☰ Menu
Home - Jean-Claude Coilin
The village of Cerdon, in the northern Bugey mountains
Detail: Official icon of Jean-Claude Colin, with Blessed Virgin and Child
Barbery: Cross on the site of the Colin home
Forest of Barbery: hiding place for priests during Revolutionaries' raids - and of quiet for the young Jean-Claude
St Bonnet-le-Troncy, boyhood home of Jean-Claude Colin
River Loire, which flows past the minor seminary of St Jodard
Lyon, Fourvière: ancient chapel of the Blessed Virgin and Basilica
Fourvière: sanctuary of the ancient chapel of the Blessed Virgin.
Cerdon: Fr Colin's first appointment as assistant to his brother, Pierre.
Cerdon: statue in the church of St John the Baptist
Presbytery at Cerdon: home for the first nine years of Jean-Claude's priestly life.
Belley: Minor seminary high school where pioneer Bugey missioners lived
Bugey mountains: village of Lacoux
Bugey mountains: church at Innimont
Bugey mountains: church at Innimont
Bugey mountains: statue at Arandas
Rome: The Quirinale, residence of the Popes at the time of Fr Colin's first visits
Rome: Odescalchi Palace, from the church of the Apostles where Fr Colin stayed in 1833
Belley: Chapel of La Capucinière, first Marist professions, 1836
Lyon, Puylata: General House of the Society of Mary from 1838
Rochefort du Gard: one of the shrines undertaken by Fr Colin and the Marists
Toulon, La Seyne: One of the first high schools established by the Marist Fathers
Marcellange: established by Fr Colin as a place of retreat for his missioners
Trappist monastery at Aiguebelle: Fr Colin would make private retreats here
La Neylière: planned by Fr Colin to be a place of silence and retreat
La Neylière: book belonging to Fr Colin
La Neylière: Fr Colin's study
La Neylière: winter sunset, from the room of Fr Colin
La Neylière: bedroom of Fr Colin
La Neylière: crucifix laid in the hands of Fr Colin upon his death
La Neylière: resting place of Fr Colin

Sharing the story of Jean-Claude Colin
[page under construction]
 

Our Marist parishes, schools, communities

  • Check to see that all our churches, schools, communities have an image of Fr Colin
  • Talk to the pastors re the availability of printed resources in each Church
  • Suggest (and supply) Colin-, anniversary-related inserts for newsletters.

Distributing Colin-related resources

  • Plan a program to print and distribute hard copies* of selected resources
  • to our communities, parishes, schools, other works in the Unit and Marist Laity groups.
  • *I discovered current research suggesting that up to 94% of emailed attachments are unread, so there is a strong case for supplying hard copies of material we want to be read.

Resources easy to distribute

  • ‘On Whatever Distant Shore: The Story of Jean-Claude Colin, Founder of the Society of Mary’ (DL sized leaflet)*
  • Founder and Father (small leaflet)*
  • Who is Jean-Claude Colin (small page)*
    (* easily printable)
  • Images of Fr Colin (Icon and Tollet painting)
  • Prayer bookmarks (‘Prayer for graces’, ‘Prayer for a miracle’)

Life story of Fr Colin

  • Investigate sourcing copies of these for distributing in my Unit, especially to lay groups, incl Marist Laity
    • ‘Jean-Claude Colin, Reluctant Founder’ (Biography, Justin Taylor)
    • ‘A Short Life of Jean-Claude Colin, Marist Founder’ (Abbreviated biography, Justin Taylor)

 

Promoting the Colin website, especially

  • ‘His Life’ series of pages
  • ‘Seeking graces’ and ‘Prayers for Graces’ (under ‘The Cause’ page)
  • ‘Resources’: a big collection of Colin-related material

Develop a Jean-Claude Colin ‘App’

  • For use on hand-held devices (phones, tablets…)
  • Quotes from Fr Colin
  • Anniversary-related items
  • etc

Make the most of Colin-related anniversaries

  • print/distribute list for communities
  • include pointers to liturgies, prayer services, prayer cards on the Colin website which can be used on anniversaries

LO

  • adapt an article from Marist Messenger (2021) to spread the Colin word among the parishes in our area (some 10,000 Catholics).
  • as part of the above article, I intend to ask parishioners and members of our school family ( students, parents, alumni—some 15,000 more people) to pray to Fr. Colin for the cure of a 17-year-old young man at our school (Gavin Gaynor) who has an inoperable, cancerous tumor in his brain.  I intend to contact the young man and his family to help in spreading this effort.
  • update my article, ‘Fr. Jean C. Colin, s.m., a saintly educator for his time and ours.’  A lot has happened in education in our Marist schools here in the US post Covid.
  • spreading the Fr. Colin status as Venerable, asking people to pray for a miracle for his beatification, in our Irish Magazine that is sent to over 10,000 families three times a year.

RN

Produce and distribute to CCN members (and through them to others in their Units):

  • Where to find simple resources (simple directory to Colin website)
  • List of Colin-related anniversaries and related liturgy, prayer resources and language options
  • 2025 Colin calendars
  • Continue communication with the Pre-Chapter Committee re lifting the profile of the Cause