Community of Saint Martin
Communauté Saint-Martin | |
| Abbreviation | CSM |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1976 |
| Founders | Jean-François Guérin |
| Type | Public clerical association of pontifical right |
| Headquarters | Évron, France |
Membership (2023) |
|
general moderator | Paul Préaux |
| Website | https://www.communautesaintmartin.org/ |
The Community of Saint Martin is a public association of clerics according to pontifical law, gathering Roman Catholic priests and deacons. It was founded in 1976 by Father
In 2023, the Community included 185 priests and deacons and more than 100 seminarians.
History
Between 1965 and 1976,
As Cardinal Siri sought to help the French Church to promote the renewal of priestly training, he received Fr. Guérin and his first seminarians in his archdiocese in 1976.[5][2] Thus the Community of Saint Martin was founded in Italy to give priests to the Catholic Church in France. Guérin and his students established themselves in the Capuchin convent of Genoa-Voltri.[6] The seminarians followed the academic part of their training in the Genoa seminary, while Guérin took charge of their human and spiritual formation.
By 1979, the first ordinations to priesthood took place.[7]
In 1983 the Community got its first pastoral mission in the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon in south-eastern France.[6] In the following years, other French bishops entrusted parishes to the Community.
In 1993 there was an opportunity for the Mother House to move from Italy and to establish the Community's seminary in France in the village of Candé-sur-Beuvron, near Blois in the Loire Valley.[7][2] After twenty years there, the Community moved to Évron in north-western France to accommodate the sharp increase in vocations.
Since 2010, abbé Paul Préaux is the general moderator of the community, reelected in 2016[7] an again in 2022.[8]
In September 2014, the Community moved its Mother House and House of Training to the former
Canonical status
Canonically, the community is a public clerical association of pontifical right. The superior general of the community is called "moderator".[11]
The first canonical recognition of the Community was granted by Cardinal Siri in 1979.
The members report
Missions
Priests of the Community work in parishes, schools, nursing homes, chaplaincies, or sanctuaries in 22 French dioceses, in
In the community's seminary, the formation is delivered “with a particular focus on the human development of its priests”.[16]
Spirituality
The main characteristics of the Community are the mobility of its members and the fact that they live their ministry together.[14]
“Martinian” spirituality has three sources :
- The Benedictine tradition of the Solesmes Congregation. Father Guérin was an oblate of Fontgombault Abbey and a disciple of Prosper Guéranger's spirituality of the liturgical year. He was also inherited from the developments of the twentieth century by the liturgical movement.
- The French school of spirituality with figures such as Pierre de Bérulle and Vincent de Paul as well as the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice.
- The communal life as lived out by the Canons Regular under the Rule of Saint Augustine.
Drawing from these three traditions, Lectio Divina is a daily practice for the Community as well as the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours sung in Latin according to the Ordinary form of the Roman Rite.
See also
References
- ^ "Qui sommes nous ?". Communauté Saint-Martin (in French). Retrieved 2023-07-02.
- ^ a b c "Our history". Communauté Saint-Martin. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
- ^ BLOA, Alix DEMAISON-PLAÇAIS, avec Alan LE (2023-11-11). "Religion. Comment la communauté Saint-Martin est devenue l'un des plus grands séminaires de France". Ouest-France.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-01-04.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Jean Sevillia (2012-12-14), "Des hommes et des prêtres", Le Figaro Magazine, 14 décembre 2012.
- ^ a b "Prêtres en soutane, séminaire plein: la visible ascension de la communauté Saint-Martin". L'Express (in French). 2017-06-23. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
- ^ ISSN 0242-6056. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
- ^ a b c White, Christopher (2017-07-11). "St. Martin Community seeks priests with "smell of the sheep"". Crux. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
- ^ "La communauté Saint-Martin a choisi son modérateur". Famille Chrétienne (in French). 2022-04-20. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
- ^ Ouest-France (2012-10-03). "La communauté Saint-Martin à Évron en 2014". Ouest-France.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-01-04.
- ^ lanouvellerepublique.fr (2012-10-08), "La communauté née en Touraine émigre encore", www.lanouvellerepublique.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-01-04.
- ^ ""Former des prêtres qui soient des hommes debout"". Le Figaro (in French). 2020-06-26. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
- ^ La-Croix.com (2021-09-20). "Communauté Saint-Martin, l'avenir de l'Église de France ?". La Croix (in French). Retrieved 2024-01-04.
- ^ a b c "Ce que le changement de statut des prêtres de l'Emmanuel veut dire". La Vie.fr (in French). 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
- ^ a b "Communauté Saint-Martin". Retrieved 2023-07-02.
- ^ Communication, CSM Equipe (2015-09-15). "Au service du Saint-Siège". Communauté Saint-Martin (in French). Retrieved 2023-07-02.
- ^ "St. Martin Community seeks priests with "smell of the sheep"". Crux. 2017-07-11. Retrieved 2023-07-02.