The pastor of the town, the Abbé Sallié, however, spoke to the boy about the Brothers of the Christian Schools (commonly called the Christian Brothers), who were about to open a school in the nearby town of Gosselies. He went to meet them and was convinced that it was the way of life he wanted. He traveled to the city of Namur, where he entered the Brothers’ novitiate on 7 April 1856, and received the habit that following July. At that time he was also given the religious name of Mutien-Marie (“Mutien” after the ancient Roman martyr Mucian).[2]
Mutien gained the reputation of strictly living according to the Rule of the Institute. Nonetheless, his fellow novices enjoyed his company due to his reliable sense of humor.[2]
On 8 September 1857 Mutien left the novitiate to teach at an elementary school the Brothers ran in Chimay, followed the next year by an assignment at another of the Brother’s elementary schools, the Institut Saint-Georges in Brussels.[2] In 1859 he was assigned to teach at the Institut Saint-Berthuin, a boarding school in the village of Mallone (now part of the city of Namur). He taught there for the next 58 years, until his death.[2]
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