The Marist Brothers

I beg of you, my dear Brothers, with all the affection of my soul… do all you can to ensure that charity is always maintained among you. Love one another as Jesus Christ has loved you. Be of one heart and one mind. May it be said of the Little Brothers of Mary, as of the first Christians: “See how they love one another.” This is the most ardent desire of my heart at this, the last moment of my life. Yes, my dear Brothers, listen to the words of your Father; they are the words of our loving Savior: “Love one another.”

I ask of God, and I desire with all my soul, that you be constantly faithful to the practice of the presence of God, which is the soul of prayer, of meditation and of all the virtues; that humility and simplicity may ever be the distinguishing mark of the Little Brothers of Mary; that a tender and filial love for our Good Mother never fail you in all the changes of time and circumstance.

"Dear Brothers, love your vocation, be faithful and steadfast to the end... Remain true to the spirit of poverty and detachment, and let the daily observance of your holy Rule preserve you from ever violating the sacred vow by which you are bound to the fairest of all the virtues, and the frailest… Oh, what consolation we have, when about to appear before God, to remember that we have lived in the favor of Mary, and in her own Society. May it please that Good Mother to preserve you, give you increase and bring you to holiness.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the imparting of the Holy Spirit be with you always. I leave you trustfully within the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, until we all meet again in eternal bliss. This is my full and final will for the glory of Jesus and Mary. May 18, 1840.

MARCELLIN CHAMPAGNAT
Founder of the Little Brothers of Mary (Marist Brothers)