St. Marcellin Champagnat born in 1789 near St. Etienne (Loire), France. Was a founder of the Marist Brothers.

The youngest of ten children he was ordained as a catholic priest in 1816, Champagnat’s first posting was as curate to the parish of Lavalla-en-Gier.

The region of Marlhes in which Fr. Champagnat lived and worked had been badly affected by the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars and the local community was poor and uneducated.

In 1817 with two other young men, Champagnat founded the Marist Brothers with a mission to educate young people in the rural areas of France, whose education had ceased because of poverty. Champagnat and his Marist Brothers established a network of village schools.

He died in 1840 aged 51 at Our Lady of the Hermitage in the Gier River valley about 30 kilometres from where he commenced his work.

Marcellin Champagnat was canonised a Saint by Pope John Paul II on April 18 1999.