We are brothers and lay people united in a charismatic global family that follows in the footsteps of Marcellin Champagnat. We follow Jesus in Mary’s way, we live in fraternity and we make our lives a witness of welcoming presence, especially through the education of children and young people. Since our origins, we maintain the values of Marcellin Champagnat, updating our commitment to respond to the needs that surround us.
Marcellin Champagnat was born in Marlhes (France) on May 20th, 1789. The ninth child of a deeply Christian family, he always had a great devotion to Mary and a vocation for teaching. He was ordained a priest and his meeting with the young Montagne marked his path.
“To educate, one must love”. With this idea in his head and heart, Marcellin Champagnat founded in 1817 the Institute of the Little Brothers of Mary to accompany children and young people, especially the most vulnerable. In 1863 the Holy See approved it as Marist Brothers of Schools and on April 18, 1999 Pope John Paul II canonized Marcellin Champagnat.
We are a charismatic global family that lives passionately committed to an innovative mission without borders. Today, we are almost 3,000 Marist Brothers and thousands of lay people in 81 countries on all continents. Champagnat’s Marists meet young people where they are, especially in places of material and spiritual poverty, in the peripheries and on the frontiers.
