Rev. Fr De Jambilinne de Meux, C.SS.R. (1888-1938)
Father Jambilinne de Meux was born in Antwerp on 4th March 1888. He was an essentially generous soul - one of those who take no account of their sacrifices to God. He pronounced his perpetual vows in 1904, and was ordained a Priest on 29th September 1911. Thus he gave the prime of his life to God.
Intelligent and serious, he applied himself arduously to his theological studies. He had a love for the Church and received the Holy Orders with great fervour. The Foreign Missions attracted him, but God, by the voice of his Superior, retained him in Belgium. He was at once enamoured with the Ministry of Preaching.
When war broke out, heeding his courage alone, he asked to be Chaplain and departed immediately for the Battlefields. There resounded within him an inherited chivalry, which he wanted to honour. His behaviour was brilliant. He never left the front, consuming himself night and day for the good of his men. One of the latter, saluting his remains at the Cemetery, declared in his funeral prayer that he owed him his life.
Thus he saved others. But who could say the number of souls he protected. The country recognised his bravery in honouring him with multiple distinctions, including Honorary Chaplain to the Belgian Army, War invalide. He was decorated with the Croix de Guerre, Croix de Feu, as well as Knight of the Order of Lepoid. He also held the Volunteer Medal and the Medal of Commemoration.
After the war he applied himself with a holy passion to the apostolic life. He ministered in Belgium and France, bestowing the message of God tirelessly to souls with an entrancing eloquence. Burning with devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, he propagated the devotion everywhere and founded the Perpetual Supplication in various places.
The preaching obligation did not prevent him from devoting himself ardently to the works of the Institute. He gathered alms for his confreres on the Congo Mission, but his greater affection went to his Monastery at Namur, which he had watched as it was born and grew. This Monastery and its young living Church owe him a special gratitude.
But so much work exhausted him. Alas, the day when his strength betrayed him came prematurely. Then began the great immolation. The indefatigable worker was reduced to powerlessness. God asked of him an heroic Fiat. He pronounces it with a broken heart but with a resolute soul. To one Confrere, a friend who suggested to him an act of total abandonment, he replied, knowing well that he accepted by it the sacrifice of his life: "Yes, everything as Jesus wishes it!"
Thus by a supreme love, he would consume his interesting labour to the service of his Master. He fell into the breach, in the full force of life, his weapons in hand, like a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Fr. De Jambilinne de Meux died in Brussels on 1st June 1938.
Now he rests in glorious peace. Tireless sower of Jesus Christ, he reaps the eternal harvest. The remembrance of souls as he approached heaven, devotedly guarded his loved memory. †
Oh Mother of Perpetual Help! Lend me your perpetual help and grant what I ask unceasingly. (300 days Indulgence)
Intelligent and serious, he applied himself arduously to his theological studies. He had a love for the Church and received the Holy Orders with great fervour. The Foreign Missions attracted him, but God, by the voice of his Superior, retained him in Belgium. He was at once enamoured with the Ministry of Preaching.
When war broke out, heeding his courage alone, he asked to be Chaplain and departed immediately for the Battlefields. There resounded within him an inherited chivalry, which he wanted to honour. His behaviour was brilliant. He never left the front, consuming himself night and day for the good of his men. One of the latter, saluting his remains at the Cemetery, declared in his funeral prayer that he owed him his life.
Thus he saved others. But who could say the number of souls he protected. The country recognised his bravery in honouring him with multiple distinctions, including Honorary Chaplain to the Belgian Army, War invalide. He was decorated with the Croix de Guerre, Croix de Feu, as well as Knight of the Order of Lepoid. He also held the Volunteer Medal and the Medal of Commemoration.
After the war he applied himself with a holy passion to the apostolic life. He ministered in Belgium and France, bestowing the message of God tirelessly to souls with an entrancing eloquence. Burning with devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, he propagated the devotion everywhere and founded the Perpetual Supplication in various places.
The preaching obligation did not prevent him from devoting himself ardently to the works of the Institute. He gathered alms for his confreres on the Congo Mission, but his greater affection went to his Monastery at Namur, which he had watched as it was born and grew. This Monastery and its young living Church owe him a special gratitude.
But so much work exhausted him. Alas, the day when his strength betrayed him came prematurely. Then began the great immolation. The indefatigable worker was reduced to powerlessness. God asked of him an heroic Fiat. He pronounces it with a broken heart but with a resolute soul. To one Confrere, a friend who suggested to him an act of total abandonment, he replied, knowing well that he accepted by it the sacrifice of his life: "Yes, everything as Jesus wishes it!"
Thus by a supreme love, he would consume his interesting labour to the service of his Master. He fell into the breach, in the full force of life, his weapons in hand, like a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Fr. De Jambilinne de Meux died in Brussels on 1st June 1938.
Now he rests in glorious peace. Tireless sower of Jesus Christ, he reaps the eternal harvest. The remembrance of souls as he approached heaven, devotedly guarded his loved memory. †
Oh Mother of Perpetual Help! Lend me your perpetual help and grant what I ask unceasingly. (300 days Indulgence)
.jpg)
