This book is an examination of matters to do with the spirituality of the Catholic religious order founded in Franc in 1800s by Jean-Claude Colin, the Marist Fathers, as distinct from the Marist Brothers founded by Marcellin Champagnat. The book examines a few words in the Constitutions: 'to think as Mary, judge as Mary, feel and act as Mary in all things.' Nearly one hundred years later, in the opinion of Marist historian Jean Coste, this sentence (with two others) were themes 'of the first part of the Constitutions since 1836'. But, in its present form, it had 'such an original and direct sound', 'a vigour and striking power' of a 'mind sure of itself', and a consistency with the Founder's style that it (with the other two) were, clearly, 'dictated by Fr. Colin himself '. In this 'handful of words', we have, then, what can rightly be described as the Marist axiom: 'To think as Mary, judge as Mary, feel and act as Mary in all things'. At the very end of Coste's touchstone commentary, it is interesting to note the specific aspect that he highlights (in italics): we call the Marist spirit that common way of feeling and reacting ...

In 1830, at the age of forty, Jean-Claude Colin accepted the call of his colleagues to take charge of the Society of Mary (Marists). He had joined this project as a seminarian in Lyons, France, in 1816, along with Marcellin Champagnat, future founder of the Marist teaching brothers. Since ordination, he had been an assistant priest at Cerdon (photo below), preached revival missions in rural districts and been principal of a high school-seminary. Colin always insisted that he was only a temporary superior until someone more capable could take over. Yet, by the time he resigned in 1854, he had obtained papal approval of the priests' branch, established the Society firmly in France, especially in education, and sent fifteen expeditions of missionary priests and brothers to the remote and scattered islands of the southwest Pacific. There they planted the Catholic Church in New Zealand, Wallis and Futuna, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and New Caledonia. Between his resignation and his death in 1875, Colin wrote Constitutions for the priests and brothers of the Society of Mary and for the Marist sisters. He also left a rich spiritual teaching. For this achievement, the Society regards him, despite his reluctance, as its Founder.

Biography of this early 19th century French Marist.

A study of Louisiana French Creole sugar planters’ role in higher education and a detailed history of the only college ever constructed to serve the sugar elite The education of individual planter classes—cotton, tobacco, sugar—is rarely treated in works of southern history. Of the existing literature, higher education is typically relegated to a footnote, providing only brief glimpses into a complex instructional regime responsive to wealthy planters. R. Eric Platt’s Educating the Sons of Sugar allows for a greater focus on the mindset of French Creole sugar planters and provides a comprehensive record and analysis of a private college supported by planter wealth. Jefferson College was founded in St. James Parish in 1831, surrounded by slave-holding plantations and their cash crop, sugar cane. Creole planters (regionally known as the “ancienne population”) designed the college to impart a “genteel” liberal arts education through instruction, architecture, and geographic location. Jefferson College played host to social class rivalries (Creole, Anglo-American, and French immigrant), mirrored the revival of Catholicism in a region typified by secular mores, was subject to the “Americanization” of south Louisiana higher education, and reflected the ancienne population’s decline as Louisiana’s ruling population. Resulting from loss of funds, the college closed in 1848. It opened and closed three more times under varying administrations (French immigrant, private sugar planter, and Catholic/Marist) before its final closure in 1927 due to educational competition, curricular intransigence, and the 1927 Mississippi River flood. In 1931, the campus was purchased by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and reopened as a silent religious retreat. It continues to function to this day as the Manresa House of Retreats. While in existence, Jefferson College was a social thermometer for the white French Creole sugar planter ethos that instilled the “sons of sugar” with a cultural heritage resonant of a region typified by the management of plantations, slavery, and the production of sugar.

Stresses the fact that refounding persons are essential for the revitalization of religious life.

Marcellin Champagnat had a practical mind. This trait was evident throughout his life. He also had a strong will; it made him a determined and persistent leader. These qualities were great gifts. No doubt, at times, they could likewise be maddening. Like all of us, the future saint had those areas in his life where he fell short of the ideal. He is a saint not by his own merit, but rather because he allowed God's grace into his heart, where it took root and flourished. Marcellin Champagnat took seriously the Good News of Jesus Christ. He was a holy man because he lived his ordinary life exceptionally well, and did ordinary things with extraordinary love. Having discovered the joy of the gospel and letting it transform him, he wanted to share with other, particularly the young, all that he had seen and heard. "To love God," Marcellin often said, "to love God and to labor to make God known and loved--this is what a brother's life should be." With these few words, the future saint painted his own portrait and recounted his own story. His was a heart that knew no bounds.