Peter Maurin

Background

Peter Maurin came into the world on May 9, 1877 in Outlet, a village in the Languedoc region of southern France. His devotion to religion came much earlier, as he joined the Christian Brothers, a teaching order which stressed simplicity of life, piety, and service to the poor [1]. After leaving the order he took part in a Catholic movement called Le Sillon in France

Both as a novice and upon leaving the order he participated in a Catholic movement called Le Sillon in France. According to Arthur Sheehan in his book Peter Maurin: Gay Believer (Hanover House, 1959--so named before the meaning of the word gay had changed), this movement and study clubs in which he participated emphasized a joyful, yet ascetic, faith like that of St. Philip Neri, a faith which involved the commitment of one's whole soul, imagination, feelings and emotions as well as the intellect. The dream was that with intense Christian commitment, love, responsibility and action for social justice, social problems would disappear as people noted, "See how these Christians love one another."