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1: Disciples of Marcellin Champagnat
Since his mother and his aunt had not been able to advance his reading to a satisfactory standard, Marcellin was sent to a school Master whose task was to perfect his reading and teach him to write. On his first day of attendance, as he was very timid and didn’t leave the place he was given, the teacher called him to his side to read; but just as he arrived, another pupil took up a position in front of him. Then the teacher, somewhat angered and perhaps thinking that he would please young Marcellin, vigorously boxed the ears of the child who wanted to read first and sent him off sobbing to the back of the room. This was hardly calculated to reassure the new pupil and banish his timidity; so he said later, he had shaken all over and was more inclined to cry than to read.
Marcellin’s discerning mind was indignant at this cruel act and he vowed never to return to a school run by such a teacher; the ill-treatment inflicted, without reason, on that child showed him what was in store for himself; at the first opportunity, the same could happen to him; he therefore refused to have anything to do with that man’s lessons, still less with his punishments. Indeed he was unwilling to return to that teacher in spite of the reiterated entreaties of his parents.
Marcellin’s decision to study Latin was not a passing whim. His parents doubted his ability to do so and tried to dissuade him, pointing out the trouble he had experienced in learning to read and the lack of taste he had shown for study. Their words fell on deaf ears. He was no longer interested in the farm- work or the little business deals that used to mean so much to him. . .
After a year with that uncle (a teacher), who spared no pains but had little success, he was against Marcellin’s entering the seminary. "Your child", he advised the parents, "persists in his determination to study for the priesthood, but you would be mistaken to let him do so; he hasn’t the ability to succeed." ...Marcellin had prayed and reflected for the whole year and was not the least put off by his uncle’s speech or his parents’ remarks. "Get my things ready", he insisted. "I am determined to go to the seminary. I shall succeed because it is God who calls me." As there was still reluctance to buy his outfit, he added: "Don’t let the expense be a problem! I have money to pay for it." His clothing was, in fact, paid for from his savings.
About this time (1812 - 1815) the foundation of the Society of Mary was laid. A few seminarians, led by (Courveille), John Claude Colin and Marcellin Champagnat, used to have frequent meetings to reinforce their piety and their practice of priestly virtues. Zeal for the salvation of souls and the best means to that end, were what they normally discussed. Their exchange of feelings about this goal and plans for it, gave rise to the idea of founding a Society of Priests. . . Ths elite group had a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin, a fact which prompted them to place the new society under the patronage of the Mother of God and gave it Mary’s name. . . In one such meeting, it was agreed to go together on pilgrimage to Fourvière and to lay their plans at the feet of Mary. . .
However, the plans of the new Association made no provision for Teaching Brothers. It was Marcellin Champagnat alone who conceived their institution and who alone put his idea into execution. He would often say to his companions: "We must have Brothers! We must have Brothers to teach catechism, to help the missionaries and to conduct schools."
Having been born in the township of Saint-Genest-Malifaux (Loire), I became aware, because of the extreme difficulty I encountered in learning to read and write, of the urgent necessity of creating a society which could, with less expense, provide for the rural areas the good education which the Brothers of the Christian Schools provide for the cities.
Champagnat to the Minister of Public Instruction, 1837, Letters, 159
1.6 The "Montagne": experience:
(Father Champagnat) was summoned to a hamlet one day, in order to hear a sick boy’s confession. (His name was Jean-Baptiste Montagne, living in the hamlet of Les Palais, beyond Le Bessat. He was born on May 10th 1800 and died on October 28th 1816). As usual, he set out at once. Before proceeding with the confession, he put a few questions to make sure that he was sufficiently instructed to receive the sacraments. To his great surprise, the child knew nothing about the principal mysteries and, in fact, didn’t even know whether God existed. Greatly upset at finding a seventeen year-old in such ignorance, and fearing that he would die in such a state, he sat down beside him to teach him the mysteries and truths necessary for salvation. It took him two hours for the instruction and confession. It was extremely difficult to impart even the most fundamental truths, to a child who was so sick that he scarcely grasped what was being said.
Having heard his confession, and helped him make several acts of love of God and of contrition as a preparation for death, the priest left him, to minister to a sick person in an adjoining house. As he went out, he asked after the sick youth, to be told by his tearful parents that he had died a moment after the priest’s departure. He felt an upsurge of joy at having been there so opportunely .. . .
He went home overwhelmed by those feelings and saying over and over to himself: "How many children are in the same predicament every day, exposed to the same dangers because they have no-one to teach them the truths of faith"
Then he became obsessed with overwhelming intensity, by the thought of founding a Society of Brothers to obviate such disasters through the Christian education of children.
1.7 Training the young Brothers at La Valla
(Marcellin) longed for the day when his Brothers would teach. Meanwhile, since they were not yet up to standard, he employed a lay teacher, and he did so to achieve two aims he believed necessary: to provide primary instruction for the children of the parish; to polish up the knowledge that the Brothers had already acquired and induct them into the method of teaching. . .
The teacher lived with the Brothers, set up his school in their house and the children soon filled it. The Brothers backed him up in his teaching, watched him in action, copied his style and adopted his method. In addition, out of school hours, he gave them their own lessons on the various aspects of teaching.
1.8 Choosing to live on the little they received
The Superior of the association of the Little Brothers of Mary. . . has the honour to inform Your Excellency that since the aim of the association is to make it easier for rural towns to obtain the benefits of education for their children with little expense, he has reduced the salary of each teaching Brother to the minimum. . .
. . . The sacrifices which we felt we should make in order to provide more conveniently the benefits of education for the large and deserving rural population allow us to get by, but only by dint of economy. . .
The sum … is already little enough to meet the expenses of the upkeep of three Brothers in a town. To reduce it still more would be, it seems to me, to snatch away from them, not only the miserable salary attached to the most thankless and difficult job of any citizen, but even their poor and unappetizing food…
Champagnat to the Mayor of Bourg-Argental, Letters, 8
(Marcellin) asked Father Colin to let him be part of that favoured group of missionaries setting out for Oceania. He wanted to devote his last days and his little remaining strength to the instruction and sanctification of non-Christians. Though greatly impressed by Marcellin’s zeal and devotedness, Father Colin reasoned with him that he could do more good in France than was possible in Oceania; that his particular mission was not to go in person to evangelise those peoples but to prepare for the task apostles full of zeal and the spirit of sacrifice. Obedience did not permit Father Champagnat to insist and his humility led him to believe that he was unworthy of the favour. Though he was resigned, he did not manage to conceal the strength of his longing.
(Note: With Bishop Pompallier there went, on December 24th, 1836: Fathers Servant, Bataillon, Bret and Chanel; Brothers Marie-Nizier, Michel and Joseph-Xavier.)
His parents, quite pleased with his orderliness and thrift, gave him two or three lambs which he was free to fatten and sell for himself. He certainly raised them very carefully, then sold them and bought others. . . his trade and saving soon allowed him to amass a tidy sum of six hundred francs. For a sixteen year old that was a lot of money; therefore, if he didn’t already consider himself rich, he saw prospects of his becoming so. Plans were laid to expand his small business. One of his brothers was to join forces with him and they would pool their resources in a life-long partnership.
1.12 Marcellin, builder and repairman
There was only the barn for the postulants to sleep in. To remedy that state of affairs, Marcellin worked for more than a week to repair the garret of the house and convert it into a dormitory. He used scrap timber to construct beds with his own hands. . . It was obvious that the house could not accommodate so many people and a new building was a matter of urgency. Marcellin did not hesitate to undertake its construction. . . . He was the architect of the new building; he ordered everything and directed everyone.
"If God blesses us," he reflected, "we could very well set up house there (in the valley of the Gier river)." Yet, before finally opting for that position, he combed the surrounding district with two of the principal Brothers to make sure that it was the best available. . . "That mad Champagnat," alleged several of his fellow-priests and many other people, "must have gone off his head. What does he think he’s doing? How is he going to pay for that house?" . . . Father Champagnat was well aware of what people were thinking and saying about him in public; but the talk of men had little influence on him, and he did not invoke the principles of human prudence to guide his life. So it was, that despite the large community on his hands, despite a debt of four thousand francs, despite a lack of money, and with confidence, (an unbounded one), in God alone, he fearlessly took on the construction of a house and chapel to accommodate one hundred and fifty people.
We are always repairing or building, and still we are cramped for space. We have made neither peace nor truce with the rocks of the Hermitage; we turn the soil, plant grapevines, and try to make the whole property productive.
1.13 Marcellin explains his purpose in founding the Institute:
Ordained a priest in 1816, I was assigned to a town in the district of St.-Chamond (Loire). What I saw with my own eyes in that new post, with reference to the education, reminded me of the difficulties I had experienced myself at their age, for lack of teachers.
Champagnat to Queen Marie-Amélie, Letters, 59
. . . A good education is the surest way to form good subjects for society. Unfortunately, most of the rural towns are deprived of that advantage: the insufficiency of local resources and the poverty of their inhabitants does not permit them to confide the education of their children to the Brothers of the Christian Schools, whose merits and ability are well known; hence the sad necessity of either letting their children grow up in disastrous ignorance, or (which is even more distressing), handing them over to teachers who are hardly capable of training them in the knowledge and virtues necessary for good citizens.
To eliminate these drawbacks, the undersigned, Marcellin Champagnat, a priest of the diocese of Lyons, seeing the zeal which the king and his government put into providing the great benefit of education for all levels of society, decided to create, near the city of St.-Chamond, an association of elementary teachers, under the name of LITTLE BROTHERS OF MARY, and drew up the following statutes in order to obtain an authorisation which would give the members of this society the means to carry out their important and demanding function in a legal and therefore more effective manner. . .
Champagnat to His Majesty, Louis -Philippe, King of France, Letters, 34
1.14 Marcellin teaching the children
(During his holidays from the seminary), frequently he would gather village children in his room to teach them prayers and catechism. On Sundays, even the adults were assembled and he spoke to them briefly but feelingly on the mysteries of religion, the duties of a Christian and on the way to assist at Mass and at other church services.
1.15 Marcellin’s success in teaching and preaching
The news spread through the parish (La Valla) like wildfire that Father Champagnat’s catechism classes were absorbingly interesting. Grown-ups were eager to hear them and flocked to them in large numbers on Sundays. He was forced to adapt his method slightly to suit the new listeners. So, having explained the text of the day’s lesson using short, clear and simple questions within the scope of the weakest minds, he then deduced the implications for moral conduct and offered reflections calculated to move their hearts and lead them to the practice of virtue. It didn’t matter which subject Father Champagnat was presenting, he had the gift of meeting the needs of each one whatever their status, age or circumstances.
1.17 Pedagogical innovations of Marcellin Champagnat
It is scarcely necessary to assure you that in the composing, or rather in the compiling of this work we faithfully followed the rules and instructions of our saintly Founder on the subject of the Education of Youth. We sought above all, to imbue our minds with his spirit, to revive and reproduce it, as far as we were able, in order that it might be conveyed to you and be perpetuated amongst us. We are fully convinced that this was our duty and our whole task.
In particular, our beloved Father devoted the usual two months’ vacation to training us to become efficient teachers and catechists, and in instructing us in the fundamental principles that constitute sound education.
Those who had the privilege of hearing him will remember that he entered into the minutest details of the subject and acquainted us with every point connected with the education of the child. They will not forget how feelingly he spoke of the children in the lowest class, or how warmly he exhorted the Brothers to lavish every care upon those young souls whom, by reason of their innocence, he designated as little angels. Nor will they fail to recall how definitely he pointed out the means that should be employed to instruct them in the first essential truths of religion, to train them in piety and virtue and also to make the steps in reading easier for them.
The love of God which filled his heart, and the tender affection he had for the children, revealed to him all their wants and the means of relieving them, as also the secret of winning their confidence, inclining them to virtue, inspiring them with piety and developing all the powers of their soul. This talent which, unknown to himself, he possessed in a high degree and the ardent zeal which animated him for the sanctification of children, and which he sought to impart to his Brothers in his daily instructions on the subject, are the features we have here endeavoured to trace for you.
(Brother François then mentions five points which, in the teaching methods of the Institute are the personal contribution of Father Champagnat):-
1. The method of teaching reading. . .
2. The qualities of sound discipline, which he based on moral authority and kindness, at a time when corporal punishment was in general use.
3. The method of teaching Catechism, and the pains he took to train good catechists.
4. The teaching of Singing, a subject then neglected in Primary Schools.
5. The rules concerning the training of the Junior Brothers.
Br. François, Preface to The Teacher’s Guide, (1931) pp. 5-7.
1.18 Personal Concern for his followers:
You should have no doubt that, because of the beautiful name of father which you give me, I consider you all as my dear children in Jesus and Mary and carry you all with affection in my heart. I am very touched by your wishes for me, and I will not forget them. In my prayers I will remember the one who made such beautiful wishes for me. I am very well aware of all the problems which all the illnesses of your co-workers can create for you. Take good care of yourself, so that you can carry out your difficult duties well. All the Fathers and Brothers are well. I will share your New Year’s wishes with them.
Be brave, dear friend, think how precious your occupation is in the eyes of God. Great saints and great men were happy to have a task which Jesus and Mary value so highly. Let these children come to me, for heaven belongs to them.
You have in your hands the price of the blood of Jesus Christ. After God, your many children will owe their salvation to you. Their whole life will be the echo of what you have taught them. Exert yourself, spare nothing to form their young hearts to virtue; make them realise that without virtue, without piety, without fear of God, they will never be happy; that there is not peace for the wicked. That only God can make them happy, that it was for him alone they were created. How much good you can do, dear friend !
Your parents are well. Your brother who was in the army died in Paris of severe head pains. Pray for him; regrets cannot do anything for him; all he needs is prayers.
I have many other things to tell you; I hope I will be able to tell them to you in person very shortly. I leave both of you in the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. They are such good places !
I have the honour to be your very devoted father in Jesus and . . .
Champagnat, Superior of the Brothers, Notre Dame de l’Hermitage, 1831
My very dear Brother Barthélemy,
. . . I promise you that the very next trip I make to Lyons, I will come to see you. Be brave, good friend; it is enough that you and your co-worker are willing to teach many children. Even if you had no students at all, your reward would still be the same. Don’t get upset over the small number you have now. God holds the hearts of everyone in his hands; he will send you students when he sees fit; all you have to do is to be sure that no infidelity of yours stands in the way. You are where God wanted you to be, since you are where your superiors wanted you to be. I have no doubt that the Lord is rewarding you with many graces. . .
Champagnat, Superior, Notre Dame de l’Hermitage, 1831
Father Champagnat’s way of practising the exercise of the presence of God, consisted in believing with a firm and real faith that God is everywhere present, filling the universe with his immensity, with the works of his goodness, with his mercy and his glory. . . Everything was for him a motive to raise himself to God and bless him; so, on every occasion, his soul poured out acts of love, praise and thanksgiving.
This feeling of the presence of God kept his soul in unvarying peace and tranquillity. He emphatically reiterated that we have nothing to fear if we are with God and that nothing can harm us if we trust in Divine Providence.
1.20 Mary our Model and our Good Mother
There were two complements to all these practices in honour of Mary and to his devotion towards her. The Founder wanted these for his Institute and prescribed them, since he considered them indispensable. The first one was the imitation of her virtues. He insisted, therefore, that the Brothers’ love for Mary should lead them especially to acquire her spirit and to copy her humility, her modesty, her purity and her love of Jesus Christ. The poor and hidden life of the divine Mother and the sublime example she has given us ought to be the rule of conduct for the Brothers; each one should make such an effort to be like her that all his actions and his entire person are a reminder of Mary, and reflect her spirit and virtues.
The second stipulation was that the Brothers should consider themselves under a particular obligation to make Mary known and loved, to make her widely honoured and to inspire the children with devotion to her.
1.21 The Crib, the Cross and the Altar
I want the Little Brothers of Mary to be faithful followers of the newborn Jesus, of the dying Jesus, and of Jesus immolated on the altar. May they be faithful followers of Jesus in all the mysteries: his life, his activities, his sufferings; these should be the main subject of their meditations. . .
Do you know, Brothers, why I want you to be faithful followers of Jesus in his crib, on Calvary and on the altar? Because those three places are the three great fountains of grace; it is there above all that Jesus distributes it abundantly to his chosen ones. . .
Yes, God is everywhere, but particularly at the crib, the Cross and the altar; in other words, it is in those three places above all that his infinite love appears and reveals itself. . . It is in those three places that our poor hearts can better understand and feel how much he loves us. . .
Jesus came to bring sacred fire to earth; he spreads it everywhere in a thousand ways, but he has built three great hearths where all the saints and all fervent souls should come to be set on fire. These hearths are: the stable of Bethlehem, Calvary, and the altar. . . Go to the Saviour’s fountains and draw from them abundantly. . .
Opinions, Conferences, Sayings and Instructions, VI, p. 63
1.22 Marcellin’s compassion for the poor
One day, he was summoned on a sick call and hurried to the address, where he found a poor unfortunate covered with ulcers, lying on a little straw and with only a few rags to cover his nakedness and his sores. Moved to deep compassion at the sight of so much suffering and such great poverty, he first of all spoke a few sympathetic words to the sick man; then he ran home, sent for the Brother bursar and told him to go at once to the sick man’s place, taking along a straw mattress, sheets and blankets. The Brother pointed out that there was no spare mattress. "What!" he was asked, "not a single one in the house?" "Not one," came the reply, "and you may remember, Father, that I gave away the last one only a few days ago." "Well," he went on, "take the one from my bed and see that he gets it at once." It was not unusual for him to deprive himself in order to help the poor or to cater for the needs of his Brothers.
During the two months’ holidays, he often talked to the directors on the way the houses were to be governed, on the material administration and on the direction of the classes. In these talks, he gave great play to the qualities necessary for a good superior and the way to obtain them; to the obligations of a teacher and of a Brother Director, and to the way these duties should be carried out.
In his talks to them, the holy Founder left his Brothers completely free to put forward their difficulties and their doubts, and whatever was causing them trouble in the details of their work. The Brothers took full advantage of this freedom, and each one made his observations, put forward what he thought on a whole pile of questions of administration, or of the running of their houses, or asked him to point out what was in line with the Rule or with the spirit of the congregation in such and such circumstances, or how to act in all the situations in which a Br Director has to give a ruling.
He often took the senior Brothers as a kind of council, and did practically nothing without getting their opinion. He wanted to initiate the Brothers into the business of the Institute and to consult them on the rules he was drawing up and on the methods of teaching he wanted to adopt. This was a sure way of training their thinking, of putting their ideas right, of developing their judgement, so that they could deal with things later intelligently and successfully. Sometimes, after discussing the pros and cons of some measure in council, he confided the business to a Brother and left it to him to carrying it out successfully. But once the work was completed, the Brother had to give an account of how he had done it. The Founder then praised and approved what had been done well; pointed out how it could have been done to avoid some difficulty, overcome some obstacle, win over someone who disagreed, or simply said that if it had been done differently, it would have been done better.
2: Brother and Laity, together in mission, in the Church and in the world
2.1 Marcellin’s encouragement of others in the Christian education of youth:
May our Good Mother bless all your undertakings, bless you yourself, and preserve you for a long time in her good work which you direct.
Champagnat to Fr Mazelier, Superior of the Brothers of Christian Instruction, Letters 122
Since we all have the same aim and work for the same master, we want to be always united to you and work together with you.
I should like the same charity which binds you together as members of a single body to extend as well to all other Institutes. By the boundless love of Jesus Christ, I call on you most solemnly to beware of ever envying anybody, especially those whom God has called to the Religious Life to labour, like you, for the education of youth. Be the first to rejoice at their successes and to grieve at their misfortune. Recommend them often to God and to Mary. Yield to them without difficulty. Never give ear to any rumours that may discredit them. Let only the glory of God and the honour of Mary be your one aim and ambition.
Spiritual Testament, Constitutions and Statutes
2.4 Sharing in the education of children:
Three classes of persons have a share in the education of the child, namely the parents, the priest and the teacher.
1. The parents are the natural educators placed by Almighty God in charge of the child from his very cradle. It is they, in reality, who possess in the highest degree that affection and authority which are the two chief factors in education.
2. The priest is the representative of the Church who holds from her divine Founder Himself her mission of universal educator (Matt. 28:19-20). And besides this direct mission, the Church has a controlling authority over the moral and religious education provided both by the family and by the school.
3. The teacher who is the substitute and the coadjutor of the parents and of the priest, holds the next highest place in education, because his influence is exercised systematically over a period of years and at a time when the child is most susceptible to the influences around him.
The Teacher’s Guide, 1931, pp. 183-184
2.5 Image of Church as Communion
Communion with Jesus, which gives rise to the communion of Christians among themselves, is an indispensable condition for bearing fruit: "Apart from me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5). . . Communion and mission are profoundly connected with each other, they interpenetrate and mutually imply each other, to the point that communion represents both the source and the fruit of mission. . . On her part, the Church knows that the communion received by her as a gift is destined for all people.
Who then has this mission of evangelising? The Second Vatican Council gave a clear reply to this question: it is upon the Church that "there rests by divine mandate, the duty of going out into the whole world and preaching the gospel to every creature." And in another text: ". . . the whole Church is missionary, and the work of evangelisation is a basic duty of the People of God." . . .While the Church is proclaiming the Kingdom of God and building it up, she is establishing herself in the midst of the world as a sign and sacrament of this Kingdom which is and which is to come.
The whole Church therefore is called upon to evangelise, and yet within her we have different evangelising tasks to accomplish. The diversity of services in the unity of the same mission makes up the richness and beauty of evangelisation.
2.9 All the baptised are called to mission
The lay faithful, precisely because they are members of the Church, have the vocation and mission of proclaiming the Gospel: they are prepared for this work by the sacraments of Christian initiation and by the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Opening wide the doors to Christ, accepting him into humanity itself poses absolutely no threat to persons, indeed it is the only road to take to arrive at the total truth and the exalted value of the human individual.
This vital synthesis will be achieved when the lay faithful know how to put the Gospel and their daily duties of life into a most shining and convincing testimony, where not fear but the loving pursuit of Christ and adherence to him will be the factors determining how a person is to live and grow, and these will lead to new ways of living more in conformity with human dignity.
Humanity is loved by God! This very simple yet profound proclamation is owed to humanity by the Church. Each Christian’s words and life must make this proclamation resound: God loves you, Christ came for you, Christ is for you "the Way, the Truth and the Life!" (Jn 14:6)
The Second Vatican Council confirmed this tradition in its description of the missionary character of the entire People of God and of the apostolate of the laity in particular, emphasising the specific contribution to missionary activity which they are called to make. The need for all the faithful to share in this responsibility is not merely a matter of making the apostolate more effective, it is a right and duty based on their baptismal dignity, whereby "the faithful participate, for their part, in the threefold mission of Christ as Priest, Prophet and King."
Let’s make real partners of everyone who wants to share in our spirituality and our Mission. Let’s take the risk of losing a little power and be daring enough to collaborate freely with laypeople, not because there are far fewer of us now, but because we recognise their vocation and mission as baptised Christians.
XIX General Chapter, Message, 19
2.10 The Church and people of other faiths
At the beginning of the declaration on the relationship of the Church to non-Christian religions, the attention of the Church is drawn to "our times when every day people are being drawn closer together and the ties between various peoples are being multiplied. . . All peoples comprise a single community, and have a single origin. . . The Church rejects nothing which is true and holy in these religions. . . Through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other faiths, and in witness of Christian faith and life, acknowledge, preserve and promote the spiritual and moral good found in these faiths, as well as in the values in their society and culture. . . The Church rejects as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination . . . because of race colour, condition of life, or religion.
Another level (of the relationship between people of different faiths) is the dialogue of works . . . of a humanitarian, social, economic or political character which promote the liberation and development of humanity. . . The great problems besetting humanity inspire Christians to collaborate with others in the name of their respective faiths.
Dialogue and Mission, Secretariat for Non-Christians, 1984, 31
The lay faithful can favour the relations which ought to be established with followers of various religions through their example in the situations in which they live and in their activities.
The Holy Spirit, while bestowing diverse ministries in Church communion, enriches it still further with particular gifts or promptings of grace, called charisms. . . Whether they be exceptional and great or simple and ordinary, the charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit that have, directly or indirectly, a usefulness for the ecclesial community, ordered as they are to the building up of the Church, to the well-being of humanity and to the needs of the world. . . .These charisms are given to individual persons, and can even be shared by others in such ways as to continue in time a precious and effective heritage, serving as a source of spiritual affinity among persons.
Led by the Spirit, Marcellin was seized by the love that Jesus and Mary had for him and for others. His experience of this, as well as his openness to events and to people, is the wellspring of his spirituality and of his apostolic zeal. It made him sensitive to the needs of his times, especially to the ignorance concerning religion among young people and the poor circumstances in which they were placed.
His faith and eagerness to do God's will led him to realise that his mission was to "make Jesus Christ known and loved." He often said: "Every time I see a child, I long to teach him his catechism, to make him realise how much Jesus Christ has loved him." It was this attitude that led him to found our Institute for the Christian education of the young, especially those most in need .
2.13 Expressing the charism in different situations and cultures
The present-day relevance of Marcellin Champagnat’s charism is a challenge to our personal and community commitment to incarnate it in different situations and in different cultures. We all have a responsibility for this task.
2.14 Time for a new relationship between Religious and Laypeople
In recent years, one of the fruits of the teaching on the Church as communion has been the growing awareness that her members can and must unite their efforts, with a view to co-operation and exchange of gifts, in order to participate more effectively in the Church’s mission. . . Today, often as a result of new situations, many Institutes have come to the conclusion that their charism can be shared with the laity. The laity are therefore invited to share more intensely in the spirituality and mission of these Institutes. We may say that . . . a new chapter, rich in hope, has begun in the history of relations between consecrated persons and the laity.
2.15 The specific vocation of Laypeople
Lay people, whose particular vocation places them in the midst of the world and in charge of the most varied temporal tasks, must for this very reason exercise a very special form of evangelisation.
Their primary and immediate task is . . . to put to use every Christian and evangelical possibility latent but already present and active in the affairs of the world. Their own field of evangelising activity is the vast and complicated world of politics, society and economics, but also the world of culture, of the sciences and the arts, of international life, of the mass media. It also includes all the realities which are open to evangelisation, such as human love, the family, the education of children and adolescents, professional work, suffering.
The lay faithful are called by God so that they, led by the Spirit of the Gospel, might contribute to the sanctification of the world, as from within like leaven . . .
Everyone in the Church, precisely because they are members, receive and thereby share in the common vocation to holiness. In the fullness of this title and on equal par with all other members of the Church, the lay faithful are called to holiness . . .
The Lay Catholic educator is a person who exercises a specific mission within the Church by living, in faith, a secular vocation in the communitarian structure of the school; with the best possible professional qualifications, with an apostolic intention inspired by faith, for the integral formation of the human person, in a communication of culture, in an exercise of that pedagogy which will give emphasis to direct and personal contact with students, giving spiritual instruction to the educational community of which he or she is a member, as well as to all the different persons related to the educational community. To this lay person, as a member of this community, the family and the Church entrust the school’s educational endeavour.
Lay Catholic educators in schools, whether teachers, principals, administrators, or auxiliary staff, must never have any doubts about the fact that they constitute an element of great hope for the Church. The Church has confidence in them, entrusting them with the task of gradually bringing about an integration of temporal reality with the Gospel, so that the Gospel can reach into the lives of all men and women. More particularly, it has entrusted to them the integral human formation and the faith education of young people. These young people are the ones who will determine whether the world of tomorrow is more closely or loosely bound to Christ.
2.16 The specific vocation of Brothers
According to the terminology currently in use, Institutes which, by reason of their founders’ design ... have a character and purpose which do not entail the exercise of Holy Orders are called "Lay Institutes’. Nonetheless the Synod pointed out that this terminology does not adequately express the particular nature of the vocation of the members of these Religious Institutes. In fact, although they perform many works in common with lay faithful, these men do so insofar as they are consecrated, and thereby express the spirit of total self-giving to Christ and to the Church, in accordance with their specific charism.
For this reason the Synod fathers, in order to avoid ambiguity and confusion with he secular state of the lay faithful, proposed the terms Religious Institutes of Brothers. This proposal is significant, especially when we consider that the term "brother" suggests a rich spirituality. "These Religious are called to be brothers of Christ, deeply united with him, ‘the firstborn among many brothers’ (Rom 8:29); brothers to one another, in mutual love and working together in the Church in the same service of what is good; brothers to everyone, in their witness to Christ’s