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Spiritual Growth |
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THE SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION OF MARCELLIN CHAMPAGNAT by Br Alexander Balko from Bulletin of the Institute XXX (translated by Br Tony Butler Feb 1997)
“Each saint in the Church has a unique face. No one perfectly reflects any other, yet they each have one thing in common, as the children of the same Father, living the same life. But God raises each one in the country, the environment and the era for which each is destined, according to the plans of Providence. Each has his own character, upbringing and education, temperament and history; each has his own grace: everything is particular to that person; and also we will never have finished studying in any soul the mystery of holiness. We can never plumb the depths, which God alone knows, for he alone is the one who reaches into the depths with the gaze of the creator. To have access to the writings of a saint, especially his intimate notes, is for the historian, a real boon. But the writings themselves are written down within a particular history; they must be illuminated by circumstances, by events, by everything which influences them.” Our wish for a more direct and a deeper understanding of our Founder must not underestimate the contribution of the handwritten notes which convey his ‘resolutions.’ The manuscripts are in the form of five little notebooks (14 by 10 cm) consisting of sheets folded in two and pinned together in the middle. One of the notebooks has only two sheets. We find, on the other hand, a separate sheet in a somewhat different form. In general, the same notebook includes several different series of resolutions, often without any distinguishing date or clear transition. It is only an analysis of the contents and the mode of expression which allows, in a certain number of cases, the assignment of approximate or probable dates. Relying on the dated notes and taking account of the slightest indications, we can establish a series of spiritual markers which stretch from 1810 to 1828. If we add to this lot the few historical facts concerning the youth of Marcellin Champagnat, we have enough traces to be able to follow with some degree of certainty the road of his spiritual evolution. To speak of evolution is to refer to a series of changes, of struggles, in the progress. It is to envisage the life of a saint as a dynamic process. This view is particularly apt when it comes to the career of Marcellin Champagnat, in whom the work of God’s grace had to conquer a rich and powerful nature, to allow him to put himself at the service of the Church. Brother Jean-Baptiste, adopting the perspective of the hagiography of his time, has yielded to a delicate gymnastic of omissions and retouchings to present us with an image of perfection from the youthful years of our hero. It is this wish to create an a priori sanctity which explains some of corrections in the writings of St Therese of the Child Jesus. Today we have a clearer picture of how this poorly oriented zeal has distorted the virile temperament of this pioneer of contemporary holiness. What we know of Father Champagnat allows us to appreciate what a very dynamic personality he had. It is natural that such a temperament should prove difficult to restrain during the years of youth. That explains why, according to the testimony of Fr Bedoin, parish priest of La Valla from 1824 to 1856, the companions of Champagnat were still called, even after 1856, “the giddy guys from Marlhes.” [or: the companions of MC were still referred to ‘the little lightheaded ones from Marlhes’] This good priest, who had a high regard for our Blessed Founder, records yet again that during his seminary years, Champagnat was part of the “joyous band.” He speaks of a “solid and lasting conversion” of the young man after the death of one of his companions [Denis Duplay], and a “salutary reprimand from Fr Linossier, Professor of Rhetoric, who knew his family.” It has to be said that these observations of the parish priest of La Valla correlate with the few historical facts which we have and help us to establish a context for the spiritual notes of Champagnat. From a pious childhood and from a strict family upbringing there follows an explosion of adolescence during the first years at Verrières. This could well be called providential because it allows a rich nature to express itself between the discipline imposed during childhood and the strict regime adopted - with full consciousness - in the major seminary at Lyons. The disorganised times at Verrières allowed him to avoid the repression of that explosive dynamism which will be one of the characteristics of the vital, exciting career and fertile life of Marcellin Champagnat. It is also, perhaps, one of the secrets of his effective apostolate and at the same time the attraction and charm and influence which he exercised on all around him. Marcellin remained a man while he became a saint. The absence of any resolutions concerning chastity in the whole series of personal notes, shows, amongst other things, that the young man preserved the virtue of purity completely - the fruit of a fervent Christian childhood. We know that the first year in the minor seminary ended with a failure. If Marcellin was able to take up his studies again at the beginning of the new scholastic year, it was thanks to his mother who took him on a pilgrimage to the tomb of St Francis Regis at La Louvesc, and persuaded Fr Allirot to intervene with the superior of the seminary, Fr Périer. It is then that the young man takes those resolutions that will have a favourable effect on his studies and his conduct, but he will also have many years of struggle and cooperation with grace to conquer a nature which was both strong and generous. The notes from the third year of the seminary (1807-8), testify that if the work was satisfactory the conduct was not entirely so, for it was assessed as “mediocre.” Five years later, his last year at the minor seminary (1812-3), the committed attitude of the young man and his fidelity to the grace which he begged, had attained the desired results: he studied “beaucoup” (a great deal), and his conduct was judged “très bonne”. In the meantime, the minor seminary of Verrières, which avoided suppression following the visit of a Vicar General in 1808, was taken in hand by Fr Barou in 1809 and rapidly progressed along the road to hard work and fervour. In the develoopment of this spiritual life we see at work a generous temperament, one rich in human strength, acting together with the grace of holiness which he pleaded for. It is not difficult to see that this grace was offset by an heroic fidelity. Champagnat did not play at hide and seek: he had the courage to look in the face the forces which distanced him from his ideal, to call them by their name, and to take the most energetic means to conquer them. First cycle: the progress of the seminarian. 1810-11 O my Saviour and my God, I promise never more to offend you, to make acts of faith, of hope and similar acts every time I think of them, and not to return to the inn without necessity, to avoid bad companions: in a word, to do nothing that is contrary to serving you ... The first resolutions of Marcellin Champagnat testify to a solid faith, already sustained by a sense of the majesty of God. He is concerned to eliminate from his life any offence of God, which he sees especially as frequenting the taverns and the company of “the boys”. [footnote: There were a number of taverns in Verrières which the seminarians frequented. And during the holidays other seminarians, who also came from Marlhes, would go off to the tavern after the church services which they all attended. Their invitations to Marcellin met with a No.] From these humble beginnings he feels his responsibility to his vocation and wishes to respond to that, not only to avoid everything that would oppose it , but also to begin an apostolate of good example and teaching catechism. Two essential elements - a sense of the majesty of God and an apostolate to the young - were to become more and more the features of his spiritual profile. Marcellin Champagnat takes as his point of departure the simplicity and the authenticity of the real: with the grace of God and fidelity in corresponding to it, it is that life which opens before him. He is approximately twenty years of age. 1812 I confess, my Lord, that I do not know myself yet ... [footnote: Br JB changes the phrasing to: “My Lord, I do not know you yet ...”] The retreat during the Rhetoric Class, January 1812, marks a deepening in his knowledge of himself and in piety. Marcellin discovers that he is proud: I take today, 19 January 1812, the resolution to combat it, and every time it overcomes me I will do a penance which I will impose on myself. I will speak without discrimination to all my fellow students, and in every repugnance which I encounter I will recognise that it is caused through pride. Why do I despise them? ... Champagnat’s strong grasp on reality shows us how he can get to the essence of the shortcoming; his decision to combat it depends on the imposition of a penance on himself. At the same time his piety refelects a more personal and affective nuance in his development of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin and Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. At this stage we can already establish firmly the fidelity of the young seminarian to the grace of renewal brought about at Verrières by Father Barou. 1814 The holiday programme of 1814, substantially copied from a current, popular model, takes all his courage, according to various testimonies. At this time, after a year in the major seminary, the fidelity of Marcellin Champagnat starts to reflect the programme of a good seminarian. The characteristics of his holiness have already revealed themselves: fervour, decisiveness, generosity, fidelity. We can see this in his concern to be good-natured and calm? in his attention to the members of his family, as well as in his apostolic and catechetical programme. 1814-5 Resolutions which I place under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I will not speak at all in the corridors or on the stairs, by sign or otherwise, without necessity. Nor will I talk either before or after the Breviary or in class or in a lecture; in a word, I’ll keep the great silence from one recreation to another, unless there is a grave necessity. During class, conference or other exercise which requires attention, I will do the best I can to be attentive. I will strive also during recreation to be sparing of my words. The different personal notes taken during the course of the scholastic year, 1814-5, witness yet again the generous fidelity of the seminarian to the grace of place and moment: his first resolutions concentrate essentially on silence and application to study. At the same time his devotion to the Blessed Virgin seems to enter here into a decisive stage, corresponding to a special consecration of a promise of perpetual chastity taken at the sub-diaconate. The discovery of the importance of baptism probably corresponds to a similar suggestion. I will guard against slandering anyone under any pretext whatsoever? My God, you know my misery, have pity on me, I beg you. Holy Virgin, you know I am your slave. Today, the vigil of the Ascension, the vigil of the anniversary of my baptism, 3 May 1815, I renew the resolution to fulfil all I have already undertaken and I undertake again to put everything under the protection of the most Holy Virgin, Saint Martin, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga and my holy patron Marcellin. Every time, after the evening examen, I find myself guilty of slander, I will deprive myself of lunch. Every time I find I am guilty of some falsehood (vanity?) or of some exaggeration I will say the Miserere to ask the pardon of God ... The personal deepening follows its course with struggles against new manifestations of pride or arrogance, such as backbiting and those falsehoods which proceed from vanity. They find a powerful remedy in those ascetical activities which attract generous natures. 1815 In contrast to the holiday programme of 1814, that of 1815 carries all the marks of a strong personal growth. It testifies so much the more to his assimilation of the ‘monastic’ programme of Fr Gardette. It comes down, at the end, to prayer and study. At the same time his catechetical programme for the children becomes something he takes for granted. Three devotions establish themselves: devotion to the Blessed Virgin, to St Francis Regis, and to his baptism. 1816 The few pages of notes from the ordination retreat take us by surprise by their sparse realism. Champagnat has become the perfect monk who concentrates his life on the Eucharist, prayer, visiting the sick. [This perfection becomes a closed vessel, carrying within it the contradiction which will, once it makes contact with the real world of the apostolate, split certain things open and put them back together again.?] 1 The period after dinner will be consecrated to visiting the sick of the parish , if there are any. But before setting out, I will always visit the Blessed Sacrament. I will do this every time I have to go out on a sick-call. On my return, I will also make a visit ... 2 I will read, once a year, the rubrics of the missal. 3 I will always make a half hour prayer, as far as I can before leaving my room. 4 I will not say Mass without having spent previously a quarter of an hour in preparation and as much time in thanksgiving. And that is all!
Second Cycle: the practical life puts his resolutions to the test. 1818 Collection of new resolutions which I take and which I place under the protection of the Blessed Virgin. 1 I renew my resolution never to omit my prayers. 2 In the course of the day I will always make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin. 3 Every time I go out , either to see a sick person or for any other reason, I will also go to visit the Blesed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin. 4 Every time that I find, in my Examen, myself guilty of slander, I will take three strokes of the discipline. 5 An equal number when I boast. 6 I will not omit to make my examination of conscience every night. 7 Every time I am not faithful to fulfilling these resolutions, three strokes of the discipline in union with the sufferings of Jesus Christ; and in the three strokes I intend an act of love of the Blessed Trinity, as well as an act of faith; and I beg the Blessed Virgin to make this paltry action acceptable to the Sovereign Master of all creatures. 8 I will read these resolutions every month. We come to realise that his entry into the ministry constituted an important turning point for Marcellin Champagnat. These resolutions (which refer to a previous lot - “I renew my resolution never to omit my prayers”) witness to an energetic resumption after a certain loss of direction produced by the unforeseen demands of the actual apostolate. It was necessary to provide against irregularities in the exercises of piety and the reappearance of those natural faults such as backbiting and boasting. We note immediately that it is only a slight hitch in the programme of perfection of the new young priest Champagnat. What witnesses to that is the absence of fundamental points to do with the priesthood, like the Mass, sermons, teaching catechism, chastity, the recitation of the breviary and so on.
The “three strokes of the discipline” which appear three times in eight points, testify eloquently to the resolve and the fervour of the young priest. “You advance in perfection because of the violence which you impose upon yourself” (The Imitation of Christ). In view of his active personality and his success, Marcellin Champagnat would have been able to follow the road with ease; he would have become a much loved and appreciated priest, but not a saint. He would have allowed himself at the same time to fall into the trap of ascetical performances and to centre his attention on an all-powerful will or a narrow rigorism. The offering in honour of the Trinity is a remarkable sign of good balance and also of the depth of his faith. The addition of numbers 9, 10, 11 to the preceding list witnesses above all to the maturity of the sacerdotal spirituality in the soul of the young priest. This is only outlined in the preceding resolutions (the offering of the three strokes to the Blessed Trinity in union with the sufferings of Jesus Christ), becoming here a sign of a life ripening in the sun of meditation and prayer. 9 Lord, all that is on earth and in heaven is yours. I myself desire also to be for you a completely voluntary oblation, and to be unchangeably and eternally yours. The Sulpician theology of identification with Christ the High Priest establishes itself in the heart of Marcellin Champagnat in a personal bond with the Saviour: “I would remind myself always that I carry Jesus Christ in myheart .” 1820 The review of 12 October 1820 quite confirms the attitude of vigilance in regard to certain natural defects and fidelity to the exercises of piety, witnessing above all to a strong and fervent progress towards perfection: greater gentleness, more recollection, preparation of the subject of meditation, study of theology. 1821 On the occasion of the anniversary of his baptism (May 1821), Marcellin Champagnat renewed his commitment to the essentials of the programme he set himself as a seminarian in 1815, witnessing equally to an athletic approach [muscular Christianity?] to the ascetic and spiritual life which is far from ordinary. 1828 We understand then, that the note of 25 July 1828 might only be a small glimpse [wisp of straw]?, without any appreciable result, at the end of a review of life: I renew the resolutions above (1820), and in particular nos 2, 3, 4 (greater gentleness, recollection, preparation of the subject for meditation). This strongly resembles a declaration of peace or rather of victory, especially in the battle of the ascetic and spiritual life . Champagnat , approaching forty years of age, has given proof of an exemplary fidelity to the grace of God. For the ten or so years which he has left to live will still include great trials, above all in the area of obedience, but that will not shake his attitude of fidelity. God exploits to the full the good will of faithful souls: “Because you have found favour with God, you must undergo the trial of temptation.” (Tobit 12:13) Reflection In the course of the evolution of the interior life of Marcelling Champagnat we have observed the complete conquest, thanks to grace, of a rich and dynamic nature. By opening up to life and generosity, Champagnat avoided those antagonistic forces which might otherwise have easily distracted a soul predestined to follow the path towards God and the ideal of a vocation: such were the attraction towards the “joyous band” and also pride in all its forms. Amongst the traits which seem to be most inborn in the personality of Marcellin Champagnat we note his sense of the majesty of God, an expression of which opens the draft of the first resolutions , and which develops in his priestly spirituality as an offering to the Father in union with the sacrifice of Christ. His preoccupation with catechising the children is also one of his personal characteristics. The adoption of manual work into the programme witnesses to his independence as much as to his personal tastes. (This attitude is always a partner of humility.) In the course of these notes on the evolution of Marcellin Champagnat, it becomes evident that his spiritual development is plainly bound up with the influence of his milieu [environment]: a fervent childhood under a maternal aegis, a certain dissipation resulting from the disorder that reigned in the beginning at Verrières, serious conversion and decided progress with the reforms of Fr Barou, and a quasi-monastic spirituality under the impetus of Fr Gardette. Likewise, his devotion to Mary finds a veritable turning grace in the exhortations which accompany his preparation for the sub-diaconate. On the other hand we suggest a solid interior which shows something of an indifference to the vicissitudes, however grave, of the practical life. Marcellin Champagnat made no allusions to the cares of a founder, nor to any of the difficulties he had, during several years, with Fr Rebod and various other ecclesiastical authorities. It seems that this surface swell never succeeded in disturbing the intimate sanctuary where the soul pursues its dialogue with its God.
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