Our first brothers, Marcellin?s marvellous company

This book by Br. Alain Delorme gives an idea of the freshness of the first years of the foundation of the Institute and of the holiness of Fr. Champagat which, like a perfume, permeated the souls of our First Brothers. Reading it gives reason for the title: they were truly marvelous companions of Marcellin.

Twenty portraits of the First Brothers are presented. Together they, they conjure up the holiness of a group, that of our Marist Family which expresses itself often by its human maturity. Our Brothers were pious but at the same time sympathetic, attentive, human, ever ready to serve.: “their heads were well on their shoulders”, as Br. Jean-Baptiste the author of their biographies. And from Marcellin, they inherited the passion of the Apostles.

This book should be available to all our young in training, to all the laity wishing to drink from the source of Marist Spirituality and also for our friends who are working with us.

A precious complement to the Life of the Founder, it reads well, each portrait concluding with a direct contact with the Brother, in a final prayer. This book also lends itself to slow, meditative reading, in which you can take your time or even can be made the substance of a retreat.

This Marist richness will be, without doubt, appreciated even more by the Brothers who love all that is “our bread” as was Br. Alfano’s expression. To look closely at our first Brothers is beneficial, it is like discovering ones-self, even more, it is to read our identity in the limpidity of the sources. There is a joy and a pride in having had such Brothers; it is the same joy and the same pride that we feel in regard to our Founder. In all this we are, today, able to rediscovery their generosity and their apostolic boldness.

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Br. Giovanni Maria Bigotto

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