PRESENTATION OUTLINE
born: may 20, 1789
died: June 6, 1840
before seminary, marcellin had only gone to school one day in his whole life. on his first day, the teacher hit a boy who had answered a question incorrectly. marcellin decided he would not go back.
SEMINARY
in 1805 marcellin entered seminary. because he had never gone to school and was illiterate, he began to fail his classes. he got frustrated and started drinking. he was expelled.
SEMINARY
in 1807 he heard God's call once again and pleased to be allowed to continue studying at the seminary. he was readmitted and took his studies more seriously.
MARIST BROTHERS
- founded by marcellin champagnat in 1817
- known for their family spirit and simple gospel way of being fully presenting
- first Marist school opened in 1818 in Lavalla, France
MEMORARE IN THE SNOW
- in 1817 marcellin and a fellow Marist Brother got caught in a snowstorm.
- they wandered for hours but eventually became exhausted. they knew that soon they would freeze.
- they decided to pray a memorare asking the Blessed Mother for help.
- all of a sudden they saw a light in the distance. it was a farmer going outside to check his stables.
- he gave them shelter for the night. the unusual thing is he didn't even need to go outside to check his stables because they were connected to his house.
THE MONTAGNE EXPERIENCE
- a few months after he was ordained, marcellin visited a dying teenager named John Baptiste Montagne.
- he was horrified to find that John didn't know anything about the faith. marcellin spent the next few hours explaining it to him and John accepted Jesus as his savior
- John passed away a few days later. this experience inspired marcellin to form the Marist Brothers