WOW learns about Marcellin Champagnat
The April meeting of Women of Worth (WOW) enjoyed guest speaker, Marjorie Wallace and her talk on Marcellin Champagnat.
Marjorie, a school teacher at Marist Brothers Linmeyer, was honoured to be chosen to go on a pilgrimage to France and Rome and spoke of her sacred journey, discovering many interesting facts about Marcellin Champagnat.
“Saint Marcellin Joseph Benedict Champagnat, the son of French peasants, was born in 1789 and died in June 1840. He was born in Rozet, village of Marlhes, near St Etienne (Loire), 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.
Champagnat was ordained as a priest in 1816, and was part of a group led by Jean-Claude Colin which founded the Society of Mary, a separate religious congregation to the Marist Brothers teaching order Marcellin founded later,” she told the members.
“In 1818 Marcellin opened the first Marist school and he set the school fees at a price he knew most rural families could afford,” Marjorie added.
After the talk, members celebrated Pat Fynes-Clinton’s 80th birthday with a delicious tea and cake.
