Institute of the Marist Brothers of Education. Religious institute founded by the French Blessed Marcellin Champagnat, born on 20 May 1789 in Le Rosay, Marlhes (France) and died in 1840. It belongs to the Catholic religious congregation of the Marist Brothers, which in turn is part of the Marist Family.
Champagnat aspired to found a society dedicated to teaching poor children and young people deprived of Christian education in remote rural areas, and so in 1817 he founded the Institute of Marist Brothers of Education, within the religious order of the Society of Mary, also called the Marist Fathers. The congregation was initially called the Congregation of the Little Brothers of Mary and from its inception has been especially devoted to the Virgin Mary.
Marcellin Champagnat began his project by teaching in a rented house, and in November 1819, the society founded the first Marist school in Marlhes. 1824 and 1825, construction began on The Hermitage, a new house for the brothers that would be the centre of their educational activity. From this location, he visited the fifty schools he had opened by the time of his death.
The Society of Mary was authorised by the Holy See in 1836, and Champagnat was beatified on 29 May 1955 and canonised on 18 April 1999.
In December 1886, the first Marist Brothers arrived in Spain with the same educational project and founded their first school in Girona. Within a few years, they had established themselves in other provinces.
In the Basque Country, the Marist Brothers created various teaching houses. Specifically, in Gipuzkoa, they established schools in Azpeitia, Oñati, Soraluze-Placencia de las Armas and San Sebastián, as well as a novitiate in Antzuola. In Bizkaia, they have schools in Durango, Galdakao, Balmaseda and Zalla, as well as two centres in Bilbao. In Álava, they have a seminary house in Artziniega. In Navarre, they have schools in Oronoz and Barillas, an Apostolic School in Villafranca and an Apostolic School and Novitiate in Vera de Bidasoa. The school that was founded in Pamplona moved in June 2009 to Sarriguren, a village in the Egües valley.
They arrived in the Basque Country and Navarre the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the case of the Navarrese capital, the Marists had been trying to found a school since 1897, although the city's bishop, López de Mendoza, was opposed to this; he did not want to come into conflict with the Piarist Fathers, who had previously settled there. The Marists persevered, as their intention was to create a ‘house’ in the city from which to seek vocations in Navarre and make known the work of their founder. Thanks to the insistence of the surgeon Mariano Rubio and the Augustinian Mariano Gil, they managed to establish themselves in Pamplona 1903 and 1905. They founded the Academy of Commerce and Languages on Calle Navarrería, where four brothers began to teach. With the death of their benefactor Mariano Gil in 1905 and as a result of protests from neighbours about the nuisance caused by the students, the Marists gradually changed their location. After occupying various premises and considering leaving the city, in 1907 they managed to acquire premises on Calle Yanguas y Miranda. They moved from this location in 1916, when they acquired part of the Argui-Oñe house, a former light bulb factory. This became the site of the San Luis School in Navas de Tolosa, known during the Republic as the ‘Liceo Eslava’. 1938 and 1940, the Marist community acquired other buildings in the same area and in 1960 they opened the school located in the third expansion district, the Santa María la Real School. The Marists remained in this area of the city until they moved to the town of Sarriguren.
After the first stage of Marist foundations, other spontaneous foundations followed in the wake of events in France. From 1903 onwards, they established themselves in Spain, mainly in two groups. One of these groups, made up of four brothers from the province of Labacane, was fleeing French laws that were increasingly restricting the life of religious communities. These brothers, Laurent, Félicissime, Hortensius and Gaudence, travelled throughout the Basque Country in search of a place to settle and finally ended up in Oñati. That same year, they opened a primary school on the grounds of the former University of Oñate, which had been closed. They were joined by 11 postulants, led by Brother Corneille, who came from Piossasco (Italy).
This group formed one of the three Marist provinces, the province of Anzuola. It was named this way because the Marists who arrived in Oñati soon established their novitiate in that town. This group was the cradle of the Northern Province and had its main schools in the Basque Country.
1904 and 1908, they settled in Durango and in the Dehesa de Zalla neighbourhood, and in 1906 in Artziniega. Specifically, the San José-Maristak school in Durango has its origins in the old School of Arts and Crafts, inaugurated by the brothers in 1904. The school in Zalla is named Maristas San Miguel.
Around this time, the first six postulants took the Marist habit at the novitiate in Antzuola. The congregation's school and convent in this town were located in the Eguzki neighbourhood. The Marist Brothers' community had a significant influence in the area until they left in the 1970s.
The Province of Anzuola developed rapidly, as in less than 30 years, they established themselves in Azpeitia (1904), Soraluze-Placencia de las Armas (1909), Ordizia (1914), Bilbao, Galdakao, Balmaseda (1920), Las Arenas (1928), Erandio (1928), Oronoz (1928), Barillas, Zumaia (1928), Mutriku (1930), etc., and also in Badajoz.
The Marist community also grew in terms of student numbers. In the case of the El Salvador Maristas School in Bilbao, which was founded by three brothers in Plaza Nueva in 1918, they started with five students and by the end of the academic year there were around 78. Classes were only interrupted during the Civil War, in the 1936-1937 academic year. In 1965, they moved to the new school built in Iturribide, with the exception of the PREU (later COU) course, which continued at the old location until 1998. The reason for the move was, in addition to improving the conditions of the school, to accommodate the growing demand for students to be educated at this centre, which has been attended by thousands of students.
In the case of the Marists in Pamplona, in 1895 there were 2 students and in 1985 there were 1,485. The maximum number was reached in 1970, when 1,568 students enrolled. The centre also maintained a boarding school with around 220 students, which was closed in 1974. The teaching staff also increased from four brothers in 1903 to 33 1960 and 1965. Subsequently, the number fell to 24 in 1975 and 21 in 1985.
In Erandio, the primary schools known as the Jado Schools were run. These were built on land donated by Mr. Laureano Jado in 1923 in the Desierto-Erandio neighbourhood, along with a country house. In 1928, he donated the school building and its grounds to the Erandio Town Council in his will. The Marist educational project continues in the town at the Jado-Compasión School, located in the Altzaga neighbourhood. This school was founded by the Compassionist nuns after their arrival in Erandio around 1907, and the Marists took over its management after joining forces with the Compassionist nuns. In 2007, the school had 435 pupils, and in 2009, around 494 enrolments were expected.
Other schools have not managed to remain open. The school in Azpeitia began in the 1904-1905 academic year and closed 60 years later, in the 1964-1965 academic year. Its last headmaster was Ángel García Galán Xakeo, who died in 2006 in the Marist Brothers' nursing home.
The Marists arrived in Soraluze-Placencia de las Armas in 1909. They founded a school that closed its doors in 1976, and the departure of the brothers left a significant void in education, causing a serious schooling problem in the town.
They also taught at the San José School in Zestoa, which was subsidised by the local council. The Marists managed this centre from the date of its construction, around 1929, until disagreements arose with the municipal corporation over its financing in 1941.
In the Navarrese town of Oronoz, the Marist brothers ran the Colegio de San Martín, a school founded by Martín Urrutia Ezcurra, a native of Oronoz. Classes began in 1928 with four teachers and 50 pupils. The school offered secondary and commercial studies until 1973, when it was taken over by the Urrutia Foundation, the organisation that administered the benefactor's legacy.
The School of Arts and Crafts founded by the Marists in Balmaseda was inaugurated in 1920. The Marists left the town, but their project continued at the Balmaseda School, which was created in 1978 from the merger of two existing schools in the municipality. This school changed location in 2001 and took the new name CEP Mendia LHI Balmaseda.
This group formed one of the three Marist provinces, the province of Anzuola. It was named this way because the Marists who arrived in Oñati soon established their novitiate in that town. This group was the cradle of the Northern Province and had its main schools in the Basque Country.
1904 and 1908, they settled in Durango and in the Dehesa de Zalla neighbourhood, and in 1906 in Artziniega. Specifically, the San José-Maristak school in Durango has its origins in the old School of Arts and Crafts, inaugurated by the brothers in 1904. The school in Zalla is named Maristas San Miguel.
Around this time, the first six postulants took the Marist habit at the novitiate in Antzuola. The congregation's school and convent in this town were located in the Eguzki neighbourhood. The Marist Brothers' community had a significant influence in the area until they left in the 1970s.
As for the congregation's apostolic schools, in 1922 the Marists established a training centre in Villafranca. During the Civil War, this centre replaced the Santa María de las Arellanas centre (Balaguer), located in the Republican zone, as a postulancy and novitiate centre. It maintained these functions until 1949, when it returned to its original activities. At the same time, the building was extended with two new wings and a chapel decorated by the Pamplona artist Emilio Sánchez Cayuela.
In 1982, a new novitiate for the northern province was inaugurated the villages of Biurrun and Campanas. The novitiate was designed to accommodate six novices in a single-family dwelling.
The Marist novices of Navarre come mainly from the Middle Zone and the Ribera, but in general, this community has also been affected by the decline in vocations. For example, the order's seminary house in Artziniega, next to the sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de la Encina, no longer trains seminarians. After many years dedicated to the formation of vocations, the house passed to the Province of Venezuela in 1959, which has used it for the missionaries of its province. At the beginning of 2011, five elderly brothers live in this house, which is sometimes used as a retreat centre.
These apostolic colleges and schools in the Basque Country and Navarre are part of the Marist Iberian Province.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)