Doing small things well
Belgian saint made a name for himself at school, even though he couldn't teach
By Tony Staley
Compass Editor
Be the best. That's common advice. But what if your best isn't all that good? In that case, St. Mucian (or Mutien) Mary Wiaux might say, you should still strive to be the best you can be.
That's how this Belgian saint lived and helped others live.
St. Mucian, a son of a blacksmith, was born in 1841 in Mellet, Belgium. He was called Louis until he joined the Christian Brothers at Namur in 1856, when he received his religious name, Mucian. (Tradition says the first St. Mucian was martyred with St. Mark, along with a young boy who called out words of encouragement to Mark and Mucian as they were being killed.)
In 1859, the Christian Brothers sent Mucian to teach at St. Bertuin School in Maloone, where he would stay for 58 years until his death in 1917. But it soon became apparent that he was no great teacher, especially since he couldn't keep classes under control.
So his superiors gave him some less important classes and some essential school activities that had nothing to do with teaching.
Thus, he was assigned music and art classes and supervising the playground and dormitories. He also organized walks and rang the school bell.
A lesser person might have been content with just marking time. But Mucian applied himself and learned more about art and music. His superiors soon discovered that he "had the skill of bringing even the least gifted to the limit of their abilities." In some cases, he did this by teaching them; in other cases, he encouraged his students to do better.
Soon, his students developed a great admiration for his holiness and gentleness. They saw him as a model for Christian living and called him "the brother who is always praying." Later, Belgium's bishops would call him "a man of prayer, an apostle among the students" who "went about his daily tasks with holiness ... hurting none and forgiving all."
Shortly after his death, visitors began coming to his tomb, seeking his intercession. His cause for sainthood was introduced in 1936 and he was beatified in 1977 by Pope Paul VI, who said Mucian treated teaching not just as a profession, but as a religious vocation.
At his canonization, Pope John Paul II called him "the light of Belgium and the glory of his congregation."
Mucian's life and example remind us that you don't have to be the best to do your best - and that it doesn't get any better than that.
(Sources: Butler's Lives of the Saints and Dictionary of Saints)
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