Champagnat

House Leader: Mrs Debra Doyle
House Patron: Saint Marcellin Champagnat
Feast Day: 6th June
House Values/Charisms: Presence, Simplicity, Family Spirit, Love of Work – In the Way of Mary

House Captains
Year 12: Pat Comer & Will Styles
Year 11: Ava McAninly-Bennett & Lochlin Harvey
Year 10: Holly McCarthy
Year 9: Mikayla Pool
Year 8:  Chelsea Crowe & Kyle Tonkin 
Year 7: Lucy Sinclair & Benji Harvey

Champagnat House is named after our patron Marcellin Champagnat. Born at the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789 to French peasants, it was this background of societal unrest that influenced Marcellin’s path to Sainthood. Marcellin is best known for his education efforts towards young, poor boys in rural France. His motto, “to educate children, first you must love them – love them all equally,” best emphasises his want for education to be available to all. The Marist brothers would later go on to become co-founders of Galen.

Marcellin was a person who had a love of work, with his sleeves rolled up, he led by doing in solidarity with others.

Our patron Saint, Marcellin Champagnat and the Marist Brothers are known for their family spirit and simple Gospel way of being fully present to each other and all people. Marcellin Champagnat also embodies the values of Presence, Simplicity, Family Spirit, Love of Work – In the Way of Mary and we hope that as members of Champagnat, you will strive to uphold these charisms. 

We are navy in colour, which represents faith, loyalty and a strong spirit.

Symbols & Story

Champagnat House Symbol: the Marists were named after the Blessed Virgin Mary and the ‘M’ is representative of them following ‘In the way of Mary’. The cross reflects Marcellin’s mission: to make Jesus Christ known and loved through the Christian education of youth, especially the most neglected.

Other symbols associated with Marcellin Champagnat

Lavalla Table: Community – all seated around the same table. The La Valla table has become a symbol of the community that gathered around it. Like all objects connected to real experiences of our own history, this table connects us to stories that have come down to us, and awakens in us a variety of emotions. 

Stone/Rock: If any man deserved to be called a man of rock it was Marcellin Champagnat. The greatest monument to his life and spirit is possibly the Hermitage, the large five-story building which Marcellin built with his own hands and the labour of his Brothers in 1824. The building was the Mother House of the Brothers, and was Marcellin’s home from 1825 till his death. To construct the building, Marcellin had to literally carve into the rock face of the hill.

Nails: In the early years of the brotherhood they prayed, studied and worked together. Their work consisted in making iron nails to earn themselves a living.

Water: River Gier – runs directly through L’Hermitage “Water from the Rock”

Reference: St Marcellin Champagnat

Yorta Yorta Clan: 

Nurri- Illiim – Wurrung  – this clan represents: community focused, hard workers and looking out for family.

Prominent Aboriginal Person: GERALDINE BRIGGS 

Born in 1910 on the Warangesda Aboriginal Mission in New South Wales, Geraldine Briggs was a tireless campaigner for human rights who rose from an activist to a Yorta Yorta Elder. 

After moving to the Cummeragunja Mission on the banks of the Murray River upon marrying, Geraldine noticed the deterioration of the conditions at the Mission as the New South Wales Aborigines Protection Board took greater control. She had often visited there as a child, and would forever recall a once thriving, self-sufficient settlement. 

When she was a child, Geraldine’s sisters, Margaret, May and Evelyn were forcibly removed to the Cootamundra Girls Home. As a young mother, she lost her son to an illness after the Mission manager refused to take the family to Echuca to seek medical help. In 1939, Geraldine’s family was involved in the famous Cummeragunja “walk-off,” where some 200 residents protested by deserting the Mission. All three events would lead to Geraldine’s future activism. 

Geraldine poured her heart and soul into campaigning for equal rights, especially concerning citizenship. When the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI) campaigned for a ‘yes’ vote in the 1967 referendum to amend the Australian Constitution and include Aboriginal people in the national census, she rallied support within her community and distributed how-to-vote cards. She went on to become the Victorian State Secretary of FCAATSI in 1970.

In 1970, Geraldine helped establish a Victorian Aboriginal and Islander Women’s Council with other prominent women of the time. Where services for the community were lacking, the council established organisations to fill the void. Geraldine was known for involving herself wherever she could be of use. 

She was never happier than when in the company of family – hers extended far and wide, and took in many unrelated by blood. 

With her pragmatic approach to all she did, her accomplishments delivered results and benefits to the communities of those she campaigned so tirelessly for. Always strong willed, Geraldine possessed a love for her work, her community and the Family Spirit that Marcellin Champagnat possessed. This is why we have chosen her to be Champagnat’s prominent Yorta Yorta person. 

Ref: https://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/geraldine-briggs-ao

Charity:

Marist Solidarity
Australian Marist Solidarity

Working across Asia and the Pacific, Australian Marist Solidarity (AMS) works to ensure that all young people have access to educational opportunities.

Patron Quotes:

  1. “In the Way of Mary”
  2. “Seated around the same Table” 
  3. “Family Spirit”
  4. “We are a Marist Family”

Prayer:

Dear Lord,
Guide us to treat all those we meet with compassion and to take action to support others. 
May we strive to be people of integrity doing good within our community.  
Encourage our family spirit to shine, both in our successes and especially in times of need. 
May we follow in Marcellin’s example in being generous of heart, constant and persevering in our love of work.
In the Way of Mary, teach us to be good role models, tender, strong, constant in faith and open to God’s calling.
Mary our good mother, pray for us
St Marcellin Champagnat, pray for us
Our wider Marist family, pray for us
And let us always remember, to pray for one another.
Amen