2. The Inspiration

In our last episode we left our twelve young men climbing the hill of

Fourvière. Well, it is a high hill, a long climb, so while they continue their climb let us consider what brought them to make this trek.

The leader of the group at this time is newly ordained Fr. Jean-Claude

Courveille. He grew up about twenty miles from the city of Le Puy where there was an ancient shrine of our Lady. When a teenager, he contracted smallpox which impaired his eyesight. He wanted to be a priest, but could not see well enough to do the required studies. In about 1810, he went on a pilgrimage to the shrine in Le Puy. While there he dabbed some of the oil from the lamps that burned before the statue of our Lady, and experienced a healing. He could see! He could study! He could pursue his dream of becoming a priest!

He returned to the shrine every year to give thanks to our Lady, and while he

was there in 1812, he seemed to hear Mary speaking to him interiorly, in his heart, saying, “Here is what I want. I have always imitated my Divine Son in everything. I followed Him to Calvary itself, standing at the foot of the Cross when He gave His life for man’s salvation. Now in heaven, sharing His glory, I follow His path still, in the work He does for His church on earth. Of this Church, I am the Protectress. I am like a powerful army, defending and saving souls. When a fearful heresy threatened to convulse the whole of Europe, my Son raised up His servant, Ignatius, to form a Society under His name, calling itself the Society of Jesus, with members called Jesuits, to fight against the hell unleashed against His Church. In the same way in this last age of impiety and unbelief, it is my wish and the wish of my Son, that there be another Society, one consecrated to me, one which will bear my name, which will call itself the Society of Mary and whose members will call themselves Marists, to battle against hell...”

The language is somewhat archaic, but the message is clear. Just as Jesus

had inspired the founding of the Jesuits in the 16th century to help the Church in the struggle against the Protestant Reformation, so now Jesus and Mary wanted a new religious order, a Society of Mary, whose members would be called Marists, to grapple with rise of atheism and of attacks against religion that characterized the French Revolution and its aftermath. As we shall see, there was something about the spirit of Mary that seemed needed in the work of evangelization in the nineteenth century (and is still in need today!).

But Courveille was troubled by these words. Was this really Mary, the mother of Jesus, speaking to him? Or was this the work of an evil spirit? His spiritual director told him to put it out of his mind. But he could not. The thought that Mary was asking something of him would not leave him. At last his director told him to comply with the inspiration. If Mary had really spoken to him, if God really willed that the Society of Mary be founded, it would succeed. So, in 1815, during his last year of studies before ordination, he got to work on the project. To be continued…

Le Puy Valley

St Bonnet-le-Troncy: Village of Jean-Claude

Colin’s childhood.

House of Colin’s uncle where Jean-Claude

lived during his childhood.