The Marist Chirism: Foundation Of The Marist Charism

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The Marist Charism
Foundation of the Marist Brothers
The Marist Brothers are a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded by St Marcellin Champagnat. They are devoted to the Virgin Mary and committed to the education of young people, especially the least favoured. Following the spirit and attitudes of Mary since 1817 they have gained over 3500 Brothers, are now working in 79 countries on 5 continents and educating close to 654,000 children and young people.
Marcellin Champagnat was born on 20 May 1789 in the village of Le Rosey near the city of Lyon in France. Due to the French Revolution, many children did not attend school regularly including Marcellin. Marcellin noticed the lack of care and respect teachers showed their students and realised that many young people had little religious or academic education. Marcellin was determined to fight the illiteracy and spiritual poverty caused by the violence and chaos of the Revolution.
With this passion and perseverance, on the 2 January 1817, Marcellin and two other young men, Jean-Marie Granjon and Jean-Baptiste Audras, founded the religious community "The Little Brothers of Mary" (later known as the “Marist Brothers”). This community of Brothers were to make known, through their service and lives, the love of Mary and Jesus - especially where access to love and support, education and catechism was inaccessible.
Types of Work
In 1818, The Marist Brothers opened their first school in LaValla, France. The Brothers designed the school timetable to suit the farming needs of the parishioners allowing the children to be absent from school to help in the fields for planting and harvesting crops. The cost of the education at this school was at a price where the brothers kn...

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...ared and organised. Students also attend classes equipped and prepared to participate in a positive way. The students also show respect during prayer and liturgies and being compassionate and kind towards fellow classmates and teachers.
Bringing God into the Lives of the Poor
The charism “bringing God into the lives of the poor” is shown in many ways at St Peters. Each year students are encouraged to donate spare change to Project Compassion, an organisation that helps fight poverty and promote social justice for vulnerable communities worldwide. The school also holds multiple fundraisers throughout the year which donates every cent raised to charities. Staff teach their students about poverty and the lack of education some children receive and the school group “Social Justice” discusses key issues like poverty and attempts to find ways to improve its current state.

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