Marist Brothers High School is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

all-boys' high school situated in

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

, the capital of

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

. It is a school in the Marist tradition, founded in 1946 by the order of Marist Brothers, which has had a presence in Fiji since 1844. The counterpart school for girls is St Joseph's Secondary School, Fiji .Fiji Education Commission Report 1909, p.53.cited in Robert Nicole, ''Disturbing History: resistance in early colonial Fiji'', University of Hawaii Press, 2011, p. 181. The school motto is ''In Hoc Signo Vinces''.

History

Marist Brothers High School was founded and has been run by members of the

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute of Religious brother, brothers. In 1817, Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from Fr ...

order since it opened to students in 1949. Founded by Saint

Marcellin Champagnat Marcellin Joseph Benedict Champagnat, FMS (20 May 17896 June 1840) was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic priest who founded of the Marist Brothers, a religious congregation of Religious brother, brothers devoted to Mary, mother of Jesu ...

, a Marist priest in

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in 1816, the order went by the names of the ''Petits Frères de Marie'' (Little Brothers of Mary) and ''Fratres Maristae a Scolis'' (FMS or the Marist Brothers of the Schools, the

post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters, or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, an academic degree, accreditation ...

of the Marist Brothers). Marcellin's desire to have brothers to teach the rural children grew after his visit to the bedside of a sixteen-year-old, Jean Baptiste Montagne whom St. Marcellin discovered knew nothing of his faith.Pat Gallagher, ''The Marist Brothers in New Zealand Fiji & Samoa'', New Zealand Marist Brother's Trust Board, Tuakau, 1976, pp. 29–30, 77–81, 122–127. Marist Brothers schools began in

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in 1872 and in New Zealand in 1876. On 27 August 1888, three Marist brothers, Harvey, Vincent and Alphonsus, arrived in Suva to begin a school for the children of Catholic Europeans. This was in response to Bishop Vidal's request to Brother Theophane, the Brother Superior General in France. On 7 September 1888, they began their school in a house, just above the Lilac Theatre in Waimanu Road. In 1889 they moved to Suva Street. At first only European boys were admitted but by 1897 Brothers Columba and Claudius had begun a school for Indian boys and other races, known as the Indian School or the Cosmopolitan School, on the corner of Suva Street and Toorak Road. By 1936 this had developed into St Columba's School. In 1912, Brothers Augustine, Alphonsus and Loyola began secondary classes in St Felix College, also on the Suva Street property. In 1936, after a considerable struggle with the civil authorities, who opposed secondary education for locally born children, the Brothers were allowed to reopen their secondary classes to all races. Thus the Marist Brothers High School had its beginnings in Suva Street. The High School was built at Bau Street during 1948, ready to begin the year there in 1949."Marist brothers high school celebrates 75 years", ''Cath News New Zealand'', 19 October 2012.
(Retrieved 12 February 2013)

Extra-curricular activities

Marist sports

For the past four decades Marist Brothers High School has dominated athletics in Fiji. Athletics is a unifying force for the Marist community who come together every year to assist athletes for the annual Coca-Cola Games and later on in international meets. It is the only school in Fiji that won National Secondary Schools big three sports, Soccer, Rugby and Athletics, titles in same year in 1976.

References

{{coord, -18.1466, 178.4352, display=title Buildings and structures in Suva Educational institutions established in 1949 1949 establishments in Fiji Catholic schools in Fiji

Schools in Fiji