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Devotion to the Founder
75. Since we are his followers and his sons, we express our affectionate reverence for Father Champagnat by our love and by our confidence in his intercession1. We study his life in order to understand his mind and heart, and to steep ourselves in his spirit2. His feast day is to be celebrated with fervour throughout the Institute, in thanksgiving to God, who endowed the Church with this apostle of youth.
Our love for the Founder extends also to Brother François, to the Brothers who have gone before us, and to all the members and works of the Institute.
75.1 Each day, by means of the religious
calendar, we recall the memory of our
deceased Brothers and the important dates of the Institute, and we read some quotations from Marist documents.
75.2 Marcellin Champagnat's feast day, June 6th, is an excellent occasion for making people more aware of the man and his work. If possible, we celebrate it with our pupils, with members of other Marist Institutes, and with the local Church.
75.3 On January 2nd we celebrate the founding of the Institute, in gratitude to God for the gift of our religious family to the Church and for the grace of our own vocation.
75.4 On 22nd January we commemorate Brother
François.
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