After many turbulent years amidst the French Revolution that included the government’s suppression of faith and the exile of priests who would not profess their loyalty to the government, Father Chaminade was exiled from France and went to Saragossa, Spain.

There he encountered the Shrine of Our Lady of the Pillar, which commemorates Mary’s apparition to St. James that occurred while Mary was still alive. In his book, Chaminade’s Message Today, Fr. Eduardo Belloch, SM states that “from the time he returned to France in 1800 at the age of 39, we see William Joseph Chaminade changed. He is not the same person who went into exile. He is decisive and knows where he is going. He has a personal missionary project and becomes extraordinarily creative. His life is not the same as it was before going into exile. Something clearly happened at Saragossa.” Perhaps there was something about Chaminade’s experience at Our Lady of the Pillar and the vibrant, tangible expression of Catholic faith in Saragossa that fueled this change Fr. Belloch references.

To reflect further on this important feast day for our Marianist Family, check out Bro. Tom Redmond, SM’s “A Reflection on Saragossa.” Quotation from: Eduardo Benlloch, SM, Chaminade's Message Today (Dayton, OH: NACMS, 2001), 18.

Published in the October 2024 edition of the NACMS Newsletter.