Even though he had decided nine months earlier (cf. L. 236) not to open the establishment in Vauban until 1840, Fr. Champagnat finds himself constrained to do so a year earlier. The authority of the bishop and the problems in Semur (cf. L. 258) must have counted for a great deal in this new decision. Fr. Colin must have intervened in the matter only because he had been asked for a Marist Father to act as chaplain. That could not be done from the outset, and the bishop assigned Fr. Beurrier provisionally (cf. Annales de Vauban, AFM, 212.54, pp. 4-5). Fr. Ducharne will come only later to replace him permanently. Fr. Colins approval must therefore have been only a promise, which will not prevent Fr. Champagnat from going ahead and meeting the bishop to work out the details and sign an agreement (Annales de Vauban, p. 3). The novitiate was opened officially on 8th December 1839, with Fr. Champagnat in attendance.

My Lord,

Knowing how eager you are to reach a decision about your establishment in Vauban, I hasten to inform you that Father Superior General has approved our acceptance of your kind offers. We will begin the establishment as soon as we have reached agreement on all points involved. My only fear is that with all our feeble efforts and good will, we may not be able to give a fitting response to what you have a right to expect from us. Mary, I know, who never abandons even the greatest sinners when they implore her help, would not leave those helpless who have vowed themselves to her with the approval of the Vicar of Jesus Christ.

I could not find a single free moment before All Saints because of the return of our brothers to their schools, but after that date I will be freer. So I ask you, My Lord, to be so good as to set the time and place of our meeting, so that we may settle everything, and so that after that, the Society of Mary and Your Grandeur may be but one heart and one soul in the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Edition: Translation from: Lettres de Marcellin J. B. Champagnat (1789-1840) Fondateur de l?Institut des Frères Maristes, présentés par Frère Paul Sester,1985.

fonte: Daprès la minute, AFM, RCLA 1, p. 132, nº 162, éditée en AAA pp. 282-283