Who are we ?

Priests and deacons living in community at the service of the Universal Church

The Community of Saint-Martin is an association of secular priests and deacons which lives their vocation in community at the service of the pastors of the universal Church. By responding to the bishops’ calls, she is entrusted with various apostolic missions. This way, the priests and deacons of the Community serve in parishes, schools, boarding schools, and sanctuaries.

Sent to the missions in groups of at least three, priests and deacons pray, live and work together in spiritual and pastoral fraternity.

Today, there are 176 priests and deacons and over 100 seminarians in its house of formation under a simple way of formation : intense community life, liturgical richness and demanding studies.

The Mother House and the House of Formation are located in Évron in France.

Mobility

In addition to community life, mobility expresses another characteristic of the mission of the community: In the life of priests, this mobility is a symbol of our earthly pilgrimage, which in a way is common to all disciples of Christ.

Thus, in the Community of Saint Martin, the average missionary period of a priest is about six years, about the same as is usual for secular priests in France.

International character

Although at present the majority of the seminarians in formation are French, seminarians of six other nationalities are also present in the seminary and among the priests of the community.

The community is becoming more and more international, as in addition to some German-speaking seminarians, seminarians from Syria, Cuba, Belgium and Portugal are also being formed in Evron. In addition, the community has been entrusted by bishops from Germany, Cuba and Italy with apostolates in missions, parishes and sanctuaries.

1/3 - Why the Community of Saint-Martin ?

« So many things exist in the Church. It is necessary to search for their inner foundation. Why was the Community born, why did the Church ratify it as a Public Clerical Association of Pontifical Right?

Ecclesiology in research

If we are living today in a rich time for the Church, the Community has emerged from a series of ecclesial problems that have been part of our times. First of all, we experienced the crisis of ecclesiology, a crisis from which we are beginning to emerge today, a crisis of the meaning of the Church, of the Church in its inner identity, of what it is at its core, and in its outer identity. This crisis of identity came from within, from theology, dogma, morality. It was a crisis of the spirit.

An inadequate theology of the priesthood

Another crisis has depended on this mishandled ecclesiology: the priestly crisis. The phenomenal numerical collapse of vocations in old Christian countries like France came from a crisis in the theology of the priesthood. There was an interior crisis, there again, since it is not Jesus who stops calling souls to himself. The ecclesial crisis generates the crisis of priestly identity, all of this is internal.

A Christian life rendered difficult

There has also been a crisis in the references of Christian life. We have seen a rise in “biblical” life, but this has not made up for the crises in sacramental life: reconciliation and the Eucharist in particular; the proportion of baptisms has fallen, as has the number of children being catechised. If we are to be “light” in this time of darkness, we will inevitably, and by God’s choice, be led to shed light without thinking of it: we are called to be beacons, light, witnesses. Today’s Christians are no longer noticed only by their attendance at Sunday Mass, but also by their witness, which can be costly. »

2/3 - The French school of spirituality

« I was formed by the Sulpicians in the French School of spirituality, that of Jean-Jacques Olier, Cardinal de Bérulle and the other “gentlemen” of the 17th century, and I remain deeply marked by it. These priests, working from a very strong christology, that is, a sense of Christ in his humanity and divinity, rediscovered the priesthood of Jesus Christ from within.

Until then, vocations were not brilliant, nor was the formation. Olier and Berulle put things in order by interiorising the meaning of the priesthood: a priest founded on a vision of the Christ total, true God and true man, whose unique priesthood closely links both natures, a priest full of piety towards the person of Jesus, a priest modelled on the formula “sacerdos alter Christus” (the priest is another Christ); a priest of confrontation, of adjustment as close as possible to the imitation and resemblance of the unique priesthood of Christ. Jesus needs this substitution in us to continue his unique priesthood. This is the secret of the Catholic priesthood. »

3/3 - An Eucharisitic spirituality

« Our personal life is nourished by the sacraments, of which the Eucharist is the centre. Many people know the care we take in celebrating the liturgy in general and the very strict approach to the Eucharist in particular. In Evron, we celebrate the liturgy of Paul VI entirely in Latin, without confusion. It is normal, more than normal even, for priests and future priests to have a great Eucharistic cult. The heart of the priest’s life is Christ, who dwells in the Eucharist. The Church is necessarily all about the sacrament of the essential sacrifice of Christ, his life and his mission. “The Church is Jesus Christ poured out and communicated,” wrote Bossuet. “The Church and Christ are one and the same,” said Joan of Arc. We are simply the continuity of his life, of his word. The Christian is an extension of the life of Christ, of his mission.

Eucharistic devotion is also the indispensable path for finding vocations that live a priesthood rooted in the celebration of the Holy Mass. The priest must begin by being concerned with his own personal sanctification in order to lead others to holiness. If we do not want to sanctify ourselves, why ask Christ for priests? The need for priests will always lie in our desire to sanctify ourselves, in view of eternal life. »