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Champagnat Marists in Ecuador held a National Assembly of Marist Mission from February 29 to March 2, including more than thirty ministry leaders throughout the country, Marist Brothers and Lay Marists alike.
One distinguishing feature of Champagnat Marists is our enduring affection not only for our sainted Founder, but also for our early brothers on the whole. Indeed, we hold dear the memories of many who have gone before us and we speak often of the 'marvelous companions' who either set examples for us or who still accompany us on our journey of apostolic discipleship. A particular advantage in learning about the earliest brothers is that doing so helps us gain further insight into the temperament and gifts of St. Marcellin Champagnat. This is all the more true in the cases of those such as Bro. Sylvestre who did not necessarily conform to the expectations of the day.
Jean Félix Tamet was born in early 1819 and entered our novitiate in 1831 at the incredibly young age of twelve, having been recommended by his parish priest. He took the religious habit and the name of Bro. Sylvestre within half a year. Although he must have possessed remarkable qualities in order for his potential to be recognized at such a young age, he was also an immature and unruly teenager who required great patience.
The antics of Bro. Sylvestre throughout his early days with the brothers demonstrated a frustrating blend of carelessness and foolishness. He once accidentally spilled lamp oil on Fr. Champagnat's soutane and on another occasion entangled himself while walking two goats he had tied up with the same rope, leading all three to fall down the hill together. On both occasions, Marcellin simply urged the child to be more careful. Once Sylvestre decided to playfully ambush the next brother coming up the dark stairs in the Hermitage. From his hiding place, the young imp jumped on the back of his victim, demanding to be carried in silence up to the next floor. At the top of the stairs, he discovered to his chagrin that he had been riding on the back of none other that Father Champagnat himself, who proceeded to gently let him off the hook.
For all of Champagnat's patience, there was one time that even he came close to dismissing young Sylvestre. An even younger brother in formation had asked Sylvestre for a haircut. Our amateur barber took advantage of the opportunity by shaving part of the boy's scalp bald so he would resemble a typical medieval monk. Marcellin was mortified that Sylvestre would have his fun at the expense of somebody more vulnerable; the troublemaker was forbidden from wearing the religious habit for several days while Champagnat pondered whether to send him home. Sylvestre was so shaken by this punishment and the possibility of his dismissal that he entirely amended his behavior, regaining the Founder's esteem. Shortly thereafter he was sent out to his first apostolic community.
Of course, Sylvestre was still young and energetic by the time he went to this first assignment in 1833 where he served as cook. The older brothers in his new community were already very much settled in religious life and thought they would best serve him by providing an example of detached piety. When not teaching, they spent much of their time in silent prayer, leaving Sylvestre to grow increasingly restless in the garden. At one point he started playing with a wheelbarrow out of sheer boredom, running over some crops and then even pushing it through various rooms of the house in order to create some kind of diversion for himself. The brother who was director of the community took his first opportunity to complain to Champagnat. Instead of criticizing the young brother though, Marcellin urged the older brothers to do more to engage him directly. In this instance, they could most truly be brothers by playing with their young companion rather than secluding themselves in prayer. Marcellin even claimed wryly that instead of punishing Sylvestre, he would have rewarded him with a holy card if he could have managed to maneuver the wheelbarrow all the way to the upstairs attic.
Even Bro. Sylvestre gradually grew and matured with time, but he eventually began to doubt his vocation to the Marist Brothers and confided these concerns to Fr. Champagnat in a letter. Marcellin urged Sylvestre to visit him on his death bed, but was too weak to actually speak with him—he died the next day. Nonetheless, Champagnat managed to communicate through one of the other brothers that he believed Sylvestre to be perfectly suited to his vocation as a Marist Brother. Bro. Sylvestre never faced these doubts again.
Champagnat proved to be correct. Although Sylvestre remained an eccentric and sometimes frustrating individual throughout his life as a brother, he also contributed greatly in teaching brothers who needed official certification in order to avoid military conscription. Sylvestre's written reminiscences of Marcellin's kind patience also provided crucial support in the process of our Founder's eventual canonization. In 1881, Bro. Sylvestre became the first Marist Brother ever to celebrate 50 years of religious life. He lived for six more years thereafter.
