Achievement from the Depths: A Critical Historical Survey of the Life of Marcellin Champagnat (1789-1840)

Abstract

Marcellin Champagnat, the founder of the present-day Marist Brothers of the Schools, was born on 20th May 1789 in the hamlet of Le Rozey in the commune of Marlhes in South-eastern France. It is coincidental that the year of the birth of this man, who was to revolutionize some important aspects of education in France, was also the year of the outbreak of possibly the most influential of the world's revolutions. The French Revolution became anti-religious, yet the education in Christian principles of France's youth was the goal of Marcellin's life-work. We shall follow Marcellin's life throughout his youth and during his most difficult years of study prior to his ordination as a priest in the Catholic Church, stressing the experiences he judged to be of most value.