Jean Claude Colin was a Marist missionary who brought Christ into the lives of many with his work. He was born in 1790 in St. Bonnet le-Troncy. Jean Claude’s initial upbringing was very suitable. When his mother gave birth to him he was the eighth child of a large loving family. Colin’s parents owned a piece of land which they farmed during the warm months. During winter they made ends meet by weaving. All was well at the beginning of Colin’s life, especially when taking into consideration that he was born during the rough times of the French revolution. Soon however, things began turning bad. His parents had dissenting views with the priests who were in charge of France, and soon Jacques Colin was ordered to be arrested. For a year he had to hide while his family’s house was boarded …show more content…
In the same year Colin was ordained and joined a country parish in Cerdon as curate. There he began writing down the plans for the Marist order. He did not seem a likely candidate to found a worldwide religious congregation, as many described him as shy and retiring. However this didn’t seem to phase him when it came to spreading the word of Mary to young men in attempts of recruitment. The plans he wrote for the society were truly revolutionary. Because he and his comrades all wanted to make this a new and exciting way of spreading the word of God, they implied brand new philosophies and ideals to the creation of their society. The society was to act as an open door for all who seeked to join in the worship of God. It was also to use Mary as a guide. This was because she was there at the beginning of time, and will be there at the end. In Colin’s image of Mary, she is already at the end of time, and thus she draws us forwards towards redemption and