Marist Studies:Current events
Contents
Summaries in lieu of Translations
A long-time translator, Fr Brian Quin SM, has provided a series of brief synopses of letters which have yet to be translated. These have been uploaded and are indicated by the number of the document being italic rather than bold. See 1843 for example.
A Foundress of the SMSM
April 2017. Mary Williamson has translated Fr Junillon's letter which has a rare reference to one of the foundresses of the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary (SMSM).
"It is true to say that here the world is turned upside down. There are some customs that are so bizarre but nevertheless not bad in themselves, that one has difficulty in understanding, but not in believing that one is six thousand leagues from home. Miss Perroton, who is of a unique character for this country, has nevertheless suffered greatly in her first year, but her devotion and the strength of her character allowed her to triumph over all that naturally disgusted her."
How a Mission Station is Established
Aug 2016. Mary Williamson has translated Xavier Montrouzier's fascinating account of the initial set up of the Woodlark Mission.
A LONG Letter
December 2015. Mary Williamson has just provided the translation to:
It is a fascinating and lengthy account of the conversion of Wallis to Catholicism and of the early days of Christianity in Samoa. It is approximately 50,000 words - so a major task of translation.
Robert Sutton
Wendy Di Tirro made contact asking about Robert Sutton. He is mentioned in several letters, the best account being by Xavier Mountrouzier in Doc 674 who says: "an Englishman called Sutton had just been massacred. (This Sutton was a young man of good family who, with talents enough to certainly make him shine in the world and a fortune sufficient to acquire him many of life’s pleasures, had had the singular idea of travelling through the islands of Oceania and living there like the natives. He had been to Australia, New Zealand, Tanna, Anatom and finally New Caledonia. I have seen this bizarre character twice and I must say that his behaviour was a problem for me. He spoke good French, knew Latin and Greek and read Homer in his native hut!)"
Wendy wrote to say: " A big thankyou to you and everyone who translates for your website. Without it I would never have known what happened to Robert Sutton. He was English, but completed his university education in France so he and the missionaries would have been able to understand one another, even if they didn’t see eye to eye. He travelled to Australia and New Zealand and was reported to have been killed on the island of Mare in November, 1843. This report was disproved when he was seen on New Caledonia, and the rest is recorded by the Marist Missionaries."
The Mighty Quin
In a letter dated 9 June 2015 Fr Brian Quin, the most prolific of the translators of these letters, reports: "I took the MS of my translations from the beginning of 1842 up to doc 187 over to Killian 2 or 3 days ago. [...] all the gaps in 1842 up to doc 188 should now be filled in." It will take some time for Killian de Lacey to type up all Brian's work, and then more time for it to be re-formatted and uploaded, but it does mean that the early part of the story will soon be all there.
Most of these letters have now been received and are slowly being uploaded. I've just uploaded
It is a terrific letter, especially when Épalle writes a section intended "only for Father General" - complaints about the cost of the Bishop's ship, the Sancta Maria, "A ship is a bottomless pit which endlessly demands money." Complaints about the attitude of the Maori. A frank division of the brothers of the mission into the useful and the not-useful.
Sydney Procure in Action
December 2014 - a new translator, Sr Marie Challacombe, has had a go at the letters of 1854 and among other things gives us insights into the operations of the supply base in Sydney
- 1343, 10 May 1854 - Fr Antoine Séon to Fr Luis Rozet, Wellington
- 1344, 22 May 1854 - Fr Jean Forest to Fr Jean-Claude Colin, Hutt Valley
- 1345, 23 May 1845 - Fr Jean-Louis Rocher to Fr Jean-Claude Colin, Sydney This letter links to two historic paintings rediscovered relatively recently.
- 1346, 23 May 1854 - Fr Jean-Louis Rocher to Fr Victor Poupinel, Sydney
February 2015 - Sr Marie has continued her series, including some impressive complaining!
December 2015 - Sr Marie has continued and has done the last letters in the Girard volumes (i.e. the most recent ones, we have still many that are untranslated) - the final letter that Girard includes in LRO is this one from 1854:
Retribution in the Solomons
August 2014 - Mary Williamson has translated an account of the French reaction to the deaths of the missionaries in the Solomons.
And then some information about the situation on Woodlark of the missionaries who had left the San Cristobal
Marist Procure in Sydney
April 2014 Mary has added the translation of a letter from one of the missionaries from New Caledonia, who appears to be unimpressed by some of the Marists he is dealing with in Sydney.
March 2014 - Mary Williamson has just translated a series of letters from Fr Etienne Chaurain giving something of an insight into how the Marist Procure in Sydney was coping with the influx of Missionaries and New Caledonian locals who arrived there after the collapse of the New Caledonia Mission in 1847.
