A day after their ordinations on 23 July 1816 in France, 12 priests together climbed 800 stairs to the shrine of Fourvière, Lyon. Together they established the Marists.
Like those first priests who took to the stairs, down under the members of Marist Laity Australia pilgrimaged across Sydney’s Harbour Bridge in late July for a Camino to St Patrick’s Catholic Church Hill and on to Holy name of Mary Hunters Hill.
“What really got this going was the idea of Catholic mission,” said Marist Laity Australia leader Cathy Larkin.
“Our aim as Marists is to go out into the world and foster that mission. This is a celebration of our origins, our unity and a display of hope for the future.”
Marists joined together from Milsons Point, including Marist fathers, sisters, brothers, Marist missionary sisters, the Marist association of Marcellin Champagnat and Marist Laity, with more joining at Hunters Hill.
Co-leader Andrew Dumas last year founded the new pilgrimage. Inspired by the events at Fourvière, Andrew hoped to respond to the church’s need for mission.
“Our ultimate founder is really Mary, so we just want to live out her spirit, through simplicity, inclusivity, and with each other, through relationship,” he said.
Former Marist Laity Australia member Margaret Woods has been connected with the Marist Sisters for nearly 70 years and also walked to support the organisation.
“I just think it’s a part of my spirituality, a part of my life,” she told The Catholic Weekly.
“I’ve visited Fourvière and been on pilgrimages over in France and it’s very spiritual. The lessons I’ve taken is that we’re called to live a new kind of church.
“We might not necessarily resonate very well with people these days and these expressions like walking are an opportunity for people to stop, reflect and perhaps live out the message of the church in more ways than one.
“On this Camino, as is with life, we walk through it and meet people, to invite them to live another way and to live that spirit of Mary in the world. That’s what it’s all about.
Andrew feels what originated all those years ago in Fourvière, “the trunk of the tree,” has spread into new generations of Marist life from France to Australia.
“As we journeyed today, I was reflecting on the young people, and for me I see them as the leaves of that tree.
“More and more we see these people want to step into places, like social justice and good works, which are messy.
“They want to help, and we need to respond in those ways that send us out into the world where there is need, as I hope we’ve done today.”