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.

"The book also features cross-references throughout, a bibliography accompanying each entry, an elaborate appendix listing biographies according to particular categories of interest, and a comprehensive index."--BOOK JACKET.

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

Reissue of bestselling biography. Published by Bridget Williams Books. This beautifully written story of a radical nun who founded a religious congretation sold thousands of copies when it won the Book of the Year award in the 1997 Montana Book Awards. Suzanne Aubert grew up in a French provincial family in the mid-nineteenth century. Lyon's Catholic missionary spirit brought her to live with Maori girls in war-anxious 1860s Auckland. She nursed Maori and Pakeha in Hawke's Bay as the settler population swelled. Later, living up the Whanganui River at Jerusalem, she set up New Zealand's home-grown Catholic congregation, published a significant Maori text, broke in a hill farm, manufactured medicines, and gathered babies and children through the family-fracturing years of economic depression. The turn of the century sent her windswept skirts through the streets of the capital city. There she would be a constant sign of political commitment and caring for people 'of all creeds and none' until she died in 1926. 'If any New Zealand book has earned the label "long awaited", it is this one... This is a superb book, scrupulously researched...stylishly written, generously illustrated and rewarding to read... Most importantly, it speaks to our times.' - Michael King, 'New Zealand Listener'.