COLIN, Jean-Claude, Venerable. - Founder of the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers), b. at St-Bonnet-le-Troncy (Lyons) on 7 Aug. 1790, d. on 15 Nov. 1875 at Notre-Dame-de-la-Neylière, near the Rhône.
Ordained a priest on 25 July 1816, he was elected coadjutor of his brother Peter, parish priest at Cerdon, where his parochial zeal did not let him forget his aspiration to give rise to a society consecrated to the honor and the name of Mary. On 25 Jan. 1822 Pius VII praised his project, and on 22 June 1825 the two brothers, having left the parish, went to Belley and devoted themselves fruitfully to the work of parish missions. In 1829 the direction of the small seminary of Belley was entrusted to the venerable, which he held until 1845. Having received as a gift a former Capuchin convent, he began his true religious life.
With the brief Omnium gentium, Pope Gregory XVI approved the Society of Mary (21 Apr. 1836), and on 5 Sept. 1836 at Belley the fathers took their vows and elected C. superior general. He gave life to the society by founding residences and colleges and by accepting the direction of seminaries; he gave growth to the Institute of the Marist Brothers founded by Fr. Champagnat, who had joined him; he founded (1826) the Congregation of the Marist Sisters for the education of young women, and obtained the establishment of a Marist Third Order (brief of Pius IX, 8 Sept. 1850). The ven. C., accepting the invitation of the S. Congregation of Propaganda, sent missionaries in 1850 to the remote islands of Oceania, populated by savages, where several found the glory of martyrdom, among them the apostle of Futuna, the bl. Peter L. Chanel.
He left the office of superior for reasons of health in 1854; he composed his Constitutions, in which he sets down the Marian spirit to which his sons must conform; they were approved by Pius IX on 28 Febr. 1873. He left many letters of spiritual direction. His cause of beatification was introduced on 9 Dec. 1908.
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Antonio Giamboni