On this day in 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a young French priest, who had recently been assigned to the rural parish of LaValla in France, founded our congregation of the Marist Brothers.  In the short four months that he first lived in this tiny hamlet, he came to see a great need for education for the young people of his area who had almost no instruction in the faith and even less hope of a real future. With two young recruits, no money and a dream of impacting the lives of many young people, Marcellin began our order of teaching Brothers on January 2, 1817. His dream continues to live today in 82 countries around our world and is carried forth by not only the approximately 3,000 Marist Brothers worldwide, but also the more than 75,000 Lay Marists, who share in making our charism a reality in the lives of almost 1 Million students each year.

As today’s Marists of Champagnat, may we be as daring as Marcellin in having the confidence to place our hopes and needs into the heart of Mary, our Good Mother. Let us trust that she will continue to inspire and guide us in making her Son known and loved in the hearts of all the young people who continue to be entrusted to our care. 

When Marcellin began this dream, he and those early young Brothers had no resources except for great faith, a deep family spirit and the willingness to work hard to make their dream a reality. As we embrace and carry forth that dream and that same Marist family spirit today, may we be as confident that our hard work will continue to impact countless lives in the years ahead.