January 2026 news

Bugey missions anniversary 

Jan 09 marks the anniversary of the first parish mission endeavour by the pioneer Marist Fathers when Frs Jean-Claude Colin and Etienne Déclas strode from the presbytery of Cerdon high in the Bugey mountains of eastern France to climb to the village of La Balme. This was to be the first renewal mission to be preached by the infant Society of Mary.

The La Balme mission, from Jan 09 to 25, 1825, was preached in the depths of a Bugey winter and followed by many more in subsequent decades as the Catholic Church recovered from the assaults of the French Revolution.

The beginning of the mission is decsribed in chapter 7 of 'Jean-Claude Colin, Reluctant Founder': click here  For a brief a summary of the mission venture: click here and for images of the Bugey iin winter (from the 2021 Colin calendar) click here.                                    [Jan 09]    

 Below:  St Amand's church, La Balme, little changed since the 1825 mission.     |     Young artist's impression of Frs Colin and Déclas clmbing from Cerdon.

Portrait of Superior-General

An official portrait of Fr Declan Marmion SM, Superior-General of the Society of Mary, has been made available to Marists. Fr Declan was elected at the Marist Fathers' General Chapter at Nemi, Italy, in October 2025.

Also distributed were copies of the General Chapter's Statements and Decisions (see Members' Page).

To download the image click here.                              [Dec 07]  

Death of Fr Justin Taylor SM

Members of the Society of Mary across the world mourn the passing on Jan 06 of Fr Justin Taylor SM, 82, in Auckland, New Zealand. An esteemed scholar in history, scripture and other disciplines Fr Justin will be gratefully remembered as the author of the defintiive biography 'Jean-Claude Colin, Reluctant Founder, 1790-1875'. 

Australian Marists will recall Fr Justin's several visits to Sydney in preparation for the publication and launch of the Colin biography in 2018. He also played a significant role in the Colin Cause Network established in 2020 to spread the 'fama' of Fr Colin in promoting the Cause for Beatification of the Marist Founder.

May he rest in well-deserved peace and in the company of Marist saints. 

For a summary of Fr Justin's life click here.                         [Jan 06]

St Patrick's: last hurrah

End-of-December images from the Marist team of St Patrick's, Church Hill, Sydney, leaving after 157 years of ministry at the inner-city shrine. A team from the Archdiocese of Sydney has taken over the care of the historic church on Jan 01. We wish them every blessing.                       [Jan 03]

The Conch

From the Oceania Marist Province comes their quarterly issue of 'Conch', thoughtful reflections from members of the Pacific province.

To download click here.                             [Jan 02]

Visitors in 2025

For the numerically inclined here is a summary of visits to the Australian Marist District website, www.maristfathers.org.au, during 2025.

Key features are the increase in average daily visits from just under 400 in January to over 1,000 in December. The highest daily total was 1993 visits on Dec 10, while the total 'hits' for the year exceeded 4,500,000.

The most significant figures are the daily visits and the number of web pages opened during those visits. 'Hits' indicate the number of 'clicks' on various files which vary considerably according to the nature of individual web pieces. Approximately 20% of visits originated in Australia, the rest coming from other countries and browser updates.                              [Jan 01]