Jean-Claude Colin, Superior General of the Society of Mary

Jean-Claude Colin, Superior General of the Society of Mary
Chapters of a biography
These chapters are still in draft form. No use may be made of them – including quotation –
without permission of the author.
© Justin Taylor, s.m. 2016
1.
Introduction
The story so far
Jean-Claude Colin was born on 7 August 1790 in the village of Saint-Bonnet-le-
Troncy (Rhône), into a family of small landowners, who worked their own property and
earned extra money as weavers. He grew up in the tumultuous years of the French Revolution
(chapter 1) and received his education at a series of minor seminaries (chapter 2) and at the
major seminary of Saint-Irénée in Lyons, where he was ordained to the priesthood for the
diocese on 22 July 1816 (chapter 3). During his last years at Saint-Irénée, a fellow
seminarian, Jean-Claude Courveille, initiated a project for a ‘Society of Mary’, whose
members would be called ‘Marists’. A number of students adhered to the plan, including
Colin and Marcellin Champagnat. It was to include teaching brothers (Champagnat’s
particular project), sisters and lay people, as well as priests. Twelve of them signed a
commitment to found this Society and gave solemn expression to their pledge on 23 July
1816 at the Marian shrine of Fourvière, which dominates the city of Lyons.
Jean-Claude was appointed as curate to his brother Pierre in the parish of Cerdon
(Ain), a village on the road between Lyons and Geneva (chapter 4). This was his
apprenticeship to priestly ministry and acquainted him with the real needs of people. During
those years he also wrote a ‘rule’ for the Society of Mary (chapter 5). In 1822 Courveille,
who was regarded as the group’s leader, and Jean-Claude and Pierre Colin signed a letter to
Pope Pius VII outlining the Marist project and asking for his approval. The pope sent back an
encouraging letter and referred them to the papal nuncio in Paris. Jean-Claude Colin made
two visits to him, but without any concrete results (chapter 6).
2
Up till now, all the Marist aspirants were in the same diocese of Lyons. Their project
was complicated when this diocese was divided. The Colin brothers at Cerdon found
themselves in the new diocese of Belley, separated from the others. In 1824, they were joined
by a third priest, Étienne Déclas. They felt that they now had a community of Marist priests,
who could engage in a common apostolic mission (chapter 7). During these years, a young
woman called Jeanne-Marie Chavoin, already known to Pierre Colin, came to Cerdon as
housekeeper at the presbytery and eventually began, with Marie Jotillon, a community of
Marist sisters. Meanwhile, in the diocese of Lyons, Marcellin Champagnat had established
the first community of ‘Little Brothers of Mary’ in 1817 at La Valla. The brothers soon
flourished, and, in 1824, Champagnat built ‘The Hermitage’, near Saint-Étienne, to serve as a
novitiate and formation house. At the same time, Courveille was busy organising sisters’
communities and planning a Society of Mary of brothers and priests, in which he would be
superior general and Champagnat director of the brothers. Lay groups also began in both
dioceses.
In 1825 the three Marist priests at Cerdon left for Belley, which became the base for a
small team preaching missions in the villages of the Bugey Mountains (chapter 8). The sisters
also came to Belley and began to consolidate their community and recruit vocations. The
following year, Jean-Claude Courveille fell from grace and left the nascent Society (chapter
9). The Marists continued in the two dioceses, those in Lyons, priests as well as brothers,
centring on Marcellin Champagnat at the Hermitage, and those in Belley, priests and sisters,
centring on Jean-Claude Colin. In 1829 Bishop Devie of Belley appointed him superior
(principal) of a high school that was both a minor seminary for the diocese and a college for
lay students (chapter 10).
There was an obvious risk that the two groups of Marists would drift apart and
become separate diocesan congregations. In 1830, to counteract this tendency, the Marist
priests of Belley and Lyons elected Jean-Claude Colin ‘Central superior’ or ‘Centre of
union’, with the principal task of keeping them united (chapter 11). At the same time the
other ‘branches’ of the Society of Mary – the Marist brothers and sisters – regarded him as
their highest superior, and he was also responsible for the lay groups in the two dioceses. In
1833 he went to Rome seeking papal recognition of the Society. Although Pope Gregory XVI
and several cardinals received him kindly, the scheme for a multi-branch Society under a
single superior met with opposition, and Colin returned to Belley empty-handed – except for
a grant of indulgences to the Third Order (chapter 12). In 1835 the Roman Congregation for
the Propagation of the Faith (de Propaganda Fide – today The Evangelisation of Peoples)
3
began to plan a new missionary territory in Western Oceania. In 1836, this was entrusted to
the Society of Mary, with Jean-Baptiste Pompallier, one of the group of aspiring Marists, as
vicar apostolic. Pope Gregory XVI recognised the priests’ branch of the Society, and, on 24
September, Jean-Claude Colin was elected superior general, and he and the other priests (but
not Bishop Pompallier) made their religious vows (chapter 13).
Sources
AFM
Archivio dei Fratelli Maristi
APM
Archivio dei Padri Maristi
AR 1
Autour de la Règle – I, Règlements et pratiques maristes du vivant de JeanClaude Colin (doc. 1-26), edited by Jean Coste, s.m. and Gaston Lessard,
s.m. (FHSM; Rome: Via Alessandro Poerio 63, 1991).
ASM
Acta Societatis Mariae
AT
Antiquiores textus Constitutionum Societatis Mariae, edited anonymously
by Jean Coste, s.m., Gaston Lessard, s.m. and Seán Fagan, s.m. (FHSM, 6
fascicles, with an introductory fascicle; Rome, 1955).
CD
Conférences et discours de Jean-Claude Colin en paroisses, missions,
retraites de jeunes dans les années 1816-1830, edited by Bernard Bourtot,
s.m. (FHSM; Rome: Via Alessandro Poerio, 63, 2013).
CF
Colin fondateur. Jean-Claude Colin de 1854 à 1875, Correspondance et
autres documents, edited by Gaston Lessard, s.m. (FHSM; Rome: Via
Alessandro Poerio, 63, 2014).
Chronology
Jean-Claude Colin (1790-1875), Founder of the Society of Mary:
Descriptive Chronology of His Life, compiled by Alois Greiler, s.m. (Rome,
privately printed, 2014).
CMJ
Correspondence of Mother Saint-Joseph, Foundress of the Marist Sisters
(1786-1858), Historical Committees of the Marist Fathers and Sisters
(FHSM; Rome and Anzio, 1966).
CS 1
“Colin sup”: Documents pour l’étude du généralat de Jean-Claude Colin
(1836-1854), vol. I, De l’élection au voyage à Rome (1836-1842; doc. 1392), edited by Gaston Lessard, s.m.
Poerio, 63, 2007).
(FHSM; Rome: Via Alessandro
4
CS 2
“Colin sup”: Documents pour l’étude du généralat de Jean-Claude Colin
(1836-1854), vol. II, Du voyage à Rome au chapitre (1842-1845; doc. 1299), edited by Gaston Lessard, s.m.
(FHSM; Rome: Via Alessandro
Poerio, 63, 2009).
CS 3
“Colin sup”: Documents pour l’étude du généralat de Jean-Claude Colin
(1836-1854), vol. III, Du chapitre de 1845 à l’été 1848, edited by Gaston
Lessard, s.m (FHSM; Rome: Via Alessandro Poerio, 63, 2011).
CS 4
“Colin sup”: Documents pour l’étude du généralat de Jean-Claude Colin
(1836-1854), vol. IV, De l’été 1848 à la démission (1848-1854; doc. 1626), edited by Bernard Bourtot, s.m. (FHSM; Rome: Via Alessandro
Poerio, 63, 2009).
CS 5
EC
Écrits de S. Pierre Chanel, edited, presented and annotated by Claude
Rozier, s.m. (FHSM; Rome: Via Alessandro Poerio, 63, 1960)
Favre
Julien Favre, second supérieur général de la Société de Marie (1854-1885).
Documents pour l’étude du généralat Favre, edited by Bernard Bourtot,
s.m. (FHSM, 3 volumes; Rome, 2012).
FA
A Founder Acts: Reminiscences of Jean-Claude Colin by Gabriel-Claude
Mayet, selected and introduced by Jean Coste, s.m., in an English
translation by William Joseph Stuart, s.m. and Anthony Ward, s.m. (Rome:
Via Alessandro Poerio 63, 1983).
FHSM
Fontes Historici Societatis Mariae
FN
Forum Novum (Rome: Via Alessandro Poerio 63, vols. 1-11 [1989-2009] in
print; available also online and all issues from vol. 12 [2010] only at:
www.mariststudies.org/docs/Forum_Novum]).
FS
A Founder Speaks: Spiritual Talks of Jean-Claude Colin, selected and
introduced by Jean Coste, s.m., translated by Anthony Ward, s.m. (Rome:
Via Alessandro Poerio 63, 1975).
IMJ
Index Mother Saint-Joseph, Foundress of the Marist Sisters (1786-1858),
Historical Committees of the Marist Fathers and Sisters (FHSM; Rome,
1977).
Instructions
Les avis de Jean-Claude Colin au personnel du petit séminaire de
Belley/Jean-Claude Colin’s Instructions to the Staff of the Minor Seminary
5
of Belley, by François Drouilly, with English translation by Charles Girard;
in appendix, Colin’s text edited by Gaston Lessard, with English translation
by William J. Stuart and presentation by Anthony Ward (Maristica, textus
et studia 3; Centre for Marist Studies: Rome, 1990.
Jeantin
[Jean Jeantin], Le Très Révérend Père Colin, fondateur et premier
supérieur général de la Société de Marie: Sa vie, ses œuvres, ses
instructions, ses vertus, son esprit (6 vols; Lyon: Emmanuel Vitte, 18951898).
Kerr
Donal Kerr, Jean-Claude Colin, Marist: A Founder in an Era of Revolution
and Restoration: The Early Years (1790-1836) (Dublin: Columba, 2000).
LM
Lay Marists: Anthology of Historical Sources, edited by Charles Girard,
s.m. (FHSM; Rome, 1993.
LRO
Lettres reçues d’Océanie par l’administration générale des pères maristes
pendant le généralat de Jean-Claude Colin: Édition critique, edited by
Charles Girard, s.m. (FHSM, 10 volumes; Paris and Rome: Éditions
Karthala and Société de Marie (Pères Maristes), 2009-2010).
Mayet
Quelques souvenirs: the unpublished memoires of Gabriel-Claude Mayet,
originals in APM.
OM 1
Origines maristes (1786-1836), vol. I, Documents contemporains (Docc. 1419), edited by Jean Coste, s.m. and Gaston Lessard, s.m. (FHSM; Rome:
Via Alessandro Poerio 63, 1960).
OM 2
Origines maristes (1786-1836), vol. II, Données narratives recueillies
avant la démission du P. Colin (Docc. 420-791), edited by Jean Coste, s.m.
and Gaston Lessard, s.m., with Seán Fagan, s.m. (FHSM; Rome: Via
Alessandro Poerio 63, 1961).
OM 3
Origines maristes (1786-1836), vol. III, De la controverse à l’histoire,
après la démission du P. Colin (Docc. 792-893), edited by Jean Coste, s.m.
and Gaston Lessard, s.m. (FHSM; Rome: Via Alessandro Poerio 63, 1965).
OM 4
Origines maristes (1786-1836), vol. IV, Compléments et index (Docc. 894912; Subsidia; Mise à jour; Synopse historique; Index), edited by Jean
Coste, s.m. and Gaston Lessard, s.m. (FHSM; Rome: Via Alessandro
Poerio 63, 1967).
PL
Migne,
Jacques-Paul,
Patrologiae cursus completus,
(Patrologia latina), 221 vols. (Paris, 1844-1855).
Latin
series
6
Poupinel
Bernard Bourtot, s.m. (ed.), Victor Poupinel: Un père mariste au service
des missionnaires de l’Océanie (1815-1884). Correspondance, 1, À Lyon,
Puylata, 1837-1857, doc. 1-361, (Fontes historici Societatis Mariae; Rome,
2014).
RMJ
Recollections: Mother Saint-Joseph, Foundress of the Marist Sisters (17861858), Historical Committees of the Marist Fathers and Sisters (FHSM;
Rome, 1974).