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Cerdon
In Cerdon we come to one of the most profoundly spiritual “moments” in the life of Fr Colin. What Marist tradition refers to as “the graces of Cerdon” changed this man: from being wooden and “dead” he became an effective preacher; from being timid he became someone that the men in the parish turned to for advice; from being a follower of the Marist project he became someone who was to assume more and more responsibility for the leadership of the project. What were these graces? We cannot be sure. Fr Colin describes them as “extreme sweetness” and “a conviction that the Society of Mary was of God and would succeed.” We do know that it was at Cerdon, probably in 1819, that Colin made a vow to go to Rome; that it was from Cerdon that he made two visits to the Papal Nuncio in Paris; that while in Cerdon he wrote to the Pope in 1822; and that he had some “experience” at La Coria, which became a decisive moment for him.
At Cerdon we also get in touch with the foundations of the Fathers and Brothers of the Society of Mary, and the Marist Sisters, their early communities and ministries.
Cerdon is built at the meeting point of three valleys on the main Lyons-Geneva road. In 1832 there were 1745 inhabitants in the town. ‘Today there are between six and seven hundred. Cerdon was always used as a staging post for mail riders. The local people used to hire out extra horses at 1.5 francs to help pull carriages up the slope of La Balme. On the sunny hillsides vineyards still produce a popular wine.
On 27th July 1816 Pierre Colin was named the parish priest of Cerdon, which at that time was part of the archdiocese of Lyons. His curate was to be his newly ordained younger brother, Jean-Claude. At this stage Pierre had no idea of the Marist enterprise. When Jean-Claude did reveal the project to Pierre later on, Pierre sent for Jeanne-Marie Chavoin, who came to Cerdon in 1817, bringing with her Marie Jotillon. Jeanne-Marie Chavoin became housekeeper at the presbytery, and we can begin to date significant developments in the Marist project front this time (1817). Marcellin Champagnat was already setting tiphis project of Brothers, and Jean-Claude and Pierre Colin, along with Jeanne-Marie Chavoin, were beginning to make plans for their branches in Cerdon. Jean-Claude began drafting a Rule for the Society. Working well into the early hours of the morning in his little bedroom, he began to set down on paper the main lines of the plan of a Society, which (he always claimed) had no other model but the early Church.
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New Altar - Cerdon Parish |
These years at Cerdon, 1816-1825, were crucial years for Jean-Claude Colin. It was here that he was transformed from a timid little curate into someone who was strong and capable of decisive action. It was here that in 1824 the first mission team was formed and Pierre Colin could write to the bishop: “Today the Society of Mary begins...” These were also the years of “extreme sweetness” that Fr Colin was to recall later. Although he never made a novitiate, if there was a place and a time in which he experienced an essential element of the novitiate process -“tasting God” - it would be here at Cerdon, where he began to be formed into the leader of the Society of Mary project.
We have no idea of the extent to which Jeanne-Marie Chavoin was involved in the discussions of the Marist project, but what she wrote and spoke of later indicates that she was closely involved from the beginning. She gives us a glimpse of the Colin brothers during these years:
When the Fathers Colin were at Cerdon, they were revered by all the inhabitants. Had they remained there, the whole parish would soon have been like a religious community; already a fervent group of thirty men used to meet in the presbytery. Their domestic arrangements were so poor and they lived in such poverty that everyone in Cerdon was astonished.
During this time they used to receive very harsh letters from M. Courbon, vicar general of Lyons. Another vicar general, M. Bochard, made them suffer a lot too.
When the Fathers were almost overwhelmed by these annoying difficulties I felt full of courage and cheered them up. At other times when they were untroubled, my turn came. Ah! those were our finest hours. One day they received a letter which upset them very much, and the same post brought an important answer. The fathers were discouraged. I said to them “Let’s go to the church.” All three of us went. We prayed for an hour, or an hour and a half and we came out feeling peaceful and contented.
(RecordedNarrative, doc.lO1)
PLACES OF SIGNIFICANCE
La Coria
This is the place where an event took place which convinced Jean-Claude Colin that he was called to carry through the work of beginning the Society of Mary as it had been conceived at the Seminary. In July 1823 he went to see Bishop Devie at Belley. He left the presbytery at 4.00 am, but after 20 minutes, as he climbed the track up La Coria leading to Mérignal, he felt a great sense of weariness which brought him to a halt. After a prayer to Our Lady, and what Society tradition regards as some special spiritual experience, Fr Colin felt re-energised and able to carry on.
Fr Colin himself put it this way:
On one of the journeys I made for the Society.., it seemed to me that all the devils were after me to stop me from going. Yes, I believe it. I was heavy!... I could not continue. 1 felt an invincible repugnance. Twenty minutes along the way I fell to my knees in the moonlight in the middle of the path, and I said: “My God, if it is not your will, then I will not go. But if you will it, give me back my strength and so show me that it is your holy will.” All at once, I felt invigorated, lighthearted, relaxed. I raced on like a hare.
( OM 425:I0)
The Church
 The church is built on a small hill (called the “island”) because of the marshy ground of the valleys. The chancel dates back to the fifteenth century. The nave was built in 1772. In the time of the Colin brothers it lacked the two arches and their supporting pillars in the back part of Church. These were added when the church was extended in 1863. The clock tower, destroyed in the Revolution, was rebuilt in 1844.
Here in the church we recall the confessions heard by the Colin brothers in the Lady Chapel. (The confessional on the right hand side came later) We remember Pierre Colin’s dramatic gesture of prostrating himself before the altar to implore God’s pardon for his parishioners who worked on a Sunday. And we remember the clothing ceremony of the first Marist Sisters on 8 th December 1824. The altar of the Lady Chapel may well be the one on which the Colin brothers said Mass. The original statue of Mary is the one immediately on the left as one enters the church.
The Presbytery
 The presbytery datesfrom I822 and was built in the time of the Colin brothers. From the outside one can see the two windows of Jean-Claude’s room. It was here that he prayed and drafted the first Rule for future Marists.
The Sisters’ House
This is the second of the Sisters’ houses, the first one being abandoned after being destroyed twice by fire. The one we see is on the old road to La Balme, to the left before you leave the village. It can be identified by the flight of steps at the front. The Sisters moved in there on 1 st June 1824 , the first postulants then joined them, and they took on a few pupils. They lived in this house till 28 th June 1825 , when they left Cerdon for Belley.
(For further reading, see Edwin Keel, A Book of Texts for the Study of Marist Spirituality, pp.105-154)
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