Tour of Archives For The Society of Mary

Today we were given a tour by Fr. Alois Grieler, SM of the Archives of the Society of Mary which are here in the General House. Sounds pretty boring doesn't it? Well........

• Today I held in my hand Bishop Epalle's ring -- he was martyred in Oceania.

• Today I saw and touched St. Peter Chanel's diary -- stained with his own blood. St. Peter Chanel is the Proto-Martyr of Oceania.

• Today I saw Fr. Mayet's notebooks filled with the words of our Founder. During his lifetime Fr. Mayet took thousands of pages of notes on the words of Fr. Colin to his brothers in the Society of Mary and beyond.

(One of Fr. Mayet's Notebooks.)

• Today I saw the signatures of the first Marists who took vows in 1836. The signers included Colin, Champagnat, Chanel, Favre, Declas, Seon, Teraillon, Bret, Maitrepierre, and more,

(Signatures of the Marists on the first retreat
after Papal Approval 1836)

• Today, I saw a drawing by a Marist Missionary who experienced being attacked by local peoples in Oceania. It was the same attack that Bishop Epalle received a mortal wound.
  

(The above picture, while not clear, is the attack on Epalle and his group.)

To say the least the tour was exciting. The experience was one of seeing family heirlooms. Fr. Grieler reminded us that these are our treasures and he's right. It was a moving afternoon. I would venture a guess that all of us were moved at some level of our hearts. Our story as Marists is one to be proud of. We stand on the shoulders of men -- young and old -- who were courageous believers. They wanted to share Christ and the Gospel with the world and that did so at great cost. The living Gospel!