01/10/2016 - General House

October 1817 - A Special Moment in the History of the Marist Sisters

We do not know the exact date but some time after 5th October 1817, Jeanne-Marie Chavoin and Marie Jotillon set out from Coutouvre for Cerdon. In that village the recently appointed parish priest, Fr Pierre Colin, was assisted by a curate, his younger brother, Jean-Claude. By this time the younger man had shared with his brother a dream articulated in St Irenaeus Seminary just the year before at the shrine of  Fourvière. There a group of 12 newly ordained priests and seminarians had pledged themselves to begin the Society of Mary. They envisaged this Society as a Tree with Many Branches which would encompass men, women, vowed and non-vowed - all missioned in the name of Mary - to be instruments of mercy in post-revolutionary France and beyond...

Prior to his appointment in Cerdon, Pierre had been the curate in Coutouvre where he came to know well Jeanne-Marie and Marie. On hearing Jean-Claude's vision and remembering the aspirations of the two faith-filled women, he wrote to Jeanne-Marie and invited her to travel to Cerdon and meet with himself and his brother. Though we do not have this letter, we know she went without delay. There is no record of what took place at that meeting but the result is clear. After years of searching and turning down various offers, Jeanne-Marie collected Marie and the two set out... Years later, the foundress was to say of that moment:

"We left home and family to begin the Society of Mary." 

Clearly that was the "Fourvière" moment for the two women who were to become the first Marist Sisters. It was the moment of intention, the moment of commitment.

So, we who follow in their footsteps prepare ourselves to celebrate the Bicentenary of that commitment.

The prayer below is a first step to focus our gaze towards October 2017:

 Creator God, who called each of us into being,
thank you for all the graces bestowed upon Jeanne-Marie Chavoin and Marie Jotillon.

Thank you for the village in which they grew;
for their families who nurtured them in faith and love;
for the priests who served in their parish;
for calling them together
in deep friendship, in spiritual partnership, as they strove to discern your call.

By your grace they discovered the path
that would lead them beyond what they knew
and by your grace they followed it.

As we remember these women of faith and courage,
we ask you to grace us and inspire others
who, like Jeanne-Marie and Marie, may be prepared to leave what they know
and set out with Mary at their side.

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