We have thought it important, on the occasion of the canonization, to have an icon of St. Marcellin Champagnat made, not to be fashionable, but to help us grasp his charism better through the prayer of contemplation.

An icon is not a religious object for decorative purposes. An icon has nothing to do with Occidental painting which is most often lifelike, aimed at pleasing, stimulating.

An icon is theology in image, oriented towards celebration, inviting to contemplation, because it speaks to the mind, the soul, to our mystical sense. It expresses the mysteries of the incarnation, redemption, and glorification.
An icon is the fruit of contemplation, of a spiritual process. It is in a profound spirit of prayer, starting with the reading of Marcellin's life, that this icon has been made inside the Carmel of the Theotokos in Harissa, Lebanon.

Marcellin has not imposed himself on us by his realism or his many accomplishments; the miniatures offer us a re-reading. of the life of Marcellin issuing from a vision of faith. He reminds us of the essential point: to go to Jesus through Mary, no matter what your state of life is, your age, your talents, your limits.
We are called to follow Marcellin in radiating the glory of the Risen One along the path to holiness which he proposes.

Sincere thanks to the Carmelite Sisters for this expression of Marcellin Champagnat's holiness. Sincere thanks for sharing their internalization of the Marist charism; they help us deepen its Marial and apostolic dimensions.
The Sisters invite us to an attitude of contemplation in order to live more fully the call to holiness addressed to each and every Christian.

Br. Henri Vignau

Image of our sanctification, the icon transmits the deified state of the prototype it, represents, transfigured and illuminated. Faith inspires the harmony of the forms, since the icon, which is "theology" in line and color, finds its basis in the mystery of ' the Incarnation which leads us to deification. Infixing our gaze on the Face of this God made man, we are now permitted to contemplate through it, the glory of the father Who formerly hid "His face from the house of Jacob." Henceforth, drawn by the dynamism of Faith, we accede to the experience of the love of God. The icon is the message from the human heart which, in the Church, is struck by the Beauty of the Holy Spirit and overwhelmed by grace. This message can be understood . and explained only in the Church. As We contemplate it, it raises aU our feelings and faculties towards transfiguration, towards the divine and the glory in which we are called to participate.

Saint Marcellin Champagnat is represented as the "iconophore" bearing the image of the Mother of God. He is surrounded, on the left and on the right, by ten hagiographic miniatures which relate the outstanding episodes of his life, and by two other miniatures found in the top center and bottom center of the "pole" which recall a reality telescoping all time and becoming present.