FEATURES OF LAY MARIST LIFE

Extended Bureau of the Laity Features of lay Marist life
little the brothers, the animators, the teachers…
who dedicated hours, efforts and evenings
to children, young people, families or to
any person who needed their support, their
understanding or their help. I discovered hours
full of love, of patience, of silent presence and
I learnt to fill my hours with this love towards
others. (Spain)
Passionate
to spread the mission
In our visit to L’Hermitage there was an amazing
sense of common bond and mission amongst
all the teachers from the Marist schools of South
Africa who were at the Hermitage, as well as with
those from Marist schools in other countries. We
did not understand each other’s languages, yet
we still felt an unspoken closeness and sense of
fraternity- we all shared the same vision to further
develop the ethos in our schools and very
evidently we shared a deep love for the work of
Champagnat and for the man himself, with his
‘strong mind and gentle heart’. I am so thankful
to have had this opportunity as it further
strengthened my commitment to all that St. Marcellin
Champagnat stood for and still stands for
today. It gave me the resolve to return home with
an even greater passion to ensure that the Marist
1
ethos permeated every aspect of the school.
(South Africa)
do not understand an experience of faith and
I of Marist spirituality without a clear and radical
choice for the poor, especially for children and
young people, for the most neglected. In this
perspective I have chosen to go beyond the enclosure
of the school. (Brazil)
The number of Brothers diminishes, because
vocations are scarce, while the work, on the
contrary, multiplies. Because of this, opening
up to lay people becomes necessary. Aware of
this problem, I commit myself to belonging to
the Marist Fraternity, to help them continue the
Marist Mission in Madagascar. (Madagascar)
This state of life (which is translated by a vocation
of service to others, with young people,
presence, work, learning with them, from them,
attentiveness, advice, being with them, in class,
in games, in meetings, camps, walks, recreation
times, in their celebrations, in their life) makes
the richness of the closeness of others gratifying
and that is why it is worth giving your life for
young people. (Mexico)
By always working with the most neglected of
young people, I have tried to situate myself
in the perspective of the struggles of a popular
movement which seeks its full citizenship, especially
in the domain of the rights of the child. But
as a Christian and as an educator I try to avoid
making the poor merely a sociological category,
an abstract group. The poor person is the face of
Christ for me. From that comes the importance of
the personal relationship. (Brazil)
Our Apostolates were: (1) Picking a stubborn
student, observing and advising him to make
his feelings acceptable with a view of making
him improve. (2) Teaching people who have not
had the chance to receive formal instructions in
education centers. (3) Solidarity with the poor at
Christmas or any other feast days. (4) Teaching
Catechism. The four apostolates are not different
from what Marist Brothers do in the spirit of
Marist Family of Champagnat. (Nigeria)
Another joy of mine is to do what Father
Champagnat used to ask: to form the children
into “good Christians and good citizens,”