MARCELLIN CHAMPAGNAT
WHO WAS MARCELLIN CHAMPAGNAT?
1789 – 1840
Saint Marcellin Joseph Benedict Champagnat “whose heart knew no bounds” was born in Le Rosey, village of Marlhes, near St. Etienne, France. He was the founder of the Marist Brothers, a religious congregation of men in the Roman Catholic Church devoted to the Virgin Mary and dedicated to education. His feast day is June 6th.
Champagnat was ordained as a priest in 1816, and was part of a group led by Jean-Claude Colin, who founded the Society of Mary, a separate religious congregation to the Marist Brothers teaching order Marcellin founded later. Marcellin was born in the year of the storming of the Bastille, the start of the French Revolution. The religious, political, economic and social unrest of the times he lived influenced his priorities and life path.
Champagnat was ordained as a priest in 1816, and was part of a group led by Jean-Claude Colin, who founded the Society of Mary, a separate religious congregation to the Marist Brothers teaching order Marcellin founded later. Marcellin was born in the year of the storming of the Bastille, the start of the French Revolution. The religious, political, economic and social unrest of the times he lived influenced his priorities and life path.
