter.(p.1070)

It must be supposed that, whenwe are advised of our faults, we aretold only the half, and that when weare told of those of others, they aredoubled. (p.1088)

We are not ordinarily guilty of ma-licious gossip in speaking of thingswhich the person being talked aboutcannot with reason wish kept hid-den. (p.1123)

Superiors do not ordinarily receiveany special talent of nature, but theyhave the invaluable advantage ofbeing able to use those of others.(p.1124)

Superiors who enjoy the finestthings on earth risk not having thefinest things in heaven. (p.1128)

One must never condemn every-thing, approve everything, denyeverything, believe everything, granteverything, or refuse everything, butfollow reason, fairness. (p. 1489)

Men commonly take on the feel-ings, the language, and the conductwhich the ways in which they aretreated inspires in them. They be-come childish or serious, reasonableor capricious, shy or bold, children ofthe family or servants, according tothe way they are treated. (p.1501)

To conform with good under-standing to what public opinion holds

as right, is the sign of the ability of aman who governs, and frankness inthe explanation of circumstancesand situations is the first condition ofa manly character. It is on this condi-tion that mutual confidence is estab-lished between superiors andsubordinates. (p.1505).

Sermons which cost the preacherlittle, cost his hearers much. (Ibid.)that is to say, when the preacherdoes not take the trouble to preparehis sermons, the faithful have troublein listening to them. (p. 1508)

A regular occupation, diligentwork, chases away boredom andtemptations, just as the wind fromthe south dispels the fog. (p.1525)

The Superior is fastened to theCross by three nails: his own misery,that of his Brothers, and the admin-istration of the Institute or the house.(p.1532)

With age, memory becomesweak but judgement improves. It isbetter to have a poor memory andgood judgement than a good mem-ory and poor judgement.

As the best vines grow in stonyground, the strongest virtues growamidst afflictions.

If we need to have patience witheveryone, it is first of all with our-selves, we who are more demand-ing on ourselves than any other. It isbetter to do little and well, than to

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push oneself to do much. Hastenslowly: for soon enough will be goodenough. (p. 1554)

Man cannot be too long withoutpleasure, whether it comes to himfrom the earth or from heaven. (p.1585)

It is not a lesser knowledge to askthe right questions than to give theright answers; and sometimes oneteaches just as well by asking ques-tions as by answering them. (p. 1586)

The first element for succeedingin the spiritual life is good humour. (p.1558)

Means for obtaining peace:

1. Frequent conversations withGod, who is always in peace.

2. Few or no conversations withseculars : they say scarcelyany words of peace.

3. Do not become preoccupiedwith what does not concern us,nor the conduct of the Superi-ors : that serves no purpose.

4. Concern yourself only with thepresent, without worryingabout the past or the future.Do what you are doing.

5. Limit one’s desires for thethings of the present life: theytorment us.

6. Entire submission to the will ofGod: God wishes it; I am con-tent.

7. Love God only in everythingand in all: do not become at-tached to anything else.

8. Accept [1602] one’s whole re-sponsibility, one’s whole Rule,without wanting to leave a partout.

9. Regard oneself as a block ofmarble from which God wishesour Brothers to sculpture theimage of Jesus crucified,through their words, faults,manners, character, etc.

10.Love to be hidden, unknown,stay at home and look afteryour own affairs.

11. Expect a time of trial, deser-tion, complete abandonment,like Jesus on the cross: themost sensitive trial.

12.Rely for everything only onGod. (p. 1601)

Superiors should not involvethemselves too much in the conductof affairs which are the responsibilityof those beneath them who occupyimportant posts, and treat them onlyas simple instruments which carryout their orders. Here are some rea-sons why:

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1. God ordinarily grants each thegraces appropriate to the of-fice entrusted to him.

2. If one sees that the Superiorwants to do everything himself,one does not apply to his workthe interest and devotionneeded for carrying it outproperly.

3. Experience in the immediateperformance of an officeteaches more to the one exer-cising it than a Superior cancalculate or forsee by his ownreflection.

4. Many things happen uponwhich a wise decision can betaken only according to spe-

cial circumstances, which can-not be known and appreciatedby one who is not habitually in-volved in these affairs.

5. Finally, it is better for the Supe-rior to be able to reprimand hissubordinates, if they fail onsome points, than to receivefrom them the observationsmade necessary by his lack ofknowledge in the things hewishes to direct. (p. 1624)

A Superior must avoid two greatfaults: that of doing nothing or want-ing to do everything; and that of giv-ing no orders or wanting to ordereverything; because in acting in thisway, he either cancels out himself orhe cancels out the others. (p. 1630)

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On 20 March 2014, Mme Richard,resident in Caluire, a suburb of Lyon,forwarded two documents to Notre-Dame de L’Hermitage, the most im-portant of which was a letter, signedby Fr Champagnat, containing thefollowing words:

I the undersigned have received from the parishpriest of la valla the sum of two hundred francs, left to me in the last will of Messire Jean Louis Basson deceased at la valla on 3 xbre (December) 1826. La valla 15 xbre 1826

Champagnat

André Lanfrey, fms 139

TWO NEW DOCUMENTSABOUT CHAMPAGNAT

Br André Lanfrey

DOCUMENTS

AN UNPLISHED NOTE OF Fr. CHAMPAGNAT FROM 1826concerning a bequest of M. Besson

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The second document is animage of Marcellin Champagnatwhich the Institute distributed toits benefactors, especially tothose supporting the work of thejuniorates. Without being excep-tional, this image provides evi-dence of the iconographictradition originating from the por-trait of Ravery but with the inten-tion of offering a less austereportrait of the Founder than theoriginal painting. As Fr Champag-nat is not given the title of Vener-able, it is before 1896 andprobably later than 1877-79, thetime of the creation of the work ofthe juniorates.

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A NINETEENTH CENTURY IMAGEOF MARCELLIN CHAMPAGNAT

COMMENTARY

The first document justifies a moredetailed commentary. First of all, itcorroborates what the Life of theFounder tells us about M. Basson inChapter 12 of the second part. At thetime of the blessing of the first stoneof the Hermitage, in May 1824, theBrothers were too poor to offer a suit-able meal to the vicar general whohad come for the occasion. So FrChampagnat told the Brother cook:

Go and tell M. Basson that I will be coming to dinnerwith him with the Vicar General”. And Br Jean-Baptisteadds, “This M. Basson who was a rich man and a

great friend of the Brothers was happy to receivethem. Moreover, it was not the first time that FrChampagnat asked this service of him. He made useof it every time he found himself in a similar situation.

We know in addition from thecensus of 1815 that M. Jean-LouisBasson was the sole inhabitant of LaValla to carry the title bourgeois. Thatis probably why Fr Champagnatgives him the somewhat archaic titleof messire (Master). Elderly and awidower, he was then living with twoservants. The letter of Mme Richard,which accompanied the gift of this

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document, makes it clear that it hadbeen kept by her grandmother, MmeVerne, née Anne Basson. So it doesnot come to us by chance but from afamily aware of the historical value ofthis document and one which main-tained ongoing contact with the workof Fr Champagnat, as the imagefrom the end of the XIX centuryshows.

It is a bit strange that the giftcame to Fr Champagnat in an officialway through the intermediary of FrEtienne Bedoin, parish priest of LaValla from 1824, rather than througha will. This is a sign of the good rela-tionship among the three men. It isalso important to note that this gen-

erous sum (the equivalent of 200days of work for an ordinarylabourer) must have been a greatencouragement for a man whosework had just been sorely testedthrough illness and the withdrawal ofhis two priest companions, Fr Cour-veille in May and Fr Terraillon aroundAll Saints Day.

Let us add, to finish, that this giftfigures in the receipt book of theHermitage (Origines des FrèresMaristes, 2011, t. 1, doc 111/5) in De-cember 1826: “received from M.Boisson (sic): 200”. We now clearlyknow that it involved a gift from M.Basson, faithful friend of Fr Cham-pagnat.

André Lanfrey, fms 141

May2015

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Brother Manuel Mesonero, fromthe Province of Ibérica, has given usin recent years three important con-tributions regarding our Founder’sinner life. The first text, San Marceli-no Champagnat, experiencia de Diosy vida mística (Saint Marcellin Cham-pagnat, Experience of God and Mys-tical Life), is a profound account ofMarcellin’s intimate Dark Night expe-rience within the circumstances of hispersonal life. It is mainly focused onthe multifaceted crisis that Cham-pagnat – and his project – wentthrough from late 1825 until 1827.But he also studies Marcellin’s mys-tical life as a whole, which lead him,confident and abandoned in God, tothe exciting mission the Spirit en-trusted him.

In the second text, Sencillez yAbandono en Dios, San MarcelinoChampagnat (Simplicity and Aban-donment in God, Saint Marcellin

Champagnat), the author, using acolloquial style, presents a dialoguebetween Marcellin, Brother Stanislas,and other people, through which theFounder explains the experience ofsimplicity and abandonment in God astwo charismatic fulcrums of his spir-ituality.

In the third text, Historia de unamor, itinerario espiritual de SanMarcelino Champagnat (A Love Sto-ry, Spiritual Journey of Saint Mar-cellin Champagnat), the author – fol-lowing The Interior Castle of Teresa ofÁvila – explores in detail Marcellin’s in-ternal process of conversion and dis-cipleship, offering a comprehensive vi-sion of his spiritual path.

These well-written texts are the re-sult of intensive and up-to-date re-search of our Marist spiritual patri-mony, and offer a practical applicationto everyday life

NOTES IN BRIEF 143

N O T E S I N B R I E F

A LOOK INTOMARCELLIN CHAMPAGNAT’S HEART Br Patricio Pino

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Santiago Vasconcellos, a layMarist from the Province of SantaMaría de los Andes, was studying fora diploma in Marist patrimony whenhe found, thanks to a casual websearch, a Google eBook in Spanishentitled De la instrucción pública enFrancia: ensayo sobre su estado en1838 y 1839 (Public Education inFrance: an essay on its situation from1838 to 1839). Brother Patricio Pino,who was guiding the studies, sharedthis finding with the members of theInternational Marist Patrimony Com-mission in its meeting of June 2013.

Once back to Curitiba after themeeting, I was able to study thebook, and I realized it offers some in-teresting information that is actuallya novelty from a historical point ofview. The book has been preserved

on the library shelves of the Com-plutense University of Madrid forgenerations (Barcode 5315634802)until Google decided to scan it aspart of a project aimed at making anumber of books from around theworld available online. It has survivedlong enough for the copyright to ex-pire and the book to enter the publicdomain. Therefore it cannot be mar-keted. However the book is not in-teresting from the commercial pointof view, but as a historical document.

This book is particularly appealingfor students of Marist history be-cause it was written when Marcellinwas still alive. It collects informationabout teaching in France from 1838to 1839, and mentions the Marists asthe second major educational insti-tution in the country:

144 NOTES IN BRIEF

33 fms Marist NOTEBOOKS

AN ESSAY BY Dr PEDRO FELIPE MONLAUInteresting discovery for our Marist spiritual patrimony Br Antonio Martinez Estaún

Another corporation of schoolteachers was formed in the Loire Department in 1824, directed byFather Champagnat, under the name of Little Brothers of Mary. They teach reading, writing,arithmetic, linear drawing, and the rudiments of geometry. Each Little Brother has a manual worktask and carries it out during the children’s recess time, in order to set an example of work andinspire the students to love it. In this way, the Hermitage, head-house or centre of the Institute, iscultivated by the Brothers, and they themselves have built the structure that serves as their teachertraining college. Their teaching has quickly spread. At the moment they already have 40 well-established schools in the Loire and other neighbouring departments. They direct a hospicefor orphans in Lyon; and receive new requests to direct and establish primary schools every day. The zeal of the Little Brothers of Mary is not limited to France; they are also forming missionaries

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We can say this is the first news inSpanish known so far about the exis-tence of the Institute, and written bysomeone outside the Marist Institute,published a number of decades be-fore the arrival of the Brothers inSpain. Another novelty, among othersdeserving in-depth study, is the trans-lation into Spanish for the first time of“Petits Frères de Marie” as “Herma-nitos de María”, a translation done bysomeone who knew French and Spa-nish well, and did not belong to theInstitute.

The book was published in Barce-lona in 1840 by Imprenta de D. Anto-nio Bergnes y Compañía (AntonioBergnes & Company Press), locatedat 2 Calle Escudillers. It contains – be-sides abundant and well-documen-ted statistical information about the“Administration of Primary Education,

Secondary Education, High SchoolInstruction, and Vocational Training(Public Administration, Theology, andLaw)” – very useful information tostudy Marist pedagogy in France du-ring Marcellin’s last years of life.

The author is “Dr Pedro FelipeMonlau, Medical Surgeon of the Mili-tary Hospital of Barcelona; Professorof Geography and Chronology at theAcademy of Natural Sciences andArts in the same city; Professor ofHistory and Literature at the Univer-sity of Barcelona, and member of theRoyal Spanish Academy (seat D),etc.” Monlau died on February 18,1871. His writings are many and hecovered many topics, always underthe form of essays. Exiled in Francefor political reasons, he devoted him-self to collect all the information laterpublished in this book.

NOTES IN BRIEF 145

to spread their teaching all over the world. They have already founded a school in Polynesia, and soon will establish others in the European settlements of North Africa. In 1838, the Director ofthe community made a request to the Minister, asking him to declare his Institute as an establishmentof public interest destined to train primary schoolteachers. The Minister, before proposing the decreeto the King, consulted with the General Councils of the departments of Loire and Rhone. The first offered a very favourable report; but the second gave a strongly contrary opinion. I do not know if the Minister has made a final decision yet.

May2015

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On 20 January 2014, a goodcrowd gathered at the Hermitage tocelebrate the funeral of Br HenriRéocreux. Born on 19 May 1945, inthe hamlet of La Rivoire, Izieux, veryclose to the Hermitage, and later ajunior at La Valla, Henri was defini-tively reunited with his origins, bothfamilial and spiritual.

He had been a teacher of mathe-matics in our Marist schools and col-leges in France – at Chazelles, Char-lieu, Toulouse, Valbenoîte and StEtienne – and also in Nouméa (NewCaledonia) from 1970 to 1973. From1997 to 2004, he was an assistant tothe Secretary General of the Institutein Rome where he was particularlyappreciated for his competence withcomputers. On returning to France,he took up spiritual animation withthe Fraternities of the ChampagnatMovement for which he was an ad-viser, and then in recent years withthe young people in the two Maristcommunities of Mulhouse in Alsace.

His calmness and a certain unhur-riedness contrasted somewhat with alively intelligence, particularly, but notonly, in the areas of mathematicsand computer science. He was alsowell-read and an able technician.Moreover, during his time in Rome, hediligently collated the digitalised doc-uments from our Archives and, be-cause of this, became a resource per-son in the study of our patrimony. Thisis why, from 2006 to 2012, he wassecretary of the Patrimony Commis-sion which had been created in 2004.Among other activities, he took part inthe editing and layout of the MaristNotebooks. And he was especially in-volved in the completion of the Orig-ines des Frères Maristes of Br PaulSester, published in 2011.

The Marist Patrimony Commissionhas thus lost a valuable collaborator.It wishes to recall an important if littleknown facet of the rich personality ofHenri Réocreux and express its grat-itude for the work he accomplished.

IN MEMORIAM 147

I N M E M O R I A M

BROTHER HENRY RÉOCREUX Br André Lanfrey

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Finito di stampare nel mese di maggio 2015presso la CSC Grafica – Roma

ww.cscgrafica.it

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