Translated by Leonard Voegtle, FMS
Edited by José Diez Villacorta, FMS
Translator’s Preface
Foreword to the 1927 edition
Chapter 1
– What a Brother is according to Father Champagnat
Chapter 2 – What a yong brother is and how important it is
to train him well
Chapter 3 – The misfortune of losing one’s vocation
Chapter 4 – How the young brothers fasted
Chapter 5 – The kinds of brothers Father Champagnat did
not like
Chapter 6 – The first places
Chapter 7 – The aneurysm: an image of infidelity to the
rule
Chapter 8 – What sin is
Chapter 9 – The hundredfold to all, or to each according
to his works
Chapter 10 – Sin is an evil for the one who commits it,
for his family and for his community
Chapter 11 – The origin of and reason for various
practices customary in the institute
Chapter 12 – New year’s eve, or giving thanks
Chapter 13 – Our need for meditation and mental prayer
Chapter 14 – The five types of devotions or piety
Chapter 15 – The office
Chapter 16 – Brother Hypolyte and his lamp
Chapter 17 – Why the devil tempts us
Chapter 18 – Our lady of the Holy Cincture
Chapter 19 – The great question
Chapter 20 – What a saint is
Chapter 21 – What a saint is (continued)
Chapter 22 – The great temptation
Chapter 23 – The five sayings of a wise old man, or the
seasons of religious life
Chapter 24 – On charity
Chapter 25 – Correction, or fraternal admonition
Chapter 26 – Slander
Chapter 27 – On being silent and reserved in one’s
speech
Chapter 28 – The only way to establish and maintain unity
in a community
Chapter 29 – Can we reach a point where peace and unity
in a community will never be disturbed?
Chapter 30 – Trials, or the testing of fraternal charity
Chapter 31 – What life in a religious community should be
like
Chapter 32 – On the virtues of family life
Chapter 33 – In unity there is strength
Chapter 34 – Assignments
Chapter 35 – What it means to educate a child
Chapter 36 – The necessity of education
Chapter 37 – What it means to teach catechism well
Chapter 38 – The respect we owe to a child
Chapter 39 – A conversation about discipline
Chapter 40 – Supervision
Chapter 41 – What is a teacher
List of persons quoted in this volume, with biographical notes
