Papa Stronsay Texts

Very Rev. Fr Achilles Desurmont, C.SS.R. (1828-1898)

2011-12-02T20:32:00.005Z

We will attempt to sketch here a few outlines of the life of him who may be regarded as the ‘maker’ of the Gallo-Helvetic Province, of which he was the seventh Provincial for nearly a quarter of a century (1865 to 1887 and again in 1898). Born at Tourcoing, in the diocese of Lille, France, on 23rd December 1828 into a very honourable family of industrialists, the Very Rev. Father was one of the most brilliant students of the college of this city. He completed his studies with the Jesuits at Brugelette (Belgium). His Redemptorist vocation was providentially recognized by Venerable Fr Joseph Passerat. He was a man with a spirit fertile in resources, an exuberant nature, a lively and spontaneously exuberant character and very great faith.

We may say that he was destined by Providence to become the worthy successor of Ven. Fr Passerat, as he, himself, had been of St Clement Mary sent by St Alphonsus to propagate the Institute over the Alps. His eminent virtues recommended themselves to the confidence of his superiors. Professed on 19 March, 1851 at St Trond, Belgium, and ordained priest on 24 September 1853 at Metz, he was soon named prefect of his former co-students, in which capacity he perfected their studies with a remarkable skill and directed the students with a zeal which sought nothing but to be moderated.

For 11 years he was occupied with the formation of young persons and did not leave this work but to fill, for 22 years, the office of Provincial. Under his government vocations multiplied and 20 new monasteries were opened in France and Spain and as far as South America in Peru, Chili, Columbia and Ecuador.

He permeated his province with the spirit of St Alphonsus. One of his principal merits was to encourage to solid and substantial studies, but an encouragement always conformable to the teachings of St Thomas and St Alphonsus. An admirably gifted man of doctrine, he wished to shed light on the road on which he engaged his subjects and wanted solid convictions to be applied to the effort required for the sacrifices that he asked. That which he never ceased to teach and to recommend was the Rule, but the Rule well understood and the Rule in all its fullness. His acts of government were all marked with prudence and goodness. A great vigor, and firm and wise meekness, a gentle persuasion were his invariable methods of his administration. Hatred of mediocrity and above all tepidity was, for him, as a milestone of which he never lost sight and towards which he directed his efforts.

During the last years of his life Very Rev. Fr Desurmont himself published several books and quite a number of pamphlets. These found their way into all truly pious hands. It will suffice to recall the following titles: The Friend of the Sacred Heart, The Continual Return to God, The Divine Art of Mental Prayer, Venerable Fr Passerat and the Redemptorists, The Week of a Servant of Mary, The Resolute Religious, Familiar Recourse to Mental Prayer, The Catechism of Mental Prayer, etc.

The Rev. Father also began twenty other works, sometimes only outlines, and, in his own mind, destined for his religious family, often having, none the less, a value of the first order; if not always for their form at least for their content.

When, to allow him to rest from so many fatigues his Superior General granted him to resign his functions, Very Rev. Fr Desurmont undertook a large work of Pastoral Theology entitled Priestly Charity which he finished, but which death prevented him from publishing himself.

His relative repose was not to be for long. The Sovereign Pontiff, who knew him and esteemed him greatly, named him Apostolic Visitor of the Little Sisters of the Poor in the difficult years which followed the retirement of the ‘Good Father Le Pailleur’. He did not leave his post until, after four years, he had reaffixed this admirable congregation on its solid foundations. His activities extended to a host of communities of nuns, but, above all, it was in favour of priests that he exercised his apostolate. What can one say of the retreats he preached to so many and with such success? The Very Rev. Fr Tissot, Superior General of the Missionaries of St Francis de Sales said: “ Fr Desurmont is our master in all during the pastoral retreats; nobody has known how to make Christian Ascetiscm more popular. He is the greatest ascetic of his age”. Cardinal Guibert, Archbishop of Paris, affirmed to Fr Desurmont himself that he had received from God a special vocation to do good to priests and that he would neglect his duty if he did not give himself entirely to this work. One beheld cardinals and bishops coming together for several days to make the holy exercises of a retreat under the direction of Fr Desurmont. We may say that he had won the esteem and even the veneration of all these prelates who appreciated his rare talents.

Under the orders of the Most Rev. Fr Mauron, Fr Desurmont was named Consultor General, but he was soon renamed Provincial. He wanted then to undertake with a new ardour a whole campaign for regular observance in each of the French monasteries. It was as his spiritual testament to the children he had formed. By he relied too much on his strength. After some months he succumbed and came to die at the house of studies at Thury-en-Valois, surrounded by the affection and veneration of all. Before falling into a coma, he blessed Province for a last time and said: “I am a Redemptorist to the end.” It was the 23rd July, a Saturday within the octave of the Most Holy Redeemer, and the vigil of the Novena of St Alphonsus. He left to all who knew him a gentle persuasion that the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer numbered, in his person, another Blessed in Heaven. The Very Rev. Fr Godard, his successor, published the spiritual testament of Fr Desurmont on the 1st August 1898 under the title; Some reflections on the spirit of perfection and the spirit of imperfection in regular observance. His life was written by Fr Alphonse George. Rev Fr Pierre Riblier published, in 1905, the complete works of Very Rev. Fr Desurmont with the collaboration of several confreres. “Conserva fili mi, praecepta patris tui, et ne demittas legem matris tuae.” [Prov. VI, 2]

German Life of St Clement Online

2011-05-31T20:26:00.008+01:00

Papa Stronsay Texts now links to the Papa Stronsay Library where you can download the German Life of St Clement by Fr Michael Haringer, C.SS.R. in PDF format. Click on the linked picture below or use the same image in the left sidebar of this blog to call up a dialogue box with which you can begin downloading the book, ready to print out or convert to text!

Prayer of St Clement

O Dearest Jesus, Whose Most Amiable Heart Excludes not even the greatest sinners when they turn to Thee, Grant, I beseech Thee, to me and to all penitent sinners, a heart like unto Thine, that is an humble heart, which even in the midst of temporal honours loves a hidden life, a life little esteemed by men; A meek heart, which bears with everyone, and seeks to be revenged on no one; A patient heart, which is resigned in adversity and happy even in the most trying circumstances; A peaceful heart, which is ever at peace with others and with itself; a disinterested heart, which is always contented with what it has; A heart which loves prayer, and prays often and cheerfully; A heart whose only desire is that God may be known, honoured and loved by all His creatures, which grieves for nothing except when God is offended, despises nothing but sin, wishes for nothing but the Glory of God and its neighbours' salvation; A pure heart, which in all things seeks God alone and desires to please Him; A grateful heart, which does not forget, but duly values the benefits of God; A strong heart, which is daunted by no evil, but bears all adversity for the love of God; A heart liberal to the poor and compassionate to the suffering souls in Purgatory; A well-ordered heart, whose joys and sorrows, desires and aversions, nay, whose every motion is regulated according to the Divine Will. Amen

More Portraits of Cardinal van Rossum

2011-05-29T15:56:00.009+01:00

A beautiful portrait of
His Eminence
Wilhelmus Marinus
Cardinal van Rossum, C.SS.R.
(1854-1932)
and below the Cardinal as a young man.

The Far Sight has posted this image and
several other interesting pictures of His Eminence.

His necrology can be found here.

Rev. Br Joseph Van Hoeydonck, C.SS.R. (1870-1898)

2010-10-21T12:33:00.008+01:00

Professed Student of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. Born in Donck (Province of Anvers) on 4th September 1870. Died 31st August 1898
‘Loved by God and by men, his memory is a blessing’ (Eccl 45) RIP

Joseph Constant Van Hoeydonck, learnt early in the stories of the Saints the solid maxims of true sanctity. Innocence, mortification, piety, such is the faithful resume of his first years. The rest of his life was the echo also of saintly premises. At hardly 14 years old, he was profoundly touched by the grace of a Mission and understood the light of faith, that God had called him to the Religious life. Faithful to respond to the voice on high, he struggled with energy and constancy against the numerous obstacles, which opposed the realisation of his design. His firmness carried him on and on the day of the Nativity of Our Lady 1887 he reached the portals of the Monastery of St. Trond. A fervent Noviciate was the fruit of his first enthusiasm. On Easter Sunday 1890, he made his Religious oblation with generosity and unmistakable consolation. The Lord accepted his sacrifice, but soon asked of him the full and entire consummation. In effect he sent the young Religious a long and painful illness. It’s that which illuminated his virtues above all. In the midst of the most excruciating pains, he always showed an admirable patience. At the point of death, he pronounced his vows before all; at its approach, he could make the remarkable declaration which sufficed to raise St. John Berchmans to the Altars: - ‘Never have I voluntarily transgressed a single one of my Rules’.

Sweet Mary, whom the orphan at the tenderest age had chosen to take the place of his mother, did not abandon him at the supreme hour. Just as one of Confreres was astonished at his request for ‘the Magnificat’, the Queen of Heaven appeared to him, consoled him and undoubtedly came to invite him to follow her to Paradise, because a few moments later he bowed his head and slept peacefully in the Lord. It was on Saturday August 31st August 1898. †

The Servant of God Rev. Fr Francesco Maria Margotta, C.SS.R. (1699-1764)

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Father was born at Calitri in Italy in 1699 and entered the Redemptorists in 1747. Of note is at the age of 30 he fell gravely ill and his director, the great Servant of God, Don Giuliani, having been called in great haste found him dead upon his arrival. Father Giuliani several times repeated this prayer to Our Lord: "My Jesus, I wish him alive for Thy glory, yes I wish it; it is a grace that Giuliani asks of Thee, and Thou must grant it to him." He repeated the prayer until the young man returned to life.

He was later ordained priest and entered the Redemptorists, making his profession on 2 July, 1748. As one of St. Alphonsus' first disciples he became procurator general just a year after his vows at the first General Chapter of 1749. His outstanding qualities gained for him many friendships, including those of numerous distinguished persons who assisted him during his final illness.

He was the companion and friend of St. Gerard Majella. Father Margotta died on 11 August, 1764, as the result of an epidemic, assisted by charitable confreres and regretted by the people, above all by St Alphonsus, who had lost in him one of his most devoted friends. †

Wittem, Holland, Mission Cross

2010-05-31T14:29:00.001+01:00

Rev. Fr De Jambilinne de Meux, C.SS.R. (1888-1938)

2010-05-28T14:54:00.002+01:00

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)

Windhorst, Kansas, Mission Cross

2010-05-25T23:43:00.001+01:00

The Servant of God Rev. Fr Giovanni Mazzini, C.SS.R. (1704-1792)

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Father Mazzini was born at Naples on 18 December, 1704. After having passed his youth in admirable innocence he embraced the ecclesiastical state. He "met" St. Alphonsus at the "feet of Jesus" so to speak, when they both – in their youths, found themselves together in churches for the 40 Hours devotion. He became St. Alphonsus' first associate in the Institute, his example in the exercise of virtue, his counsellor and his close friend. For more than half a century Fathers Villani and Mazzini aided their holy and illustrious superior with all their might.

Both were able, one at age 90, the other at 88, to testify as witnesses at his Beatification process. Both went very soon thereafter into eternity, in the same year. Father died at Pagani on 3 December, 1792. †

Galoppe, Holland, Mission Cross

2010-05-20T02:05:00.001+01:00

Rev. Fr Felix Blum, C.SS.R. (1834-1873)

2010-05-17T00:26:00.000+01:00

Father Felix Blum was born in Luxembourg on 31 May, 1834. His father sent him to college in the capitol but God was to call him into the Redemptorist Congregation by means of Rev. Fr. Zobel. He was professed on 1 May, 1853. He had great plans at heart which he wanted to carry out for the Glory of God, but Heaven was to satisfy itself with his desires alone.

Ordained to the priesthood on 25 May, 1861 he was to suffer all his life from a bad chest which reduced him to complete helplessness. He sought to render the service he could and repay the care taken of him by a very fervent piety and regularity.

He was sent to the monastery of Teterchen, but he was to die there on 27 January, 1873. †

El Villar, Bolivia, Mission Cross

2010-05-15T00:34:00.001+01:00

Rev. Fr Clement Marc, C.SS.R. (1831-1887)

2010-05-13T02:41:00.001+01:00

Rev. Father Marc was born at Jouy-sous-les-Côtes, in the Diocese of Verdun on 24 July, 1831. He was professed as a Redemptorist on 24 September, 1853 and ordained to the Sacred Priesthood on 16 August, 1857. Although he did not spend many years in the preaching of Missions, he was indeed an Apostolic man and his sermons were taken as models by younger missioners.

During his time as rector of Téterchen and his years as professor of moral theology, his love of Saint Alphonsus and his zeal for souls made him undertake, in 1868, the "Institutiones Morales Alphonsianae." It was a work which he journeyed to Rome to complete. A well qualified professor of moral theology – among others – once said of his work: "Thanks to this immense work, we now at last have a manual of St. Alphonsus' moral theology which contains the pure doctrine of the holy doctor and the proofs which he advances and, in as much as possible, using the same expressions which he employs. He surpasses similar works already published on account both of the conformity of doctrine with that of St. Alphonsus and of the work's practical utility."

Of course, Fr. Marc used to his advantage, and used a great deal, the books printed by his predecessors; it was his right and his duty to do so; but the gigantic work which he undertook in order résumé in 1700 pages – with such exactitude, order, and clarity – the moral works of St. Alphonsus and his commentators, merits the most lively gratitude of all those who undertake the study of this branch of Theology. The different theological reviews of the day made a most splendid eulogy of the "Institutiones Morales." By 1927 the 18th edition of the work had been printed.

Along side his love for study, Father had a particular gift for the direction of pious souls. The Most Rev. Fr. Mauron, the Redemptorist Rector Major of the day, held him in such esteem that he wished to have him for successor – such was his confidence in the wisdom and advice of Fr. Marc. His Paternity planned for him to succeed the Servant of God Very Rev. Fr. Achille Desurmont as provincial in France in 1887. Death was to surprise him in the exercise of his ministry. While he was confessing and conferring the Sacrament of Extreme Unction on a nun who had smallpox, he caught the malady and died from it on 27 January, 1887. †

Epfig, Alsace, Mission Cross

2010-05-11T03:13:00.002+01:00

The Servant of God Rev. Fr Antonio Tannoia, C.SS.R. (1727-1808)

2010-05-08T15:32:00.007+01:00

Born on 26 October, 1717, Father Tannoia entered the Redemptorist Congregation at the age of 19 years, 13 years after its foundation, after having assisted at a Holy Mission. He was professed on 8 December, 1747 and ordained on 1 November, 1750. He became the Novice Master and contributed most to the work of putting together the "Rule of Novices". He has been immortalised by his book "Recollections of the Life and Institute of Saint Alphonsus" (often referred to as simply "Tannoia") and the biographies of other Redemptorists.

At the request of one of the most distinguished doctors of Naples, Fr Tannoia composed a book entitled "Bees" concerning their utility and the best methods of keeping them. This work, written in spare moments and without the intention of publication cost him 40 years of work. The public good soon became the motivation for a project which would normally have been a pure distraction. Fr. Tannoia was convinced that the agricultural method used until then in Pouille was excellent and did not deserve the disdain in which certain persons held it. He wished to vindicate the method and show how the Kingdom of Naples possessed in its heartland a resource of incredible value. The book was immensely successful.

Distinguished author, first historian of St. Alphonsus, he was also a man of great virtue and his merits in heaven seemed to show themselves by wonderful prodigies. All admired in him a religious always suffering and always happy in the midst of trials.

The the old man of 80, in his 61^st year of profession, gave up his beautiful soul to God on 12 March, 1808. Prodigious graces were received after his death through his intercession. His life was written by Father Dumortier.†

Mission Cross - Belgium

2010-05-08T15:29:00.001+01:00

Two Years and 100 Necrologies

2010-05-08T15:25:00.001+01:00

Thanks to our readers and helpers, after two years online, Papa Stronsay Texts has been able to improve its layout and make around 100 necrologies available. This is a humble work in progress. If you enjoy this blog and would like to be part of it, please contact the Necrologist. There are always necrologies to be typed and even translated from Spanish, Flemish, French, Italian, German, Polish etc. †

The Servant of God Rev. Fr Xavier Rossi, C.SS.R. (1706-1758)

2010-02-26T00:48:00.003Z

Born in 1706, Father Rossi was one of St. Alphonsus' first companions. He entered the Redemptorist Congregation a year after its foundation. Despite his ardent zeal for the salvation of souls, he was forced, almost as soon as he entered religion, to renounce apostolic work due to a violent cough, which caused frequent spitting of blood.

Instead he consecrated himself entirely to the Monastery of Ciorani, of which he became the architect, the business manager and the support. St. Alphonsus taught him to consider God as his treasurer. This "Treasurer" sent him sums sufficient to build both a church and a monastery which could house 50 religious and 100 retreatants. His "secret" for procuring resources was to give much to the poor and to count on Divine Providence with an entire confidence. "For alms to enter a monastery" he said, "they must also leave it." Father Rossi joined himself with rare tenacity to imitating the virtues of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

He had to constantly wage war on a bad temper, which strongly worked on his character and required his continual efforts to be vanquished. But his virtue always gained the upper hand and he was always master of himself – in such a way that his temperament contributed to perfect his virtues.

Father died at Ciorani on 18 January, 1758. He had also been the superior of Saint Gerard Majella. †

Archbishop Celestine Coclé, C.SS.R. (1783-1857)

2010-02-22T00:41:00.002Z

Born in 1783 at San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, Father Coclé, after brilliant theological studies, distinguished himself as a Missioner by preaching the Gospel in numerous towns and villages of the Kingdom of Naples. He exercised successively the charges of professor, Rector of the Monastery at Pagani and Consultor General. Finally he was elected as Redemptorist Rector Major at the Chapter of 1824, taking the place of the Most Reverend Father Nicolas Mansione (4 June, 1824).

His discourses, circulars and acts all tended to promote efficaciously the spirit and works of St. Alphonsus in the heart of the Institute. He was particularly zealous in regular observance, the promotion of the studies and the attention he gave to preserving the proper character of Missions.

In 1831, at the request of King Ferdinand II and under the formal obedience of Pope Gregory XVI, Most Reverend Fr. Coclé was named confessor to the Neapolitan Court, consecrated as titular Archbishop of Patras and had to give up his post as Rector Major.

As personal advisor to the King he had the honour of incurring the wrath of the sectarians, who pursued him and obliged him, in 1847, to leave the Kingdom of Naples and take refuge in Malta.

Archbishop Coclé died at the Redemptorist Monastery at Naples on 1 March, 1857, in the 56th year of his Redemptorist Vows having made his profession on 21 November, 1800 at the age of 17.

Before his death he, who had worked so hard for the canonization of St. Alphonsus, had the honour of placing the Saint amongst the patrons of the City of Naples. †

The Servant of God Br George Passy, C.SS.R. (1784-1836)

2010-02-20T00:45:00.003Z

Brother George Passy was born on 5 April, 1784, in Vienna, Austria. By the grace of God he passed his childhood and youth in innocence. Very well versed in the study of literature, George dreamt of leaving this to enter into commerce. Meanwhile he had the grace to meet St. Clement Mary Hofbauer and to take him as spiritual father. Under his direction, George began to edit a very successful monthly magazine entitled "Olive Branches." But fearing that he would not know how to combine his piety with his preoccupation with study, he decided to become a Redemptorist.

It is remarkable that this man, with such a vast erudition, asked to be admitted to the Congregation as a Brother with the desire of making himself – for the rest of his life – the servant of the Congregation in Vienna. He made his profession on 14 August, 1825.

Everything in him denoted composure; grave in his conduct, of an ardent piety, bringing forth an intensive union with God. Charitable towards his neighbour, calm in times of joy, patient in sorrow.

With his knowledge of numerous languages he was appointed secretary to St Clement. One never saw him engaged in any useless occupation and still less affecting any gravity in his conduct; humble and simple – he was the enemy of idle conversations and very attentive to his duties towards God and those things placed in his charge. Such was his respect for the Priesthood that he never heard one of God's ministers without bowing his head. His love and care for his fellow Brothers went far beyond what was ordinary, for while rendering to them with great charity all the services he could, he would never allow himself to be served by them. Thus it is easy to understand how he won the esteem of his confreres.

An illness which he had contracted in his youth continued to undermine him year after year and his health declined rapidly – having reached the age of 50 his body was reduced to such a state that no remedy was able to give any hope of recovery. It was thus that on 31 December, 1836, he breathed forth his soul at Vienna, in the arms of his confreres. †

Br Anthony Habermaier, C.SS.R. (1819-1895)

2010-02-13T17:53:00.003Z

Br Anthony was born on October 6, 1819 and baptised with the name of James. Brother had been married, and in that state was a staunch Catholic, a prominent member of St Joseph's parish of Rochester, United States. He served for many years as usher in the church. After the death of his wife, he carried out his long-cherished desire of embracing the life of a Redemptorist brother. He was professed on April 15, 1869.

Being a first-rate tailor by trade, he rendered most valuable services to the community. For many years, he was connected with the novitiate, and had to attend to the various temporal wants of the young men. Brother Anthony was admirably suited for that position. It was in that quality that his name became, as it were, a house-hold word among the members of the Province, particularly among the younger ones, who had the benefit of his services during their novitiate.

He was, indeed, a faithful servant of the Lord, a genuine Redemptorist brother, humble and industrious, pious and cheerful. His memory will, therefore, ever be held in benediction. He died on September 2, 1895. †

Venerable Fr Vitus-Michael Di Netta, C.SS.R. (1788-1849)

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Father Di Netta was born on 26 February, 1788 at Vallata, in the Kingdom of Naples and was received into the Redemptorist Congregation while a seminarian in 1804 by the Servant of God Father Tannoia. He was professed on 25 April, 1808, and ordained a priest on 11 March, 1811. He was to become a holy and ardent Missioner.

Calabria was the principal scene of his activities and there he preached numerous Missions. (He is called the Apostle of the Calabrians.) His compelling words attracted all hearts and nobody could resist the power of his zeal.

To this ardent Missioner, this vigilant observer of the Rule, to this so mortified religious, so penitent, so humble, God gave the gift of reading the secrets of hearts far into the future. He had also the gift of miracles.

Father died on the day he himself had predicted – the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, 3 December, 1849 at Tropea.

On 22 June, 1910, Pope St. Pius X signed the decree of the introduction of his cause and conceded to him the title of Venerable. †

The Servant of God Rev. Fr Alphonsus Falcone, C.SS.R. (1791-1816)

2010-02-01T02:00:00.000Z

This young Father was born on 30 November, 1791. He owed his birth to the prayers of his parents. His life was a continued ecstasy towards the Most Blessed Sacrament and the Most Blessed Virgin. He was professed on 24 October, 1807, and ordained a priest on Christmas Day, 25 December, 1815. But he was never to preach even a single Mission and died two months later at the age of 25 on 24 February, 1816 at Vietride Potenza. His holy tomb has been glorified by numerous miracles. †

The Servant of God Rev. Fr Ambrose de Andreis, C.SS.R. (1797-1886)

2010-01-30T22:26:00.002Z

Father de Andreis was born at Ferentino in Italy. Throughout the 55 years he spent in the Monastery of Scifelli, he gave to his confreres the edification of a life of intense prayer, zeal for souls and a great love for those who were servants or country people. He died at Scifelli on 12 March, 1886 at the age of 89 years and in the odor of sanctity. †

Rev. Fr Augustine Freitag, C.SS.R. (1836-1882)

2010-01-28T00:43:00.002Z

Father Freitag was born on 1 July, 1836, of Lutheran parents, whom he lost when still young. He went to America with the intention of be coming a Protestant minister. But God ordained otherwise. In Baltimore he happened to assist at a Mission given by the Redemptorists, by which he was enlightened as to the truth of the Catholic religion. Obedient to the inspiration, he not only embraced the Faith, but wished to devote himself entirely to God's service. He was, at last, received by Father Provincial Ruland as a novice into the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. From that moment he began to exhibit those virtues by which he distinguished himself throughout the remainder of his life: a lively faith and a most disinterested charity. He was professed on 27 May, 1857. He was one of the twenty ordained by Archbishop Francis Patrick Kenrick on 21 March, 1863.

Shortly after his ordination, Father Freitag had an excellent opportunity of displaying his zeal for souls among the sick and paroled soldiers in and around Annapolis. Besides working in the holy ministry, he had charge of some branches of study, especially of Greek, which he taught the younger students then in Annapolis. In 1865, he was transferred to New York where, for the first three years, he was stationed at the house of the Most Holy Redeemer, afterward, until 1869, at that of St. Alphonsus, whence he returned to Annapolis.

From 1871 to 1873, being Rector, he was most solicitous for the adornment of the church. He furnished it with new and costly vestments and other articles pertaining to Divine worship. After leaving Annapolis, he was stationed first in Boston, and then at St. Alphonsus, New York, where he died. As a missionary, he was very zealous and full of charity. Indeed, his charity toward the abandoned sinner was that of a tender mother for her sick child. It may be mentioned that, when in Boston, he took delight in visiting the colony of Penobscot Indians, in Maine, whose hearts he won by his devotedness.

While still in the vigour of manhood, a slow sickness gradually sapped his strength and, after prolonged suffering, he died peacefully on 26 July, 1882. The large concourse at his obsequies betokened the great esteem in which Father Freitag was universally held. †

Rev. Fr Bernard Hafkenscheid, C.SS.R. – Chapter IV

2010-01-23T21:25:00.011Z

Doctor of Theology
and One of the Greatest
Redemptorist Missioners of All Time

Written by Rev Fr M.J.A. Lans
Professor at the Minor Seminary of Haarlem, Holland

Click Here for all Fr Bernard chapters posted to-date

CHAPTER IV

Summary in English

In March, 1829, Fr. Bernard and the Dutch Student Colony at Rome were delighted to hear that their beloved former seminary rector had been named Bishop of Liege. (Cornelius Richard Anton van Bommel was born at Leyden on 5 April1790 and died on 7 April1852. He entered the seminary of Münster and was ordained priest in 1816 by Bishop Gaspard Droste de Vischering. On his return to Holland he had founded a college for young men at Hageveld, near Haarlem, the same that had been closed in 1825 in consequence of the royal decree that subjected all the educational institutions to state control. King William offered van Bommel the presidency of another college, but met with a firm refusal. He took a prominent part in the protest that forced the king to promulgate the Concordat concluded with Pope Leo XII. Under the provisions of the Concordat, van Bommel was nominated to the See of Liège and consecrated on 15 November, 1829. He organized the seminary, revived Catholic elementary education, and gave the first impetus to the foundation of a Catholic university.) His nomination was the source of animated correspondence between Rome and the Netherlands and indeed at this time things in Holland did begin to change for the better. The conditions of the concordant were somewhat implemented although not yet fully. The students studying abroad remained a thorn in the side of William II.
In Rome the students were assembled by the Count of Celles, and read an ordinance in which they were informed that if they did not return to Holland immediately they would never be permitted to hold the position of parish priest in their country. After some consideration, and at a second meeting, Fr. Bernard, as their ‘spokesman’ firmly announced their resolution to remain at Rome.

By a Decree on 2nd October 1829, William I of Holland permitted the opening of the diocesean seminaries as well as the lifting of the penalties on students abroad who returned to Holland before 1st February 1830. The news was announced in Rome after an audience of the Court of Celles with the Pope to the great delight of Fr. Bernard. The question however soon arose as to whether they would have to return to the Dutch Seminaries or if they could complete their studies in Rome. The decree was a little obscure in its details, which caused them some confusion. Fr. Bernard wrote that if it was the will of his parents and the ecclesiastical authorities he would return home. It is believed that the Archpriest under whose jurisdiction they fell gave them permission to continue in either place.

In June 1830 both Beelen and Hafkenscheid received an invitation from the same Archpriest Jan Van Banning who governed the Church in Holland and Zealand to return as – in Fr. Bernard’s’ case – Professor of Philosophy at the Hageveld Seminary. After much thought and consultation with enlightened persons, he politely declined the offer which was indeed very flattering to them. Their future now stable, the two friends had also reached the first steps of their journey towards the altar. Both were given the minor orders on Ember Saturday 1829 and received the sub-deaconate at the hands of the Cardinal Vicar on Holy Saturday, 10th April 1830.

At the end of the year of study Fr. Bernard now gained three medals - for Dogmatic Theology, Moral Theology and Hebrew. This fact he communicated with great joy to his parents – rejoicing at the pride they would feel. He had a great devotion to them both and consecrated many hours to writing them long and detailed letters, simply to give them pleasure, doing what he could, he said, to render to his father what he owed him either in medals or prayers. The prayers he called the capital and the medals the interest.

On Holy Saturday 1831, he received the deaconate. The opportunity to study in Rome and the excellent courses given had developed his mind to an extraordinary degree. Fr. Bernard was also very generous while at Rome to assist financially fellow students from Holland and Brabant.

Also his stay at Rome and his contact with the Sovereign Pontiffs developed in him – at this time when there were already difficulties in the Papal States – a lively dedication to the successor of Peter. During his studies he witnessed the reign of three popes and his letters are full of descriptions of the funeral ceremonies and coronation of these Popes; Leo XII, Pius VIII and Gregory XVI – as well as about the political unrest which started at this time. His solution to the problems he summarised into two words – patience and prayer. During these years he was a witness too of the extraordinary piety of the Roman people and their prayers for the cause of the Sovereign Pontiff – particularly one evening at the exposition of the relics of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul at St. John Lateran’s, where the crowd was so great that it appeared as if they had come to take over the church as would a vast crowd of revolutionaries.

During this time in Rome, Fr. Bernard was fortunate in having the opportunity to learn much by assisting at the sermons of many excellent preachers who spoke powerfully but on the simple style of the Gospel – something so dear to St. Alphonsus. It was here that he began his formation as a preacher which he would later perfect and use to such magnificent effect in Europe and America.

During his holidays he was able to make many pilgrimages – themselves a formation – to such places as Montefalco, Assisi, and Loretto. The latter made a particularly profound impression on him, along with the piety of the Italian country people when he saw them, while approaching the shrine, on their way home in the streets wearing crowns of flowers as a sign of having made the pilgrimage to the Holy House.

This somewhat longer chapter gives long and interesting excerpts from many of Fr. Bernard’s letters from the epoch.

CHAPITRE IV
SUITE DU SUJET PRECEDENT

Au mois de mars 1829, se répandit tout d'un coup, parmi les jeunes Hollandais étudiant à Rome, un bruit qui ne tarda pas à être reconnu conforme à la vérité, et qui leur procura à tous une joie extraordinaire. Laissons la parole à Bernard Hafkenscheid : "Oh ! s'écrie-t-il, oh ! la bonne ! la grande nouvelle ! M. le régent Van Bommel, nommé évêque de Liège ! Si jamais il m'a été donné d'apprendre à Rome une nouvelle inattendue, c'est bien celle-là. Oh ! notre bon et bien-aimé régent ! Cela nous montre que le vrai mérite, quelque caché qu'il soit, finit par être mis en lumière ! Cette nouvelle nous rend presqu'ivres de joie. M. le régent Van Bommel, évêque ! Voilà les paroles qui, tout le long du jour, nous reviennent sur les lèvres ! Que Dieu lui donne sa grâce, afin que son élévation à cette dignité soit pour le plus grand bien des âmes. C'est avec une vive impatience que j'attends le premier consistoire du nouveau Pape (Pie VIII); aussitôt que la bouche du Souverain Pontife aura préconisé notre bien-aimé régent, une lettre partira de Rome pour aller le féliciter."

Un peu plus tard, il écrivait encore : "De toutes les lettres que j'ai reçues de vous jusqu'à ce jour, la dernière m'a été sans contredit la plus agréable et la plus intéressante. Que nous soyons fondés à attendre avec assurance la fin prochaine de nos épreuves, nous en avons un gage dans la nomination du régent Van Bommel à l'évêché de Liège, et dans les circonstances qui l'ont précédée et accompagnée. Je me réjouis chaque jour et à chaque heure du jour, et tous ceux qui ont à coeur les intérêts de la Hollande, se réjouissent comme moi de cette promotion heureuse et inattendue. Les grands talents du régent et les éminents services qu'il a rendus à l'Eglise, ces trois dernières années principalement, l'ont rendu plus que digne de l'épiscopat. Aussi n'y a-t-il aucun doute, que, secondé par tous ceux qui défendent la bonne cause, il ne soit d'un grand secours pour l'Eglise. Que Liège se félicite de l'avoir pour évêque, et prie Dieu avec ardeur de lui garder longtemps un tel pasteur !"

Une brillante fête d'adieux avait été célébrée en Hollande en l'honneur du régent, fête où l'amour et la reconnaissance de ses anciens élèves s'étaient manifestés avec un élan extraordinaire; la petite colonie de Rome en fut bientôt informée. "Il faut bien, écrit Bernard, que la fête d'adieux offerte à notre digne régent ait été splendide. Du moins la description que vous m'en avez faite montre clairement que tout a conspiré à rendre des honneurs et des remercîments convenables à celui dont le nom demeurera vivant dans tous les coeurs, qui a rendu de si grands services à l'Eglise et qui lui en rendra à l'avenir de plus signalés encore. Ses mérites transcendants, jusqu'ici cachés derrière les murs de Hageveld, vont enfin être révélés; l'Eglise de Hollande tout entière va bientôt partager avec nous cette haute estime dans laquelle nous l'avons toujours tenu, nous qui l'avons connu de plus près ... Peu après la réception de vos lettres, j'étais à les lire dans un petit cercle de Néerlandais romains; voilà que tout à coup nos mains s'emparent de nos verres, nous trinquons, et dans un hoezee répété, nous buvons à la santé de l'évêque de Liège. Vraiment, vos comptes-rendus et la lettre envoyée au Courrier étaient de nature à exciter un tel enthousiasme ... Si les adversaires ont encore un petit grain de bon sens, ils ne doivent pas être peu embarrassés, en voyant un éloge si éclatant donné à Hageveld, à son régent et à ses élèves !"

Bernard ne s'était pas trompé; depuis la promotion de Mgr Van Bommel, la cause des Catholiques néerlandais commença à prendre une tournure plus favorable. Les étudiants de Rome suivaient avec un intérêt toujours croissant chaque évènement qui se passait dans leur patrie. Ils désiraient ardemment voir la fin de tant de mesures attentatoires aux droits de l'Eglise, et conjuraient Dieu d'exaucer ce désir de leurs coeurs. Vers cette époque, Bernard écrivait : "Je laisse les Russes et les Turcs se battre ensemble; pour moi, quand je m'occupe de politique, je ne fais attention qu'aux affaires de notre pays."

L'exécution du Concordat, nous l'avons déjà dit, avait été différée à plusieurs reprises. A la vérité, avant même la conclusion de ce pacte, le gouvernement des Pays-Bas avait donné l'assurance que l'obligation de suivre les cours du Collège philosophique serait annulée; mais il ne tenait aucun compte de ses engagements. Ce fut seulement par un décret du 20 juin 1829, que l'on donna finalement suite aux conventions du Concordat, et encore ne fut-ce qu'à demi. L'assistance aux cours du Collège philosophique était, il est vrai, déclarée facultative pour les jeunes gens qui désiraient faire leurs études théologiques dans les séminaires épiscopaux; mais les étudiants qui séjournaient à l'étranger, restèrent une épine dans l'oeil du gouvernement.

Un jour, tous les étudiants néerlandais résidant à Rome reçurent ordre de comparaître, à jour et heure déterminés, devant Son Excellence le comte de Celles [1]. Personne ne savait ce dont il s'agissait. Lorsque, au moment fixé, tous furent réunis à l'hôtel du comte, M. Germain parut, accompagné de son secrétaire. Il fit lecture d'un mandat qu'il disait avoir reçu du gouvernement néerlandais; en vertu de ce mandat, tous les étudiants de Rome avaient à retourner immédiatement dans leur patrie, afin d'achever leurs études au Collège philosophique. S'ils refusaient d'obtempérer à cet ordre, jamais ils ne pourraient espérer remplir dans leur pays les fonctions de vicaire ou de curé. A cette nouvelle, ils se regardèrent les uns les autres avec surprise. Mais bientôt Bernard, prenant la parole, déclara au nom de tous qu'ils ne pouvaient tout d'un coup donner une réponse définitive, qu'ils désiraient prendre conseil de leurs supérieurs, que par conséquent ils demandaient quelque délai avant de se prononcer.

Quelques semaines plus tard, ils furent de nouveau cités à comparaître devant Son Excellence, et personne ne manqua à l'appel pour le jour indiqué. On leur fit lecture du même mandat, la menace de la peine fut réitérée, et on les somma de donner une réponse. "Notre ferme résolution, dit Bernard d'un air grave et réfléchi, est de demeurer à Rome et d'y achever nos études." Après leur avoir fait de vifs reproches sur leur esprit de révolte contre le gouvernement et sur leur peu d'amour pour la patrie, on les congédia en leur déclarant que leur résolution serait notifiée sans retard au gouvernement. En réalité, ils n'eurent jamais lieu de constater les suites fâcheuses de leur conduite en cette circonstance.

Quoiqu'il en soit, Bernard put encore écrire avec raison le 1er août 1829, que l'expression tant répétée : "Tout s'arrangera", signifiait peu de chose, et que le décret du 20 juin n'avait apporté aucun changement essentiel dans la situation. - "Il paraît, continuait-il, que l'arc est toujours tendu à l'égard de ceux qui étudient à l'étranger. C'est sans doute à cause des principes étrangers et anti-patriotiques, qui leur sont inculqués. Mais pourquoi le comte de Celles, ou quelqu'un de sa suite, n'a-t-il pas, durant son séjour triennal à Rome, honoré au moins une seule fois de sa présence le Collège Romain, qui est ouvert à tous ? Son Excellence, qui nous a constamment épiés avec des yeux d'aigle, aurait-elle jamais pu mieux se convaincre de l'enseignement de ces principes pervers que les jeunes gens puisent à l'étranger ? A la bonne heure; voilà que le sort en est jeté : la porte du saint ministère est fermée aux jeunes gens qui quittent leur pays sans en avoir obtenu la permission.

Nous attendrons jusqu'à ce que cette chanson soit finie. Ici, à Rome, j'ai plus de jouissances que ne pourrait m'en procurer la Hollande; quant à l'avenir, je l'abondonne au Seigneur."

Souvent aussi il exprimait sa profonde indignation contre les inventeurs et les défenseurs du Collège philosophique; mais en même temps, plein de confiance dans le secours de la divine Providence, il écrivait : "Vous voulez, paraît-il, m'inspirer du courage, comme si de tels décrets me jetaient dans le trouble. Oh ! si vous saviez combien peu ces mesures m'embarrassent !

Celui qui met un frein à la fureur des flots,
Sait aussi des méchants arrêter les complots."

Aussi, lorsque, à la fête des saints apôtres, Pierre et Paul, il assistait au saint sacrifice de la Messe, il sentait son coeur battre d'un ardent amour pour son pays, et il n'oubliait pas "d'invoquer la protection du chef des apôtres pour les catholiques des Pays-Bas."

Faut-il s'étonner que Bernard et ses compagnons d'études, après avoir pris une part si sensible aux douleurs de l'Eglise de Hollande, après avoir tant prié pour obtenir du ciel des temps plus favorables, se soient réjouis de tout coeur lorsque les jours de deuil furent enfin passés ? Le 2 octobre 1829, parut le décret suivant du roi Guillaume Ier : "Considérant le deuxième article de la convention du 18 juin 1827, passée avec le Saint-Siège et ratifiée par Nous le 25 juillet de la même année, et qui porte : "Chaque diocèse aura son chapitre et son séminaire," Nous avons décidé et décidons :

"Art. 1. ... Nous déclarons que les évêques qui veulent ouvrir leur séminaire épiscopal, sont autorisés à pourvoir incontinent à son organisation ...

"Art. 2. Les jeunes gens qui ont fait leurs études préparatoires hors du pays, et qui se présenteront avant le 1er février (1830) pour être admis aux séminaires épiscopaux, nous les dégageons des règlements de notre décret du 14 août 1825, les assimilant à ceux qui ont fait leurs études hors du pays avec notre consentement."

Nous laissons de nouveau la parole à Bernard Hafkenscheid. Il va nous décrire la satisfaction que le décret royal apporta aux séminaristes hollandais de Rome : "Vous ne sauriez comprendre quel indicible plaisir votre dernière lettre nous a causé à tous ... Une rumeur vague, qui ne tarda pas à se confirmer, nous avait appris que quelque chose d'important allait se passer dans notre pays, que les affaires ecclésiastiques avaient reçu une toute autre direction, et que, par un nouveau décret, des stipulations fort avantageuses avaient été arrêtées à l'égard des étudiants expatriés. Voilà que tout à coup nous lisons le texte de ce décret dans la Gazette de France. Bien plus, M. Germain a eu une audience du pape, et dès le lendemain, le décret se trouvait dans le Diario di Roma. - Oh! combien Beelen et moi, nous soupirions après les correspondances d'Amsterdam ! car c'était seulement alors que nous devions être parfaitement informés de tout. Et voilà que les lettres nous arrivent ! Quelle joyeuse, quelle importante nouvelle ! "

Et dans une autre lettre : "Croyez bien, dit-il, que jamais nous ne nous trouvons ensemble sans nous réjouir de l'heureuse tournure qu'ont prise les affaires ... Les évêques rétablis sur leurs sièges, le toujours cher Hageveld ouvert de nouveau, la jeunesse des écoles auparavant dispersée, rappelée dans les lieux qui lui sont destinés, une source nouvelle de bénédictions ouverte pour l'Eglise des Pays-Bas. Voilà autant d'évènements qui, même à Rome, causent une joie d'autant grande que toutes les prévisions sont dépassées. Oui, du plus profond de notre coeur, nous prenons part à l'allégresse des Catholiques néerlandais. Les récents évènements sont une nouvelle preuve que, seules, la patience et la résignation triomphent des ennemis de l'Eglise, et que les maux temporels, supportés chrétiennement, attirent toujours après eux la bénédiction divine. Puisse un sentiment durable de reconnaissance confirmer dans tous les coeurs cette bénédiction que le ciel a répandue sur la Hollande !"

On comprend que la petite colonie de Rome se posa bien vite cette question : Serons-nous obligés de nous rendre en nos séminaires respectifs, ou bien nous sera-t-il permis d'achever nos études ici ? Nos séminaristes ignoraient encore ce que désirait l'autorité ecclésiastique. Ils étaient également dans le doute touchant le sens du décret royal, aux termes duquel ils devaient se présenter avant le 1er février 1830. "Notre unique désir, écrivait Bernard, est de pouvoir étudier encore quelque temps à Rome ... Ce n'est pas le désir seulement de quelques-uns, mais de tous. Quelque satisfaits que nous soyons de l'heureuse marche des affaires catholiques, tous nous aimerions de rester ici ... Nous sommes si bien établis au Collège et les études y sont si excellentes, que personne d'entre nous ne souhaite un changement. Mais, encore une fois, les intérêts personnels mis de côté, chacun se réjouit et remercie le Ciel du rétablissment de l'ordre et de la paix. Béni soit, et trois fois béni celui qui est l'auteur d'une pacification si honorable ! " - Il ajoutait que si, cependant, l'objet de son désir était en opposition avec la volonté de son père et de sa mère, ou avec celle de l'autorité ecclésiastique, ou bien encore, que s'ils devaient lui, et ses amis, se mettre pour plus tard dans l'impossibilité d'exercer le saint ministère en Hollande, ils étaient tout prêts à retourner dans leur patrie.

Il y a lieu de croire que l'archiprêtre, de la juridiction duquel relevaient Bernard et plusieurs de ses condisciples, leur laissa la liberté d'achever leurs études soit en Hollande, soit à Rome. Toujours est-il que Bernard écrivait vers la fin de 1829 : "Ce qui nous réjouit extrêmement, c'est la paix profonde dont nous jouissons jusqu'à présent, non seulement nous, mais encore tous les amis hollandais. Pas un seul n'a reçu la moindre apparence d'invitation à retourner au pays. Chose étrange ! lorsque les séminaires étaient fermés, chacun était mécontent et triste; et maintenant qu'ils sont ouverts, rien ne nous serait plus désagréable que de quitter Rome pour aller étudier dans les séminaires."

Cependant cette paix, dont jouissaient les deux amis, Hafkenscheid et Beelen, faillit être de courte durée. Moins d'une année après la réouverture des séminaires, en juin 1830, ils reçurent, conçue dans les termes les plus flatteurs, une lettre qui les invitait à reprendre le chemin de la patrie. Déjà la renommée de leurs talents et de leurs vertus les avait précédés; les rapports les plus favorables avaient été faits sur leur compte. Aussi l'archiprêtre qui gouvernait alors la Hollande et la Zélande, M. Jean Van Banning, songeant à rétablir le séminaire de Hageveld, jeta-t-il les yeux sur eux pour la réalisation de son projet. Les termes dans lesquels il leur écrivit montrent quelles grandes espérances il fondait sur l'un et l'autre. La chaire de philosophie d'Hageveld était offerte à Bernard; Beelen était destiné au séminaire de Warmond.

Les deux amis ne furent pas peu flattés de l'offre si honorable qui leur était faite. Dans leur réponse à l'archiprêtre, ils déclarèrent combien ils appréciaient l'affection et la confiance qu'on leur témoignait : "Une telle proposition, disaient-ils entre autres choses, est le gage d'un amour et une confiance qui surpassent tout ce que nous aurions pu ou osé attendre." - Se faisant illusion sur leur mérite, ils ne pouvaient comprendre comment cette offre avait pu leur être adressée. "L'offre m'est fort honorable, écrivait Bernard à ses parents, mais ce n'est que pour autant que je la considère en elle-même; car si je considère qu'elle m'est faite à moi, je ne sais où j'en suis." - Les deux amis réfléchirent longtemps sur la détermination qu'ils devaient prendre. Ils consultèrent plusieurs personnages distingués par leur prudence; maintes fois les intérêts de leur avenir furent l'objet de leurs prières comme le sujet de leurs entretiens. Enfin, considérant leur jeunesse, le peu de temps qu'ils avaient étudié à Rome, et leur vif désir de continuer jusqu'au bout un travail qui produisait de si beaux résultats, ils résolurent de décliner, pour le moment, l'honneur que leur faisait l'archiprêtre. "Après mûre délibération, lui écrivirent-ils, toute considération humaine mise de côté, et déférant à l'avis des personnages les plus éclairés, nous avons pris ce parti et nous croyons devoir en conscience nous y tenir."

C'est ainsi que les deux amis purent, à leur grande satisfaction, continuer paisiblement leurs études dans la capitale du monde chrétien. Leur seconde année scolaire touchait à sa fin. Ce fut une des plus importantes années de la vie de Bernard; car elle lui fit faire le pas décisif dans sa marche vers le sanctuaire. Après avoir reçu les ordres mineurs le samedi des Quatre-Temps de décembre 1829, il fut, avec son ami Beelen, ordonné sous-diacre par le cardinal-vicaire Zurba, le Samedi-Saint 10 avril 1830. Le langage, dans lequel il répondit aux félicitations de sa famille, nous fait voir les sentiments de joie, de reconnaissance, de confiance en la divine Providence dont son coeur était rempli en cette circonstance importante de sa vie. "Que le Ciel bénisse vos souhaits, dit-il à ses parents, et m'accorde les grâces dont j'aurai besoin dans ma carrière ecclésiastique. Quel bonheur de voir mes voeux accomplis, d'être entré dans la voie vers laquelle m'ont toujours dirigé mon esprit et mon coeur ! Jamais je n'aurais pu croire que la fixation de ma vocation dût me procurer tant de joie intérieure. Vraiment c'en est trop ! Que ne puis-je remercier dignement le Ciel de m'avoir accordé un si grand bienfait ? Mais j'ai la confiance bien fondée qu'en cela vous me viendrez en aide."

La fin de la première année d'étude de notre digne lévite à Rome avait été, nous l'avons vu, marquée par un triomphe éclatant; celle de la seconde année fut marquée par une distinction nouvelle et plus splendide encore. Laissons-le parler lui-même : "Mes chers parents, mes chers frères et soeurs, amis et connaissances, réjouissez-vous avec moi ! Le Ciel, cette année encore, a couronné mes labeurs ! Que si, l'année dernière, il m'a été permis de vous annoncer l'heureuse nouvelle que j'avais obtenu une médaille, je viens vous faire savoir que, cette année, j'en ai gagné trois. Encore une fois, le Ciel a béni mes travaux. Le cardinal Odescalchi m'a remis une première médaille pour la dogmatique, une autre pour la théologie morale, et enfin une troisième pour la langue hébraïque. Vous ne sauriez vous figurer mon bonheur de pouvoir communiquer une nouvelle si agréable à mon père et à ma mère. Réjouissez-vous; encore une fois, réjouissez-vous tous ! ... Aurais-je pu, chers parents, vous offrir un plus beau présent ? Quel plaisir pour moi de pouvoir, à la fin de ma seconde année scolaire, vous offrir cette petite compensation pour toutes les peines et pour toutes les dépenses que vous avez supportées, et que vous ne cessez de supporter pour moi !

Grâces soient rendues au Seigneur, qui nous procuré, à vous et à moi, une telle joie ! Je vous annonce en outre que, peu de jours auparavant, après avoir passé mon examen, j'ai été élevé au grade de bachelier. Ce premier degré était le but auquel je visais pendant l'année qui vient de s'écouler; je l'ai atteint; aussi je passe d'agréables vacances."

Nous ne reviendrons pas sur les fêtes que la petite colonie hollandaise organisa pour célébrer le nouveau triomphe de son lauréat, de celui qui était son honneur et sa gloire. Mais nous prendrons occasion de la joie qu'il procura par là encore à ses parents, pour parler de l'affection qu'il leur portait. Cette affection, il l'avait manifestée dès l'âge le plus tendre. Il s'en fallut bien qu'elle s'affaiblit pendant sa longue absence; et plus tard, après même qu'il se fut voué tout à Dieu dans la vie religieuse, elle se maintint toujours aussi vive. Que d'heures ne consacra-t-il pas à écrire à son père et à sa mère des pages où, pour leur faire plaisir, il descendait jusqu'aux plus menus détails ! car il le savait : c'était une fête pour eux de convoquer leurs amis et leurs voisins, pour leur lire les lettres qu'ils recevaient de Rome. Souvent il s'entretenait avec ses amis de ses chers parents; il se transportait en esprit auprès d'eux. Il partageait toutes leurs joies et toutes leurs douleurs. Chaque jour de fête que célébraient ses parents, il s'y associait; souvent même il convoquait quelques-uns de ses compagnons à la joyeuse solennité. C'était surtout alors que ses lettres rendaient un témoignage éloquent de sa vive allégresse, de sa reconnaissance sincère et de son respect filial.

"Je fais ce que je puis, écrivait-il un jour, pour rendre à mon père, soit en prières soit en médailles, tout ce que je lui dois. Les prières sont les capitaux, et les médailles les intérêts." - Au cinquante et unième anniversaire de la naissance de sa mère, il lui écrivit les lignes suivantes : "Oh ! que ne m'est-il donné, en ce jour où tous vos enfants s'empressent à l'envi auprès de vous pour vous féliciter, de prendre place au milieu d'eux, et de joindre ma voix à la leur pour vous donner avec eux les marques les plus sincères de mon amour et de ma vénération !

Combien je voudrais contribuer pour ma part personnelle à faire de ce jour l'un des plus beaux jours de l'année, un jour de fête solennelle ! Vos enfants vous prouveront non seulement par des paroles, mais encore par des faits, combien la fête de votre naissance leur est chère. Votre joie sera leur joie, leur contentement sera le vôtre. Tous ceux qui vous aiment s'efforceront de vous faire plaisir en cette occasion; ce sera une fête de famille. Tout cela, ils le feront sans moi. Ils ne manqueront pas de se souvenir de vous dans leurs prières; et voilà, chère mère, le seul présent qu'en union avec eux, je puisse aujourd'hui vous offrir. J'ai la pleine confiance qu'une prière faite par des enfants pour leurs parents, est exaucée. C'est pourquoi nos prières unies vont faire jaillir pour vous une nouvelle source de bénédictions. Votre bonheur ne fait qu'un avec celui de notre père, avec celui de nous tous. Donc, si nous recommandons au ciel vos intérêts, nous en ferons descendre des bénédictions et sur vous, et sur notre père, et sur nous tous.

Chère mère, demeurez encore longtemps parmi nous; plus vous avancez en âge, plus votre présence nous devient douce. Vous voir à côté de notre père, au milieu de nous, voilà ce qui fait notre plus grande joie sur la terre. Soyez encore pendant une longue suite d'années témoin de la prospérité et de la sanctification de vos enfants et de vos petits-enfants, au bonheur desquels vous avez tant contribué par vos travaux et vos soins infatigables. Jamais nous n'oublierons les preuves d'amour dont vous avez marqué chacun des pas de notre jeune âge. Que si un jour je dois entrer comme prêtre dans le sanctuaire de l'Eglise de Dieu, alors, encore plus efficacement qu'aujourd'hui, je prouverai par mes prières que je sais apprécier les bienfaits dont vous m'avez comblé dès mon enfance. Je me souviendrai de vous spécialement au saint autel. Tout en vous obtenant le bonheur temporel et éternel que nous devons, à tant de titres, nous efforcer de vous procurer, j'attirerai encore sur moi ces faveurs que Dieu a promises à tous ceux qui honorent et aiment leurs parents."

On nous permettra de donner encore un fragment d'une lettre écrite par Bernard, lors d'un anniversaire de la naissance de son père. Les mêmes sentiments s'y révèlent avec la même naïveté de langage : "Je souhaiterais, pour aujourd'hui seulement, d'être non pas à Rome, mais auprès de vous. Avec quel plaisir ne jetez-vous pas les yeux sur cette couronne d'enfants et de petits-enfants, qui viennent féliciter leur père et leur grand-père ! Aujourd'hui tous quittent leur propre demeure pour aller célébrer votre fête dans la maison paternelle. Chacun retrouve là sa place et se remet en mémoire toutes les années heureuses qu'il y a passées dans vos bras. Chacun contribue à vous faire honneur. Il n'y a personne qui ne soit dans l'allégresse et qui ne fasse entendre de joyeux accents. Et mes souhaits donc seront-ils aussi entendus, au milieu de cette joie domestique ? ... Votre fête est pour moi un jour de doux souvenirs, un jour de grande reconnaissance, un jour où je fais des voeux sincères pour votre bonheur. Oh ! tandis que tous les enfants qui sont auprès de vous s'empressent de faire du 21 août un jour de grande fête, que ne m'est-il pas donné ici, en cette ville de Rome, de monter à l'autel du Seigneur et de lui offrir pour vous le sacrifice immaculé de son Fils ! Je puis du moins prier pour vous, et à mesure que j'approche davantage du saint autel, ma prière, je l'espère, deviendra toujours plus efficace. Un des voeux que je forme pour votre bonheur, je veux le formuler ici : "Que Dieu vous accorde l'accomplissement du désir que vous éprouvez, de revoir un jour votre fils au milieu de vos enfants et de vos petits-enfants ! Tous alors, nous ferons la couronne et la consolation de votre âge mûr et d'une vieillesse prolongée au delà des limites ordinaires de la vie."

Ce coeur si affectueux, si rempli d'amour pour les auteurs de ses jours, ne pouvait se contenter de paroles et de promesses. Il y joignait des prières multipliées et ferventes, surtout le jeudi. A son départ pour Rome, en effet, on s'était promis en famille que le jeudi serait le jour où l'on prierait d'une manière spéciale les uns pour les autres. Peut-être faut-il attribuer en grande partie à ces prières une faveur dont jouirent les parents de Bernard : la faveur d'être témoins, pendant si longtemps, des travaux apostoliques de leur fils bien-aimé, et d'admirer les fruits de salut qu'ils produisaient dans les âmes.

La fin de la troisième année d'études de Bernard à Rome ne se signala point par des triomphes semblables à ceux des années précédentes : il ne fut plus question de médailles. La raison en est que ni lui, ni son ami Beelen, ne jugèrent à propos de prendre part aux concours. Préférant l'utile au brillant, ils n'avaient plus en vue que d'achever promptement leurs études. Bernard n'en obtint pas moins ce qui était l'objet de ses désirs, le grade de licencié en théologie.

Le Samedi-Saint de cette année 1831, il reçut le diaconat. Les sentiments qui animaient le coeur du pieux lévite à l'approche de sa prêtrise, on en jugera par la lettre qu'il écrivit à son ami Broere, devenu, depuis 1830, professeur au séminaire de Hageveld : "Encore un pas, très cher ami, lui disait-il, et je suis prêtre ! tout mon être est comme concentré dans cette pensée, et j'espère me préparer sérieusement à cette démarche importante entre toutes. Dès ce moment, je me recommande à vos prières, surtout dans le saint sacrifice de la messe. Si je considère ce que j'ai été et ce que je suis à cette heure, je vous l'avoue franchement, je tremble à la pensée que je vais être revêtu d'une si haute diginité. Mais il faut accomplir la volonté de Dieu qui m'appelle. Je tâche, autant que possible, de purifier mon âme et d'attirer en moi le vrai esprit sacerdotal. Neuf jours avant le Carême, j'ai fait à cette fin, chez les Jésuites, les exercices spirituels. Que Dieu daigne couronner mes efforts. Je me confie dans les prières de ma famille, de mes amis et connaissances; au reste j'abandonne au ciel tous mes intérêts, me remettant entre les mains de la Mère de Dieu. Voilà deux ans et demi que je suis éloigné de la Hollande; et grâce à Dieu, je suis parvenu à une indifférence complète touchant le lieu que j'habiterai et le genre de travaux auxquels je devrai un jour me livrer. Ma famille attend mon retour à la fin de ma quatrième année d'études; eh bien ! si cela doit se faire, je dis fiat. Les choses doivent-elles tourner autrement ? je n'en serai pas moins content. J'apprends toujours avec plaisir que l'un ou l'autre de mes amis est entré dans les fonctions du saint ministère; j'espère les suivre un jour. Bien que je brûle du désir d'être utile aux autres, je ne saurais néanmoins laisser échapper l'occasion qui m'est donnée de faire toute espèce de provisions pour la formation de mon esprit et de mon coeur.”

En réalité, son application assidue à l'étude et l'excellent enseignement du Collège-Romain avaient développé son intelligence dans un degré extraordinaire. D'un autre côté, la direction spirituelle des Pères Jésuites, toujours sage et éclairée, avait formé en lui un coeur vraiment sacerdotal. Les témoignages nombreux de ses amis d'études concordent tous, pour nous apprendre combien la vertu et la piété de Bernard étaient unanimement reconnues et appréciées.

L'un d'eux a écrit à ce sujet : "Il fut pour moi et pour tous ceux qui le connurent, un modèle de piété et de régularité. " Un autre : "Vers la fin des promenades, il avait coutume de conduire ses amis à l'église où avait lieu l'exercice de l'Adoration perpétuelle, afin de recevoir la bénédiction du Très Saint Sacrement qui s'y donnait vers le soir. En temps de carême, il ne prenait d'autre nourriture le soir qu'un morceau de pain sec avec un peu de sel." - "A Rome, nous dit un troisième, il fut un modèle en tout. Souvent lorsque, après le repas, il sortait du restaurant avec ses amis, il donnait une aumône aux pauvres, en disant d'un ton jovial : "Je ne puis guère me dispenser de faire cette petite charité; sans quoi mon père dirait : "Mon cher, tu as dépensé bien peu de chose !"

La charité, une charité généreuse, était une des vertus qui brillaient le plus dans notre jeune lévite. Il s'y était formé en quelque sorte sur les genoux de ses parents, que Dieu avait gratifiés d'une fortune considérable. Or, l'occasion d'exercer cette belle vertu était loin de faire défaut à Rome. Si la discrétion ne nous imposait silence sur plusieurs détails mentionnés dans les lettres de Bernard, nous pourrions citer plus d'un de ses amis comme témoins et même comme objets de ses libéralités. Qu'il nous suffise de citer les deux extraits suivants : "L'état d'indigence, écrivait-il en 1829, où se trouvent réduits quelques-uns de nos étudiants hollandais et aussi certains frères du Brabant, qui sont ici en grand nombre, ne me permet vraiment pas de les abandonner à leur sort. Ne travaillent-ils pas pour le même but que moi ? Je me vois donc dans l'obligation, depuis longtemps déjà, de mettre la main à la poche. Je sens que c'est mon devoir; aussi je n'y manque pas." - Un autre jour, il écrivait : "J'ai eu, ces jours derniers, l'occasion d'exercer la charité ... Voyant que mes compagnons, moins favorisés de la fortune que moi, donnaient une grosse aumône, il fallut que moi aussi, je fisse preuve de générosité ... Je donne volontiers, vous le savez, et je ne crois pas pouvoir mieux dépenser mon argent. Qui sait si ce n'est point à ces aumônes que je dois attribuer toutes les faveurs que Dieu me fait à Rome ? "

Les cérémonies religieuses si nombreuses auxquelles Bernard assistait dans la Ville éternelle, et d'un autre côté les tristes évènements dont les Etats pontificaux furent le théâtre à cette époque, produisirent sur son âme sensible une impression ineffaçable. Ils y enflammèrent cet ardent amour pour la foi catholique qui se révéla plus tard, lorsqu'il défendit nos croyances du haut de la chaire chrétienne avec tant de vigueur et de succès. Ils déposèrent en lui le germe d'une inébranlable confiance dans le triomphe de l'Eglise, confiance que plus tard il sut communiquer à un si grand nombre d'âmes ! Ils le remplirent de cette sainte indignation contre les ennemis du Pape et de la religion, qu'il exhala dans la suite en un langage si énergique. Ses lettres sont déjà pleines de ces sentiments.

"J'ai vu le Saint-Père, s'écriait-il après avoir assisté une nuit de Noël à la messe du Souverain Pontife; ce fut pour moi un spectacle des plus émouvants. Jamais l'impression que cette cérémonie fit sur moi, ne s'effacera de mon âme; Quoi ! contempler le Chef visible de la sainte Eglise offrant le sacrifice non sanglant de l'autel ! Oh ! il faudrait que la foi fut entièrement éteinte en un coeur, pour assister à une action aussi sublime sans se sentir pénétré de saintes pensées ! Tout le long du jour j'étais en extase. Ce que j'avais vu, je le racontais à qui voulait l'entendre. En ce moment même, ce spectacle se présente de nouveau à mon esprit. Je me sens poussé à vous faire participer à la joie que cette solennité m'a causée; mais, hélas ! je ne me sens pas capable de vous la décrire comme il convient." - D'autres lettres ont pour thème, tantôt les rites qui s'observent à la mort et aux obsèques du Souverain Pontife; tantôt l'élection et le couronnement d'un nouveau Pape (pendant son séjour à Rome, il connut trois papes successifs); tantôt les cérémonies de la Semaine-Sainte et des grandes fêtes de l'Eglise. Toutes ces lettres abondent en détails intéressants et en effusions de coeur des plus touchantes. Ce n'est qu'à regret que nous nous bornons à quelques citations, pour ne point dépasser les limites de cette biographie.

Voici en quels termes il communiqua à ses parents l'impression que lui avait causée la procesion de la Fête-Dieu : "Le Chef visible de l'Eglise se trouvait agenouillé, en adoration silencieuse, devant son Chef invisible ! qui ne se serait jeté à genoux pour adorer avec lui ? Qui ne se serait senti fortifié dans sa foi au Très Saint Sacrement ? La splendeur ineffable qui entourait cet auguste mystère vous saisissait jusqu'au fond de l'âme; elle suffirait à elle seule pour arracher à l'impiété même cet aveu secret : Oui, Dieu est vraiment ici présent."

On sait les bouleversements politiques dont l'Europe fut le théâtre en 1830 et en 1831. Pie VIII mourut le 30 novembre 1830 et Grégoire XVI lui succéda le 2 février 1831. La révolution menaçait de si près la ville de Rome, qu'au jour même du couronnement du nouveau Pontife, 6 février, la sinistre nouvelle se répandit qu'une insurrection venait d'éclater dans les provinces. Bernard écrivit en cette circonstance la lettre suivante :

"Le cardinal Maur Capellari est élu pape et a pris le nom de Grégoire XVI. Voilà une élection qui excitera partout l'admiration la plus vive. Promu au Cardinalat, nommé en même temps Préfet de la Propagande par Léon XII, le voilà maintenant placé sur la chaire de Saint Pierre, pour gouverner la barque de l'Eglise dans ces temps pleins de tempêtes. Le doigt de Dieu se montre dans l'élection de ce religieux Camaldule. Qui jamais aurait deviné dans le cardinal Capellari le successeur de Pie VIII ? Le Seigneur a daigné pourvoir son Eglise d'un Chef suprême; ainsi a-t-il montré une fois de plus son inviolable fidélité à sa promesse. Le monde entier est en révolution; tous les trônes chancellent; seul le siège de Pierre reste éternellement debout ! Le fléau de la guerre châtie les pays et les peuples; des maux, des calamités dont on ignore encore la fin, font pleurer les fidèles, qui soupirent impatiemment après la délivrance. Que le déluge de l'irréligion et de l'immoralité inonde le monde, l'arche de l'Eglise de Dieu s'élèvera au-dessus des eaux et, dirigée par un successeur de Pierre, elle offrira un asile assuré à tous ceux qui resteront attachés au devoir et à la vertu.

Que si l'Eglise a son Chef, les Etats Romains ont leur Prince. Qui n'admirera le bon esprit du peuple romain ? Tandis que tout s'agitait autour de lui, il attendait patiemment et tranquillement le moment où il plairait à la divine Providence de donner un successeur au bien-aimé Pie VIII ? Rome, contre qui le libéralisme lance sans cesse ses traits; Rome, dont le libéralisme a juré la chute et la ruine; Rome, par la chute de laquelle le libéralisme espère rendre son triomphe complet; Rome seule connaît le prix, le haut prix du repos et de la paix. L'autorité du gouvernement peut être amoindrie par suite de la mort du Pape, son influence sur le peuple peut être entravée; l'esprit religieux du peuple est une garantie de repos intérieur pour le pays. Jamais l'esprit révolutionnaire ne se fixera à Rome, à moins qu'il ne soit forcément imposé au peuple romain par la violence et par une force majeure venues de l'étranger. L'attachement des Romains au gouvernement pontifical s'est de nouveau manifesté pendant le conclave. Un interrègne de neuf semaines n'aurait-il pas été mis à profit par un peuple qui soupirerait après un changement et qui serait mécontent du régime actuel ?

Je vois bien que des feuilles étrangères ont osé répandre des mensonges au sujet d'un prétendu revirement d'idées chez le peuple romain. Ces mensonges sont l'effet de la jalousie et de la haine. Ceux qui défendent leur cause avec des armes pareilles, montrent clairement ce qu'ils désirent, mais non ce qu'ils peuvent. Ce n'est point par des paroles, mais par des faits que Rome se venge de cette calomnie. Heureux ceux qui apprennent à connaître le peuple de près; qui, libres de tout préjugé, savent discerner le bien du mal, et qui, la balance en main, savent mesurer la portée de l'un et de l'autre ! Les Romains se distinguent par beaucoup de bonnes qualités. Aussi les touristes, narrateurs de voyages, et les visiteurs étrangers doivent-ils être taxés d'une grande injustice, en ce que non seulement ils refusent de reconnaître les vertus du peuple romain, mais encore en ce qu'ils peignent ses défauts sous des couleurs si odieuses, que Rome semble être à leurs yeux je ne sais quelle ville abominable et malheureuse."

La solennité de la prise de possession de l'église Saint-Pierre par le nouveau Pape, eut lieu le 3 février 1831. Bernard s'exprime ainsi à ce sujet : "A peine le Pape fut-il arrivé au grand portail de l'église, que les chantres, qui le précédaient, entonnèrent l'antienne : "Ecce sacerdos magnus : Voilà le Souverain Pontife ! Regardez-le, ce Pontife ! Qu'il est beau de le voir assis sur la sedia gestatoria ! Comme il est ému ! Voyez le successeur de Pierre, le vicaire de Jésus-christ, étendant les mains pour bénir le peuple chrétien qui s'agenouille respecteusement devant lui ! Non, personne, de quelque contrée du monde qu'il vienne, à quelque religion qu'il appartienne, ne saurait échapper à l'impression d'un spectacle aussi sublime ! Voilà déjà deux fois que je reçois la bénédiction d'un nouveau Pape ! Oh ! heureuses circonstances que celles qui m'ont amené à Rome ! N'est-ce pas pour moi un suprème bonheur de contempler de mes yeux le Saint-Père, Grégoire XVI, de l'acclamer de bouche et de coeur, et de compter que je pourrai lui baiser les pieds, s'il plaît à Dieu, à mon départ de Rome ? ... Qu'un cardinal d'origine bourgeoise, qu'un moine bénédictin, un Vénitien, après avoir porté seulement pendant quatre ans le chapeau de cardinal, soit élu Pape, dans des circonstances comme celles où nous nous trouvons, cela n'est-il pas de nature à faire naître chez plusieurs de sérieuses réflexions ? Réjouissons-nous donc, nous catholiques, et remercions Dieu qui a visité son Eglise !

Quelques jours plus tard, il rendait compte de ses impressions au sujet de l'émeute qui avait éclaté à Rome, le 12 février, et de ses premiers effets. "Ce qui est certain, ajouta-t-il, c'est que les circonstances actuelles exigent la prière unanime et fervente de tous les Catholiques. L'avenir est sombre : voilà ce que je vois; mais qu'il se prépare un nouveau triomphe pour l'Eglise, voilà ce que je crois. "Le désir des méchants périra." Dieu vengera l'injure que les impies font à son Eglise et à son Pontife. Et lorsque tous les secours humains feront défaut, il fera voir au monde impie, par de nouveaux miracles, que l'Eglise est l'ouvrage de ses mains et qu'elle ne saurait être renversée par aucune puissance infernale. De la patience et des prières : voilà nos armes, voilà notre devise ! De la patience et des prières ! ... Le Pape reçoit du secours de tous. Les jeuns gens s'arment, les riches et les nobles ouvrent leurs bourses, les femmes et les enfants prient; donc, tout tournera au mieux. Mais de la patience et des prières ! Encore une fois, patience et prières !"

La confiance de Bernard en ces deux armes était inébranlable comme un roc. Après avoir décrit en détail tous les pieux exercices auxquels on se livrait pour la délivrance de Rome. "N'est-ce pas cette fervente prière des chrétiens de Rome, continue-t-il, qui a sauvegardé le repos et la paix de cette ville ? Pour moi, j'en suis pleinement convaincu. La violence faite au Ciel par la prière, l'aumône, les communions, la vénération des saints lieux, voilà l'unique auxiliaire qui a renversé les plans que des hommes ingrats et pervers avaient dressés contre l'Eglise et l'Etat. Un soir que je me rendais pour prier à l'église Saint-Jean (où les reliques des saints apôtres Pierre et Paul étaient exposées à la vénération publique), je rencontrai par hasard le R.P. de La Marche, dominicain. Dès qu'il m'aperçut, il me montra tout étonné cette foule immense, qui semblait vouloir prendre l'église d'assaut. "Eh bien, mon Père, lui dis-je, sont-ce là les hommes qui devaient, en ce jour de samedi, faire une révolution ? " - "Cher enfant, me répondit-il avec sa bonhomie habituelle, il faut que la Mère de Dieu et les saints apôtres Pierre et Paul soient bien sourds, s'ils n'entendent point la prière de tant de milliers de chrétiens. Croyez-moi hardiment, j'ai passé à Rome des années et des années, et je suis en contact avec des gens de tous rangs et de toutes conditions; eh bien ! les bonnes oeuvres faites par la masse du peuple surpassent toute imagination. Quiconque a jamais douté ou doute encore s'il y a de la foi à Rome, peut maintenant se convaincre de la vérité. "Vraiment, quoique j'eusse déjà les Romains en grande affection, cette affection s'est accrue de beaucoup en cette occasion. Ce peuple a son côté faible, il est répréhensible sur bien des points; mais celui qui l'accuse d'irréligion, parle contre la vérité, ou montre qu'il ne le connaît pas. La grande foi des Romains prend sa source dans une connaissance profonde de la religion; elle s'entretient par les différents exercices religieux de toute l'année, et elle m'a bien souvent touché et confondu. Où trouve-t-on, comme à Rome, la dévotion envers le Saint-Sacrement ? Où la Mère de Dieu est-elle honorée avec plus d'ardeur ? Où se souvient-on davantage des âmes des fidèles défunts ? "

Si Bernard ressentit une profonde douleur à la vue des complots dirigés contre l'Eglise et son chef, il fut saisi d'indignation, en voyant, parmi les perturbateurs, des hommes d'un rang élevé, comme les "cousins de Napoléon". Ces derniers, dit-il, sont regardés à Rome comme des vilains. "L'un d'eux n'a-t-il pas eu l'audace d'écrire directement au Saint-Père sur un ton injurieux et menaçant ? Il osait dire "que les forces qui s'avançaient vers Rome étaient invincibles; que, par conséquent, il conseillait à Sa Sainteté de renoncer à son pouvoir temporel, La priant en même temps de lui faire réponse ?" L'indignation de notre séminariste ne fut pas moindre lorsqu'il apprit la conduite hypocrite du roi des Français; en dépit de la protestation du Saint-Père, ce prince venait de faire occuper Ancône, et tout en feignant de se charger lui-même de la défense, il n'avait d'autre but que de chasser de l'Italie les troupes autrichiennes accourues pour protéger le Saint-Siège.

Bernard sentait son coeur consolé à la vue des ferventes prières que le peuple chrétien faisait monter vers le Ciel; car des foules immenses assistaient régulièrement aux exercices religieux, prescrits par Grégoire XVI pour écarter les maux de la guerre et du choléra. Il s'unissait de toute son âme à ces supplications. "Celui qui cherche, écrivait-il, des remèdes contre le choléra dans les pharmacies de Saint-Pétersbourg et de Vienne, et dans les conférences des médecins des différents pays, ne fait point mal sans doute; mais, à mon avis, celui-là prend des mesures plus efficaces qui s'en tient au conseil et à l'exemple du médecin Grégoire XVI, de Rome, et qui prend les remèdes de la pharmacie céleste, suivant la recette, affichée à toutes les églises de Rome, je veux dire: l'"Invito sacro per l'Indulgenza in forma di Guibileo." Eh bien, le peuple romain, disons-le à son honneur et à sa louange, est entré dans cette voie. Les églises sont trop peu nombreuses et trop peu spacieuses pour contenir la foule qui s'y presse tous les soirs. Les prédicateurs ne répondent pas moins au zèle religieux du peuple que le peuple au zèle apostolique des prédicateurs. En voulez-vous un exemple ? Avant-hier soir, le peuple assemblé dans une église fut tellement ébranlé par le langage énergique et persuasif de l'orateur, que tous tombant subitement à genoux, à l'exemple du prédicateur, demandèrent unanimement et à haute voix pardon à Dieu de leurs péchés. Vraiment je fus touché jusqu'au fond de l'âme tant de la grande foi de ce peuple, que du talent admirable de mon digne professeur. C'est un homme aux cheveux gris, mais il est jeune par le zèle. La réputation de sainteté qui l'accompagne, donne à ses paroles une force irrésistible."

Comment ne pas admirer ici la conduite de la divine Providence, qui plaça Bernard dans de circonstances si propres à développer en lui le talent oratoire, ce talent qui se signala plus tard sur les plus vastes théâtres, et qui produisit tant de fruits de salut ? Il a raconté lui-même quelle impression faisaient sur son âme les prédications qu'il entendait à Rome. "On n'entend point ici, dit-il, des ruisseaux qui murmurent; on ne cueille point de fleurs; mais on habille les vérités évangéliques de leurs vrais vêtements, et on les débite devant le peuple avec une éloquence magistrale; j'oserais presque dire, on les impose. Heureuse Néerlande, trois fois heureuse, si des prédicateurs de cette trempe annoncent un jour l'Evangile à tes enfants !" - Evidemment le jeune lévite ne songeait guère, en écrivant ces lignes, que lui-même était l'homme choisi pour occuper un jour une place glorieuse parmi "les orateurs de cette trempe", et pour procurer à la Hollande, sa patrie, le bonheur qu'il lui souhaitait avec tant d'ardeur !

Bernard profita de son séjour à Rome, principalement à l'époque des vacances, pour visiter les nombreux sanctuaires disséminés sur le sol de l'Italie; ces visites ne contribuèrent pas peu à alimenter et à accroître en lui l'esprit de piété. Montefalco, sanctifié par sainte Claire; Assise, lieu où naquit et demeura saint François, où saint Joseph de Cupertino passa une grande partie de sa vie dans des entretiens tout intimes avec Dieu; Tolentino avec ses sanctuaires et ses reliques de saint Nicolas; Lorette surtout avec sa santa casa, et plusieurs autres lieux chers à la piété des fidèles furent tour à tour témoins de ses ferventes prières et les objets de sa profonde vénération. Aussi inspirèrent-ils souvent sa plume, laquelle se plaisait à reproduire en expressions touchantes les sentiments que son coeur y avait éprouvés. Contentons-nous de reproduire le passage d'une de ses lettres où il raconte son pèlerinage à Lorette.

"Arrivés là, dit-il, (il voyagait en compagnie de deux condisciples, Beelen et Eulenbach [2]), nous récitâmes le Te Deum en action de grâces de la protection divine dont nous avions été favorisés pendant notre voyage ... Mais hélas ! au moment où je veux vous parler de Lorette et de son sanctuaire, ma plume se refuse à rendre mes pensées et mes émotions. En cette maison le Verbe s'est fait chair : voilà l'inscription que porte cette sainte maison; voilà la pensée qui remplit le fidèle au moment où il va y pénétrer. Ici le Verbe s'est fait chair, voilà tout l'éloge de cette demeure. Ces paroles, chaque chrétien les lit sur le superbe autel qu'on y a érigé; mais on ne saurait les méditer, ni les répéter sans éprouver le sentiment le plus vif de sa propre abjection. Qui d'entre nous, s'il a la foi, ne croit voir et entendre ici l'Ange qui révéla à Marie sa sublime destinée : son élévation à la maternité divine ? Qui n'entend Marie répondre à Gabriel qu'elle est la servante du Seigneur ? Oh ! combien de fois pendant les six jours que j'ai passés à Lorette, je me suis cru admis dans l'intérieur de la Sainte Famille après qu'elle fut revenue d'Egypte à Nazareth ! Il me semblait voir Marie, assise devant cette cheminée noircie par la fumée, qui maintenant se trouve derrière l'autel; je croyais l'entendre parler avec son Fils et son Dieu, tandis que saint Joseph, debout devant son établi, exerçait l'honnète métier qui devait pourvoir à la subsistance de Dieu, de sa sainte épouse et à la sienne propre. Heureuse ville, m'écriais-je souvent, qui possède un tel trésor ! Heureux le peuple à qui Dieu a fait la faveur de pouvoir honorer et adorer le Verbe fait chair dans sa propre maison !

"Lorette est bien digne d'avoir le dépôt d'un si précieux trésor. Le respect que le peuple, le peuple de la campagne surtout, porte à la sainte maison, peut sembler excessif à certaines personnes. Quant à moi, je voudrais bien, je l'avoue, avoir une vivacité de foi semblable à celle qui distingue ce bon peuple; aussi est-elle récompensée par des miracles continuels. Non, ce n'est point une exagération : les murailles de la sainte miason sont, à l'intérieur, devenues lisses à force d'être baisées, et les pierres du sol qui l'entourent sont devenues creuses sous les genoux des pèlerins. Toute la ville de Lorette se plaît à nous raconter les démonstrations de joie auxquelles se livrent chaque année les Napolitains, lorsqu'ils viennent visiter ces lieux bénis, comme aussi leurs accents de tristesse au moment où ils font leurs adieux à la divine Mère, pour s'en retourner chez eux. Plus nous nous approchions de Lorette, plus nous redoublions de ferveur pour nous recommander à la saint Vierge. Un' Ave Maria alla Madonna ! tel est le salut qu'on se donne en chemin. Eh ! voyez un peu comment ces hommes et ces femmes reviennent de Lorette, la tête couronnée de fleurs, et chargés de toutes sortes d'objets ! ce sont des présents de la Madonna. Il est d'usage qu'à leur retour les parents causent une surprise à leurs petits enfants par des souvenirs de Lorette. Oh ! quels beaux usages en l'honneur de la Mère deDieu j'ai vus à Lorette ! Le soir, après vêpres, le peuple se réunit dans la sainte maison ou dans son contour, afin de prier en commun pour l'Eglise, pour le Pape, pour les besoins temporels des citoyens, etc. Pendant ces prières, l'autel et l'image miraculeuse de la sainte Vierge sont époussetés et ensuite voilés; puis les Pères Capucins, après avoir donné un signal au peuple, recueillent la poussière du sol, et ferment les portes du Sanctuaire."

[Typed by Mr Aime Dupont of Flanders]

Footnotes

1. Depuis le 2 septembre 1826, ambassadeur extraordinaire et plénipotentiaire du gouvernement néerlandais près du Saint-Siège, remplacé ensuite par M. Germain.

2. M. Joseph-Bernard Eulenbach, né à Amsterdam en 1804, acheva ses études théologiques à Rome, y obtint le grade de docteur en théologie, et y fut ordonné prêtre le 18 septembre 1830. Depuis 1858, il est curé à Ouddorp, près d'Alkmaar.

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, C.SS.R. (1819-1867)

2010-01-21T02:30:00.003Z

Blessed Francis Xavier was born at Füssen, Bavaria, Germany on January 11, 1819 and was baptized the same day in the parish church of St. Mang. According to his own testimony, he received the first impulses for virtue and piety from his truly Christian mother. The years of his studies, which he began in 1842 at Augsburg and Munich, he passed without the slightest blemish. His great love of God and ardent desire to promote His glory and the salvation of souls led him first into the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer into which he was received on 22 November, 1842, and then to apply for the American Mission. He left Europe via Le Havre, and arrived in New York, on 18 April, 1843 (some sources say 20 April). He completed his novitiate in Baltimore, was professed on 16 May, 1844, finished his studies, and was ordained on 22 December, of the same year in the Redemptorist Church of St. James in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Until May, 1845, he was attached to the community of St. James, where he already gave proofs of truly apostolic zeal. In the confessional he was indefatigable, winning the hearts of sinners by his extraordinary affability and kindness. In the pulpit, and particularly when giving catechetical instructions, his language was so persuasive, so full of heavenly unction, that his hearers never failed to derive spiritual profit. Such was the effect of his public discourses all through life.

In May, 1845, he was transferred to Pittsburgh where his Superior was Saint John Nepomucene Neumann, afterward Bishop of Philadelphia. Besides F. Seelos, Rev. Joseph Mueller was then stationed at Pittsburghh. These three men were such, that the Bishop, Right Rev. M. O Connor, used to call them “The three saints of St. Philomena’s.” Later Bl. Francis Xavier would say of Saint John Nepomucene that he had introduced him to the active side of religious life and had been his spiritual father.

In 1847, Father Seelos was placed in charge of the novices. In 1851, he was made Rector of that community. During the nine years that Father Seelos laboured in Pittsburgh, he acquired the reputation of a saint, a reputation which rendered his name immortal, and with that of Father Neumann's left a kind of sacred prestige in that place. He became well known as an expert confessor and spiritual director, so much so that people came to him even from neighbouring towns. But his greatest joy was to instruct little children in the Faith.

From Pittsburgh, Father Seelos was transferred in 1854 as Rector to St. Alphonsus, Baltimore, where from over-exertion in 1857, he fell sick. After a short stay at Cumberland and then Annapolis he was appointed spiritual Prefect of the professed Students. The years of his prefecture may be considered the most important of his whole life. By word and example, he preached to the young men the spirit of self-denial and prayer, the love of study and true apostolic zeal. Most of his pupils imbibed under such a director that spirit which ever afterward made them staunch Redemptorists. During the Civil War, Blessed Seelos relocated his seminarians to Annapolis in 1862. He visited President Abraham Lincoln in an effort to exempt seminarians from the draft. Because only priests could be exempt, Blessed Seelos arranged for Archbishop Francis Patrick Kenrick to ordain all 20 seminarians. In 1860, Father Seelos’ name was proposed for the episcopal see of Pittsburgh, but his humility succeeded in averting a blow which seemed to him the greatest misfortune that could befall him through a dispensation conferred by Blessed Pius IX.

From 1862 he was to devote himself to the work of giving Missions and retreats. In that sphere he again won the reputation of sanctity wherever he appeared preaching in English and German in the states of Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. The Faithful, as well as the clergy in general admired his heroism, and proclaimed him the saint among the missionaries. No wonder that God’s blessing accompanied him wherever he went.

In 1866, after being attached for a short time to the Detroit monastery, he was transferred to New Orleans. He arrived there in September, 1866, and it was not long before his name became a household word among the Faithful of the three churches under the Redemptorists’ charge. From far and near, people of every class and condition, rich and poor, old and young, learned and unlearnd, men and women, came to make their confession, particularly general confessions, to that saintly priest. He was looked upon as a heaven-sent physician for the cure of every spiritual ill. But Fr. Seelos earthly career was soon to be terminated.

On 17 September, 1867, he took the yellow fever which he had contracted through his pastoral visits to those suffering from the disease and, notwithstanding the most tender care lavished upon him, and the numerous prayers and offerings made for him, his life was not spared.

Cheerful and contented as ever, he looked forward to his eternal reward. He died, while the brethren around his bed were singing, at his request, one of his favourite hymns to Our Blessed Lady on 4 October, 1867. He was 48 years old.

Father Francis Xavier Seelos was beatified on 9 April, 2000, and his Feast was established on 5 October. His precious relics repose in his shrine at St Mary’s Church, New Orleans. †

Very Rev. Fr Joseph Helmpraecht, C.SS.R. (1820-1884)

2010-01-19T01:33:00.006Z

Father Helmpraecht, born on 14 January, 1820, was the son of a well-to-do family in Bavaria. He made his studies partly with the Benedictines at Metten, where the celebrated Abbot Boniface Wimmer was one of his preceptors, and partly at the University of Munich. Before com-pleting his theological course, he applied to be received as a novice of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer for the American Missions. Being accepted, he arrived in America, June, 1843, and made his novitiate and finished his studies at the old St. James monastery in Baltimore.

He was professed on 6 December, 1844. There, too, he was ordained on 21 December, 1845. He performed his first ministerial services in Baltimore until 1848, when he was sent to Buffalo as Superior, at the age of twenty-eight. His spirit of regularity, prudence, solid learning and piety justified his appointment. In 1854, he became Rector of the monastery in New York, which office he held until 1860.

For only a short time, from 1860 to 1863, he again became a subject, and as such lived contented and happy. But in 1865 he had to accompany the Provincial, Father DeDycker to Rome, whence he returned as the latter's successor. The heavy burden and great responsibilities of the Provincialate, which he had to bear for four successive terms, made him only more humble and charitable. During those twelve years of office he had innumerable trials and sufferings, some connected with his office, others of a private nature. Some of them demanded more than ordinary courage and confidence in Divine Providence. But he bore everything with heroic fortitude. We refer only to the Annapolis disaster of 1866.

When relieved of the Provincialate in 1877, he was appointed Rector of St. Michaels, Baltimore, and in 1880 of the monastery of the Most Holy Redeemer, New York, where he had been Rector twenty-five years before. The faithful of the parish, who had known him long ago, were delighted to see him back in his old position, but the good Father was worn out by cares and troubles. He sighed for the moment when he could again be a simple subject, a favour which he daily implored of Almighty God.

God granted his desire. At the expiration of his three-year term, another Father was appointed Rector, and Father Helmpraecht was free to endure in silent patience the torments of his protracted sickness. Like a true and genuine disciple of his Crucified Redeemer, he suffered almost without relief and comfort. Such had long been his desire. He wished to die within the Octave of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and to die with no one present.

The Octave came, the 15th of December, 1884. It was past ten o clock that night, when good Brother Lambert, his beloved infirmarian, said to him: "Well, Father, you are not going to die within the Octave, after all." Father Helmpraecht, in his native language, was heard to whisper: "Mother! Mother! Mother!" The "Mother" heard her faithful son. After some little time, he said to the Brother: "If you will leave me, I think I can sleep a little now." Brother Lambert, to gratify him, withdrew from the room. Looking in a little later, he found Father Helmpraecht lying dead, as calm and composed as when he had last seen him. His words were fulfilled.

All who were closely acquainted with Father Helmpraecht knew him to be a truly saintly priest and Redemptorist. It is, therefore, to be hoped that, at some future day, a lengthy biography of this holy man will be published. James McMaster, the celebrated journalist, who knew the Father well, declared that he did not hesitate to invoke his intercession. †

Wilhelmus Marinus Cardinal van Rossum, C.SS.R. (1854-1932)

2010-01-13T01:45:00.010Z

Cardinal van Rossum was born on 3 September (some sources say October), 1854, at Zwolle, in the Archdiocese of Utrecht, Holland, the son of Jan van Rossum and Hendrika Veldwillems. His first name is also written as Willem or often in French as Guillaume. He entered the Minor Seminary of Culemborg in 1867 and six years later, on 15 June 1873, he entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. He was professed on 16 June, 1874 at the Monastery of s'Hertogenbosch and ordained on 17 October, 1879, at the Redemptorist Monastery of Wittem. At first, in 1880, he was professor of Latin and Rhetoric in the Juvenate of Roermond, then professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Scholasticate of Wittem from 1883-1892, and later prefect of studies from 1886-1893. From 1893-1895 he was rector of that monastery.

From 1895-1911 he resided at the Redemptorist Monastery in Rome, becoming Consultor to the Holy Office in December,1900, counsellor to the newly formed Commission for the Codification of Canon Law in 1904 and General Consultor of the Redemptorist Congregation under the Most Rev. Fr Patrick Murray from 1909-1911. In Rome he grew to be much appreciated by Pope St Pius X. He was created Cardinal Deacon, while remaining a simple priest, in the consistory of 27 November, 1911, by St Pius X, the news reaching him at Riedisheim where he was staying.

He received the red hat and the deaconry of S. Cesareo in Palatio on 30 November, 1911, becoming the first Dutch Cardinal since the Protestant Reformation. He served as Papal Legate to the International Eucharistic Congress in Vienna, Austria, and was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Austrian Order of Sankt Stefan, in 1912. On 13 January, 1914, he became President of Pontifical Biblical Commission, Cardinal van Rossum participated in the conclave of 1914, which elected Pope Benedict XV. Becoming Grand Penitentiary, on 1 October, 1915, in place of the deceased Cardinal Serafino Vannutelli, he was admitted into the order of Cardinal Priests under the title of S. Croce in Gerusalemme (one of the principal basilicas of Rome), on 6 December, 1915. He also served as a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law and finally became Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propaganda Fidei, on 12 March, 1918, a post which he filled until his death and where he exercised an important influence on Papal policies for the Missions. It is certain that the prodigious development of the Foreign Missions from that year has a direct bearing on his appointment.

He was elected Titular Archbishop of Cesarea in Mauretania, on 25 April, 1918, and consecrated on 19 May, 1918, in the Sistine Chapel, by Pope Benedict XV, assisted by Giovanni Battista Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano, titular archbishop of Tebe, privy almoner of His Holiness, and by Agostino Zampini, O.S.A., titular bishop of Porfireone, sacristan of His Holiness. Cardinal van Rossum participated in the conclave of 1922, which elected Pope Pius XI. He is the author of numerous works on Moral Theology and Canon Law. He was also the Cardinal Protector of the Order of Redemptoristine Nuns, the Sisters of Niederbronn, the Sisters of Ingenbohl and numerous other Congregations.

Despite his age he remained always an indefatigable worker. He undertook all with a charming modesty, which willingly left honours to his collaborators. As Prefect of the Propaganda he inherited an immense workload. 444 diocese or vicariates spread around the world fell under his jurisdiction. 282 missionary bishops, 91 prefects apostolic, 12959 priests, 5112 brothers and 28099 nuns venerated in him their legitimate superior. Under his leadership schools sprang up everywhere for the training of local clergy, and Japan, China and India received their first local Latin Rite bishops. Under his Prefecture the great Missionary Exhibition of 1925 took place at the Vatican and developed later into a permanent museum at the Lateran Palace.

In 1929 he supervised the enlargement of the Seminary of the Propaganda and visited far-flung Iceland where he consecrated Bishop Meulenberg as Vicar Apostolic along with his Cathedral of Christ the King.

He was also a warm supporter of the movement of Perpetual Supplication to Our Mother of Perpetual Succour, which he called a magnificent work that corresponded to the plans of God and the needs of the Catholic people and which he believed was destined to produce great fruits.

He died on 30 August 1932 in a Maastricht hospital, after falling ill on returning from an apostolic visit to Denmark, and was buried first in the Wittem Monastery cemetery, but later in the Redemptorist Church in Wittem. †

The Servant of God, Rev. Fr. Victor Humarque, C.SS.R. (1817-1896)

2010-01-10T00:16:00.009Z

The Rev. Fr. Victor Humarque, know universally by the name of the “Old blind Father,” died, full of years and merits, on December 18, 1896, in the Redemptorist Monastery of Antony in France.

He was born in Colmar, on September 15, 1817, of parents originating from Saint-Dié (Vosges), and he went with his family to live in that city a short time later. His father had obtained a position as eulogist at the cathedral, and despite his unceasing labour, it was only with great effort that he was able to provide bread for his twelve children, for he spent his free time giving individual lessons. From the age of twelve, Victor was happy to add to his father’s earnings the humble payment that his early talent brought him. This child proved to have real talent from his tenderest childhood, and the first reward of his study of music theory was the benefit of becoming a teacher of several rich children of Saint-Dié. At the same time, he was the most distinguished student at the best high school in the city. At the age of twenty, he obtained a superior diploma and baccalaureate, the crowning of his secondary studies. The high school directors had already entrusted him with a share in their work, despite his youth, as student supervisor. A brilliant future opened before him in university teaching. But God was calling him urgently to the priesthood.

He was ordained on October 30, 1842, by Mgr. de Jerphanion, Archbishop of Albi, who indicated to the young priest his intention of bringing him into his service. However, this was prevented by the prelate’s departure, and Fr. Humarque was named the vicar of Saint-Amé.

There he devoted himself for two years to the humble duties of a country priest. His excessive zeal ruined his health. The bishop of Saint-Dié, Mgr. Manglard, learned with sadness the state of this young priest, and listening only to the inspiration of his charitable heart, brought him into his palace, and built up the health of his ailing assistant. Fr. Humarque repaid his benefactor service for service. Successively tutor for the Count of Vesvrette and the Marquis of Lambertye, when he heard that Mgr. Manglard had just been struck by illness, he left his position and stationed himself at the bedside of the man who had become to him like a second father. He attended him with a devotion inspired by that devotion earlier shown toward him, and it came to pass that he gave the prelate final absolution and received his last sigh.

Fr. Caverot, vicar-general of Besançon, attended the funeral of Mgr. Manglard. After the ceremony, he walked beside Fr. Humarque, who, with mourning heart, extolled the charity of his benefactor, and concluded, “The man who must succeed him is to be pitied.” Several months later, Mgr. Caverot was appointed to the seat of Saint-Dié. Upon seeing Fr. Humarque, he said to him, “Is it not true that I am indeed to be pitied?”

Mgr. Caverot brought into his service this distinguished and devoted young priest. As director of the cathedral supervision and secretary-assistant to the bishop, he gave him all the proofs of affectionate attachment which had bound their hearts ever since they had first come together. When, obeying the call of God who wanted him to be “the poor priest and priest of the poor,” Fr. Humarque left the Saint-Dié Episcopal palace in 1856 to enter the noviciate of the Redemptorist Fathers, Mgr. Caverot could not hold back his tears. He kept in his room a photograph of the humble priest, and in the various houses where he lived he honoured him by many visits even after he became Archbishop of Lyon. As for Fr. Humarque, we could say that he had won the esteem and veneration of the entire clergy of Saint-Dié.

We would now like to follow, step by step, our dear brother in the journey of his religious career. Opening at the eleventh hour, it nevertheless doubled its course, and one could say that he carried the weight of a long journey full of weariness and merits.

Professed in 1857, he successively evangelized the regions of which the monasteries of Saint-Nicolas-de-Port, Châteauroux and Avon are the apostolic centres. He was a notable saviour of souls, still more by his exemplary virtues, his incessant prayer, and his heroic sufferings than by his oratorical talent.

Alas! In the month of May 1879, a cruel disease attacked the pupils of his eyes. At first Fr. Humarque wept, but he broke into song with the Magnificat. As the poet said:

When the eye of my body is extinguished,
the eye of my spirit is illuminated.

Indeed, from that day on the countenance of Fr. Humarque, became more endearing than ever. His affable sanctity was a mixture of piety and poetry, of benevolent charity and austere duty. By the order of his superiors, he wrote poetry for relaxation. He left a great number of poems, many of which have been published, and of hymns to the Sacred Heart and to the souls in Purgatory, which people know and appreciate. “The hymns of Fr. Humarque,” Mgr. Marchal tells us, “as those of a true artist, have a simple and popular allure; they inspire love by their pious sweetness, and are easily remembered by their simplicity.”

But above all, when the hand of God closed his eyes, he consecrated his time from then on to prayer and to fraternal charity. In doing this he did not have to do himself violence; grace and nature prompted him to this type of life. Slave to his religious rule, he promptly settled himself, until eight days before his death, to all the duties of community life. And still more, as the long hours Fr. Humarque passed before the Blessed Sacrament were not enough to satisfy his thirst for union with God, he added to those his hours of solitude, when his confreres took walks to relax. Everywhere, always, he would be seen with his lips moving and his rosary in hand. Piety, the piety of a saint, was the soul of all his life.

From this Thabor where he elevated himself in prayer, he loved to come down to the plains where he would exercise his charity. His inability to work directly for the salvation of souls afflicted him, but he rejoiced in remembering that he was as a missionary by his prayers and sufferings. He was also happy to have kept some interaction with souls through his fellow-brothers, and through the secular priests to whom he was spiritual director. Obliged by his blindness to depend more on his confreres’ charity than on his own heart’s appeal toward devotion and compassion, he witnessed in return of each service, however small, a touching recognition that continued to express itself in a thousand ways. After all, in his relations he carried by charity his wide share of interest and edification. Fr. Humarque was very witty. Especially in the years when his imagination had kept all the springtime freshness of his impressions, his conversations were a rolling fire of points, jokes, puns and riddles. In the midst of the small change that he spent to please his neighbour, this man of God would always slip in beside it, like a golden coin, some pious reflection or edifying story. Even in the days of decay, when the soul seemed ready to sink under the weight of bodily infirmity, suddenly a leap full of spirit would bring to the lips of the old blind Father this touching smile peculiar to children and the elderly. He loved above all to repay the acts of generosity that he had received during his long career. The memories of his pure youth particularly attracted him, by this charm that comes to all of us, when old age is come, bringing us back to the distant years, already coloured by the reflections of sunset…

Such was the man of God. After eight days of collapse, during which, until the last sigh, his soul held itself united constantly to God by prayer. At the moment when he expired, the feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin was reaching its end and Saturday was about to begin.

After death, the face of Fr. Humarque took on an expression of heavenly serenity, and as was said by his confreres and by the many persons who came to pray near his open bier, they felt moved to pray to him rather than to pray for him, and to touch to him their rosaries, crosses, and medals. All who knew him proclaim his sanctity, and nobody doubted that the eyes of the old blind Father, closed for twenty-six years to the light of day, contemplate the light of eternal glory. †

“Lovable poetry,
O charm of my life,
Come each morning,
And be for me a window.
Look for who will take you,
Even for who will read you.

Poor little verses,
Written on the hop,
Without plan,
without measure,
By an unsure hand.

In writing you,
My soul is ravished,
But I forget you,
At the same moment.

I may write you,
But cannot read you again.

And behold why,
When they criticise you,
Without reply,
I may remain silent.”

[Fr Victor Humarque, C.SS.R.]

Life of St John Nepomucene Neumann, C.SS.R. (1811-1860)

2010-01-05T01:00:00.007Z

This post is published in honour of the Saint
on the 150th Anniversary of his holy death.
May he bless us all from Heaven.

CHAPTER I
Early Life and Studies of the Saint

His parents, brothers and sisters
John Philip Neumann was born in Bavaria. A weaver by trade, when a young man he left his native country and settled at Prachatitz in Bohemia. God blessed his honest toil by success in trade, and rewarded his many virtues by giving him as wife Agnes Lebisch, a young woman full of piety and good sense. He considered it a duty to honour in a special manner the holy patrons whom God gives to each country. Now amongst the heavenly protectors of Bohemia a foremost place must be assigned to the martyr of the seal of confession, St. John Nepomucene. An equally prominent place belongs to the holy King, St. Wenceslaus of whom St. Alphonsus speaks so touchingly in his Visits to the Blessed Sacrament. God blessed this happy union with two boys, and Philip faithful to his principle called them John Nepomucene and Wenceslaus. To the two boys were added four girls, Johanna, Catherine, Veronica and Aloysia. Wenceslaus and two of his sisters lived long enough to be able to give their sworn testimony to the sanctity of their brother John. This they did in the Process for the Introduction of the cause of him whom we can now style Saint John Nepomucene Neumann.

Baptism
John was born at Prachatitz on Good Friday, March 28th, 1811. He was baptized the same day in the church of St. James the Greater. He, together with his brother and sisters grew up under the watchful eyes of their good parents, whose lives were constant lessons to them. There are many instances of the care with which Philip watched over his children. Johanna tells us of the severe correction which he once gave to John, for having told a little lie. She adds that the boy never forgot this correction, and that it was the only fault that he committed in his childhood.

That sweet Providence which watched over him in later years manifested itself when he was only three years of age. One day he fell from a height of fifteen feet into a cellar. When he was taken up, it was found that he was not in the very least injured by the fall.

John commences his studies
At the age of seven he began his elementary lessons. He soon learned to read, and from that time all his delight was in books. Nothing could have given his father greater pleasure. He too was fond of books, and when his day’s work was over he loved to spend much of the evening reading. One might say that little John devoured his books. His sister Catherine chided him saying: “John, you are only turning over the leaves.” “I beg your pardon,” he replied, “I read quickly! But I take it all in.” His mother who thought his application excessive, used to playfully call him Buchernarren, Book-mad. Wenceslaus, who shared with him the same room, but not the same taste for learning, was disturbed at night by what seemed to him his brother’s undue ardour for study. On one occasion, not able to bear the annoyance any longer, he went straight to his mother, and complained that John would not let him sleep. The mother went to the room; but scarcely had she entered when she was accosted by the little philosopher: “Mamma, look here. Is it possible that the earth on which we live floats in the air without falling?” “Let the earth go its way,” said mamma, “you need not stop it. It is God who sustains it. Go to sleep, then, and let your brother do the same.” The merest sign from his mother was enough for him, and both brothers were soon sound asleep.

His progress in virtue
John was pre-eminently a pious boy, and we shall not be surprised when we are told that his progress in virtue was even greater than his progress in secular knowledge. His charity alone would go far to prove this. We have seen how he was wont to distribute his pocket-money to the poor. He would not keep any little presents, which he might chance to receive. He gave them away either to his companions or to the poor. “If Neumann receives anything” said one of school-fellows, “we all have a share.” One day he saw a poor lad begging from door to door, and putting into a bag the pieces of bread that were given to him. “Oh!” he exclaimed, “if only I had a little bag like that boy, I too would go with him, and then he would get twice as much.” Such, indeed, was his progress in virtue, and in the knowledge of the Christian doctrine, that, contrary to the custom of the diocese, he was admitted to Confirmation at the age of nine, that is to say, three years before the usual time. The following year he was allowed to make his First Communion, and for this he prepared himself with extraordinary care and fervour. Henceforth he burned with most ardent desire to receive Holy Communion frequently, and he ever approached the Divine Banquet with the tenderest devotion. Long after this time, he candidly confessed that he prepared himself with great care, and that the Holy Communion was for him the source of every grace.

From his infancy, one might almost say, he had a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and this grew as he advanced in year’s ever keeping pace with his love for her Divine Son. She in turn jealously guarded his soul from sin. Indeed this devotion together with his love for study and the beautiful family spirit which reigned in his home kept him far from the dangerous pleasures of the world. His virtue at this early age was so remarkable that it attracted the attention of the neighbours, who used to point out John as a model to their own children. Many a one said of him, as it was once said of the Baptist: “What will this child one day be?”

He wishes to be a Priest
John’s father charmed with his son’s intelligence, industry and progress, spoke of a secular profession for him. No, no, said a good servant of the family, our little John will be a priest. We know now how correct was her judgement: but then his vocation was only in germ. One day, the children with their mother looking on, were playing a game of what shall I be? There was undoubtedly much chattering and not a little laughing; but John was silent and pensive. He took the matter very seriously. At last his mother said: “Come John, tell us what you wish to be.” “Mama,” he replied, “I would wish for something, were it not for the great expense.” He wished to be a priest, but, sharp-witted boy that he was, he foresaw all the difficulties that stood in his way.

His higher studies
After his first Communion he began the study of Latin, and of his own choice he added Botany for which he had a great taste. This study was for his innocent and enlightened soul a meditation; for he saw God in His works. What a contrast to so many grown up men of our days, who in their studies of nature seem to see everything except the hand that fashioned and nourishes all that lives. When he was twelve he went into lodgings at Budweis, and attended the classes of the excellent college of that town. Here he distinguished himself not in one or other branch, but in all, in Christian Doctrine, in Literature, Mathematics, Physics, Natural History and Modern Languages. His free time and his vacation he devoted to pious pilgrimages, to modern languages, and to his favourite study of botany. A fellow-student, who visited him one day, found his table covered with sheets of paper. “What in the world,” he asked, “have you written on all these sheets.” “These,” he replied, “are the Italian Regular Verbs, and they are hard to learn.”

He becomes certain of his vocation
It was while thus occupied that he became quite certain of his vocation. Hence in 1831 he began his course of Theology. His eminent success opened to him the doors of the great seminary of Prague in 1833. There we find the same earnest striving to become more virtuous, the same indefatigable industry, the same success. It was his success that earned for him the privilege of frequenting the University. This is perhaps, the most fitting place to give the impression which John Nepomucene made on one who had studied with him for eight years. When he gave his testimony he was a Cistercian Monk. Here are his words: “John Nepomucene was full of faith, most cautious in his words; he studiously avoided every sin and every danger of sin; he never neglected to receive the sacraments regularly; he was humble and modest yet full of courage; he was temperate, meek and obedient; he won the good will and esteem of his fellow-students; he studied Theology and Languages with the greatest success; he was loved by his superiors and was a model for all.”

Notwithstanding his success he expressed to a student his regret at having left Budweis. The following incident explains why. He had earned the privilege of attending the lectures of the University. At that time the teaching was tainted with error. The innocence of John’s life, the fullness of his faith, his obedience to the voice of his conscience made him, so to speak, spiritually sensitive. He, therefore, promptly detected and rejected error. One of the professors held Febronian principles. The subtle poison contained in them was soon detected by John and he at once sounded the alarm. Not content with refusing to accept a teaching which he believed to be false, he composed an admirable thesis in defence of the Infallibility of the Pope. His courage and his knowledge won for him the admiration of all. It was, therefore because the teaching at the College of Budweis was untainted with error that he regretted having left it. But at the time the prospect of having at Prague an opportunity of learning English and perfecting himself in other languages was a great inducement to him to make the change. It is true he did not find the wished for opportunity, but nothing daunted he continued his studies in private. In this way by the end of his course he had sufficiently mastered all the difficulties in no less than eight languages. He knew Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Bohemian, French, Italian and English, and of course, German, which was the language spoken in his home. He made no show of his success, but he saw in it the hand of God, Who was preparing him for a special work, a work in which he was to save souls of every tongue and nation.

Chapter II
St John Nepomucene is called by God to Work in America

There was at that time in the Seminary of Prague a holy and learned professor, who was much interested in the missions of North America. He spoke to the students of the abandoned state in which souls in those countries found themselves, and he circulated amongst them a Publication on the Apostolate in the New World. This was published by the Society of St. Leopold. All the materials for the making of an Apostle were ready in the breast of John Neumann, and the words of the professor and the articles of the aforesaid periodical gave them form. The materials for a conflagration of charity were laid, and Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament enkindled them. John made a firm resolution to leave home and devote himself to the sacred ministry in America. A fellow-student tells us that one day while walking with him on the banks of the Moldau; Neumann declared to him that he had quite made up his mind to leave his own country and to devote his life to the evangelization of North America.

He leaves home
John was then in his 25th year, he had completed with distinction his course of studies; and his life was above all reproach. He looked forward to his ordination and first Mass with humility indeed, but also with confidence. His mother had ever cherished his vocation as the greatest gift of God to her son and to herself and family. John on his part thought more of the sweet consolation his ordination and first Mass would bring to his mother than of the joy it would be to himself. Both were robust souls in the spiritual life and God would strengthen them still more not by the sweets of consolation, but by the invigorating food of sacrifice. The diocese was over-stocked with priests, and the Bishop was unwilling to ordain others till vacancies occurred. This was a great disappointment; but it was God’s way of making it easier for John to declare his resolution to leave his native land and devote himself to the Missions of North America. It is easy to imagine how keenly his father, mother, brother and sisters felt this announcement. But they generously gave their consent, and thus shared fully in the sacrifice which the young missionary made to God of all that was most dear to him. “My dear Father and Mother,” he said, “I have come into this world not to seek honour and glory, but to seek sheep that have gone astray.” He needed a strong vocation and God gave it to him. We shall see how difficulties and trials only strengthened it. He desired however to bear all himself, and to give as little pain as possible to his parents. Thus his preparations for departure were made little by little and very quietly. The boy who had been book mad, now a full grown man loved above all his spiritual books, and these as his greatest treasures he distributed amongst the members of his own family. To Johanna he gave The True Spouse of Christ, by St. Alphonsus, knowing, a he did, her desire to consecrate herself to God in religion. Had the future been thrown open to his view, he would have seen this same sister, a venerable nun of nearly four score giving sworn testimony of how much it cost this dear brother to tear himself from the bosom of their happy family, and how he strengthened himself by prayer and the reception of the Sacraments. It was she who found him one day prostrate before a picture of Our Lady of Good Counsel bathed in tears. She was witness of the generosity with which he overcame his feelings lest he should aggravate the sorrow of those whom he loved.

When the day for departure came, he slipped away very quietly from Prachatitz, as if he were about to make a short visit to some friends at Budweis. It was from there he wrote his farewell letter to his parents. It is dated February 11th, 1836, and it assures them that his only motive in leaving secretly was to diminish the pain of separation: he was sure that their blessing would ever follow him; for nothing but a Divine call could have torn him from their loving embrace; he assures them that his sacrifice will benefit them: “May you, my dear parents,” he concludes, “bear patiently and with resignation this trial sent you by God. The greater our sorrow now, the greater will be our joy hereafter. God would not have demanded this sacrifice, had He not deemed it salutary, and were He not willing to give us the necessary graces to make it. May His Holy Will be done.”

His journey to Paris
He left Budweis on the 18th of February and reached Paris on the 11th of March. He stayed some days at Linz, Munich, Strasburg and Nancy. It was a long and painful journey. Disappointments met him almost at every halt, so that he arrived in Paris without having received any assurance that he would be accepted for the American Mission. To exterior difficulties were added great interior depression and desolation. His courage, his resignation, his abandonment of himself into the hands of God was, without his knowing it, preparing him for the great work which was before him. A great work indeed, but hidden from his eyes; for his future during his whole journey remained shrouded in uncertainty. Of this we find ample proof in his Diary. Take for example the following entry; “I was disappointed more than ever at Strasburg .... Admission into the dioceses of New York or Vincennes is uncertain.” His first disappointment was to learn that there was no room for him in Philadelphia. – No room for its future Bishop! But this is anticipating. “O Jesus,” the entry continues, “I am under Thy protection. The greater the struggle, the more glorious the victory. Thy will be done, O Lord, show Thy love for me, that I may in return love Thee more confidently. Jesus have mercy on Thy poor servant, who for Thy sake left father and mother and all that is dear to him. For Thee, my Jesus, I live, in life and in death I am all Thine.”

While in Paris he profited by the many opportunities for acquiring grace which this city gives to those who wish to use them. Difficulties, interior trials and humiliations abounded. He was rejected at St. Sulpice. He was received at the College of Foreign Missions, but with considerable suspicion, and the servants treated him very rudely. He accepted lovingly his humiliations, and prayed for all who offended him; but he desired that those who treated him badly should not thereby commit any sin. “As for me,” he wrote, “do I not deserve severer reprimands and greater punishment? Yes, my Jesus, were the whole world to trample me underfoot, I should still be obliged to confess that I deserve a thousand times more.”

It was in trials, in fasting, which sometimes lasted the whole day, and in prayer that he prepared himself for a general confession by which he hoped to gain peace of soul. He wrote in French and in fullest detail all his faults and then made his confession in the Church of Notre Dame. There was a passing gleam of light, there was a peace which lasted a few moments, there was a feeling of consolation which vanished before he had fully realized it, and then there was desolation more dark and painful than ever. In his anguish he exclaimed: “O Lord, there is nought but gloom and misery in my soul; the staff (his general confession) on which my hope rested is broken. I am as a plank at sea dashed about by wind and wave. Chaos more dreary, more desolate than that which reigns in my soul could not have existed before the creation.” This was God’s way of giving this his faithful servant the great grace of casting all his care on Him. In his desolation there remained light enough to see that his sanctification and the work that awaited him must be God’s far more than his. Hence he wrote: “O my God, I see that Thou dost will to do this work Thyself. My plans never lead to any good. Be Thou, therefore, my constant guide and protector.” The buoying himself with the hope of embarking soon on the sea of Almighty Power, he adds: “I will joyfully accept, my Jesus, whatever Thou hast marked out for me, even death itself, if conducive to Thy glory and my own salvation.” But whilst so resigned to God’s will, he does not hide from our Lord how grievous a thing it would be to him to fail in his project. He says he deserves failure on account of his sins; but he cries for mercy: “O Jesus,” he prays, “do not punish me by detaining me in Europe, as I have deserved a thousand times. Poverty and disgrace I am willing to bear, but, O my Jesus, do not punish me by holding me back from the sublime and life-giving struggle for souls.”

It was thus struggling that he daily grew in strength. Holy Week came, and it was an agreeable surprise to find that God allowed him to taste the sweets of interior consolation. This was unexpected at such a time, and he feared that it would not last. He often suffered desolation even on the greatest Feasts. Easter came and its alleluia found no joyful response in his poor heart.

He leaves for Havre
After much prayer and fasting he took a resolution for which God seemed to have waited, namely, that he would start at once for Havre, and that he would take ship for America and that he would trust in Divine Providence for the rest. He had already waited more than a month, and he had not received one encouraging word from any Bishop. This brings out the heroicness of his resolution. He made the journey from Paris to Havre partly on foot and partly by Coach. He was supported in a wonderful manner by God, but trials and desolation more than tempered the consolation he felt. He did not fail to note in his Diary the kindness of a French inn-keeper’s wife. At one of the stage-coach stations all descended to partake of a good meal. Our poor traveller followed the others at a civil distance. He was thinking how he might get some food at the least possible cost, when he heard an encouraging voice calling him. It was the inn-keeper’s wife, who invited him to enter. He accepted and soon found himself before a well charged table. He did not hide his embarrassment, or its cause, and he asked for a simple fare more in keeping with his means. “Eat, eat,” said the good French woman, “and we will not quarrel over the bill.” He had a hearty meal, which he badly needed, and when he offered to pay, the account was settled by the pious request: “Pray for us, pray for us.”

He sails to America
When John Nepomucene Neumann left Prachatitz he had 200 francs in his purse. Now if we consider the length of his journey, and the many delays, which circumstances forced upon him; if we consider that he ventured to buy some books at Paris, as well as a lovely ivory crucifix which cost seven francs, we shall wonder to hear that on arriving on the 7th of April he had still more than 100 francs. He had to wait for thirteen days at port; but no news came to cheer him. Moreover he was visited by a very severe attack of home sickness; but grace ever triumphed in his generous soul. “This poor heart of mine,” he writes, “yearns for home today. What are my loved ones, my parents, my brother and my sisters doing now? Ah! How often do they not think anxiously of me? ... O my God, lay my parents’ sorrow upon me. Give them peace in their old age. Oh, how I love them! My God have mercy on us all. Grant us to meet again in Heaven and there, without fear of parting, to be happy with Thee for all eternity.”

The longed for morning of the 20th of April at last arrived. He was up early. He made a most fervent Communion, the last in Europe for many a day. He had been able to engage a second class berth in the Europa at a very reasonable fare. At noon the good ship hoisted her signal for sailing. John was already on board, and although there were some two hundred passengers, he was as much alone, as if there were only God and himself in the world. The ship weighed anchor and put out to sea, and next morning there was nothing to be seen but the heavens above and the ocean all around. In the notes of our traveller we find him complaining that he could not make meditation. This can only apply to meditation in set form; for his was a really contemplative soul, whose communing with God were almost continual. Everything seemed to lift his mind to Him. He looked upon his being allowed to embark as a sign that God had accepted his oblation, and for this his heart overflowed with gratitude. “Thou hast heard,” he prayed, “my request; Thou hast granted my petition: Oh how I now rejoice! Mayest Thou be forever praised! After so many struggles, I am once more in peace. O Jesus, I will never forget Thee, since Thou hast so graciously remembered me. Bless my enterprise! Stay with me, assist me, grant me success.”

The voyage was fully forty days. He experienced the joy which favourable weather brings the weariness of a dead calm, the grandeur, cold and danger of icebergs, and the fury of an appalling storm. It was during this latter that he made a most perfect act of entire abandonment of himself to the Providence of God. While all the others were forced to seek shelter below, he alone stood on deck contemplating Divine power in the elements and thinking of the future as if no danger were near. Suddenly a warning, clear as if a human voice had spoken, made him change his position, and in an instant a sail yard came down with a terrible crash on the very spot where he had been standing. Long years after he would recall this escape to awaken within him an unbounded confidence in the paternal protection of God, to which he there and then abandoned himself for ever.

Arrival in America
America was sighted on Trinity Sunday, and on that same day the Europa cast anchor three miles below Staten Island. How long the vessel remained there is uncertain; but young Neumann by downright importunity won from the captain the favour of being up ashore on the island on the Feast of Corpus Christi. It was in the afternoon, and he took the first steam-boat for New York. He had a most ardent desire to make at least a visit to our Blessed Lord on this feast of His Love. It was pouring rain, but to that he seemed quite insensible. In street after street he sought his Beloved but without effect. Not having been able to find a Catholic Church, he took lodgings for the night in a Swiss Inn. Next morning he repaired to the nearest church, and when he was satisfied his devotion he went to the Cathedral. Here he had the good fortune of meeting Rev. Father Raffeiner, and we will leave the reader to imagine his joy when this good priest told him that he had been accepted some weeks since for the diocese of New York. He was then introduced to his Lordship, the Bishop, Monsignor Dubois. It was no ordinary meeting. The venerable appearance of the octogenarian Prelate reminded Mr. Neumann of St John the Evangelist, and the Bishop’s experienced eye saw in the young missionary a true servant of Jesus Christ. He received him most cordially and through very joy knew not whether to address him in Latin, English or French. And here we had better give the words of an illustrious Archbishop of New York. In his Petition to the Holy See for the Introduction of the Cause he writes: “While still young, Neumann moved by a Divine call and strengthened by his confidence in Divine aid, although destitute of human resources set out for America, which he reached after a long and dangerous voyage ... Already even before he was a priest, my predecessor... at first sight discovered in this young man the virtues of riper years. He committed to him the catechising of children who were preparing for First Communion, and while thus engaged he was promoted to Holy Orders.”

CHAPTER III
St John Nepomucene Neumann – A Priest on the American Mission

His Ordination – There could be no question in New York in those days of making a retreat before his Ordination as we understand it now. But was not the whole life of the Saint a remote preparation? Were not his trials interior and exterior all for the Priesthood? Were not the heroic virtues which he practiced since he had torn himself from the bosom of his family a most perfect immediate preparation? And the work in which he was occupied was it not a help more than an obstacle? But he was not satisfied with all these. His spiritual notes prove to us how he annihilated himself in the presence of God before he presented himself to the Bishop for ordination. He fully realized the exclamation of St. John Chrysostom: “Nihil et omnia, O Sacerdos!” He confessed his nothingness with the greatest sincerity possible and God raised him to the unspeakable dignity of the Priesthood.

He was ordained by Bishop Dubois in his Cathedral dedicated to St. Patrick. He received the Subdiaconate on June 19th, the Diaconate on the Feast of St. John the Baptist, June 24th, and the Priesthood the day following. Thus on June 25th, 1836 fruition succeeded long deferred hopes and John Nepomucene Neumann was a Priest of the Most High. If only his father and mother had been there, it would have been for him paradise on earth. But their absence only intensified the ardour with which he prayed for them and for all at home. On the 26th he sang his First Mass in the church of St. Nicholas. The thirty children whom he had instructed received their First Communion at this Mass, and thus he himself prepared for them the Divine Banquet.

“It was then,” to use the words of Archbishop Corrigan, “that the prudence, modesty, zeal and the universality of the virtues, with which he was adorned, became apparent. By word and example he led the faithful to salutary practices, and by his kind manner he made wayward boys docile, drew them away from danger and trained them to piety.”

He is appointed to the district of Niagara Falls – But his Grace tells us that his was a zeal not to be circumscribed within the narrow limits of St. Nicholas, and, therefore, although so young he was entrusted with the cultivation of a most extensive field near the Falls of Niagara. The Catholics were numerous but scattered here and there over the whole district ."Who will tell us,” his Grace asks, “of the labours that wearied him, the perspiration that exhausted him, the difficulties that pressed upon him, and the souls that he won to God?”

This district is now in the diocese of Buffalo, and the late Right Rev Dr. Ryan tells us that when the Saint arrived, “there were no parochial dwellings, nor indeed any suitable place to take that repose, which was so much needed after his frequent, long and fatiguing journeys to the various stations. They were in dire need of Spiritual succour and long distances from one another.” Taking Williamsville as centre, he visited the following stations: North Bush five miles distant, Lancaster and Transit six, Batavia forty, Sheldon twenty and Niagara Falls fifty. These were the principal, but there were other lesser stations. “He took,” says his Lordship, “but little rest, his food was scantly and he often partook of it hurriedly in some poor and even squalid cabin. He was ever ready for work. A difficult road, bad weather, the darkness of night , these he would never allow to stand in his way when there was a question of helping souls in need.”

His journeys were made for the most part on foot, and he carried on his back the things which were absolutely necessary for the celebration of the Divine Mysteries. When a brother priest would beg him to spare himself and use a horse, he would playfully answer that he was a strong Bohemian boy. But the most robust constitution may be overtaxed, and so it was with the Saint. One day when utterly exhausted and with feet al blistered from his journey, he laid himself down under a tree unable to go any further. Soon he was surrounded by a roving company who were in search of booty. The position of the poor father was not a pleasant one. As soon, however, as these men of the woods recognised that he was a “black robe,” far from doing him harm, they laid him gently on a buffalo skin and thus carried him to his destination.
The limits of this brief sketch will not allow of the narration of the many dangers to which his life was exposed when overtaken by storms, or missing his way in the dead of night, or walking fasting long distances from one church to another to say Mass on Sundays, or visiting the sick all day without taking a morsel of food. Rather let us look into his mind and heart and see what is passing there; for all the beauty of those dear to God is from within. His prayer for his people, which happily has reached us, gives us a look into his soul. We gladly give the greater part of it to the reader:
“My Jesus, I a poor ignorant young man have become a shepherd in Thy sheepfold. Lord, regard not my sins! Give me; I beseech Thee, an ever increasing love for those whom Thou hast redeemed, that I may labour for their salvation in wisdom, patience and holiness. Grant that not one of those confided to my care may be lost through my fault. O Jesus, help me to sanctify my children. O holy Mother of my Lord and God, pray for me and my flock. Holy Guardian Angels of my dear children, teach me how to act towards them, so that I may instil into their hearts principles of pure faith and the love of God. Lord, teach me how to live for my people that they all may be saved, that they may love Thee and praise Thee in eternity, and that they may love my dear mother Mary.”

For four years the Saint laboured unceasingly in this immense district. He erected churches in four districts, and near to them schools. At first he taught the children himself; but later on he was aided by his brother Wenceslaus, who left his home in order to share with Father Neumann his labours and privations. We learn the poor conditions of both Pastor and people from letters written to Rev. Father Dichtl. “Only a poor Priest,” he writes, “or one who is content to endure the hardships of poverty can labour here with fruit. His duties call him far and near ...He leads what may be termed a wandering life ... There is no pleasure.... except that found in the care of souls. If he seeks comforts, honours or riches, his search will be in vain; he will lose both patience and courage and his usefulness will come to an end.” Again he wrote: “The Catholic population is continually increasing, not that conversions swell our numbers, but because immigration goes on rapidly...Conversions however are by no means rare.” Referring to the condition of the people he said: “Many of our Catholics are in extreme poverty. They live in miserable shanties, some of which have not even the luxury of a window. As a general rule chairs and bedsteads are unknown. I have seen the dying stretched on a bundle of straw or moss. To hear their confessions and prepare them for the Sacraments I have to seat myself by their side on the ground. When a Priest enters an Irishman’s shanty, the whole family, young and old make the Sign of the Cross and salutes him with Welcome Father! How consoling such a salutation from faithful hearts.”

Side by side with the consolations of his sacred ministry we find trials. God kept purifying his soul by desolation. But it was now the desolation of one who was most intimately united to God. He plaintively complains: “Jesus, my delight has fled alas; I seek for Him in vain! I have lost my Beloved. He harkens not to my sighs. He hears not my voice. My eyes are blinded by my tears; my voice has grown weak from lamenting; but He is not moved: He does not show Himself to my poor soul. Jesus, Jesus where art Thou?” When a ray of light penetrated the darkness in which his soul was enveloped, then his heart would expand under the sensible touch of Divine grace.
But to return to his work. He was not satisfied with all that he had been striving to do himself. He wrote to Europe to engage friends to come to America to labour for souls, and he did all in his power to induce those, who would remain at home, to begin a College for the American Missions. His efforts were vain, and thus left alone he worked in a superhuman manner till at last his health gave way. A severe attack of fever, which lasted three months, made him very weak, and there was question of transferring him to Rochester. To this the holy man would not consent. “It was easy,” he said, “to get a Priest for Rochester; but very difficult to find one for my district. Indeed,” he added, “if I fail, it will be necessary to find two,” thus innocently giving to himself without intending it, the praise which he so rightly merited.

Few men have less reason to fear avarice than he. Every penny he could spare went to his churches, his schools and to the poor. Not satisfied with this he made a vow of poverty.

But while no human motive could induce him to leave his people, a call from God came to break bonds which bound him so closely to them; the call was to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. Much as Rev. Father Pax, his confessor, felt his loss, he fully approved of his vocation. Having therefore, duly received the permission of Right Rev. Dr. Hughes, his Bishop, he left his Mission on the 13th October, 1840, and immediately entered the Redemptorists’ Noviciate. His brother Wenceslaus followed his example, and entered, as a brother, a month later.

CHAPTER IV
St John Nepomucene Neumann a Redemptorist

The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer came into being in 1732 in the midst of a population of poor shepherds and country labourers in the Kingdom of Naples, approved by Pope Benedict XIV on the 25th of February 1749, it was soon after the death of St Alphonsus transplanted beyond the Alps. St Clement Mary Hofbauer was the standard bearer. His first foundation was at Warsaw in Poland, where the fruits of his labours were truly marvellous. Little by little and for the most under adverse circumstances, the Congregation spread into Austria and Germany. The mind of St Clement was steadily fixed on America, and at one time it seemed certain that he himself would be the first Redemptorist to cross the Atlantic. The first beginning of the work, however, was reserved to his successor, theVenerable Joseph Passerat. In his office of Vicar General of the Transalpine Houses he sent three Fathers and three Brothers to the United States in 1832. They reached New York on the eve of Corpus Christi, and the next most blessed day the Fathers said Mass for the first time in the New World. They had come to labour among the German population, which was then even more destitute of spiritual aid than the abandoned souls of the kingdom of Naples for whom St. Alphonsus had first founded the Congregation. They, therefore, did not remain in New York, but moved westward to Cincinnati, whence they penetrated the country northwards as far as Green Bay.

In August two other Fathers arrived from Europe of whom one was Rev. Father Prost. Much good was indeed affected but the difficulties which they encountered were so many and seemingly insurmountable, that some were inclined to abandon the work. Happily a letter from Father Passerat came in goods time to reassure the wavering, and he prophesised to them that as soon as St Alphonsus was canonised the Congregation would take root permanently in the United States. And so it came to pass, for in 1839, the year of the canonisation, the Fathers settled permanently in Pittsburg, Pa. From that time forward their labours were almost unceasing and the fruits surpassed their most sanguine expectations.

Rev. John. N. Neumann a Novice
Rev. Father Prost in his Apostolic journeying met Rev. Father Neumann at Rochester. He was the instrument chosen by God to make the Congregation known to him, and the Vocation for which He had been preparing him. I say God “had been preparing him,” for in the midst of his many labours he found time to cultivate the very virtues which fitted him for a Redemptorist life; humility, simplicity, a charity full of tenderness, a zeal which difficulties only made more ardent, a burning love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the confidence of a child in the ever Blessed Mother of God. Prayer was his life, and in it he sought grace ever to do God’s Will. He drank deep droughts of the spirit of St. Alphonsus as may be seen in his notes, and in the Rule of Life which he followed. He had made a vow of chastity; he had made a vow of poverty; it only remained that he should make a vow of obedience and this he desired with all the ardour of his heart. He entered the Congregation because he was convinced that he needed the help which it could give him. God called him to the Congregation, because He had chosen him to be one of the foundation stones of the Institute of America. He was the first Priest received in the United States, and few then realised fully the treasures, which God had hidden in his bosom.

A regular noviciate in those days was not possible, but whatever might have been defective in form, was more than compensated by the fervour with which the novice made use of the means at his disposal. He made his noviciate partly at Pittsburg, partly in Baltimore, and partly in succouring those who spiritually speaking were dying of hunger. After fourteen months of probation he made his vows in the church of St. James in Baltimore on January the 16th 1842.He announced the event to his parents saying: “I belong now body and soul to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. The corporal and spiritual aid mutually given and received, the edification and good example...which one has al round him till death, wonderfully facilitates the life I am now leading, the vocation to which I have been called. I have every reason to hope that death will be more welcome to me in this holy Congregation than it usually is to seculars.” Later on he wrote: “Oh, what a blessing it is to live in the Congregation, especially in America! Here we can really love God. We can labour much for Him and so quietly and unnoticed by the world.”

After his Profession
His work for two years after his Profession differed but little from that to which he had grown accustomed at Niagara Falls. With Baltimore as a centre, the Redemptorists visited Cumberland, Harper’s Ferry, Martinsburg, Strasburg, Kingwood, Frederic, Richmond, York, Columbia, Westminster, and even more distant places. Much of this work of visiting fell to Father Neumann, and in general with a self forgetfulness which only increased with time, he devoted all the strength that remained to him to the constant discharge of the most trying duties of the sacred ministry.

Father Neumann is made Superior
At the nomination of Superiors in 1844 he was sent to Pittsburg to take charge of the community and parish. It was as Superior he built the beautiful church of St. Philomena, which stands there today a monument to toil, his sacrifices, and his piety. This was solemnly blessed and opened in October 1846. He then turned his attention to the housing of his community, and began the erection of a suitable monastery. Before this work was completed his health completely broke down. It was no wonder, for his labours and anxieties were excessive, and he would take no care of himself. On the contrary, he claimed the most difficult work as his by right. For example, he went on all the night sick-calls. He would say to the others: “You need all the rest you can get: I cannot at night, so I might as well go myself.” It was, therefore, necessary to have recourse to the Provincial Superior in order to save him. He was sent an obedience to put himself under medical care, and he submitted with the simplicity of a child. The doctor found his state alarming, and he declared that, if he were to be saved, he must quit Pittsburg and have a long rest. He was then called to Baltimore, where, with much careful nursing, he regained to some extent his strength. The long rest, however, was rudely interrupted by a letter from Europe appointing him Vice-Provincial in America. This was in February 1847. Three years later the great servant of God, Father Joseph Passerat retired from office and was succeeded by Father Smetana, who procured the erection of the houses of the United States into a Province, and, to the great joy of Father Neumann, Father Bernard Hafkenschied was named first Provincial. He, however, remained in Baltimore as Rector of St. Alphonsus’ church and community.

There is not the slightest doubt that Father Neumann was a most perfect Superior. He had learned to rule himself long before he began to rule others. Habitually humble, kind, thoughtful, firm when there was need of firmness, he led his subjects forward more by example than by words. It is equally certain that he discharged all the duties of a vigilant pastor in regard to his people. He instructed them, he warned them against the dangers that surrounded them, and he left nothing undone to draw them nearer and nearer to the sources of grace, which they needed so much, prayer and the frequent use of the Sacraments. Wherever he went, whether in the schools, or in his parochial visits to his people, he seemed to communicate to others that tender love and unbounded confidence in the Blessed Mother of God, which he himself possessed in so high a degree. Over and above all this, he went frequently on Missions, and his success was quite extraordinary.

But, in the designs of God, he was now nearing a time when a trial was to come upon him harder to bear than death itself. It was the evening of St. Joseph’s day in 1852. He entered his room. In the dusk it seemed to him that something glistened on his table. He drew near and found that the glitter came from a ring and Episcopal cross. On enquiring he heard that the Archbishop of Baltimore had been to his room. There was no mistaking the import of these insignia of office. He locked his door, cast himself on his knees and prayed the whole night. He wrestled with God; but as far as escaping the burden of the Episcopate was concerned, his wrestling was vain. In the course of the morning Archbishop Kenrick presented to Father Neumann the Bulls of his appointment, together with the formal command of the Holy Father obliging him to accept the See of Philadelphia. He had hoped that the efforts of the Procurator General in Rome might have saved him; but it was not to have been so. Four Cardinals of the Propaganda used their influence to deliver him from the danger that threatened him, but the majority voted for him. Monsignor Barnabo, the Secretary of the Congregation, was told by his Holiness: “I bear the Redemptorist Fathers in my heart. They have in this matter acted as God would have them to act. I am confident that He will not refuse me light to discern what the good of the Church in general and of the Congregation in particular demands of me. Therefore I sanction the choice of the Cardinals, and I command Father Neumann under formal obedience (sub obedientia formali) to accept the diocese of Philadelphia, without further appeal.” Rome has spoken, the cause is finished: the will of the Pope was for Father Neumann the Will of God, and the humble religious accepted his cross. But with all his resignation there was upon him a fear so great, that he said to one of his confreres on the eve of his Consecration: “If our Lord gave me choice either to die or accept this dignity, I should prefer to lay down my life tomorrow rather than be consecrated Bishop; for my salvation would be more secure at the judgement seat of God in my present state, than it will be if I appear burdened with the responsibility of a Bishopric.”

CHAPTER V
The Saint as Bishop of Philadelphia

His Consecration
The Most Rev. Dr. Kenrick chose the 28th of March for the Consecration of the Bishop-elect and his Grace to be the consecrating Prelate. The reader will remember that the Saint was born and baptized on Good Friday, March 28, 1811, and now Divine Providence chose the same day of the same month in 1852, for the conferring on him the greatest grace and the highest dignity. It was moreover Passion Sunday, and we can have little doubt that these coincidences together with the feeling of responsibility, which pressed so heavily upon him, led him to take as motto the words: “Passio Christi, Conforta me!” “Passion of Christ, Strengthen me!” and as arms the simple Cross of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.

No one regretted more than the Provincial, Father Bernard Hafkenschied, the loss of Father Neumann; but he was determined that nothing should be undone on the part of the Fathers of the Province and of the Catholic people of Baltimore to show their affectionate veneration for the Saint. He secured for him all the prayers he could both in the community and parishes. The Bishop-elect hid himself as much as possible in retreat from which he emerged only on the morning of Passion Sunday. Hours before the time announced for the Consecration, the church of St. Alphonsus was densely crowded, that part alone excepted which was reserved for those who were to form the procession. This was fittingly headed by the school children, then followed the various Catholic societies of the city, and last of all came the clergy and his Grace, the Archbishop. The interest taken by the people in this most solemn ceremony was very great, but the climax was reached when the new Bishop made the round of the church blessing every one, while some twenty Redemptorist students chanted the “Te Deum.” It may be said with truth that the whole Congregation melted into tears.

Then followed affectionate addresses from the people of Baltimore and from a deputation from Pittsburg. To words were added a gold chalice, ring, pectoral cross and chain and other Episcopal insignia. The offering of the Pittsburg deputation was a Monstrance, than which nothing could have been more appropriate for one who was to introduce the “Quarant ore” into his diocese. In the evening his Lordship preached, and in his sermon he declared that what he desired most to bequeath to the good people of St. Alphonsus as his parting gift was a child-like devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. His last visit which was made on Monday, was, as we should have imagined, made to his dear school children. On Tuesday he started for his diocese. Instead of dwelling on the wrench which the parting gave to his heart, or the weight of responsibility which was now actually upon him, we will at this stage of his career pause to consider a marked trait in his life, which up to now has scarcely been touched upon.

Children
Few priests perhaps had realised more fully than he the words of our Blessed Lord: “Suffer little ones to come to me and forbid them not” (Mark X 10-14). His first work in America was the instruction of children. Children were the communicants of his First Mass in the old church of St. Nicholas, New York. In the extensive district assigned to him he devoted a most considerable part of his time to the children. In Williamsville, where he resided habitually, he not only taught the Christian Doctrine, but also became the children’s school-master. In his visits to the different stations, if he remained for a few weeks, he had all the children around him. Many of his scholars learned to read and write in three weeks, as well as to love God and have recourse to the Blessed Virgin Mary. When Divinely called to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer his zeal grew even more ardent. When Superior he reserved to himself the instruction of the children for whom no one was more gifted, “He excelled,” writes one who knew him in his busy days at Pittsburg, “in catechetical instructions, as he possessed in a high degree the secret of making them pleasing and intelligible to children. The simplicity of his explanations appealed to their understanding, while the piety of his heart communicated itself to theirs. He was, besides, so affable, so gracious, so condescending towards the little ones of his flock that he found at once a way into their innocent hearts, he won their complete confidence. When his well known step was heard in the school-room smiles of welcome lit up every face...Crowds of these little people used to gather round him in the streets. They would shake his hand, pull his coat and ask for a blessing. To prepare them for First Communion was for him a work of predilection. His diligence in this duty was unremitting. He left no means untried to awaken fervour and piety in their young hearts, and to impress upon their minds a full understanding of what they were to receive in Holy Communion.

A Sister of Notre Dame tells us that she had ample opportunities, while in the schools of St. Alphonsus, Baltimore, to study the virtues of and eminent qualities of the Saint. “He was,” she says, “an accomplished Catechist and a great lover of children. His gentleness, meekness and perseverance in communicating religious instruction to the children often astonished me, and the salutary impression which he made upon even the most faulty and troublesome of our little people, was quite remarkable. The young would freely avow to him their faults... His mere glance seemed to contain in it something of the all-seeing attribute of God, so much did he penetrate their souls. They often said to me: “Sister, Father Neumann looked right into my heart.”

After a hard day’s work this lover of the little ones of our Lord would stay up the greater part of the night working at his Catechisms and Bible History, and never rested till these most valuable books were in the hands of children.

We must go back fifty years if we are really to understand how the Holy Ghost guided Father Neumann in this matter. The beautiful Encyclicals of Pius IX were not yet written; no Provincial Synods were held; the experience of the woeful effects of schools without God was still in the future; but all these drawbacks notwithstanding, the Saint at the very outset of his priestly career had formed perfectly his judgement, a judgement on which we add today, namely, that if our people are to be saved, we must have Catholic schools.

His Arrival in Philadelphia – Schools
That all this is in a fitting place here will be readily admitted, when we learn that at The Episcopal Reception Meeting in Philadelphia, the following words were spoken and accepted by all present: “Reverend Sirs, we know the humility and modesty of our new Bishop. He is no friend to worldly pomps or splendour, or public demonstrations, in fact such a reception would annoy him exceedingly. I therefore propose as a fitting demonstration of our cordial welcome to him, to establish a new school, and to explain to him on his arrival that in doing so we sought to give expression to our joy at his appointment as Bishop of Philadelphia.” He was therefore received in a most modest manner, and the reason why was given. The priests and people could not have given him a greater joy: “Oh, how I thank you, Gentlemen,” said his Lordship, “it is just what I wished for.”

The Bishop addressed a Pastoral letter soon after his arrival to the Clergy, Religious and Laity of the diocese. Those who knew him said beforehand that he would be sure to speak of the schools. They were right. Although circumstances did not allow him to dwell at any length on the subject, he wrote: “We avail ourselves of the earliest opportunity to express our approbation of the efforts which have lately been made in Congregations to organise parochial schools. We exhort the pastors and all who have at heart the best interests of youth to spare no efforts to ensure success. Whatever difficulties may at first attend, and even obstruct this most desirable undertaking, will be gradually overcome by mutual goodwill and co-operation.”

He profited by his first sermon after his installation to declare that “our Catholic youth can be saved only by Catholic schools.” In the notes taken by a priest who was present we read: “He (the Bishop) openly declared his firm resolution, with God’s help, to begin and carry out that work of vital importance, the establishment of Catholic schools. Persuasively and emphatically he exhorted parents to give to their children Catholic training, to ensure their attendance at Mass and other services of religion, to educate them at home, by word and example; but above all to send them to schools in which they would be taught under the eye of the Church.”

In less than a month he had framed a plan by which he hoped to give to every parish its own school. On the 28th of April he called together the Pastors of the various Congregations, and several prominent members of the laity. This was the beginning of what was henceforth to be known as the “Committee for the Education of Youth.” His Lordship was the President, and indeed the very heart and soul of the society. In his first address he laid it down as his deep rooted conviction that for Catholic children catholic schools are an absolute necessity in order to educate them in faith, form them into good and useful members of the Church and of society, and to secure their eternal salvation. In this great work by far the greater part of his flock cooperated in a most praiseworthy manner, but as in all good works the devil did not fail to create difficulties. On these, however, we need not dwell, for his Lordship’s spirit of prayer, his unconquerable patience, and the promptness with which he profited by favourable circumstances overcame all. The author of “Lives of the Deceased Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States” has written: “The parochial schools of the whole diocese of Philadelphia, and especially of the city itself, increased wonderfully in numbers, in attendance, and in efficiency during his administration, and becoming the crowning glory of his work. The Boy’s schools he confided to the Christian Brothers, those of the Girls to the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of Notre Dame and other Orders. There were two parochial schools in Philadelphia when he arrived there in 1852; at the time of his death in 1860 he had increased the number to nearly one hundred.” His success called for the following remark from a non- Catholic paper: “We regret to see that the most esteemed denomination in our city has withdrawn its confidence from the public schools. Serious defects must exist in our school system: authorities should therefore, investigate and improve the conditions of said schools.” Yes, serious indeed must have been the defects, since they were Godless. The Bishop himself was able to say a few months before his death: “Almighty God has so wonderfully blessed the work of Catholic Education that nearly every church in my diocese has now its own school.” From all this we see with what truth the Bishop of Cleveland could write to his Holiness, Leo XIII, that the Saint may be considered the founder of Catholic Schools in Philadelphia.

But we should underrate his zeal, were we to think that it was confined within the limits of primary schools; it extended to all classes of schools. Nor was he one who sat at his desk and simply drew up rules. No, his face and his voice were familiar in every school and diocese. It was these visits which created a holy emulation amongst the teachers, knowing as they did, the pure joy which his Lordship tasted in seeing the progress of the children. His elevation to dignity made no change in his sweet and condescending manner; and his extensive knowledge filled all with respect for him.

There were, it must be admitted, in his diocese some schools which had a particular attraction for him; these were the schools for orphans. Of his visits to these a nun writes: “When Bishop Neumann visited an orphan asylum, he appeared the very counterpart of Our Lord, the Friend of Children. He went amongst them like a tender, loving father....The little ones would gather round him, and listen attentively while he told them of God’s love for them, or explained the different parts of a flower, or some other wonders of nature suited to their young minds. He knew how to use plain and simple language, such as would chain the attention even of the most frolicsome. He led them, as far as their capacity permitted, from the meditation of created things up to the contemplation of God Himself. Their multiplied questions never annoyed him.” The good nun does not forget to add that he never came with empty pockets.

No one who has followed this sketch with attention will wonder that, even as Bishop, he ever strove to reserve to himself that which was hardest for nature in the sacred ministry. If there was an obstinate culprit in prison, he would undertake his conversion; he was willing that he the most difficult cases with reference to the Sacrament of Penance should be sent to him; he visited every Catholic in hospital, and he reserved to himself the night sick-calls. If in the latter he found a mother to whom the thought of leaving an orphan child rendered death particularly painful, he at once assured her that he would take her place. This will explain how one day he appeared at the orphanage with a child of three years old, for whom he sought admittance. His kindness had so won the little creature’s heart, that she ever after called him father. We must, however, confess that beautiful is the design of that the Postulator of the Cause had painted of Bishop Neumann in a school distributing prizes to children.

His Care of Ecclesiastical Students
The author whom we cited above writes: “Bishop Neumann chiefly distinguished his administration by continuing and increasing the work of his predecessor.” Now this is particularly true of his seminary. He found in it forty students; but with an ever increasing population these could never supply the wants of his diocese. He had been able to get some help from Germany; but he needed much more. Hence he never lost an opportunity of impressing on his clergy the necessity of devoting special attention to boys who manifested a vocation to the priesthood. He exhorted them to instruct these boys how to lead a pious life, and, if they were satisfied with their conduct, to present them as candidates. He sent numbers of boys to a college in Maryland to be educated at his expense. But he wanted something more than this. When, therefore, he had thoroughly matured his plans he opened a Preparatory College, a gateway to the seminary of the Diocese. He wrote on this occasion an admirable Pastoral Letter, from which I cull but a few passages. “The time,” his Lordship writes, “which a seminarian spends at college gives him sufficient opportunity to ascend from virtue to virtue, until he reaches the perfection required by the Church for her priests. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, meditation in common, prayers daily recited by all, good example of fellow students, frequent Holy Communion, and the dwelling under the same roof with our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, impose upon him the happy necessity of not only avoiding sin, but also aid to prepare his heart for every virtue.” Having referred to the temporal help needed, and the confidence which he reposed in his flock to obtain it, he concluded: “Yet, brethren, not gifts alone laid on the altar will secure us good priests, but humble prayer with fasting is necessary. Particularly during the Ember-days should the faithful not omit to pray, to receive Holy Communion, and to practice works of self-denial in order that the Pastor of our souls may send worthy labourers into His vineyard, and that we may enter undefiled into the possession of the inheritance reserved for us in heaven.”

The Seminary itself had under this learned and holy Bishop attained a very high reputation, and Blessed Pius IX bestowed upon it the privilege of conferring the Doctorate. When at home he visited this establishment every day, and as the time of ordination drew near he redoubled his solicitude. He used to give lectures on Pastoral Theology, and on these occasions, he gave to the students most useful hints on the study of Moral Theology, Canon Law, and Church History.

His Care for Religious
A perfect religious himself and loving his vocation most tenderly, he appreciated at its full value the same grace in others. Hence, he devoted himself to the sanctification of all religious under his jurisdiction. He impressed upon them the necessity of observing faithfully the Rule; for he held that it was through this observance that the blessing of God was to descend on the religious themselves and on their works. He begged them to make known to him all, even their temporal wants. He helped them as much as he was able, and in their seemingly insurmountable difficulties he inspired them with something of his own great confidence in God, in the Blessed Virgin and in St. Joseph, which won so much for him from an over bountiful Providence. It is not possible to enter into details, as to his paternal relations with the various orders, nor as to his manner of cultivating vocations to religion, even when there was question of his own students: but a word must be said of those with whom his heart remained, the Redemptorists. Each one was to him a brother, and it was a delight to him to render them any service in his power. He observed, as far as circumstances allowed, the holy Rule; he went to the Monastery every week for confessions, every month for a day’s retreat, and every year for the spiritual exercises during ten days. In their midst, he would not have any distinction made, indeed, if he were allowed, he would take the last place. A doubt having been raised as to whether he ceased to be a Redemptorist in becoming a Bishop, he never rested till it was cleared up. He himself proposed this doubt to Blessed Pius IX, who, to his great consolation assured him that he was still a Redemptorist.

His Clergy
If such was the care of the Saint for the lambs of his flock, what shall we say of his relations with those who shared the pastoral office with him, the clergy of his diocese? In the depth of his heart he looked upon himself as the last and the least, and his veneration for those whom God honoured with the dignity and enriched with the unspeakable graces of the priesthood, grew with his years. How to help his priests in the sanctification of their own souls, how to cooperate with them in their works of zeal, how to relieve them in their temporal necessities, these were the constant objects of his thoughts, of his prayers, and of his works. He procured for them every year a retreat, and he sometimes gave the exercises himself. He helped them as much as he could in the sacred ministry, and this not only in the city, but even in the most remote districts. When at home he preached nearly always twice on Sundays. He visited all the larger districts every year, and the smaller ones every two years. These visits were often like short Missions. He preached to the people and to the children, and heard confessions. He strove to help them to have missions given to their people, and in these exercises in his own city he took a most active part. A priest was never kept waiting for an answer to a letter. Ordinarily he sent his reply the same day. He was at the disposal of his priests all day long, and if any came from a distance, rooms were prepared for them, and they could make the Bishop’s table their own. He gave them every opportunity of making known their difficulties to him, and he relieved them as far as he was able. Presents which he received often found their way to the most necessitous of his priests. The rules which he made to the government of his diocese show how vigilant a Pastor he was; but he was above all to his priests a true father and friend. He, moreover, by his words and still more by his example turned their minds towards Him, Who is in the highest sense of the word the Friend of Bishop and Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ. He inspired them with some of that confidence in God, which we cannot but consider as the foundation of the undertakings which in five years enabled him to build fifty new churches in his diocese, and continue the work of the magnificent Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.

CHAPTER VI
Visit of the Bishop to Rome and to his Native Land

Visit to Rome
Rome! The very name seemed to him a medium of grace. Gladly would he have visited the Eternal City soon after his consecration, had not pressing duties detained him in his diocese. We can, therefore, easily imagine with what delight he received, in October 1854, a formal invitation from Blessed Pius IX to take part in the deliberations on the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This was for him the manifestation of God’s Will. He immediately set about making preparations, and these included his magnificent Pastoral Letter on our Blessed Mother. "Never, Christian brethren,” he wrote, “never can we admit that she was for one moment the slave of the devil.... Purer than heaven’s purest angel, brighter than its brightest seraph, Mary, - after God the Creator, Who made her what she is and gave her all – is the most perfect of beings, the masterpiece of Infinite Wisdom, Almighty Power, and Eternal Love... May the day soon dawn upon the world... when with one mind and heart Christendom will acknowledge and proclaim this her most honourable privilege!”

He left America on the 20th of October, and after a rough passage of seventeen days arrived at Havre. He made no stay in France, but proceeded at once to his destination. It is not easy to represent him to the reader as he was then and during his stay in Rome. Probably amongst the Bishops he was the poorest. He used his Episcopal Insignia only when obliged to do by reason of his office. Ordinarily he wore a very poor habit, with his cross hanging from a much worn cord. He visited all the holy places on foot, and frequently made the pilgrimage of the seven Basilicas fasting. This meant walking for nearly four hours (at least!)

At his first audience with the Holy Father, Blessed Pius IX graciously addressed him: “Bishop Neumann of Philadelphia! Is not obedience better than sacrifice?” He might very well have replied that he had both. His Holiness received him frequently, conversed long with him, and granted him many favours for his diocese. The reunions of the Bishops were full of interest and delight to him. To see Prelates of every degree and from every clime, and to hear them with one voice professing their faith and the faith of their people in the absolute sinlessness of Mary, and then to be present when Pius the Ninth declared to the whole world, as a dogma of faith, that Mary through prevision of the merits of her Divine Son was conceived IMMACULATE, that no breath of sin ever sullied her most pure soul; these were for him a joy beyond description; to be there was paradise.

We cannot dwell longer on the interesting details of this visit, beyond saying that, while he sought to hide himself from the gaze of men and in silence and prayer to drink deep draughts of grace at the holy places and call down blessings on his flock, honours were paid him by Prelates and Cardinals, recognizing in him a man after God’s own heart.

Visit to his native land
He left Rome probably at the end of December, and began his journey to the home of his childhood. He did not, however, seek the most direct way, for we find him at Loreto. In this visit he imitated his Father, St. Alphonsus, and like him celebrated Mass in the Holy House, and spent hours in sweet contemplation. Moving northwards he visited as many favoured Sanctuaries as was possible. At last, he arrived at the Austrian frontier. Dressed very poorly and with nothing to indicate his dignity, an official demanded his passport. As it was written in a language unknown to him (English), he was on the point of dragging him off to an office at a considerable distance. It was high time for the Bishop to assert himself; so he produced his ring and Episcopal cross, and these more than set at rest the mind of the worthy official. This however was little in comparison with a loss which he sustained. He placed in a small box all the spiritual treasures he had collected, relics and other pious objects, but the box was lost or stolen en route. He felt this intensely. He made certain promises to St. Anthony by way of vow, and immediately a young man addressed him as Bishop, although nothing in his exterior indicated ecclesiastical dignity, and presented the missing box. For a moment he was seized with astonishment; then turning to thank the bearer he found that he had disappeared!

As he neared the scenes of his early life, he laid out his plans as to how he might best see his friends while avoiding all demonstration on the part of the people.

Prague
Prague was his first halt. Here he met his sister Johanna, now a holy religious. It was like the meeting of St. Scholastica and St. Benedict. Their conversation helped them to enjoy together the sweets of the service of God, and to strengthen their resolution to be more and more all to Him. His friend Father Dichtl introduced him to the pious Emperor Ferdinand, who received him cordially and invited him to his table. This was more than a mere honour, for at desert the Emperor caused to be handed to the Bishop a plate on which was a considerable sum, all in American Gold. This was an Imperial offering for the Cathedral of Philadelphia.

Budweis
At Budweis, the Episcopal city of is native diocese, he was the guest of its Bishop, Right Rev. Valentine Icrsik. This place was full of memories of his student days. He did not, however, stay long, and quite unexpectedly he announced to the Bishop his intention of leaving after diner. Nothing could induce him to stay longer, and he confessed to his Lordship that he wanted to reach his father’s house without notice under the cover of darkness. For the same reason, viz, that he might escape notice; he refused the Bishop’s carriage which was put at his disposal. He left in a closed sleigh, and congratulated himself on the success of his plan.

Prachatitz
It was the 2nd of February, and as now under the protection of the Queen of Heaven he was on the high road to Prachatitz, there would be, he hoped, no demonstrations. Man proposes, but God disposes. A youth named Adalbert Benesch had watched all the movements of the Bishop of Philadelphia, and as soon as he saw the sleigh in readiness he started before it, and gave notice to every family along the road side. The news spread, and the Bishop at intervals found the road lined with people who had come to salute him and ask his blessing. This was not all. At his approach to the village of Nittolitz the church bells rang out their welcome, and the inhabitants headed by the clergy went out to meet him. They conducted him to the church, where he said a few words to them and gave them his blessing. This, however, did not satisfy them. He had to stay overnight, and say Mass for them next morning. And now he had to form a new plan. He would leave on foot in company with a nephew of his, and enter Prachatitz by a road on which no one would have expected to see him. Again it was man proposing, but God disposed, but that next morning the magnificent sleigh of Prince Schwarzenberg drawn by four spirited horses should bear him to his home. There was no escaping, he had to consent. We have no time to dwell on his Lordship’s discomfiture, for the Prince’s horses made short work of the distance from one point, while from Prachatitz the clergy, the town officials, and private citizens in their sleighs had set out to meet him. There were a few words of hearty welcome, and then all fell into line of procession. At the village of old Prachatitz the guards were drawn up in line to salute him with military honours. And here I must let Father Berger speak. “The drums sounded, the musicians united in chorus, and the cheers of the multitude rent the air. After this demonstration the band struck up a lively march, the city bells began to ring, and the procession moved forward. The scene was one of triumph. It was a reception such as might have extended to a conqueror returning with well earned laurels.”

What a change! Eighteen years ago, he left this town friendless, companionless and practically penniless and now in spite of all his efforts to conceal himself he is received as a hero. And hero in very truth he was. To whom save the angels is it given to count his battles and his victories in the cause of God?

Then there was the crowding into the church, the chanting of the Te Deum, and his refusing all invitations however honourable. He would stay with his father and he goes straight to the home of his childhood. The venerable old man was standing at the door, and as his son approached silence fell on that surging mass of men and women who had followed him. A moment, and son and father were linked in a fond embrace, heart beat against heart, and tears of joy burst from their eyes; yea, and from the eyes that witnessed that most touching meeting. The silence was broken by the voice of one who expressed the thoughts of all the friends of the family: Ah! That his mother were here to share this happiness!” “Yea,” said the bishop, “she sees us, she sees us. My good mother is looking down on us: she is rejoicing with us.” It was difficult to save his Lordship from his friends. Everybody would speak to him, and kiss his hand. To save him, as the Bishop confessed afterwards, his old father carried him in his arms upstairs.

He stayed in Prachatitz for six days. These were days of grace for the whole population. The Bishop said Mass for them, preached to them, and received all with a humility and heavenly grace that had become natural to him. He submitted to the public demonstrations of respect and affection, which he could not avoid. They were bearable to him, for he offered all the honour paid him to his Divine Master.

When he had visited the grave of his dear mother, he reconciled his father to his immediate and private departure. Therefore on the 9th of February, long before any of the people were astir, he bade his relatives a last good bye and left the town. After a drive of four hours he reached the favoured sanctuary of Goujau where he said Holy Mass.

I cannot dwell on the details of his journey through Europe; but the reader will turn over in his mind the contrast between this journey and that of 1836. If, however, we look into his heart we shall find that it is more humble, more meek, more charitable, more childlike in its confidence in God, more like, in a word, the Heart of our Blessed Lord.

He left Liverpool on the 10th of March and arrived in New York on the 27th. The same day he started for Philadelphia, and on the anniversary of his consecration he was once more in the midst of his loving and devoted people.

CHAPTER VII
The Daily Life and Virtues of the Saint

On his return from Rome the Bishop resumed his work. He had sought to be relieved from the burden of the Bishopric, but he sought in vain. He had asked to be transferred from the important see of Philadelphia to some newly formed diocese far out in the country, but this too was refused. If then he must stay, at least let his vast diocese be divided; but no, it was the will of the Holy Father that he should remain as he was; but he would give him a Co-adjutor. It was thus that the Right Rev. Dr. Wood came to share his work and his responsibility.

This help, however, did not mean rest for the venerable Bishop; for he sought none here below. Like his beloved Father, St. Alphonsus, he made a vow never to lose time, and this will in some way explain the extent of his activity. All his days were full days. He frequently took his short repose at night in a chair, and when he allowed himself the luxury of a bed, he was up before five o’clock. At 5 o’clock he made his meditation. This was followed by a part of his office, Holy Mass and Thanksgiving. At seven, when at home, he either went to the church to hear confessions, or began in his room his official work. His correspondence was very large, and he had, by letter, to decide most intricate cases, and answer most difficult questions. But as during the day he received all who called, priests, religious and the laity, ordinarily he had to write much at night. When on visitation he indeed did his best to answer letters, but then he gave himself during the day entirely to preaching, catechising, hearing confessions and seeing any who wished to speak to him. No one will be surprised that a daily life such as this undermined his strong constitution.

While devoted heart and soul to the interests of his flock, he did not neglect his own sanctification. Indeed so thoroughly had he mastered his passions, and so penetrated was he with the ever abiding presence of God that his works, performed with the purest intention, were in themselves prayers. But he was not content with that. He was ever faithful to the exercises of piety, which he had imposed upon himself over and above the Divine Office which he recited so fervently, and often on his knees. Amongst these we should mention especially his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Jesus in the Tabernacle was his Counsellor and his friend. To Him he went for light and strength and consolation. He desired to draw all to Him. Hence he had conceived the desire to introduce into his diocese the devotion of the Quarant’ ore, or forty hours’ prayer to Jesus solemnly exposed at the Altar. He hesitated through a fear of irreverence which in those days was not remote. God by a miracle removed his hesitation; for one night when overpowered by sleep as he sat writing at his table, he succumbed. When he awoke he found that the candle had burned down even to the touching of his papers and had set all on fire. Nevertheless the writing remained visible on the charred paper, and the servant of God heard a voice which assured him that, as the writing was preserved in the flames, so could God preserve His Divine Son present in the Blessed Sacrament from profanation. There and then he expedited letters to his clergy announcing the introduction of the Quarant’ ore.

He was not satisfied with daily crowning the blessed Mother of God with his own Rosary (a crown of roses), he did all in his power to induce others to do the same, children, women, men, and even whole families.

His humility, meekness, modesty, self forgetfulness and kindness at once impressed everyone who approached him; but only those who lived with him realised how untiring he was in work, how persevering in the exercise of virtue, and how regardless he was of all except the interests of our Lord Jesus Christ. He impressed not only Catholics, but also non-Catholics, and seemed to communicate to others the light of faith which shone so brightly in his own soul. Trained by God in the school of adversity, and obliged early in life to cast all his care on Him, he acquired himself and communicated to others confidence in His Providence. Indeed this is, as we have already remarked, the explanation of the institutions which grew up in his diocese as if by miracle.

If we could measure his burning love for our Blessed Lord, we should then know he loved his neighbour. Where there was question of saving a soul, he was blind to danger, or rather he saw nothing but the price which that soul cost our Lord. It is, therefore, no wonder that in working for souls, he often forgot to take his food, paid no attention to inclemency of the weather, or to the difficulties to be encountered on the way. It is no wonder that to the eight languages we have already mentioned he added Spanish and Irish, so that knowing so many languages as there were nationalities in his diocese; he was able to benefit each soul in particular. It is, in fine; no wonder that he, who called himself a stout Bohemian boy, should have at the age of forty nine worn out his robust constitution.

CHAPTER VIII
Watching

“Beati servi ili quos cum venerit dominus invenerit vigalentes.” Luc. XII.37.

“Blessed are those servants, whom when the Lord shall come, He shall find watching.”
Death is a punishment, and as such all fear it. But the death of Jesus Christ, and the graces which it merited have taken away much of this fear. In the case of those who have taken to heart the oft repeated warnings of our Lord to watch, not to sleep, to be ever ready, death inspires scarcely any fear; it is a blessed thing, for, “blessed is that servant whom the Lord when he cometh findeth watching.” And certainly John Nepomucene Neumann was one of those blessed servants to whom death is the gate of eternal life.

His Death
We have every reason to believe that he never slept the awful sleep of sin and that he watched in youth, in manhood and in his riper years. There is but little reason to doubt that he even had a presentiment that his prison would be thrown open suddenly when our Lord would call him home. He said as much to a brother at St. Peter’s, while waiting for the Rector. “Brother,” he said, “which would you prefer a sudden death, or one preceded by a long illness?” The Brother answered that he thought the latter would be an excellent preparation for a passage into eternity. “A Christian,” said the Bishop, “and still more a religious, should be prepared for a sudden death, and in that case a sudden death is not without its advantages... however the death which God sends is the best for us.” This was at the very beginning of the year 1860.

On the fifth of January that same year, the Saint was as usual at his post. Meditation, Office, Mass, Thanksgiving, Work, all, as far as appearances went, as usual. But there was a sever suffering which only consummate virtue could hide. Dinner came and the Bishop was in his place. He ate little and hid his abstinence and his sufferings under the interesting anecdotes, which he related. Dinner over, ever faithful to duty, he went out on Episcopal business. Having transacted this business, he was returning to his residence when the Divine Master came. He was seized with apoplexy in the public street, was taken into the hall of a neighbouring house, and there gave up his beautiful soul into the hands of our Blessed Lord. The Price of Pastors came and he was watching, he was ready, he was on the lookout for His coming, he was therefore, blessed. There was grief in every Catholic home in the city, for the Pastor whom they loved as a father was no more, but he was blessed. The little ones in the schools which he had founded and in the orphanages which he had built, cried that they would never see their loving father more, but he is blessed. The strong hearts of his priests and religious and of his fellow-bishops were moved to their very depths – oh what a loss! But he is blessed. “Blessed is that servant whom when the Master cometh findeth WATCHING.”

Obsequies
The obsequies and the funeral oration were worthy of the illustrious dead. The Most Rev. Archbishop Kenrick drew with a master hand a true picture of the humble pious laborious student, the priest according to God’s own heart, the religious penetrated through and through with the spirit of his father St. Alphonsus, the Bishop faithful in every duty up to the very moment of his death. “We have reason,” said the Archbishop, “to believe that after a few sighs... the spirit of the good Prelate joyously soared aloft to commingle with the holy Pastors, who in every age ruled well the respective portions of their flock, and now triumphant wear the unfading crown with which the Prince of Shepherds has rewarded their fidelity. His soul now communes with the Ambroses, the Gregories, and especially with the sainted Alphonsus, whom he imitated so diligently. With them he praises God for the multitude of His mercies and gives Him homage.”

But his Grace did not fail to remind his hearers that their Pastor, who had so faithfully discharged during life his obligation to preach to them the word of God, preaches more effectively still in his death. For could he have brought home to them better than by his sudden death the oft repeated warnings of Jesus Christ, that we should always be ready? “Watch, for you know not the day, nor the hour.” “Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when He cometh findeth WATCHING.”

The flock having shown to their Pastor every mark of affectionate veneration for six days, his body still incorrupt and flexible was laid to rest in the crypt under the sanctuary of the Redemptorist church of St. Peter. The Archbishop ordained that he whom obedience to the Sovereign Pontiff had drawn from amidst his brethren, should after death be allowed the privilege of resting in peace with them.

His brother, now Br Wenceslaus persevered in the Congregation and died a holy death in New Orleans more than 30 years later.

Lessons to Learn
God was not slow in making known the holiness of his servant by special favours granted through his intercession. This led to the Introduction of the Cause of his Beatification, which was made public by a Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites dated 15th of December 1896.

He was beatified in 1963 and canonized in 1977 by Pope Paul VI.

Here are some of the lessons of his life.

Serve God and confide in Him.

Love the Church and labour for her.

Do all in your power for the little ones of Jesus Christ. Make all needful sacrifices that they may be brought up good Catholics, in Christian homes and Catholic schools.

Love Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Love Mary and confide in her as a child in his mother.

Be humble, modest, pious, industrious, kind to all, and especially to the poor.

Fear the dangers of the world.

Ever live in the grace of God.

Be ready, for you know not the day nor the hour. †

[This text was taken from the Postio Super Introductione Causae, which contains the sworn testimony of witnesses examined in Philadelphia, Budweis and Rome, and Letters from the Bishops of the United States and Bohemia, from documents in the Archives of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in Rome, and from the larger ‘Life’ written by Rev. Fr. Berger, C.SS.R. — by the Very Rev. Fr F. Magnier, C.SS.R. in 1897.]

Fr Donald Cameron, C.SS.R. (1834-1879)

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Father was born in London on the 24th February, 1834. He was professed on October 15th, 1856, and ordained Priest 22nd March, 1862. His apostolic life began in Limerick, Ireland, under Father Plunkett, and continued under Father Punkett’s successor. He was then transferred to Clapham. In that district of London he was labouring with great zeal and success, when the Most Rev Father General assigned him to the Island of St Thomas in 1879. The good Father obeyed willingly. But as that Island had already claimed many victims, he went prepared to meet his death. It was well for him to be in such dispositions, for scarcely had he landed when the malignant fever of that country seized him. It was death to Father Cameron. After lingering for a fortnight he gave his soul to God on the 29th June 1879. †

Rev. Fr Arnold Van Everdingen, C.SS.R. (1808-1856)

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Father Arnold Van Everdingen was born at Cuylenborg in Brabant, Holland, on the 26th of August, 1808, of pious parents. He does not seem to have had any thought of the priesthood when a young boy. There is not much known of his youth and early manhood, beyond the fact that he ever preserved a lively faith and piety and a desire to serve God more perfectly. Later we find him studying Theology in the Seminary at Hagveld. After his term there he was ordained priest in the 39th year of his age, April 3rd 1847. His mother, a most holy woman, assisted at his first Mass, and it is related that she fainted from very joy.

He exercised himself in the duties of a secular priest for three years, and then entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. After his profession at St Trond in Belgium on the 8th September 1851, he was sent to Clapham, London, in 1853. Of his short stay there, we read, “His Zeal for the conversion of sinners was insatiable…” “In a short time he overcame the difficulties of English and preached with great fruit…..” “It was wonderful to see the number of persons, quite unknown to him that flocked to his confessional, and all went away from him in peace, testifying publicly, to his goodness, compassion, and zeal for the salvation of souls.”

In 1855, he took part in the great Mission at Kingstown, after which he went to Limerick (Ireland). He showed the same zeal in Ireland as in England, both at home and on Mission, sparing himself in nothing, until Saturday 20th December 1856, when he was seized with fever which obliged him to leave his confessional. Nevertheless, he returned to the same salutary work the next morning, and celebrated the eleven o’clock Mass. It was the last time he offered the Holy Sacrifice, for that day he took to his bed, to leave it no more.

He soon became delirious, but on Christmas Day, God gave him the full use of his faculties; he made a General Confession and received the Last Sacraments. From the moment he received the Viaticum he enjoyed peace and tranquillity until the evening of St Stephen’s Day when surrounded by the Community, praying for his passing soul, he finally expired.

He was the first Redemptorist to die in Ireland, and the first to be laid to rest in the crypt beneath the sanctuary of St Alphonsus’ Church.

The concourse of priests, secular and regular, and of the faithful at his obsequies, showed the esteem in which they held him whom they knew as “Father Arnold.” †

Rev. Fr John Baptist Lans, C.SS.R. (1808-1886)

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Father was born in Haarlem, Holland, on the 15th July, 1808. He was ordained priest on the 16th April, 1833. He laboured on the secular mission for nine years, taking St Alphonsus as his teacher and model. He found in the writings of St Alphonsus the remedy for an undue severity which a Jansenistic spirit would impose on the people. From being a disciple he became a son; for he entered the Redemptorists and made his Vows on St Alphonsus' Feast, August 2nd, 1843. Ten years later he went to England where he was at the end of 1848 appointed superior at Hanley. In 1851, he proceeded to Bishop Eton, and from thence went to Limerick (Ireland) in 1852, for the Mission in St Michaels.

After the erection of the houses in Holland and England into a province, he became Rector of Clapham, and Vice-Provincial. During his life he filled in a firm and fatherly spirit every office, and endeared himself to all who knew him. His devotion to St Joseph was most remarkable. The desire he had long cherished of dying in the month dedicated to his favourite Saint was satisfied. After a most holy life he died a most holy death, 31st March, 1886, in the 78th year of his age. He had built his own monument in erecting the beautiful church at Bishop Eton. There his body reposes under the Lady Chapel, awaiting its glorious resurrection. †

Rev. Fr Patrick Furlong, C.SS.R. (1835-1864)

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Father's native parish was Bannow, Co Wexford, Ireland. He was born on the 22nd of February, 1835. At the age of fourteen, he went to St Peters College Wexford, where he studied for some years. A Redemptorist Mission, which he attended, was the means of bringing his stay at the college to an end. During that mission, God’s voice called him to the missionary life, and after a short interval the young student left all to correspond with his vocation. He entered the Novitiate at St Trond in Belgium, was professed October 15th 1856, and ordained priest in 1862 on 22nd of March, the day on which is celebrated the apparition of our Lady to St Alphonsus at Foggia.

Father Furlong proposed to himself nothing less than to imitate St Alphonsus , and to this end he copied the resolutions which the Saint had made for the guidance of his life as a priest, and carried them always in his Breviary. He was never without a book written by the Holy Doctor, whose writings, together with the rules and constitutions of the Congregation were the basis of his religious life. When the end came he was occupied in extracting from a new Life of St Alphonsus by Cardinal Villecourt, the Saints practice of the twelve virtues which the rule proposes to Redemptorists to exercise month by month.

Limerick was the destination fixed for him by the Superior He arrived in September, and at once set to work under Father Rector’s direction, for he wished to have the seal of obedience on everything he did. He was never idle, and this spirit of industry accounts for the number of Sermons and Instructions which he had written during his short apostolic life. He took part in eighteen missions, and on these the children were nearly always entrusted to his care. His heart and soul were in his work, and God blessed his efforts. At home he was most assiduous in the confessional as well as in time of Mission.

Although weak in health he was ever ready to help anyone who asked his assistance. He never lost his joyous serenity. From boyhood, it seems, he had suffered from palpitation of the heart. This malady increased with his years. At length it grew so alarming that he had to leave a Mission and return to Mount St Alphonsus, never to leave it again. He got worse day by day, but as his body grew weaker his soul seemed to acquire new strength. No one knew him, during his illness, to have uttered one word of complaint, and he was for ever thanking those around him for their charitable services.

His chest became worse and the oppression he suffered was very trying. To get some relief he had to change his position frequently. At these times he would think how Our Divine Saviour remained motionless on the Cross, and how He suffered oppression in His agony. The day before his death he said to the Brother infirmarian: “We must love Jesus Christ much. I never before this understood what it is to die.” His love for the Blessed Virgin was always great, and his confidence in her showed itself especially at the end. Then he would frequently exclaim, “Oh how good is our Mother, how good! Now I understand it.” His brother, Rev. Fr J Furlong, OSA, came to see him. He was a younger brother and had been recently ordained priest. The Rector, Fr Plunkett, gave Fr Furlong the last Sacraments on the 15th of December, and on Sunday, the 18th, at 10 o’clock, fully conscious, he asked for and received absolution, then sweetly reposed in Our Lord, supported in the arms of his brother, with Fr Rector, and Brother Michael near him.

The chronicler writes; “The deceased won the affection of everyone, and in our house, he spread abroad the good odour of Christ and left a memory full of blessings. All remember his singular rectitude in his judgements, words, studies, offices, and in all he did.” The Most Rev. Dr Butler, with the clergy of the city, secular and regular, assisted at his obsequies, after which his body was laid in the crypt. †

Rev. Fr James Bradshaw, C.SS.R. (1818-1892)

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This Father was one of those who formed the first Redemptorist Community on Mount St. Alphonsus, Ireland. He held the office of Prefect of the temporary church. He was gifted with a beautiful voice and had made a special study of music, so that he was well fitted to form and take charge of the first choir at Mount St. Alphonsus.

Being appointed to help Father Furniss in the children’s Missions, he acquired much of Father Furniss’ art, and to the end of his life, loved to devote himself to that work.

He was born in Lancashire, on the 12th of March, 1818 and grew up amidst the good traditions of that Catholic county. Having made his Ecclesiastical studies in the College of Ushaw, he was ordained Priest in his thirtieth year and, two years later, entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.

About this time God called many Priests to the Congregation who made their novitiate with Father Bradshaw at St. Trond and were destined to do much for its extension afterwards.

From the time Father Bradshaw left Mount St. Alphonsus, the greater part of his religious life was spent at Bishop Eton, England. He loved the quiet of that house, for he was of a very nervous temperament. His death was very sudden. He had gone to bury his brother; on the morning of the burial he said Holy Mass; after the funeral he dropped dead.

This was on the 5th of July, 1892. His body was brought to Bishop Eton, and there, we confidently hope, it awaits a glorious resurrection. †

Rev. Fr Leo Vanderstichele (1825-1887)

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Counting from his first Mission in 1851, at St John’s Mission Limerick, to his last one given in the Church of St Nicholas, Dublin, in the year 1884, this Father was occupied in constant missionary work for the long space of thirty-three years. Every year of this time was well filled up with Missions and retreats.

He was attached to the Limerick Monastery, Ireland, from 1859 to 1862, and again in 1871, remaining a member of the Community for five years. He had spent many years in Clapham, London, and in Bishop Eton; the last seven years of his life he lived at St Joseph’s Dundalk (Ireland).

Father Leo Vanderstichele was born in Belgium, on the 5th of April 1825. His religious Profession took place when he had just completed his twentieth year, and his ordination to the Priesthood six years later. His religious life was remarkable, chiefly, for a love of mortification, and for the exactness with which he performed the everyday exercises prescribed by rule for the members of the Congregation.

It has been said that his life, as a missioner for thirty-three years, was one well filled up with work. After this, there were three years, those immediately preceding his death, in which he could do nothing but pray and make acts of submission to God’s Will. Early in 1884 he had a paralytic stroke, which made him unfit for further missionary labours. He died a holy death, on the 8th June, 1887, and is buried beneath the sanctuary of St Joseph’s Church, Dundalk. †

Br Joachim Kelly, C.SS.R. (1831-1898)

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Brother was born in London, of Irish parents, on the 10th of December, 1831. The name given to him at Baptism was Walter. Br Joachim laboured in England, Australia and Ireland. He died at Clapham, on Lady Day, March 25th, 1898, and was buried in Mortlake. †

Rev. Fr James Thompson, C.SS.R. (†1890)

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This true Redemptorist was one of that number of holy young priests to whom Almighty God gives very extraordinary gifts of mind and heart to suit them for the exercise of the sacred ministry, but from whom His Infinite Wisdom, for reasons not known to us, withholds strength of body and length of days. Father Thompson was a man of great talent, and a priest whose consuming passion was zeal for souls. His sympathy with the poor, and kindly disposition towards all were remarkable. To him, indeed, the words of the Apostle are very applicable, that he made himself all to all in order to gain all to Christ. And yet Father Thompson’s short career – he died when thirty-eight years old – was devoted to teaching rather than to missionary work among the people.

He belonged to a Scottish Presbyterian family, and was educated in one of the public schools in England. He used modestly to complain in after life that his masters had formed too high an idea of his abilities as a student, and that he had been in consequence advanced too quickly into the higher classes; but in this point his judgment may be doubted. It was not until college days were over, and he had already chosen and entered upon a secular calling that God gave him light to enter the Catholic Church, and when he was faithful to this, a further call to the priesthood and the Religious state.

He entered the Redemptorist Novitiate at Bishop Eton in 1876, and was admitted to the Vows on the 15th of October of the following year. Four years later he was ordained priest, continuing his Theological studies during the year after ordination. He was then for some years a professor in the House of Studies at Teignmouth. During this period when the summer vacations came round for the students, instead of taking some rest after the year's teaching, he was urged by his zeal for souls to spend the time giving Missions.

He was sent to Ireland to teach in the Juvenate in 1886, and an appointment some twelve months later as Director of the Juvenate, may be supposed to have been something of the nature of a trial to one whose natural bent seemed to impel him so strongly to the apostolic work of the Missions. If he felt it as such, those who saw him work in the Juvenate could hardly have thought so, he devoted himself so entirely to the boys. To him the education of those, who, he hoped, would later on do the work for souls so dear to his heart, was a great field for apostolic zeal.

It is told of him that on one occasion when he had taken part in the annual retreat given to the Confraternity of the Holy Family his interest in the boys’ studies became visibly increased, and when he feared that he might seem too exacting, he explained that the little experience which he had lately had of the great work to be done for souls, made him feel that anything that could be done in preparation for that work was not excessive.

But Father Thompson’s labours were drawing near their end. He had become so delicate that the Superiors, following the doctor’s advice, sent him to the warm climate of Australia in the hope that he might there recover strength. It was not, however, to be so. He grew ever weaker until his holy death on the 2nd May, 1890 at the Waratah Monastery. He now enjoys, we trust, the full reward of apostolic zeal. †

Br Charles Moucha (1817-1901)

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Brother was Polish, having been born in Retibar on the 1st of December 1817, and professed on the 9th of the same month in 1845. When he died at Bishop Eton, England, on the 8th of August, 1901, he had reached his eighty-fifth year and had been nearly fifty-six years professed. He was the last survivor of the first Limerick (Ireland) Community, and surpassed them all in length of years and profession. He sacrificed himself by prayer and work at his trade, by these means opening to himself the gates of heaven. At his golden jubilee the Most Rev. Father Rector Major remembered him with a beautiful letter of which the good old man was justly proud. †

Rev. Fr John Antwerpen, C.SS.R. (1822-1853)

2009-12-13T03:51:00.000Z

Father Van Antwerpen was at the first Mission given in Ireland in 1851 and he was the first of the band of missionaries to go to his reward. He died at Bishop Eton on the 19th of October 1853, how full of merits, our short notice will reveal.

Born in Endhoven, in Holland, on the 29th of January, 1822. He had the great blessing of pious parents, and he grew up under their eyes like another St Gerard. Before he had reached the age of seven he used to shed tears when he heard that anyone had offended God. When hardly six years old, one day he was missed from home. His parents looked for him everywhere and at last, after long search, found him in the Church. He was kneeling in a quiet corner, praying to Jesus in the Tabernacle.

We do not know what passed between him and the Divine Prisoner, but we do know that from his tenderest years, he did penance for sin, and strove to lead other children to practice piety. After his First Communion his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament grew more and more. Even in these early years he is known to have passed hours in prayer in the church.

In due course he made the ordinary studies in a college of his native town. Here he advanced in learning, and still more in virtue. About this time he resolved to lead a life of perfect chastity, and no persuasion could ever induce him to change his mind. He had always wished to consecrate himself to God in religion, but he knew not where.

The Blessed Mother of God, to whom he had always been most devout, led him to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. He received the Habit on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1840. He made his profession on the same feast in 1841, a favour he won by prayer, for his health having given way, there would have been no hope humanly speaking of him making his profession in the Congregation.

He spent seven years in the house of Studies, at Wittem, living a life of great fervour, both when well and when ill; and was ordained priest in 1848. That same year he was sent to England. From the Monastery in Bishop Eton he went in 1851 to Limerick for the Mission in St John’s. There he inherited the name of good Father John, and was known by this title in the other Missions in which he took part. These were sixteen in all. The fervour with which he prayed, his devotion at the altar, the ardour with which he spoke especially of the Blessed Sacrament, impressed all who knew or heard him.

We cannot dwell on the power that God had given him to touch the hearts of sinners. In Letterkenny, for example, so great and evident was the change which he effected in the Ribbon-man that his Lordship the Bishop said, while shedding tears, “I never expected to see with my own eyes so great a blessing of God. “ All in the town and neighbourhood were converted. His simplicity and innocence drew every soul to him. But his heart went out especially to the poor and afflicted. He never measured his strength, which we know was not great, but worked as if he were one of the most robust.

His last Mission was in Wexford. Before leaving that town, when some said to him, “We shall soon see you again at the Renewal,” he raised his eyes to heaven and said, “No no …. I hope then to be in a better place.” He was indeed, worn out, and his superiors sent him home to Bishop Eton to rest. He knew that it was to be for a long rest, and he occupied himself only about his last journey. As he grew weaker the doctor was called in. The physician assured everyone that there was no danger and that the Father would soon be quite well. When he had left Father John said to his confessor, “Father, do not be deceived, I am certain that the time of my dissolution is at hand.” How can you know that:” asked the confessor, “your illness is not dangerous.” He then related how he had prayed that he might die when he had attained the age of our Blessed Lord. “My time,” he said, “is come and I feel that I shall soon die from this illness.

Soon the slight illness turned into typhoid fever. It made such progress that the last Sacraments were administered to him on the Feast of the Purity of the Blessed Virgin, that feast on which two years before he was present at the opening of the first Mission in St John’s. He received the Holy Viaticum on the 19th of October. From henceforth he was so weak that he could only say, O charity! O blessed sweetness!” He frequently pronounced the names of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

After night prayers the Community surrounding his bed said the prayers for the agonising, to which they added the Litany of our Lady’s Sorrow’s. When they came to the words: “Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world, spare him through our Blessed mother of Sorrows,” his most innocent and beautiful soul took, we confidently hope, its flight to heaven. Throughout life his presence brought a blessing wherever he went. †

Very Rev. Fr Gabriel Hampl, C.SS.R. (1814-1875)

2009-12-11T02:51:00.004Z

Fr. Hampl was born on May 28th 1814, in Luditz, a city in German – Bohemia (Eger District). He studied grammar at the Piarist School, finished Secondary School with the Praemonstratensians in Saaz, Germany, and then entered the University of Prague where he attended Philosophy lectures for one year. Since he did not pass the examination at the end of the year, he was expected to repeat the course.

However, he was not willing to do that. Therefore he set out on foot from Prague to Freiburg in Switzerland, where he arrived on May 26th 1833, and asked to enter the Redemptorist Congregation. By good fortune the Rector of the House, Fr. Czech, was also a Bohemian. Fr. Czech cordially received the young student, whose academic records and outward appearances did not recommend him very much nor did his outspoken attitudes. But Fr. Czech did offer him admission, and Fr. Czech never had to regret his decision. The indolent philosopher soon became one of the most eager students, and a beloved son of the Prefect of Students, Fr. Neubert.

Until Autumn of that year Fr. Hampl attended lectures in physics and philosophy at the Jesuit College in Freiburg. His clothing ceremony was on October 28th 1833, and he remained at the Noviciate until April 24th 1834. Then, because of the persisting dissention between the Austrian and Swiss governments, the Superiors thought the best course would be to send him to Austria into the Noviciate in Weinhaus near Vienna. After a completed Noviciate he was sent to the University in Vienna to study for another year because the courses he took in a foreign country were not acknowledged at that time in Austria. His records were recognised only as a temporary identification card. Then in Autumn of 1835 he came to the Mautern monastery, made his Profession of Vows there on March 18th 1836, and was ordained a Priest on July 28th 1838.

After he was Socius to the Novice Master for a year in Eggensburg (Austria), he returned to Vienna where he was assigned as a preacher in the Redemptorist Church as well as to minor apostolic occupations. In March, 1841, he was appointed to Modena, Italy, and departed for that city, but went only as far as Innsbruck, where another order overtook him: do not go to Modena, but to Altoetting, Bavaria, where a new House had been founded.

In the following year he became involved with the Missions so that he could take part in prospective Missions in Bavaria with Altoetting as his base. The only exception was the short time he spent in Innsbruck and Vilsbiburg (Bavaria). After 1848 his missionary activity extended beyond Bavaria. As a Mission Superior on the Rhine, in Silesia, Wuerttemberg, Upper and Lower Austria, as well as in Bohemia, he displayed a wonderful effectiveness.

Everywhere Fr. Hampl went he was one of the most beloved Missionaries. He was a truly popular speaker. He did not sweep away the congregation with lofty, enthusiastic presentations, but by graphic comparisons, gripping examples, and practical applications in life. He made deep impressions on his listeners by arresting their attention. His style of speech was popular and noble; his delivery was vigorous and unaffected. All of his sermons were very carefully written. He didn’t hesitate to spend 3-4 weeks and sometimes longer on the preparation of one Mission sermon, especially one teaching dogma. With the greatest diligence everything from beginning to end was written down, and given for the most part word for word. Every sentence and every word was carefully chosen. No wonder that his sermons remained deeply fixed in the hearts and memories of the audience. An example of this is that a Brother could still repeat to this writer the main part of one of Fr. Hampl’s sermons 40 years after the Brother had heard it.

One was not inclined to believe that Fr. Hampl considered himself suitable to be a Local Superior because of his cheerful, droll frame of mind that he always showed around his confreres. But experience proved exactly the opposite. In 1854 he was named Rector of Bornhofen (Schleswig), and satisfied the trust of his Superiors’ to such a high degree that he was retained in that office for seven years. Then he was entrusted (Oct. 1861) with the office of Rector of Maria Hamicolt (Diocese of Muenster), and as the student advisor in academic respects. Then in April 1862 he became Provincial of the Lower German province, which office he filed laudably for 9 years until 1871.

In the Autumn of 1850 at the pilgrimage place of Bornhofen a branch of the order was founded. It was expected to strengthen and continue the splendid work begun in the preceding Spring in the Diocese of Limburg in Germany. The Superiors, however, were not in the position to fill the Bornhofen House with a sufficient number of Missionaries as there were few subjects at their disposal. The hopes of Bishop Peter Joseph Blum, who was very eager for souls, were not fulfilled in the first three years. In order to satisfy the Bishop’s justified challenge to some extent; Fr. Hampl was transferred from Altoetting to Bornhofen and named Rector of that House.

He understood how to remedy the sad state of affairs at the House in every way. Since he was already known as an excellent Missionary, a number of Missions were requested by parish priests and were held with great success. Furthermore, Fr. Hampl made every effort to train the young priests, who hitherto had received no comprehensive instruction in preaching. Through guidance and example he taught them to become eager missionaries. Fr. Hampl knew how to command respect by his valiant character and candid appearance as well as by his extensive knowledge in every social situation without damaging religious moderation and humility. He was listened to readily at Missions, but also at Spiritual exercises, which he held for priests and cloistered nuns at various locations.

In conversation with people of all social classes he understood how to act in a natural but still very dignified manner. In this way he won the trust of high-ranking clergy and also of the laity. The dethroned King of Portugal, Don Miguel, greeted Fr. Hampl after the Mission in Heubach (Wuerttemberg) in a very gracious way. The Countess Hahn-Hahn came to Bornhofen for several days every year to take part in religious exercises under Fr. Hampl’s guidance, and in one of letters she did not think it unworthy of her rank to describe her stay in Bornhofen to present and future generations.

Fr. Hampl also succeeded in improving the material conditions of the Bornhofen House during his years as Rector by prudent saving, but also by setting up ornamental gardens and planting a number of the best fruit trees, which gave the House a more beautiful exterior appearance. Fr. Hampl had proved himself to be an efficient Superior in every respect in Bornhofen, and later on also for a short time in Maria Hamicolt. Then in 1862 he was assigned to an even more important office as Provincial of the Lower German Province.

What qualified Fr. Hampl in particular for this office was his great love for the Redemptorist Congregation to which he had given himself from his early youth. He had absorbed the unalloyed essence of the Congregation in Freiburg and Vienna through acquaintance with the pupils of the late St Clement Hofbauer. Therefore in conversation and in his conferences he referred with special priority to these old Redemptorists: Frs. Czech, Neubert, Schoellhorn, Passerat, etc.

He cited examples of them, namely their zeal for souls, their mortification, their poverty, and other characteristics like these, as well as the miraculous advancement the Congregation experienced since those times.

Fr. Hampl often used to tell of the saintly Fr. Heinzl, his former Rector in Mautern, who displayed all sorts of edifying character traits. Fr. Hampl also told of Fr. Heinzl’s three fondest wishes, which had been completely fulfilled:
1. To be allowed to honour the late Alphonsus de Liguori as a saint.
2. That at least 50 Fathers would be active this side of the Alps.
3. That he would see the Congregation spread also into America.

Fr.Hampl gave great importance to the general well-being of the Congregation. One day when he heard of an unhappy misunderstanding in one of the Provinces, he expressed himself in these words: - ‘I would gladly give one of my fingers if that would remedy this grievance.’

By his unremitting efforts he succeeded in improving the material situation of the Province to a considerable degree. In particular, he rendered outstanding service concerning the defrayal of charges to the students at all times. And he did this with great self-denial in that he economised on his travels in every possible way, and went short of bread, so to speak, in order to spend less on himself. With great effort he showed distinct proof of his love for the Congregation by collecting all the relevant reports from the Bornhofen Monastery into a chronicle. Also with bee-like diligence he set up a day to day Provincial Chronicle, which consisted of approximately one thousand closely written pages in the ledger, and which went up the year 1871.

As Superior he was very considerate towards his subordinates. He understood how to show great patience with the weakness of others, and, if a correction was necessary, to delay rectification until a suitable opportunity. Then he would give his opinion frankly and candidly so that everyone understood what was expected of him.

After Fr. Hampl had held his offices as Provincial for nine years with great self-sacrifice and astuteness, he was relieved of this heavy burden in 1871. The two following years he spent in Trier as a Minister and Provincial Advisor until he was exiled from the German Empire in 1873, and so returned to his homeland, Austria, where he spent his last days, in the Leoben House. Repeated attacks of apoplexy had broken his mental and physical strength. The suppression of the monasteries in the Rhineland and Westphalia where he had worked so long, depressed him to such an extent that his earlier bright frame of mind never again revived.

New attacks weakened his mind even more, until in 1875 a severe stroke almost reduced him to an infantile state. He received the Last Sacraments and died soon afterwards on March 1st 1875. May he rest in peace. †

[Translated from German by Mrs Marianne Lang]

Rev Fr Jean Sibille, C.SS.R. (1910-1944)

2009-11-28T15:21:00.032Z

Here we present the life of Fr Sibille. Unfortunately the posts are only available in French at present, but as usual we give a short summary of each chapter and some documents in English.

A note written on a calendar page by Fr Sibille:

Monday 7 August
St Laurent de Terregatte

My God, I willingly offer
the sacrifice of my life for France,
for the J.O.C., for souls!
Souls! . . . Souls!!

7 August 1944
Fr Jean Sibille

***
A Testimonial

14 August 1945
Monsieur Pierre SIBILLE
BOUZONVILLE (Moselle)
19, Rue de la République

Dear Sir,
May I above all present to you in the name of Captain Maggiar, and in my own name and that of all his companions in the regiment, our profound and respectful condolences.

Your son has left amongst us unforgettable memories. He was with us in North Africa during the formation of the regiment, in England during its training and during the long period we awaited our landing. His activity was a precious help for the commanding officers. From the beginning of the campaign in France he shared our sorrows: while accompanying to their deaths our first fallen, as well as sharing our joys at the victories in Normandy and at the liberation of Paris.

His discreet and efficacious apostolate and his ceaseless activity, his good humour and his smile made him the friend and confidant of all. The gift he had of always finding himself wherever his presence was necessary, the simplicity and authority with which he fulfilled a task rendered very difficult by the dispersion of his Regiment, have made him appear to us as the very epitome of a military chaplain par excellence.

It is with very profound grief that we saw him leave us – at the threshold of his native Lorraine, which he so loved and of which he spoke to us with such fervour and emotion. His death has left in our ranks an empty place, which will never be filled.

This death is marked for us with the signs of purity and of simplicity which were certainly two of the dominant characteristics of your son's life.

I wished him a final farewell before he was placed in the coffin, in death his face had retained his calm, smiling aspect which we all knew and loved so much in him.

As I told you, and I hope it will be for you a consolation as it was for us, your son died for his country and his Faith in the exercise of his apostolate.

Please deign to receive, dear Sir, the expression of my very sincere condolences and at the same time the assurance of my best wishes.

Captain Martinet
Second Commander of the Armoured Regiment of Marine Gunners

***

Notice
Second Armoured Division
Armoured Regiment of the Marine Gunners

Extract
of the decree of 13 February 1945
Official Journal of 4 March 1945

Nomination to the National Order of the Legion of Honour
(under posthumous title)

Sibille. J. Naval Chaplain
"A chaplain whose influence and total disregard of danger commanded admiration. Always in the front line, lifting the moral of all he approached by his calm words.
Already recommended twice, he fell mortally wounded at Flin where he had come to bring aid to two men who were gravely wounded.
P.C.C.
Captain Maggiar,
Commandant of the Armoured Regiment of the Marine Gunners
Signed, Maggiar

This citation carries with it the conferral of the "Croix de Guerre" with palms.

Captain Martinet
Second in Command of the R.B.F.M.
Signed, Martinet

Chapter One
Summary in English

Fr Jean Sibille was born in Bouzonville, a little city of Lorraine in the diocese of Metz. Interestingly Bouzonville gave three of its best sons to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer – Fathers Glaser, Altmeyer and Sibille, and even more interestingly and somewhat strangely, each of these Redemptorists died at exactly the same age of 34 years in 1932, 1946 and 1944 respectively. The mayor of Bouzonville has posted a good number of old photographs of the town which give a good idea of the places mentioned in the early chapters of this presentation. You can view the pictures here.

Father was the sixth child after four girls and then a much prayed for little boy who died in infancy. He had also two younger sisters. Amongst many childhood incidents there is an amusing one of an officers "kepi" or military hat given to Jean by a cousin and which he proudly wore as his Sunday best.

He also had a tender love for animals and a generally sensitive disposition. His father, with some strictness, instilled discipline into his son, something which would serve him well later on. "I was raised by parents both pious and very conscious of their duty," attested Father Sibille.

Chapitre Ier
UN GARCON ET SIX FILLES

Allongée au bord de la Nied, Bouzonville, petite cité lorraine du diocèse de Metz, garde le cachet d’une bourgade moyenâgeuse. Son ancienne abbaye bénédictine du titre de Sainte-Croix, fondée vers 1030 par Albert d’Alsace, comte de Metz, et son épouse Judith, incendiée et restaurée plus d’une fois, transformée maintenant en hôpital, continue sa mission séculaire d’asile des pauvres et des souffrants. Toute impregnée des prières des moines, l’église paroissiale, en style ogival du XIVe siècle, à trois nefs, conserve une relique insigne de la vraie croix que le comte Albert avait rapportée d’un pélérinage en Palestine. (1)

La longue liste des quarante abbés de Bouzonville s’augmenta, au cours des siècles, de plus d’une belle figure sacerdotale ou religieuse.

Cette petite ville donna trois de ses meilleurs enfants à la Congrégation des Rédemptoristes, les Pères Glaser, Altmayer et Sibille, morts tous trois dans la fleur de leurs trente quatre ans.

Dans l’automne de 1910, Monsieur Glaser, clerc de notaire et chantre sacristain, voit partir son fils Joseph au petit séminaire de Montigny-les-Metz. Joseph, mobilisé en 1916, connaît toutes les horreurs des champs de bataille de la Galicie, de la Macédoine et de la France. Après deux années de Grand-Séminaire, ses voeux les plus ardents se réalisent. Il est admis, le 9 septembre 1920, au noviciat des Pères Rédemptoristes aux Trois-Epis. Doué de talents remarquables, le jeune prêtre se prépare au professorat en suivant les cours du Collège Angélique de Rome. Muni de tous les diplômes, il occupe la chaire de Droit cannon au scolasticat d’Echternach, avec une compétence et une conscience admirables. Mais dans la chaire de la parole divine, le Père se surpasse et fête de véritables triomphes. Le peuple et des nombreux prêtres, avides d’entendre sa parole harmonieuse, imagée et si riche en doctrine, le réclament comme missionnaire. Les supérieurs ayant accédés à ces désirs, le Père Glaser quitte l’enseignement pour se livrer à la prédication et aux travaux apostoliques.

La maladie de Basedow et la septicémie vinrent arrêter net sa brillante carrière. Terrassé, il demande des prières non pour guérir, mais pour faire la volonté de Dieu. “Mes forces déclinent, mes ailes sont brisées. Je ne pourrai plus voler que jusqu’à Dieu, mon Père. Venez, Seigneur Jésus.” Le 1er juin 1932, âgé de trente quatre ans, il prend son essor vers le ciel dans un dernier chant qui se mêlera harmonieusement aux accords des saints et des anges.

Le Père Jules Altmayer, né le 16 février 1911 à Château-Rouge, mais élevé à Bouzonville où son père tenait un atelier de sculpture, marcha dignement sur les traces de son compatriote. Après un bref séjour au petit-séminaire de Montigny, suivant son attrait pour la vie religieuse, il continua ses études chez les Pères Rédemptoristes. Sa santé fragile et sa faiblesse cardiaque ne l’empêchèrent pas de fournir un beau rendement, d’abord comme professeur de mathématiques au pensionnat de Bertigny près de Fribourg en Suisse, ensuite comme desservant de la petite paroisse de Froidos dans la Meuse où il avait trouvé un refuge durant ces années de guerre. Ne pouvant atteindre les âmes par la prédication, son zèle eut recours au ministère de la plume. Ses articles dans la revue “Le Perpétuel Secours” présentaient une doctrine ascétique solide et profonde dans un style vivant et concis. Toujours souffrant, souvent alité, il fut le vrai Père des infirmes, veillant à leurs intérêts spirituels et même matériels. Préoccupé de fonder des homes pour les malades, il s’en fut jusqu’à Annecy en quête de renseignements et de dévouements. C’est là que le dimanche 27 octobre 1946, le Christ-Roi vint prendre son jeune et fidèle serviteur, chargé de mérites et de bonnes oeuvres.

Et voici leur frère et leur émule, le souriant Père Jean Sibille. Sur la gauche de cette large rue pavée qui aboutit à l’église paroissiale s’élève une maison haute et mince qui s’ouvre au rez-de-chaussée sur un petit magasin de chaussures. Le cordonnier qui l’habite, Monsieur Pierre Sibille, rappelle bien un peu son brave compagnon dont parle La Fontaine.

“... il chante du matin jusqu’au soir,
Plus content qu’aucun des sept sages.
Il n’entasse guère

Un jour sur l’autre : il suffit qu’à la fin
Il attrape le bout de l’année :
Chaque jour amène son pain.”

Et, de 1902 à 1907, chaque année ou chaque deuxième année amène son enfant. Le cher papa et madame Marguerite Nadé, la bonne maman, l’acceuillent avec une joie toujours neuve. Ce sont des chrétiens de vieille souche. Une soeur et une tante de Mr.Sibille sont religieuses de la Providence de Peltre. Mais pourquoi Dieu ne leur envoie-t-il que des filles? Enfin, le 19 décembre 1908, au n° 189 de la Grand’Rue (actuellement n° 19 rue de la République) le bonheur leur sourit : après quatre filles, voici un joli garçon! Hélas ! le petit Gustave préfère la compagnie des anges à celle de ses soeurs qui l’ont pourtant couvert de leurs baisers et entouré de mille attentions. Après deux mois il s’est envolé au paradis.

Les prières redoublent dans ce foyer si religieux. On conjure le ciel d’envoyer un autre petit frère qui se plairait mieux sur notre terre et qui serait un jour officier, médecin, curé, missionnaire, et qui sait, peut-être même évêque ! Le 29 avril 1910, l’enfant prodige fait son entrée en ce monde. Tous le trouvent plein de charmes et de grâces. Dès le 5 mai on le porte en triomphe à l’église pour le baptême. Jean sera son nom. Il sera choyé et cajolé par tout son entourage. En 1912 et 1916, deux autres soeurs viendront encore égayer le cercle familial.

Petit bambin doux et timide, il fréquentera, dès l’âge le plus tendre, l’école maternelle tenue par ses éducatrices modèles que sont les Soeurs de Peltre. Durant les récréations, il prendra ses ébats autour du puits séculaire de la grande cour de l’ancienne Abbaye.

Tel jour de la guerre 1914-1918, un grand convoi de troupes passe devant la maison paternelle. Les habitants sont sur le pas de la porte pour le voir défiler. Les chevaux glissent sur le pavé humide, quelques-uns s’abattent et ont de la peine à se relever. Tout à coup, Jeannot a disparu. On le trouve dans un coin de la cuisine, se bouchant les yeux et les oreilles. Son tendre coeur ne pouvait voir souffrir les pauvres bêtes.

Trois petits chiens lui furent offertes tour à tour. On ne pouvait lui faire de meilleur cadeau. Malheureusement, en grandissant ils tombèrent tous malades. Quel gros chagrin ! Il s’en alla avec ses chers toutous chez le vétérinaire. En infirmier consciencieux et dévoué, il leur administra tous les remèdes. Hélas ! tous ses soins furent inutiles. Et Loulou et Fidèle et Mimi, tous les trois, trépassèrent. Pour Jeannot ce fut chaque fois un jour de deuil où il ne put prendre aucune nourriture.

A la belle saison, Jean sort tous les jours avec ses deux chèvres pour les mener auix pâturages. Les chevaux eux-mêmes ne l’effraient pas. En ces années 1915-1916, les médecins sortent encore en coupé. A califourchon sur le cheval de flèche, Jean n’est pas peu fier de conduire l’attelage de Monsieur le docteur de Bouzonville. Malheureusement, il est désarçonné à la première caracole. L’accident risque de devenir très grave. Les deux chevaux arrière se cabrent et s’emballent. On relève le cavalier qui saigne et crie à tue-tête. La frayeur a été plus grande que la blessure. Cependant, toute sa vie, Jean gardera les traces d’un beau fer à cheval imprimées dans le cuir chevelu.

Tout jeune, il donne déjà de belles preuves de son ardent patriotisme. En 1918, un sien cousin de Rennes lui a offert un magnifique képi d’officier. Un képi rouge ! Ce sera la coiffure des dimanches et des grandes fêtes.

Achille, quoique éduqué au milieu des filles de Lycomède, fut nouri par le centaure Chiron de moelle des lions. Il devint un homme, le plus fameux des héros grecs. “J’eus le bonheur d’être élevé par des parents pieux et très conscients de leurs devoirs,” témoignera Jean Sibille. De bonne heure il récite ses prières au petit Jésus et à la bonne Mère Marie.

“La discipline, dit le vieil adage militaire, est la force principale des armées.” Elle est aussi le principe d’une bonne éducation, pensait le brave papa Sibille qui depuis vingt-sept ans, avec sa hallebarde, sa grande stature et sa longue moustache, maintient l’ordre à l’église de Bouzonville, en s’y promenant en son constume chamarré de suisse. A Jean il n’épargnera pas l’effort dur et soutenu. Il avait bien compris que “rien n’est dangereux pour celui qui est dessous comme la bonhomie de celui qui est dessus” (2). Jean qui prêchera si bien l’esprit de sacrifice aux Coeurs Vaillants parlera d’expérience quand il leur dira : “Pour qu’un gâteau soit meilleur on le saupoudre de quelques grains de sucre, pour bonifier une omelette, il faut quelques grains de sel, pour rendre une journée plus belle, il faut l’assaisonner de quelques sacrifices. Les grains de sacrifice piquent d’abord comme le sel, mais ils se transforment ensuite en sucre et c’est le bon goût qui reste.”

Chacune de ses journées est parsemée de ces petits sacrifices. Tous les matins, il est levé de très bonne heure, pour servir la messe à l’Ecole ménagère d’abord et ensuite à l’église paroissiale. “Si l’effort coûte, l’effort paie. Il rapporte plus de bonheur qu’il n’impose de peine. En meutrissant notre appétit de jouir, le renoncement fait saigner la chair du vieil homme, mais en épanouissant nos sentiments les meilleurs, il fait chanter l’âme du régénéré.” (3) †

(Taken from the life by Rev Fr P. Stricher, C.SS.R. "Chaplain of the Marine Gunners," and typed by Mr Aime Dupont of Flanders.)

1. Allemang, art. Bouzonville, Dictionnaire d’Histoire et de Géographie Ecclésiastiques, Fasc. LV – LVI, col. 284-286.
2. CH. PEGUY, cité par G. COURTOIS, L’art d’être Chef, Lyon, Editions Rivoire, p. 127-128.
3. ABBE TELLIER DE PONCHEVILLE, causerie de Radio Strasbourg, 5 oct. 1938, La Croix, 13 oct. 1938.

Rev. Fr Edmond Declerq, C.SS.R. (1865-1932)

2009-11-24T00:53:00.002Z

Father was born at Rebaix, Belgium, on 3 November 1865 and made his religious profession on 4 October 1885. He was ordained to the sacred priesthood on 5 October, 1890.

The unanimous sorrow expressed at his death by the faithful and confreres who had known him was a vibrant testimony of the good accomplished by this valiant missioner who had criss-crossed Belgium during the 40 long years of his apostolate.

Possessed of a truly popular eloquence, he well knew how to make his Missions and retreats profitable in the search for lost souls and in directing the faithful towards solid piety. God alone knows the good he worked.

These consoling results Father Declerq humbly attributed to the Christian formation he had received in his family home and to those who formed him in the religious and apostolic life. But most of all he attributed any success to Our Mother of Perpetual Succour to whom he had a remarkable devotion, and whose cult he had propagated with unceasing zeal.

He hoped for the strength to pursue his apostolate for a few more years but his strength failed him. He had to cease the good fight – for thus was God's Will, and he passed his last days in terrible sufferings which he bore courageously, offering them to Jesus and Mary for the salvation of souls.

Father died at the monastery of Tornai on 22 May 1932 and was buried in the cemetery of Rumillies.

O Mary, Mother of Perpetual Succour, grant to me thy Perpetual Succour, and make me to ask it of thee with cease. †

[From Father's Mortuary Card]

Very Rev Fr Bernard Hafkenscheid, C.SS.R. (1807 – 1865) — Chapter III

2009-11-21T18:18:00.023Z

Doctor of Theology
and One of the Greatest
Redemptorist Missioners of All Time

Written by Rev Fr M.J.A. Lans
Professor at the Minor Seminary of Haarlem, Holland

Click Here for all Fr Bernard chapters posted to-date

CHAPTER III
Summary in English

From the time of their arrival in Rome the two companions sought to be admitted to the Roman College. With the aid of the Camaldolese Cardinal Capellari, the future Pope Gregory XVI and Mgr Caprano, they were speedily found lodgings. Pope Leo XII had greatly at heart the welfare of Dutch students who found themselves in difficulty and he had appointed a priest to take care of them and also offered financial aid for students in difficulty.

They quickly settled into the life of the seminary. The are extant many letters written by Fr Bernard which describe their life in the Roman College. Beelen and Hafkenscheid became ever firmer friends. They also befriended a French advocate and their evenings were often spent in the discussion of various literary works.

The two friends applied themselves very seriously to their studies, appreciating their value, and the value of time, studying, as they were, with around 2000 other young men. Fr Bernard went so far as to write to his parents that the personage whose company he frequented the most was "somebody" called “Thomas Aquinas”. But he did have other interests too – the better writings of de Lammenais before his apostasy, and for recreation the great Italian poet, Torqueto Tasso. Tea was his preferred guide to the Eternal City. During their holidays he and Beeler were able to make several improving pilgrimages.

Fr Bernard's beautiful voice was in much admiration by the college choir – in fact his talent would have led him to the Papal Choir, but for the fact that this office would have required an engagement of 25 years!

His ardent application to his studies was for him the admiration of his teachers and he was regarded as one of the most remarkable students of the Roman College. He obtained the silver medal in Dogmatic Theology for his dissertation against Jansenius' fifth condemned proposition. The medal – one of the most coveted in Rome – was presented to him by the then Jesuit General, Most Rev. Father Roothaan, himself a Hollander. The award was a cause of great rejoicing to the other Dutch students in Rome whose prestige was well boosted by the success of their compatriot.

Father Bernard was also the life and soul of that same student community who were most saddened when their friend "Hafje", as they called him, was not able to be present at their reunions, of which he was the example and the edification.

Chapitre III
Etudes de Bernard a Rome

Dès le premier jour de leur arrivée dans la Ville éternelle, les deux amis se mirent à en parcourir les rues, cherchant la demeure de quelque étudiant hollandais, qui pût les aider à se faire admettre au Collège Romain. Ils surent bientôt qu'ils devaient se rendre auprès du cardinal Capellari (plus tard Grégoire XVI), ou bien chez Mgr Caprano, secrétaire de la Propagande. Leur résolution fut bientôt prise; dès le lendemain ils se présentèrent à l'hôtel du cardinal, munis d'une foule de lettres de recommandation. Son Eminence les accueillit avec bonté et leur dit de se rendre, le jour suivant, chez Mgr Caprano.

Toujours plein de sollicitude pour ses enfants persécutés, le Souverain Pontife avait pris grandement à coeur les intérêts des séminaristes exilés de la Hollande. Mgr Caprano, après avoir reçu nos deux jeunes gens de la manière la plus affable, leur manifesta le désir de Sa Sainteté, Léon XII, que les séminaristes hollandais qui venaient à Rome, poursuivîssent leurs études au Collège Romain; que s'ils n'avaient pas assez de fortune pour se procurer à leurs frais le vivre et le logement, la Propagande leur viendrait en aide et pourvoirait à leurs besoins.
Par une attention délicate, un prêtre, le P. Lacroix, était expressément chargé par le Souverain Pontife de prendre en mains les intérêts des étudiants hollandais. Ce bon prêtre se mit incontinent à la recherche d'une demeure convenable pour ses nouveaux clients, et ce jour-là même Hafkenscheid et Beelen, après s'être fait inscrire comme théologiens au Collège Romain, purent fixer leur tente : Via dell' Angelo custode [1].

Les deux amis prirent, sans tarder, leurs mesures pour atteindre le but qui les avait amenés à Rome. Conduite régulière, peu de rapports avec le monde, fuite des divertissements, zèle persévérant pour l'étude, telles sont les règles qu'ils se prescrivirent, et auxquelles ils se conformèrent ponctuellement durant tout leur séjour dans la Ville éternelle. Il n'y avait encore que peu de temps qu'ils étaient à Rome, lorsque Bernard fit connaître à ses parents son ordre du jour : "Le matin, disait-il, je me lève vers sept heures ... Vers huit heures, nous allons au Collège, qui est éloigné de dix à douze minutes de notre demeure. Cependant, avant d'aller en classe, nous déjeûnons ... La classe dure deux heures et demie et se fait par deux professeurs différents ... L'un est un homme d'environ trente-cinq ans, qui enseigne déjà depuis quatorze ans. Le feu de la jeunesse n'est pas encore éteint en lui. Il joint à des connaissances extraordinaires le talent de les communiquer aux autres. c'est un homme, en un mot, dont je regretterais de devoir perdre une seule leçon. Les études au Collège Romain sont des plus fortes. Je ne doute nullement que je ne passe avec beaucoup de fruit les quelques années que j'espère séjourner à Rome.

"Le Collège Romain est compté à bon droit parmi les plus grands édifices de la cité. On y instruit la jeunesse depuis l'ABC jusqu'à la théologie. On commence par le latin et l'on finit par la théologie, de manière que le nombre des étudiants, grands et petits, qui se rencontrent tous les jours, à la même heure, quoique dans des salles diverses, s'élève à peu près à deux mille. Oui vraiment, nous sommes fiers d'appartenir à un tel collège.

"Les classes finies, nous assistons à la sainte messe dans l'église attentante au Collège. Oh ! le beau spectacle que ces deux mille jeunes gens agenouillés avec ordre dans l'enceinte de l'église ! Après la sainte messe, les Hollandais s'attendent les uns les autres devant la porte du Collège. Quel bonheur alors de se voir et de s'entretenir quelques moments ! Ensuite chacun se retire en sa demeure et étudie dans sa chambre, jusqu'à ce que la cloche sonne onze heures et demie, heure habituelle du diner ...
"A deux heures après-midi les classes recommencent. Comme le matin, elles durent deux heures et demie. Vers cinq heures, chacun se retire de nouveau dans sa chambre et passe la soirée avec ses livres ...
"Voilà mon genre de vie ordinaire. Maman avait coutume de dire que nous étions des promeneurs ou des voyageurs d'Emmaüs, je voudrais qu'elle nous vît un peu à Rome. Ici nous sommes ensemble nuit et jour; nous mangeons, nous buvons, nous nous promenons, nous étudions ensemble; en un mot, voit-on Beelen ? on voit Hafkenscheid; voit-on Hafkenscheid ? on voit Beelen."

Une amitié si intime entre deux jeunes gens pleins de talents devait nécessairement favoriser d'une manière notable leurs progrès dans les sciences. Ils travaillaient avec une ardeur qui ne se ralentissait point. Des occupations incessantes, écrivait Bernard à ses parents, m'ont empêché presque des mois entiers de songer à la maison paternelle ou à des affaires de famille ... Que s'il se répandait le bruit de quelque nouvelle, je ne le saurais même pas; car durant ces derniers mois, j'ai gardé la chambre, comme un ermite, depuis le matin jusqu'au soir." - Souvent même leurs heures de repos étaient employées à agrandir le cercle de leurs connaissances. Une chambre attentante à la leur était occupée par un avocat français, qu'ils ont dépeint comme "un homme de grand mérite, très honnête et très religieux.” Après avoir consacré, le soir, un temps considérable à l'étude, ils avaient coutume d'aller passer quelques moments avec leur voisin. L'entretien roulait alors sur les ouvrages de Lammenais, de de Bonald et autres; de sorte que cette récréation quotidienne leur était de la plus grande utilité. Par l'entremise de cet avocat, ils firent la connaissance du savant dominicain, de la Marche, et du célèbre théatin, Ventura; ils eurent même plus d'une conversation avec eux. Les relations avec de tels hommes durent nécessairement exercer une influence des plus salutaires sur l'esprit et sur le coeur de nos deux étudiants.

Bernard évitait toute espèce de société, afin de mieux jouir de la compagnie de ses livres. Ses parents lui ayant posé la question suivante : "Quels sont ceux que vous fréquentez ? " Il leur répondit : "Vous désirez que je vous fasse connaître ceux que je fréquente ? Eh bien, permettez-moi de vous dire leurs noms. Un des principaux personnages avec qui j'ai lié amitié, c'est saint Thomas, surtout dans sa "Somme théologique". Du matin au soir, il est en ma chambre, et même sur ma table ! Ce saint Auteur n'est pas facile à comprendre. Cependant à force de temps, je me suis tellement habitué à sa manière de parler, que je m'entretiens bien souvent avec lui jusqu'à minuit. Vous ne sauriez croire combien sa conversation m'est agréable. Jamais je ne le quitte sans avoir appris de lui quelque chose de nouveau. Les jours libres, c'est-à-dire le jeudi et le samedi, il m'arrive de passer plusieurs heures avec Lamennais, qui m'est d'un grand secours dans mes études théologiques, mais surtout philosophiques. (Alors la gloire de Lammenais n'était pas encore ternie par son orgueilleuse révolte contre l'Eglise).

"Vous comprenez bien que je ne m'occupe pas toujours de ces études si sérieures : l'arc ne saurait être toujours tendu. C'est pourquoi je rends de temps en temps une visite au poète italien le Tasse; d'ordinaire nous nous entretenons alors de la "Jérusalem délivrée" par Godefroid de Bouillon. Ce n'est ni de la philosophie, ni de la théologie; mais c'est si supérieurement beau et utile, que souvent je dois me plaindre de ne pouvoir goûter plus longtemps le plaisir d'une telle conversation ... Je fréquente Téa, qui a publié une belle "Description de Rome". Pendant les dernières vacances je lui ai souvent donné le bras, et j'ai vu et admiré sous sa conduite la vieille Rome avec ses monuments.

Que vous en semble ? Ne sont-ce pas là de belles et bonnes compagnies ? Je suis sûr qu'on ne pourrait former à Rome de meilleures liaisons. Aucune liaison avec quelque romain que ce soit, ne saurait être mise en parallèle avec les miennes. Je pourrais facilement, si je le voulais, être chaque soir dans telle ou telle société; mais je n'y tiens nullement. Je cherche des compagnies qui puissent m'être utiles pour l'esprit et pour le coeur.

"Peut-être fréquenté-je quelques savants ? - Ah ! oui; il y en a cinq ou six, qui me témoignent une grande affection. Ce sont mes professeurs, avec qui je puis converser aussi souvent et aussi longtemps que je le désire. Eux exceptés, je ne connais presque personne ... mais aussi je n'ai, à proprement parler, besoin de personne. Mes professeurs, mes livres, mes compagnons d'étude, hollandais et romains, sont pour moi la société la plus agréable que je puisse et doive fréquenter. Déjà depuis deux ans je converse avec eux, et je continuerai à m'attacher à eux tout le temps qu'il me reste à passer ici. Personne, hormis eux, ne saurait me procurer des médailles et des grades. (Comme nous le verrons bientôt, au moment où il écrivait ces lignes, son application à l'étude avait déjà été couronnée). Un travail non interrompu, voilà le seul moyen d'avancer et de faire des progrès qui méritent récompense. C'est à Rome que je suis devenu un peu philosophe, comme on dit vulgairement, et j'espère le devenir encore davantage ... C'st pourquoi nous sommes presque toujours dans nos chambres, étudiant de toutes nos forces, sans nous soucier beaucoup de ce qui se passe à Rome ou ailleurs. En vivant de la sorte, je crois vivre comme il faut, et acquérir l'esprit de l'état que j'ai choisi et que j'espère embrasser un jour".

Le temps des vacances était, pour lui et pour son ami Beelen, un temps de repos que tous deux savaient encore mettre à profit. Souvent alors ils faisaient ensemble un voyage dans l'une ou l'autre partie de l'Italie; ils visitaient les sanctuaires célèbres si nombreux sur cette terre éminemment religieuse. Mais s'ils restaient à Rome, les livres n'étaient pas absolument abandonnés. "Vous ne manquerez pas de me demander, écrivait encore Bernard à ses parents, comment il m'a été possible de passer deux mois dans les loisirs des vacances; écoutez combien ce fut pour moi chose facile ... Le matin, je m'occupais à achever quelques traités que les vacances nous avaient fait interrompre; j'avoue que, assez souvent, je devais cesser le travail pour recevoir la visite de l'un ou l'autre ami, qui certes était toujours le bienvenu ! Plus d'une fois, je fis à ces amis le reproche qu'ils me dérangeaient trop rarement. Vers midi, nous nous rendions au restaurant, ce que je n'oubliai jamais de faire; car sachez que, si jamais je deviens aussi ponctuel pour tout le reste que pour ce point-là, je rentrerai dans la patrie comme un modèle de régularité. Après le repas, se faisait la promenade soit à l'intérieur de la ville, soit au dehors; et au coucher du soleil, nous étions rentrés au logis. - Mais les soirées, comment les passions-nous ? - Oh ! fort agréablement. D'ordinaire je faisais une lecture amusante dans quelque poète italien. Ensuite nous allions souper; et alors nous avions des entretiens si animés sur je ne sais quelles matières, que la fin du repas coïncidait bien souvent avec le temps du coucher. Vous voyez que cette façon de vivre ressemble fort à celle d'un rentier ... Et cependant cela ne tarda pas à me devenir ennuyeux".

Peut-être plusieurs de nos lecteurs se feront-ils cette question que Bernard lui-même mit un jour dans la bouche de ses parents : "Quelles étaient donc les récréations favorites de notre jeune étudiant à Rome ?" - Précédemment déjà nous avons dit que, dès son bas âge, Bernard avait eu un grand attrait pour la musique. A Rome, la musique "devint chaque jour sa grande et pour ainsi dire, son unique récréation au milieu de ses études." Aussi était-il souvent question dans ses lettres de la musique qu'il avait entendue à Rome, et il savait l'apprécier avec un goût exquis. Grande était sa joie lorsque, assis au piano, il exécutait avec ses amis les pièces de musique qu'on lui envoyait d'Amsterdam; lorsqu'il parcourait avec eux cette magnifique "Création" de Haydn, qu'il comparaît à une source capable d'étancher complètement la soif de la musique. Il avait fait connaissance avec un prélat romain, qui, contraint par son âge avancé de renoncer à la musique, avait mis son piano à la disposition de Bernard de son ami Beelen et de l'avocat français. Ceux-ci profitaient habituellement de cette offre bienveillante le jeudi, qui était pour eux un jour libre, ainsi que nous l'avons vu.

Une autre occasion de satisfaire son amour de la musique s'offrit bientôt à Bernard : on lui donna place, en qualité de soliste-ténor, parmi le petit nombre de chantres choisis dans le Collège Romain pour rehausser l'éclat des cérémonies religieuses qui se célébraient dans l'église de cet établisssement. Chaque dimanche, dans l'après-midi, on faisait dans cette église le catéchisme aux élèves du Collège; ensuite le choeur exécutait les plus beaux chants italiens et latins. Ce fut à ce propos que Bernard écrivit un jour : "La musique que nous exécutons est si belle, si magnifique, que je goûte de vraies délices à chanter à l'église." La beauté, la sonorité de sa voix fut bientôt remarquée; on accourait en foule à ses réunions, afin d'entendre ce "Cantore olandese", et les Italiens se disaient souvent pleins d'admiration : Che bellissima voce! Che bellissima voce ! (Quelle belle voix ! Quelle belle voix !). Après une épreuve qu'il subit avec succès, Bernard fut même admis à concourir pour l'office de chantre pontifical; mais, à son grand regret, il lui fallut renoncer à cet honneur, lorsqu'il eut appris que personne ne pouvait être admis comme membre de la chapelle pontificale, à moins de s'engager à en faire partie pendant vingt-cinq ans [2].

Une application aussi assidue, un zèle aussi persévérant pour se perfectionner dans les sciences qu'il était venu étudier à Rome, tout en assurant à notre séminariste une large part dans l'amour et l'estime de ses supérieurs, ne pouvaient manquer d'obtenir les plus heureux résultats. Aussi, d'après le témoignage même de ses maîtres, Bernard fut-il un des élèves les plus remarquables du Collège Romain; il avait d'ailleurs avec lui la bénédiction divine qu'il implorait chaque jour, et qui lui préparait d'éclatants triomphes.

Le jeune Hafkenscheid n'était encore qu'à la fin de sa première année d'étude dans la Ville éternelle, quand une dissertation "de seria Dei voluntate salvandi omnes omnino homines [3]," dissertation dirigée contre la cinquième proposition condamnée de Jansénius, lui valut la médaille d'argent en théologie dogmatique. Nous ne résistons pas à l'envie de reproduire presque intégralement la lettre qu'il envoya à ses parents pour leur annoncer ce triomphe. On y voit briller une noble fierté, une joie candide, une vive satisfaction, qui prenait en partie sa source dans la pensée du bonheur qu'il allait procurer à sa famille; son caractère s'y révèle mieux que nous ne pourrions le révéler nous-même.

"Assurément vous avez déjà reçu de moi des lettres qui vous ont été agréables, et qui ont réjoui votre coeur. Cependant, j'en suis sûr, autant que je suis sûr que le Pape est à Rome, jamais vous n'en avez reçu d'aussi agréable que celle-ci. Réjouissez-vous, bon père, bonne mère; réjouissez-vous, bien-aimés frères et soeurs, et vous aussi, amis et connaissances. Mais toutes vos joies réunies ne seront pas encore à l'unisson de la mienne. Quelles agréables surprises nous sont parfois réservées ! Oh ! la soirée du 5 de ce mois (septembre 1829), quelle soirée ! Tous les Amsterdamois, tous les Hollandais d'ici en furent comme hors d'eux-mêmes ! - Mais qu'est-ce donc qui nous a tant réjouis ? - Quelle question ! - Qui donc, je vous prie, ne se serait pas réjoui d'avoir remporté le premier prix de théologie dogmatique, la médaille ? Etre le premier Hollandais qui remporte le premier prix à Rome, au Collège Romain ! N'y a-t-il pas là sujet de se livrer à l'allégresse ? ...

"Le 5 de ce mois, à quatre heures après-midi, eut lieu la distribution des prix. Un brillant orchestre prit place dans l'église, devant l'autel, au milieu de décorations et de draperies de tous genres. Peu s'en fallut que je ne vinsse pour cette circonstance en tenue ordinaire, tant je songeais peu à recevoir le prix d'honneur. A l'arrivée du Général des Jésuites, suivi de tous les professeurs et d'autres personnages invités à la cérémonie, l'orchestre entonna une symphonie telle que l'église en fut comme ébranlée. Le R.P. Roothaan [4], qui présidait, ayant pris place au milieu de l'église sur un trône élevé et tendu de rouge, un des professeurs prononça un discours; après quoi un étudiant de la Compagnie de Jésus monta dans la chaire superbement ornée, pour proclamer les noms de ceux qui, cette année, avaient remporté les prix. Voilà que mon nom est proclamé ! ... Comment ce jésuite parvint-il à prononcer si bien nom si barbare ? ... Conduit par un Père jésuite, je fus présenté au Général, et là, moi, amsterdamois, je reçus de la main d'un compatriote la médaille d'argent ! Lorsque je l'eus reçue, l'orchestre se mit à jouer une pièce tellement animée, tellement gaie, que reconduit par le même jésuite, j'allai presque en dansant occuper la place de distinction destinée aux lauréats ... Mais tout n'était point terminé. A peine fûmes-nous sortis de l'église, que mes condisciples hollandais se cotisèrent pour célébrer cet évènement en grande pompe. Hier soir, ils sont venus me trouver dans ma chambre au nombre de neuf. Nous bûmes du thé hollandais, nous fûmames une pipe hollandaise. Vous nous connaissez assez pour deviner ce qui se passa entre nous ce soir-là. Vraiment, nous n'avons jamais passé à Rome une soirée aussi joyeuse. - "J'éprouve trop de joie pour vous parler d'autre chose. Quelle nouvelle, après tout, pourrais-je vous annoncer qui eût quelque intérêt, après cette nouvelle unique dont je m'empresse de vous faire part ? "

Pour juger de la satisfaction qu'éprouvèrent en cette circonstance les étudiants hollandais, et de la franche cordialité avec laquelle ils applaudirent au triomphe de Bernard, il suffit de lire l'extrait suivant d'une lettre écrite par l'un d'entre eux: "Vous savez qu'à la fin de l'année scolaire, c'est la coutume dans notre Collège, d'assigner l'un ou l'autre point choisi dans les traités étudiés précédemment. Le point assigné est la matière d'une dissertation à faire "sine ullo librorum adjumento.

Ad scholas veniant instructi cum charta et calamis tantum. [5]"
"Outre les scholastiques des Jésuites et les élèves du Collège Germanique, tous les élèves du Collège Romain qui ont suivi, durant l'année, les leçons de théologie, sont admis au concours. Eh bien, dans une de ces dissertations, la médaille a été gagnée par qui ? - Par notre ami Hafkenscheid, qui l'a obtenue, proecedentibus nequidquam Italianis [6]. Que vous en semble ? Cela seul vaudrait presque la peine de venir à Rome. Il faut que cette dissertation ait été conduite avec beaucoup d'intelligence. Je me réjouis de ce que les Amsterdamois ont fait, dès la première année, si belle figure à Rome. Cette médaille suffit à elle seule pour établir la réputation de toute la colonie hollandaise. Nous avons célébré entre nous cette victoire amsterdamoise d'une manière fort joyeuse. Nous nous sommes aussi concertés, et nous avons décidé comment nous nous y prendrons l'année prochaine, si pareil cas se présente de nouveau parmi nous."

Que personne ne s'avise de blâmer ces démonstrations cordiales, ce naïf enthousiasme, non plus que ces parties de plaisir qui réunissaient souvent, surtout pendant les vacances, nos jeunes étudiants hollandais, soit à l'occasion d'un repas commun, soit à l'occasion d'une soirée amusante. L'Eglise ne prétend nullement retrancher toute espèce de récréation aux jeunes gens qu'elle prépare au sacerdoce, ni les obliger à une gravité qui dépasse la mesure de ce que comporte leur âge. Une franche gaité, la fréquentation de quelques amis d'un commerce agréable, peuvent s'allier fort bien à un zèle infatigable pour l'étude et à des efforts soutenus pour la pratique de la vertu. Ce n'est point à tort que Bernard écrivit un jour : "Où est l'homme qui, devant chaque jour se livrer à des études sur Dieu et les attributs divins, ne se permettra pas volontiers de temps en temps quelque délassement agréable ? A la vérité, je suis devenu un peu plus sérieux; cependant, quand l'occasion se présente, je suis encore le même qu'auparavant. Demandez-le à mes compagnons; tous vous diront, j'en suis sûr, qu'il en est ainsi."

En effet, les témoignages de ses condisciples, que nous avons pu recueillir, certifient que Bernard était l'âme et la joie du cercle des jeunes Hollandais, et que leur entrain perdait beaucoup quand "Hafje" (c'était ainsi qu'on le nommait par abréviation) était absent. Lorsque parfois ils faisaient au nombre de dix à douze, une petite excursion de vacances, c'était lui qui réglait tout, qui avait soin de tout, qui déterminait la route à parcourir; et chacun alors de le suivre comme le meilleur des guides. Ces délicieuses réunions ne contribuaient pas peu à fortifier chaque jour davantage les liens d'amitié qui unissaient le groupe des étudiants hollandais. Elles les détournaient de certains divertissements qui eûssent été nuisibles à leurs études; elles leur procuraient l'occasion de jouir largement, quoique d'une manière toujours innocente, des récréations du jeune âge, et aussi de s'édifier par de mutuels exemples de vertu. Tantôt ils s'entretenaient de leurs familles respectives, se transportant ainsi en esprit au foyer domestique; tantôt ils traitaient l'une ou l'autre question concernant leurs études. Il n'était pas rare qu'ils évoquassent le souvenir de Hageveld, des joies qu'ils y avaient goûtées, de l'affection dont ils y avaient été l'objet, et alors revenait toujours ce voeu cher à leurs coeurs : "Plaise à Dieu que bientôt les efforts de notre vénéré et bien-aimé régent soient couronnés de succès, et que les séminaires ouvrent de nouveau leurs portes aux catholiques hollandais !" La Providence divine qui dirige tout avec une sagesse admirable, les exauça au delà de leurs demandes. †

[Typed by Mr Aime Dupont of Flanders]

Footnotes

[1] Vicino alla Fontana Tresi, n° 89.
[2] La chapelle pontificale date du temps de saint Grégoire le Grand. Ses membres sont placés sous la surveillance du Pape et ne chantent que devant lui. Tous leurs statuts sont sanctionnés par des décrets pontificaux. C'est un fait notoire que les Hollandais ont été, pendant de longues années, la gloire de cette chapelle.
[3] De la volonté sincère de Dieu de sauver absolument tous les hommes.
[4] Le R. P. Roothan, alors Général de la compagnie de Jésus, était également natif d'Amsterdam.
[5] Sans l'aide d'aucun livre. On n'apporte en classe que des plumes et du papier.
[6] A ce propos on ne lira pas sans intérêt une note qui nous est communiquée par Mgr. Bogaers, un des condisciples de Bernard, actuellement doyen de Cuick (Hollande).
“J'ai encore entre les mains, dit l'auteur de la note, la liste authentique de la distribution des prix au Collège-Romain en 1829. J'en extrais ce qui suit :

Prix décernés aux élèves de Théologie.
Pour la classe du matin :
1er Prix – Vincent Pecci (aujourd'hui Joachim).
2me Prix – Jean Corley.
Accessit – Bernard Hafkenscheid.
Pour la classe du soir :
1er Prix – Bernard Hafkenscheid.
2me Prix – Vincent Pecci.
Vincent, ajoute Mgr. Bogaers, était le nom de baptême de Sa Sainteté Léon XIII. Il le changea, suivant l'usage d'Italie, lorsqu'il fut nommé nonce à Bruxelles.
Parmi les brillants sujets du Collège Romain à cette époque, il faut encore citer Mgr Vecchiotti, qui obtint le premier prix de théologie en 1831, et qui fut plus tard internonce à La Haye.

Rev. Fr Joseph DeMeester, C.SS.R. (1862-1939)

2009-11-18T22:54:00.002Z

Father DeMeester was born at Roulers, Belgium, on 29 August, 1862 and made his Holy Profession on 15 October, 1882. He was ordained to the Sacred Priesthood on 8 October, 1888.

He was a great and very popular Redemptorist Missioner. His sermons – simple in form but rich in depth, and delivered with an uncommon warmth and conviction, made him a particularly sought after orator.

In the course of his apostolic career which spanned nearly half of a century he preached 1170 Missions and retreats. His varied eloquence touching all classes of persons. Because of his talent for preaching it was his task over many years to introduce his younger confreres to the art of sacred oratory.

He was the director of the Association of the Holy Family as well as the Work of the Foreign Missions. The latter was particularly dear to him and he spread it with a zeal to which many a Missioner rendered homage.

But above all Father DeMeester was a man of prayer. Death, which came on him suddenly at Jette on 10 January, 1939, did not find him unprepared.

[From Father's mortuary card.]

Rev. Fr Henricus Ducarmois, C.SS.R. (1862-1939)

2009-11-17T01:45:00.002Z

Father Ducarmois was born at Ronser, Belgium, on 21 October, 1875, and made his profession on 5 October, 1893.

He was ordained a priest on 4 October 1901 and left for the Congo Missions on 26 March, 1905. True to the voice of God that he had heard, Father consecrated himself wholeheartedly to the Congo. His strapping health and his burning zeal for souls seemed to signal to all a long and fruitful life. But God willed otherwise and wished to call him unto Himself. He was to die within 5 months at the Mission of Kinkada on 15 July, 1905.

The harvest is indeed plentiful but the labourers are few. Leave thy land and thy people, saith the Lord, and come out of the house of thy father and come into the land that I will show you. †

[From Father's mortuary card]

Novice Brother Baudouin De Ridder (1889-1914)

2009-10-13T22:12:00.005+01:00

Brother Baudouin was born in Assche, Flanders on 5 January, 1889. At his Baptism he was given the name Guillaume. He passed from this world unknown to it, in a most humble manner on 22 November, 1914, at Beauplateau.

But his soul was known to God and became one of those whom God not only takes unto Himself by a religious vocation - but also in his case - by a premature death.

As he prepared himself for religious life - to which he desired so ardently to consecrate himself - the young novice edified his confreres in the faithful and joyful accomplishment of his daily tasks: loving to be able to speak of the Good God - and loving above all to be able to give to prayer all the moments of his day which were left free after work.

God, Whose judgements are unfathomable but always merciful, judged him ripe for Heaven. God sent him death when nobody dreamed that it could happen. He was remembered for his love of Our Blessed Lady, which calls to mind the words of St Alphonsus:
"O Mary, when one dies loving thee, salvation is assured!"

Sweet Jesus, grant unto him eternal rest. †

(From Brother's mortuary card.)

Very Rev Fr Jozef Ghekiere, C.SS.R. (1890-1940)

2009-10-09T00:56:00.005+01:00

Father Ghekiere was born at Iseghem, Flanders, on 10 April 1890. He made his Redemptorist profession at St-Trond on 24 May 1908, and was ordained to the sacred priesthood at Essen on 29 June 1916.

He had a warm and simple Flemish nature, which, unacquainted with flattery and pretence, made him faithful to his duty, and full of zeal for those souls entrusted to his care. Interiorly he wept over his own exile and that of others from Ukraine.

He was a loving soul under a somewhat rough appearance. He had been a missionary for the Ukrainians in Canada, Volyn and Galicia. In Canada, he was the superior of Komarno, where he looked after 40 parishes. He gained the esteem and admiration of all. In Volyn, he finished the building of the monastery of Kowel, the first in what was formerly Russian controlled territory. After that he was appointed as Rector of the House of Studies in Holosko near Lviv. There he was surprised by the war. During the eight-day bombardment he stood up for the well-being of all his confreres. All of them were saved, but were exiled.

After much suffering he returned to Flanders upon the request of his Superior. An infection in his veins, caused by great travel fatigue, caused him to stay in bed. A blood clot caused his unexpected death at the Redemptorist Monastery in Brussels on 21 January 1940.

God had accepted his sacrifice! Without doubt, it will bear fruit a hundred fold.†

[From Father's Mortuary Card]

Very Rev Fr Bernard Hafkenscheid, C.SS.R. (1807 – 1865) — Genealogy

2009-10-07T03:17:00.006+01:00

Fr Bernard's Genealogy

A distant nephew of Fr Bernard Hafkenscheid, Mr Maurits Hafkenscheid, has put up an interesting website which catalogues the genealogy of Fr Bernard himself. The site can be found at http://www.hafkenscheid.com/

The site explains that the Hafkenscheid family (Hafke = Habicht = havik = hawk, Scheid = Flurgrenze = borderline between estates) has taken its name from the former Havkenscheid castle in the hamlet of the same name near Bochum, Westphalia. In 1340 Deitrich von Havekenscede was vassal of this castle and is the ancestor of a family that has held it in fee until the seventeenth century. There are several indications that his family is connected to that of Fr Bernard.

The ancestors of the family came to Ulft, the Netherlands, under remarkable protection of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen family, to which the Count of Bergh belonged. Joannes Fredericus Hafkenscheid, the oldest ancestor in the family file on this site, was employed by the Count of Bergh and was made viscount of the House of Ulft in 1691.

The coat of arms depicts a hawk on top of a hill. The official description (in Dutch): "Schild: in goud op een heuvel van sinopel staande een havik van natuurlijke kleur, met opgetrokken rechterpoot, de vleugels in vlucht. Helmwrong dekkleden en vlucht: van goud en sinopel".

The site is divided into generations. Fr Bernards "spreadsheet" we give below:
While the site is probably relevant only to scholars of the great Missioner, still the fact that it gives some mortuary cards of relatives is a rather unique and personal resource in reference to the life of this Father which we are serializing. Also much of that life in the early chapters is drawn from letters written home by Father as a seminarian to the reading of which we are told all the members of the direct and even extended family and friends were invited by his father, Michael. Thus these are the people who were there and followed the career of their great uncle.

Below are the mortuary cards of Father Bernard's parents and brother. They tell us that his father, Michael, died in Amsterdam on 28 September (the vigil of his name's day) 1846 at the age of 74 and that his mother followed him 5 years later on 23 January, 1851. Fr Bernard must surely himself have had a copy of this card. That of his brother Christiaan is captioned with the interesting heading "Jesus, Mary, Joseph" which is common enough but to which is added also "Thaddeus" in honour of the holy Apostle and helper of the helpless, St Jude Thaddeus. It tells us that he, a doctor, died in 1899, that is 34 years after Fr Bernard. The final image we have reproduced is of Father's niece Maria Johanna who died at the age of 28. The only other direct family photograph given on the site is of her and she died in 1852, so once again Fr Bernard would have been aware of this sad death. †

The Servant of God Fr Giuseppe Maria Leone, C.SS.R. (1829-1902) Enlarged

2009-10-03T20:19:00.004+01:00

(Here follows a more extensive necrology of the Servant of God than previously published.)

The Servant of God, Fr Giuseppe Leone, was born to Nicola Francesco Leone and Rosa di Biase in Trinitapoli, Bari Italy on 23rd May, 1829. He was baptized the following day in the parish church of St. Stephen Protomartyr, and on 1st May 1833 he received the Sacrament of Confirmation from the Archbishop of Trani.

As a child Giuseppe, though restless and lively, demonstrated piety and a tender love for Mary and for Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. One of many boys in his family, Giuseppe Maria was a joy to his parents, always affectionate and willing to follow their guidance. He had remarkable gifts of intellect and memory, demonstrating much wisdom even in his youth.

At thirteen years of age he entered the diocesan seminary in Trani. Giuseppe had already experienced the loss of his mother, and one night he saw an apparition of Our Lady. She assured him that she intended to take him into her care, saying "You are mine."

Thereafter he decided to embrace a more perfect vocation and become part of the Redemptorist Order. Using the excuse of going to the feast of the patron of the nearby town of Cerignola, he went to visit the Redemptorists with high hopes of joining their Congregation. However, due to the delicate condition of his health, he was refused by the superiors of the Institute.

Giuseppe did not give up hope, and eventually through steadfastness and prayer, he received an invitation from the Redemptorists to come to Nocera dei Pagani that his vocation might be considered. After a favourable interview, the Superior General approved his request to join the order, but only after he obtained the approval of Nicola, his father. This approval was not granted to Giuseppe at first, because it had always been his father's desire that his son should become a secular priest.

Upon his return home, his father was adamant and even refused to allow him into the house. Giuseppe went to a monastery of Andria where he remained for about two months, in the midst of prayers and tears, hoping to obtain from God a change in his father's will. Eventually, however, the continuing battle with his father and his relatives caused him so much dismay, that the poor young man fell prey to a serious case of malaria.

Then, in the midst of such misery, he experienced a vision of Jesus under the appearance of a youth, full of gentle majesty. He was filled with the feeling that, although all of his family was against his vocation, Our Lord was in favour of it. Just a few short days after that comforting vision, Giuseppe got up out of bed perfectly healed and unexpectedly received the consent from his father and the approval of everyone else who had previously opposed his request.

At the age of 21 years in 1850, Giuseppe Maria Leone was clothed as a Redemptorist and the year after he made his Profession. Initially he was sent to complete his studies in Iliceto, but later in 1852 he moved to Vallo de Novi because the conditions of the area were more suitable to his health, and there he completed his studies. In 1854 he received the long-awaited ordination to the priesthood.

His ordination changed his life deeply and supernaturally. Considering that his regular studies were incomplete through reasons of ill health, his ability to interpret Holy Scripture and Patristics was considered miraculous. He was unable to join the Missions and was instead continuously occupied with the Spiritual Exercises for priests, religious and seminarians.

Under the law of suppression in 1865 he was forced to return to the family home in Trinitapoli, where he soon gained the esteem of all. There he was appointed director of the congregation of the church of St. Joseph, where he spent long hours in the confessional hearing the confessions of the women. However, the men felt more at ease going to confession at his house, which was often filled with penitents, especially in the time of Lent, when the stairs and hall were often crowded to overflowing.

It became widely known that he could see what lay in people’s hearts and consciences. Father Leone was chosen by nearly all the priests of the surrounding country as their confessor and as the spiritual director of their consciences. He would talk to Mary with real familiarity, and she would often appear, consoling or inspiring him and also dictating entire sequences of the many books that he was to write. He was known to have the gifts of prophecy and bilocation, and was revered by all as a saint.

Events occurred which could only be explained by Divine intervention, and these served to increase the esteem and confidence of the people in their holy confessor. One well known incident took place when the house of the Servant of God was full of people waiting for confession. All of a sudden Father Leone got up, and going out into the midst of all the penitents, he said, "Whatever happens, do not be afraid, I am with you." Not ten minutes later, the strong jolt of an earthquake was felt, shaking the entire house. He calmly smiled and encouraged everyone, inviting them to resume their preparations for confession.

In 1867 cholera broke out in Trinitapoli resulting in many deaths among the people. The disease reached epic proportions, and about thirty people were dying daily. Father Leone, though suffering himself, worked to relieve those affected by the disease. He proposed that the population of Trinitapoli should seek the intercession of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and asked the people to have recourse to her with confidence The people responded with genuine enthusiasm, and began a novena.. At the end of the novena, the cholera disappeared miraculously.

Grateful for such a wondrous response from heaven, Father Leone gathered a collection from the citizens to procure a statue of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart from artisans in Naples. The statue came towards the end of that year, and was accepted by the people with great enthusiasm. This statue was later known as the Madonna of Father Leone, or the Madonna of Cholera.

It was during the cholera epidemic that the Servant of God lost his father. Old Nicola, already advanced in years, was struck by the disease. He died in the arms of his son without anguish, giving up his soul to God. After his death, Father Leone continued to reside in the family home, along with his older brother's family.

In 1877, he became seriously ill, so much so that doctors had given up on his recovery. But all of a sudden, against all odds, he recovered completely. He attributed this to a very special grace of Our Lord, which seemed intended to prolong his life so that it could be the spent for the salvation of sinners. Afterwards, Father Leone not only continued his apostolate of prayer and works for salvation more intensely, but he also offered himself as a victim soul to expiate the sins of others.

His suffering, in fact, did increase more and more, and became an unremitting martyrdom. His pains would grow stronger during the periods in which people gave in more easily to the temptation to sin, as in times of carnival, holidays, etc. Then his sufferings increased so much that it seemed he was near death.

In 1880, Father Leone was called by Superior of the Congregation to move to Salerno. He was ready to obey, and was sadly resigned to go to his new assignment. But the people who loved and venerated him as a saint, did everything possible to restrain him, and at the time of his departure, with tears in their eyes, accompanied him to the train.

He remained in Salerno for the remaining 22 years of his earthly life. There, despite being tested physically by his sufferings, he continued to engage in apostolate works. The fame of his holiness spread everywhere. Wonderful was the good that by his word and example was produced in the souls consecrated to God. From all sides came the faithful came to confess to him, to ask for advice, seeking the comfort of his words and his prayers. Those who could not meet with him in person, wrote letters to which he replied with great kindness and patience.

He soon became the confessor and spiritual director Dr. Bartolo Longo and his wife, founders of the Shrine of our Lady of the Rosary in nearby Pompeii. For twenty years, while remaining on the side-lines, Father Leone was one of the main architects of the religious works connected with the miraculous image of Our Lady of Pompeii. Besides guiding the construction of the great church, he was the soul and the inspiration of the many initiatives undertaken at Pompeii to promote the Rosary, to support religious vocations, and to provide for the newly established orphanage.

Father Leone had lived such an intense and fruitful life, and had become so physically exhausted from continual suffering, that the faithful were kept in constant apprehension for his life. However, to their surprise, he always remained calm and serene, and brought forward the work entrusted to him by the Divine Will, until it came to the time marked by God for him to go to receive the reward of his virtues.

Rich in merit and years, and mourned by all, he ascended to God on the 9th August 1902, at the age of 74. The graces received through his name have been numerous. The body of this Servant of God was buried in the cemetery of Angri and then in 1920, on the 13th October, he was moved to Pagani and laid to rest in the chapel of the Redemptorist Monastery, where St. Alphonsus’ mortal remains had reposed for several years. †

Photo credit to Santi e Beati

Rev. Fr Jozef Butaye, C.SS.R. (1877-1927)

2009-09-26T16:56:00.004+01:00

Rev. Fr Butaye was born in Roeselare, Flanders, on 16 June, 1877, made his vows at Saint-Trond on 8 October, 1899, and was ordained to the Sacred Priesthood at Beauplateau on 25 September, 1904.

To save souls! To bring abandoned souls to Jesus the Redeemer — such was the life-long dream of Father Butaye. For this reason he became a Redemptorist, joining St Alphonsus the great missioner to the abandoned. For this reason he went to the Congo where he spent 8 years in very fruitful labour for the salvation of the many souls whom he brought to the knowledge Our Lord.

His health, broken down by work and self-sacrifice, he had to be sent home to Belgium, but he never forgot his beloved Congolese. In between his apostolic duties he consecrated his strength to his beloved work of the foreign missions through the raising of funds, slide presentations, and the spreading of books and cards about the work in Africa.

He often expressed the wish that he would die at his work and his desire was fulfilled. During a mission presentation at the Minor Seminary of Roeselare his strength suddenly gave way. He looked death calmly in the eyes, receiving the Last Sacraments very devoutly, and peacefully rendered his pure soul to God.

His last words at that conference were to have been about the eternal meeting and kiss-of-peace of the missionary with Our Lord in Heaven — a kiss-of-peace we may hope that he himself received in his Heavenly fatherland.

He, the missionary who had always such a childlike devotion to Our Blessed Mother, died in the town in which he was born, Roeselare, on the Feast of Our Lady's Assumption, 15 August, 1927. †

(From Father's mortuary card.)

Rev. Fr Gerard Debo, C.SS.R. (1857-1928)

2009-09-25T18:11:00.002+01:00

Rev. Fr Gerard Debo was born in Courtai, Flanders on 1 December, 1857, pronounced his religious vows on 15 October, 1876, and was ordained to the Sacred Priesthood on 19 October, 1881. That which especially characterized this Father, and which made him so kind towards all those who approached him, was above all an unmistakeable goodness, devotion and desire to serve beyond the realms of ordinary duty. To render service was his passion - it was the breath of his life. "To serve God and souls," was his motto. In this noble cause his consecrated his life and for the same he lost that life because it was in going about his duty that his end came.

As a true son of St Alphonsus he maintained, as a precious heritage, a tender and filial love towards Our Blessed Mother. How he appreciated the value of his religious vocation! He wrote upon his jubilee souvenir card the words of St Alphonsus: "I exhort you all to cherish your vocation, which is the greatest benefit you have received from God after that of the Creation and Redemption."

Father died at Gaurain on 5 February, 1928. †

(From his mortuary card.)

Rev. Fr Hippolyte Clement, C.SS.R. (1854-1917)

2009-09-22T22:19:00.003+01:00

Father was born at Iseghem on 13 June, 1854 and was admitted to profession on 15 October, 1878. He was ordained a priest on 11 October, 1883.

He was loved by all those who knew him, above all the Belgian Brothers to whom he taught the religious life for the more than 25 years of his charge as Novice Master.

Those whom he instructed at Saint-Trond for 2 years and those at Roulers for 5 where also witnesses of his generous devotion, enthousiastic zeal and his warm sermons.

God gave him a great goodness and amiability of heart. During the 17 years of his work at Beauplateau in the charge of "Minister" or better-put as "Visible Providence" he rendered incomparable service to his Congregation. His unexpected death was to throw his superiors, his dear novices, and all his confreres into an unexampled consternation.

"Forget, if you will, my books and my conferences," he would say, " as long as when they are gone there is left in you a particular devotion to the Blessed Sacrament." He desired from his novices the love which he himself bore to such a high degree for the Rosary.

Father died suddenly at Beauplateau on 18 February, 1917. †

Rev. Fr Jules De Ryck, C.SS.R. (1880 - 1955)

2009-09-19T16:44:00.002+01:00

Father was born at Herzele, Flanders, on 18 December, 1880 and was admitted to profession at Saint-Trondon on 29 September, 1903. He was ordained a priest at Beauplateau on 29 September, 1909.

He died at Louvain on 4 January, 1955.

Father De Ryck's mortuary card is inscribed with a beautiful and rather unusual inscription. It reads:

"Lord Jesus, Father De Ryck will always stand before us as a bearer of the Cross, bent low beneath a heavy weight. Such had sickness made him in his last 25 years. Still he continued to work diligently and with the best results. Bent over, he mounted the Altar for the Daily Sacrifice; with great disability, but still so beautifully, he preached his familiar sermons about the Blessed Virgin and her intercession; bent over and disabled he entered the confessional and the homes of the sick to forgive sins and comfort the suffering.

"For the last three years of his life he was completely lame and tried with blindness. Still he continued to pray, to offer and to fight against inactivity.

"Now that he is dead, Lord Jesus, and many will mourn him, we contemplate Thy meeting with woman in the Gospel, who for 18 years had gone about bent down, unable to lift herself up. Thou didst lay Thy hands upon her and instantly she was healed and gave praise to God. We ask of Thee, lay too Thy hands upon Thy servant, loose his soul of suffering, of sin and guilt - lift up his soul, Thou in Whom he hoped. My he behold Thee aright, O God Eternal, and find joy."

Lord, be gracious unto me! (The prayer of his last hours.) †

Very Rev. Fr Michael Heilig, C.SS.R. (1808-1887)

2009-09-13T02:10:00.007+01:00

As Local and Provincial Superior, Fr. Heilig had developed his vocation in different Provinces. A complete picture of his efficaciousness therefore could only be drawn up from the collected reports of those Provinces. These records are unfortunately not at our disposal. Hopefully, a more experienced pen will some day in the future produce for us a full biography of this so highly respected priest.

Fr. Michael Heilig was born on September 7, 1808, of Catholic and God-fearing parents in Winterbach in the Danube district of the Kingdom of Wurtemberg. From there his parents moved to Langenargen on Lake Constance. Here he spent his childhood with three brothers and three sisters, and learned the basics of the Latin language. He was always a cheerful boy, beloved by his playmates, but also respected. The school teacher of his town called his father’s attention to the talented son. It was decided to take the boy to the school in Ehingen, but he was not accepted there. A good student of his native country (who later became Fr. Tschenhens C.SS.R.) was helpful to the good parents and saw to it that their son was admitted to the College of the Jesuits in Freiburg, Switzerland. There he studied with distinction for seven years. Through frequent association with Redemptorists who had established themselves in Freiburg, he felt attracted very early on to the Redemptorist Order by the writings of St Alphonsus Ligouri.

The Jesuits would have liked to see this talented young man in their Order, but Heaven had other designs for Michael. He was destined to help advance and secure the interests of the Redemptorist Congregation in outstanding ways. The Order was at that time starting to spread north of the Alps - as the following summary of his eventful life will show.

In October, 1831, the twenty-three year old student travelled to Vienna and began his Novitiate in Weinhaus near Vienna in January, 1832. Then he was sent in September of the same year from Vienna to the House of Studies of the Congregation in Mautern, Austria. There he professed his vows on August 14, 1833. In April, 1834, he travelled from Vienna to Belgium by way of Innsbruck, Austria. Then, in September he went to St. Trond, Belgium, and there he taught Humanities, knowledge of which he had acquired to a preeminent degree. He could express himself in Latin with a certain eloquence as easily as in his mother tongue. Later, this ability was of great use to him, namely at the General Chapter in the year 1855, when he was named Secretary.

When the newly acquired monastery at Wittem, Belgium, was furnished in 1836, he settled there with some other professed clerics. On April 2 of the same year he was ordained a priest in Metz, and thereupon lectured on Moral Theology at Wittem for eight years. During this time he published a new, highly valued ten-volume edition of Moral Philosophy by St. Alphonsus. After he was Rector at Willem for three years, in 1848 he became Provincial of the Belgian Province, to which Holland, England, and North America also belonged.

In the following year, having been named Consultor General to Fr. Trapanese, he travelled to Nocera, Italy, where he remained until April 3, 1850. Then in December of the same year Fr. Heilig went to Rome where he was assigned as an assistant to the resident Vicar General in Coblenz, Germany, Fr. Smetana, and was named Superior of the house in Coblenz.

Here Fr. Heilig developed a very blessed activity. He was very beloved by the people, and had already started on the building of a monastery next to the church. Then in April, 1854, he had to travel with Fr. Smetana to Rome. In his position as Consultor General, Fr. Heilig participated in the General Chapter which was held in Rome in 1855. After the conclusion of the General Chapter he was assigned to the monastery in Luxemburg, where he spent four years as an ordinary member of the Order.

His superiors’ confidence in Fr. Heilig called him to Burtscheid, Germany, in October, 1859, where he became the Superior of the newly established house. Then he went in the same capacity to Aachen, Germany in 1862. There he remained in the office of Superior until the outbreak of the Kulturkampf in 1873, which caused him to settle in Vaals, Holland, along with several of his confreres. Under difficult conditions he again discharged the duties of the office of Superior for seven long years. In the year 1880 he was named Provincial and filled this important post again for another seven years in spite of his advanced age. Finally, the Rector Major removed him again to Vaals, where he concluded his life.

The particulars of his death are given in brief as follows.
On the evening of August 29, 1887, the community was about to begin priestly retreats. Fr. Zobel had travelled from Luxemburg to lead the exercises. The former Dutch Provincial, Fr. Oomen, who had always esteemed Fr. Heilig greatly, arrived in Vaals for a visit on this same day. Several days previously the afternoon had been designated as one of pilgrimage to Moresnet, near Vaals, and for a visit to the Franciscan Fathers there. Frs. Zopel, Oomen, Heilig, and the Rector of Vaals travelled after lunch to the beloved pilgrimage site of the Mother of God, prayed there before her image, looked over the new monastery, and then visited with the sons of St. Francis, who received and entertained their guests with great kindness. Then they drove back to Vaals. At the evening meal Fr. Heilig conversed most happily with the religious personages, who were to begin the spiritual exercises after the meal. He was quite cheerful at Recreation, prayed the evening prayers with the other priests, and then went to his cell.

Shortly after midnight he knocked on the wall of Fr. Rector, who was his neighbour and Confessor. He came quickly to Fr. Heilig’s side. “I’m dying,” said Fr. Heilig, who was seized by a shortness of breath. He sat half-upright in his bed. Fr. Rector quickly woke the next neighbouring priest, who called two more confreres, one of whom went for the doctor. When the doctor arrived, the ailing priest had already received the Last Rites. The doctor’s diagnosis was paralysis of the lungs.

Frs. Zobel and Oomen were awakened, and also stayed by the cherished confrere. Fr. Heilig retained consciousness until his last moment. He himself asked for the deathbed crucifix. Then he requested the Father Rector to inform his family of his death. He asked that His Excellency Father General be thanked for everything that he had received through the Congregation in which he had lived and which meant everything to him. “Now I have nothing more to say,” were his last words.

The Rector and the whole student body of Wittem, along with their Prefect, were present in the funeral procession. Also present were Fr Provincial Spoos, as well as several superiors from other monasteries. Fr. Zobel gave the funeral oration. Several acquaintances from Aachen were there, also a deputation of the youth congregation from Burtscheid where Fr. Heilig had been Director for many years. Many wreaths were laid on his grave in the cemetery in Vaals, where he rests next to his dear confreres Frs. Fey, von Held, and others, according to his cherished wish of many years. Requiem Masses for the departed were held in St. Alphonsus Church, in St. Michael’s Church in Burtscheid, in the Convent of the Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus, and in Marienthal near Wittem. For a very long time Masses were said for the repose of his soul.

Fr. Heilig was a born superior. Just three years after his Priestly Ordination he was named a Superior, and remained that for almost his whole life. For almost half a century he held offices of authority, obviously to the satisfaction of his superiors and of even the highest superiors. His humility in the presence of the clergy and everyone who came into contact with him was common knowledge. This humility was especially noticeable in the opposition and difficulties that confronted the foundation in Aachen. The building of the monastery there and the beautiful St. Alphonsus Church, which is visited preferentially by pious people, and is generally admired, is his work.

Furthermore, his work also includes the founding of the monastery in Vaals, which owed its establishment to the unholy Kulturkampf. “We built in despair,” Fr. Heilig often said later in jest when something about the building did not please all. And still more than its actual building, the monastery in Vaals owes its conservation to Fr. Heilig. Not long after its beginning, the monastery was threatened with destruction.

Pressure had been put on the Dutch administration to close the monasteries which had been built on the border by the exiled members of the Order from the Kulturkampf in Prussia. The monastery in Vaals was the first to be designated for destruction. That called for the complete determination and sagacity of one Fr. Heilig. With an ingenious pen he wrote to the Internuncio in the Hague, Mgr. Capri, as well as to His Excellency Fr. General in Rome, and through him to the Vatican Secretary of State Antonelli. In this way Fr. Heilig was successful in dispelling the dark fears and in averting the disaster of a voluntary move from the monastery in Vaals. In his great humility Fr. Heilig always said, “Only Our Mother of Perpetual Succour saved us.”

The Congregation owes much to Fr. Heilig. It was he who as a young priest accomplished the organization of Theological Studies in Wittem. Even today his plan for these studies endures and is followed faithfully. Four times he was present in Rome on important. As was previously mentioned, he performed the duties of a secretary at the General Chapter. He was a true son of St. Alphonsus; he lived only for the Redemptorist Congregation. He always took the great interest in its work, especially its propagation.

In his old age he often said, “If I were still young, I would gladly go to America.” For that reason the last great undertaking which he accomplished was the establishment of a new branch of the Order in Argentina. The Lower German Province was expected to undertake a foreign, overseas missionary field, just as a few other provinces of the Order had done. For this reason, he joyfully sent the first Redemptorists to Buenos Aires, and even accompanied them to the ship in Antwerp.

What was equally astonishing was the animated zeal with which he set up the advancement of scholastic studies and, generally speaking, the basic formation of the young clerics in Luxemburg. He was devoted to them with a paternal love, and thought of many joyful diversions for them during their vacations from study. As Provincial he took no less trouble to dedicate his whole attention to the Juvenate. The Juvenate had been started by his predecessor in the office, the late Fr. Schmitz. Fr. Heilig was expected to care for and cultivate the young sprouts of the promising plants, and he did that with a special liking. He loved the young people as if he were their real father. Whenever he came to the Juvenate in Vaals he delivered short speeches and conferences to the Juvenists, checked their assignments, and with the greatest interest was present at their examinations.

Furthermore, Fr. Heilig was also a much treasured confrere: esteemed because of his multi-faceted knowledge; appreciated because of his abundant experience; valued because of his particularly superior character. His already alluded to humility was such a part of him that one could say it was obvious everywhere he went. One never heard from him about what he himself had done, the various offices he had held, etc. He listened to everything in all humility - and in his relationship with people he didn’t always hear just praises. Even if many times his feelings were hurt, still he bore everything with calmness and patience.

On his part, he refused to hurt anyone. On the contrary, his whole consciousness and demeanour as a Redemptorist, and especially as an appointed office holder, suggested that he do his best for everyone, as much good as it was possible for him to do. Many of his confreres who, in the course of a long sequence of years worked in close proximity to him, as well as some confreres who only came into contact with him once or twice, testify to his character traits. He was happy to be the source of joy for anyone; for this reason he was beloved by all.

This sincere love was felt toward Fr. Heilig in the monastery which he directed according to God’s Will, as well as in all the other monasteries of the Province. His name and reputation were known far beyond the borders of the Province. His friendliness extended to his confreres in small witticisms or humorous remarks that were always pleasant, never hurtful.

In 1883, his 50th Jubilee of Profession was celebrated in Luxemburg, and was proof of how beloved he was by his confreres. Every monastery in his Province was represented by its Superior. Besides that, different Provincials were present at the celebration, namely those from France, Belgium, Holland and England. Even the Provincial from Austria came with the Rector from Mautern. As mentioned above, Fr. Heilig entered the Congregation in Vienna, professed his vows at Mautern, and successfully passed his studies there. A similar demonstration of true brotherly love and respect, evident by the numerous letters, telegrams of congratulations, gifts, ceremonial albums, etc., that arrived from every Province, took place on occasion of his Golden Jubilee of Priesthood on April 2, 1886.

As a member of the Order he was always a shining example to his confreres. Even when he tried to ease the yoke of monastery life for all, it never happened at the cost of the Holy Rule. The Rule had to be observed conscientiously to the minutest detail, and he himself showed the way for everyone. Every day up to his last day he participated in the recitation of the early Office. Every morning until the last day of his life he said Holy Mass in church. God granted him the great fortune of never being sick during his long life. The venerable and almost eighty-year-old priest, wearing a blue apron, helped the brothers in the kitchen by drying the dishes even in the last week of his life.

In the same way, Fr. Heilig was very much treasured and revered by a great number of lay people of all classes. As a Confessor, he had the complete confidence of the penitents. Many of them, scrupulous souls, had much to thank him for. Those who had chosen him as their Father Confessor did not change Confessors lightly. Moreover, thanks to his healthy constitution, he was able to be in the Confessional all day long without becoming exhausted. Before the frailty of old age came on, he would often say, “Hearing Confessions doesn’t fatigue me at all.” As he became hard of hearing, it pained him very much that he could no longer function as a Confessor as he formerly had done.

Fr. Heilig had early on become a Superior, and for many years been a Lector and Rector at the same time. Later, he wrote and travelled often as part of different offices. Then at Coblenz, Aachen and Vaals he was assigned to supervise the erection of buildings. It is easy to understand that such a multitalented priest had not a lot of time to preach as often as other priests. Still, Fr. Heilig did preach a lot, conducted many Missions and renewals, gave retreats for priests and seminarians. All who were present at his lectures praised them for their sterling quality.

In particular, he was always welcomed and heeded by the Redemptoristine nuns in Marienthal near Wittem. His name was closely entwined with the foundation of this contemplative monastery. For more than thirty years Fr. Heilig was an excellent advisor and a true spiritual Father to the nuns.

Fr. Heilig was also very affable to lay people, and exceedingly charitable to poor people with financial difficulties. Hence we can apply the words of Holy Scripture to him: “He was beloved by God and men; whose memory is in benediction.” Eccl.45,1. †

[Translated from German by Mrs Marianne Lang]

Image of Bl Peter Donders discovered

2009-08-19T11:57:00.007+01:00

The Brabants Dagblad of 26 May, 2009, reports the discovery of an interesting photograph of Blessed Peter Donders in Tilburg, Holland. The image was discovered by the project "Born in 1809". The rare card and picture come from a collection belonging to an 80 year old resident of Amsterdam, Mr Lau Trompenaars, who has collected around 1.4 Million memorial cards (!). A better version of the card may be viewed, and the original report found, by clicking here. †

Rev. Fr Theophile Couvreur, C.SS.R. (1863-1939)

2009-08-14T00:46:00.005+01:00

Father was born at Cuesmes on 14 July 1863, professed as a Redemptorist in 1881 and ordained to the priesthood in 1889.

For all those who knew him, the venerated priest would always be "the good Fr Couvreur." His goodness, consist-ing at one and the same time of natural cordiality and super-natural charity, mani-fested itself in his priestly life of ceaseless devotion during half a century.

He was devoted to the hard work of the Parish Missions and retreats as well as to persons of every condition, priests, religious, pious souls who were placed in great numbers under his direction. His solicitude extended also not only to the works and associations which he directed with such success but also to the Foreign Missions confided to the Redemptorist Belgian Province and of which he was for many years the procurator (that is he provided from Belgium for the physical needs of the Missions in the Congo, Canada, West Indies etc.)

To the merits he amassed over nearly sixty years of religious life, Fr Couvreur could add those of his great physical sufferings which permitted him to live the doctrine of union with the Victim Jesus, the proffered theme of his ascetic teaching.

He died at the Monastery of Brussels on 13 September, 1939 and his memory was held in honour by his confreres and the faithful who had lived under the influence of his exemplary piety and his comforting kindness. †

(From Father's mortuary card.)

Rev Fr Maurice de Meulemeester, C.SS.R. (1879-1961)

2009-08-12T02:33:00.008+01:00

Father de Meulemeester, who may be noted as a Necrologist par excellence, was born at Ghent, Flanders, on 30 June 1879. He was ordained to the diocesan priesthood in 1902 but quickly entered the Redemptorists and was professed in 1906. He soon became a professor of Church History and later General Archivist and director of the Redemptorist Historical Institute. He was also Provincial Archivist of the Belgium Province and director of the Redemptorist Oblates.

Father was a priest of great quality and a first class religious. After brilliant studies in Ghent and his ordination, he was private tutor to the Ghellinck Vaernewyck family who retained a devoted attachment to him until the end of his days, something he found a precious comfort.

Father de Meulemeester distinguished himself by an incessant spirit of work. Until his final days he was always glued to his desk where he composed a great number of biographies and histories of various religious congregations

As Archivist General he was very competent and composed a book on the origins of the Redemptorists and a monumental "General Bibliography of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer." He also produced a very large number of choice articles for various historical reviews. The characteristic value of these studies was their objectivity. Father maintained an intransigent cult of the truth. He took for himself, and admitted also, no liberties with his subject. He sacrificed all to the truth and reserved no monopoly of truth to himself. He respected the historical opinions of others but he disclosed to no one his personal opinion neither would he let it be betrayed for any motive.

He was much focused on God. Of a very delicate conscience he lived through some painful spiritual periods but in the evening of his life he found great peace – the reward of the soul who had never doubted the infinite goodness of Our Lord.

He loved to immerse himself in prayer and had a marked taste for the contemplative life. All this, rather than stilting his active apostolate – which he exercised by many and long years of preaching – rather deepened and supernaturalized them. An example here would be his book "O My God, Trinity Whom I Adore," an admirable commentary on the prayer of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity.

Very attached to the traditions of his Order, he was most fervent at his Mass and Breviary, while cultivating a deep filial piety towards Our Blessed Lady. He desired to die on a day consecrated to Her, and it was indeed on a Saturday the She came to "pick" him for the Heavenly Garden while the Magnificat was being recited around his deathbed. This occurred at the Institute of Our Lady of the Presentation in Beveren (Wavre), Belgium on 15 April 1961. †

(After a memorial card)

Rev Fr Louis Gallis, C.SS.R. (1822-1886)

2009-08-06T02:12:00.002+01:00

Father Gallis was born at Antwerp, Flanders on 21 November, 1822. He was ordained to the secular priesthood in Malines on 6 June, 1862, and became a professor at the Minor Seminary of Hoogstraten. He was professed as a Redemptorist on 15 October 1853.

Father's apostolate was fertile, laborious and indefatigable. For 31 years his voice resounded throughout all of Flemish Belgium. God gave him remarkable apostolic gifts, a vibrant and sonorous voice, a popular style, courage in the face of difficulties and a great goodness towards poor sinners.

The edifying example of the Holy Family Confraternity in St Trond was his work. He was both the example and the joy of his confreres through his religious virtues. He died on the "battle-field" on 12 March 1886 in the Antwerp Monastery on the first day of the Mission. Death did not frighten him. He was prepared. He was buried at Hoboken.

"May his works praise him amidst the assemblies of the people." †

Deacon Jozef Dupont, C.SS.R. (1893-1916)

2009-08-04T01:54:00.002+01:00

Deacon Jozef Dupont was born at Antwerp, Flanders, on 31 January, 1893. He was professed as a Redemptorist on 29 September 1913. He died on the battlefield where he, like so many Flemish Redemptorists, served as a stretcher-bearer in World War I, on 20 December 1916. The beautiful image we reproduce here is from his mortuary card and represents him in his habit with the Red Cross arm-band. †

Deacon Maurice Hucq, C.SS.R. (1889-1917)

2009-08-02T17:46:00.004+01:00

Deacon Maurice Hucq was born at Hingeon, near Brussels, Belgium, on 26 October 1889. He made his profession on 9 September 1907, and was ordained sub-deacon and deacon on 18 and 19 September 1915. He appeared to have been chosen for a spiritual career rich in benefits for the salvation of souls if one considers his gifts of mind and soul. Death came to cut off his work at its beginnings.

His soul, transported by a loving admiration for the Good and Beautiful, was entirely directed towards higher causes. As deacon he aspired to the priesthood in order to consecrate himself to bringing back to the Ark of the Catholic Church all the disunited.

As a Redemptorist he cherished the Redemptorist Congregation as his Mother and had at heart its beauty and grandeur, and even a prolonged absence from regularity (in the army) did nothing to cool his affection.

As a Belgian he loved his Fatherland to the point of signing up in the service of the wounded as a stretcher-bearer, without recoiling from even the sacrifice of his life. Jesus and Mary hastened to call unto themselves this faithful servant in order to crown him with the crown of perseverance.

Always held in tender affection by his family and well loved by his confreres, he left as his heritage his great and ardent aspirations and the example of his dedication to those noble causes so worthy of a magnanimous religious.

He was killed on the battlefield on Saturday, 1st December 1917 and buried at Hoogstade on 3 December. †

Rev Fr Engelbert Frohn, C.SS.R. (†1900)

2009-07-14T00:44:00.005+01:00

When the Redemptorists were suppressed in Germany, and the Fathers forced to leave their monasteries and churches, many of these victims of Bismarck’s hatred of the Catholic Church were welcomed and received in the monasteries in Ireland, England, and Scotland.

One of the first to arrive was Father Frohn. This was in 1873. He was then a young man, not more than two years a priest. At first he was attached to the Perth Community, Scotland, and at once set himself to learn English with characteristic earnestness and perseverance. That his efforts were soon rewarded with success, is clear from the fact that in a short time he was able to go on the Missions given by the Fathers in Scotland, and in the towns of Northern England. This was the beginning of upwards of twenty-five years of apostolic work in those countries and in Ireland.

We find him a member of the Community at Limerick, Ireland, towards the end of 1876, and he continued to take part in the Missions given from this house until the close of the year 1880, when he was transferred to Bishop Eton; the chronicles add: “to the great regret of his confreres at Limerick.” He was not again attached to the Limerick house, though he often worked afterwards on the Irish Missions.

Father Frohn became a master of the English language, and was possessed of considerable powers as a Mission preacher. His charitable and cheerful spirit made him ever an agreeable companion, while his unmistakeable love for the people of this country, whose devotion to the Holy Faith he admired so much, was a means in his hands that enabled him to do much good for souls.

For the three years previous to his return to Germany, Father Frohn was Novice Master. During his term of office the Novitiate was changed from the Redemptorist Monastery at Bishop Eton, Liverpool, to that of Perth. When the German Fathers were again admitted to their houses he was recalled, but died two years later as Rector of Bochum 4th of January 1900. †

Rev Fr James Connolly, C.SS.R. (1822 – 1891)

2009-07-14T00:41:00.000+01:00

Father Connolly was beloved by his religious brethren, as he was always cheerful and charitable, and ever sought to make those around him happy. The following account of his life and funeral is from a newspaper of the time:

“The deceased Redemptorist Father had just entered his seventieth year, having been born on the 26th of May, 1822. Father Connolly was a native of Sligo. As a boy he was remarkable for great piety, quickness of understanding, and love of study. Already in the preparatory college of his native diocese, he was a remarkable student, and passed a brilliant examination on his entrance to Maynooth. In the Alma Mater of the Irish priesthood he pursued his classical studies with great diligence, and under the direction of some of the most illustrious of those professors, whose names have shed such lustre on Maynooth, he became intimately acquainted with all the masterpieces of Pagan literature, and to his latest day he could discourse about all the known Greek and Latin authors with the ease of a master. But it was as a Theologian that Father Connolly most distinguished himself.

“When his ordinary course was finished he was promoted to the Dunboyne foundation, where he spent two years. The studious habits of his early life remained with him to the end, and no sooner was he home from a Mission or retreat, than he was to be seen in his cell or in the library, surrounded by several large volumes of the Greek and Latin Fathers. He was especially fond of studying St. John Chrysostom. A classical scholar and a Theologian, Father Connolly forgot not the melodious Celtic tongue of his beloved Connaught. He studied the Irish language carefully, and during the long years of his missionary life he was continually called upon to preach and hear confessions in his native tongue.

“Ordained on May 17th, 1856, he laboured as a secular Priest, in the diocese of Elphin, for about seventeen years, and for many years discharged the duties of Administrator. He joined the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in 1872. He was stationed for several years in the various houses in Ireland, England and Scotland.
“For nearly twenty years Father Connolly had laboured incessantly giving missions and retreats, until old age and infirmity began to weigh upon him. He was possessed of a voice of singular strength and clearness, and his sermons were remarkable for their simplicity, solidity, and power. During the last ten years of his life his work consisted for the most part in giving retreats to the clergy, religious communities, and colleges.

“Although growing feeble from the weight of years, Father Connolly worked up to the end. During the Lent of the present year he took part in a Mission at Youghal. Soon after he was at a Mission in Aglish, Co. Waterford. Then he conducted a retreat for the clergy of the diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora, at Lisdoonvarna; on his return home he offered himself to help at the renewal of a Mission at Newtown Sandes in Kerry. When the work was near its end Father Connolly complained of being unwell. Dr. Dillon, who was called in, declared from the first that his illness would probably prove fatal at such an advanced age. When his fellow-missioners returned to Limerick, Rev. Father Moynahan went at once to take care of the invalid, and nothing could equal the kindness and attention of the Rev. Father Dillon, P.P., Newtown Sandes, to the dying Father and his companion.

“When he heard that his case was hopeless, ‘Blessed be the Holy Will of God,’ answered Father Connolly, ‘I have been preparing to hear this news for seven and thirty years.’

“He spent all the time that remained to him in prayer, and received the last Sacraments on Tuesday, May 26th, his sixty-ninth birthday, and on Friday, at four o’clock in the afternoon, he passed painlessly away. Well might he exclaim as he gave up his beautiful soul to God: ‘I have fought the good fight I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.’

“He was, pre-eminently, a man of faith; for him there was no such thing as chance. In every, even the most insignificant event, he recognized the dispensation of Divine Providence, from his spirit of faith sprang his unbounded confidence in the power of prayer, and his almost constant communion with God. In one word, everyone who knew Father Connolly, declared that he was, undoubtedly a holy man. He has now passed away, and as a finished classical scholar, a Theologian, an adept in the Irish language, a man of boundless experience and uncommon sanctity, he was an ornament to the diocese from which he went forth, an ornament to the Congregation of which he was so long a member, and he was an ornament to his country.” R.I.P. †

Rev Fr John-Nicolas Bakker, C.SS.R. (1853-1890)

2009-07-10T16:48:00.003+01:00

No greater love hath man than this…

John-Nicholas Bakker was born in Sloosten, near Amsterdam, Holland, on the 25th of March 1833. This holy religious could hardly have foreseen his destiny: but who can guess the decrees of Providence? For Providence alone is able to turn the humblest son of men into a monk, a priest, a hero.

After joining the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in 1857 as a coadjutor brother, John Bakker took his religious vows in 1860. He had wished to be, as he said, a true religious, i.e. someone who does not care for his own comfort, and to joyfully go wherever obedience would have him. His wish was soon fulfilled, as the Surinam Mission had just been accepted by the Dutch Redemptorists, and the new Brother was sent there after a few years in Amsterdam.

He landed on the 24th of November 1866, together with two other coadjutor brothers, Br Baptist and Br Francis, in Paramaribo, and it is in this town that he spent the first nine years of his stay overseas. Then in 1875, Mgr Swinkels, the apostolic delegate for Surinam and Superior of the Paramanibo community, founded an orphanage for boys in Livorno.

Brother John was immediately designated for this important but demanding foundation. "I never thought," he said in a later note, "that I would one day look after these poor Surinamese children. But how often, thinking of their material and moral misery, have I asked God that they should be relieved!" Such relief was finally given, and Brother John soon acquired the main responsibility for managing the orphanage, and he was naturally given the name of the orphans Father.

Those sacrifices were great, for it was a ceaseless effort. To get up as early as four in the morning, and to end one's laborious day at ten thirty at night: such was the monotonous, albeit diversely fruitful path along which the good Brother's life was shaped. "It's a bit harsh," he sometimes said laughingly, "but at the end of the day, the suffering is only ours."

Sublime words indeed that show the generosity of this great heart! But yet, how much he loved his dear orphans! They were his whole life. "If I were offered the choice," he wrote once to the Very Reverend Provincial Father of Holland, "to live for something else but God, that would be for the Surinam orphans." This is why their playfulness was unable to undermine his patience. "These children play a lot of tricks on me," he said, "and not always the kindest ones, either. But all in all, they are good boys."

But who could tell of all the sacrifices he had to endure on a daily basis? Brother John's charity, patience, amiability never fainted. However, the good religious man's solidity of judgement and eminent virtues had inspired his superiors to make a resolution: he would be prepared to receive the holy orders.

Thus he started studying Latin, then theology and in 1885, Mgr Schaap, Mgr Swinkels' successor, conferred priesthood to this worthy son of Saint Alfonsus. At the same time, he sent him to the rescue of the lepers' hospital in Batavia. All the graces attached to the sacrament of the order would be needed to help Father Bakker bear the cross that was awaiting him there.

"I am convinced," Saint Teresa says somewhere, "that the measure of our strength for suffering is the measure of our love. A great love bears great crosses, while a small love only bears little ones." If these words are true (and who would deny that they are), divine love must have raged within the brave missionary's heart, whose life we are sketching here.

One day, at Batavia's hospital, a poor soul was about to die. Full of remorse, he declared that he had poisoned several persons. He had also succeeded, he said, in having Fr Bakker take a slow acting poison, as a revenge for a blame that Father had cast on somebody's work. Hence the leprosy that the religious man was currently suffering.

This terrible confession was unfortunately true! Some dreadful symptoms soon revealed to the holy religious that he was indeed affected by the terrible disease. Everything became a nightmare to him: walking, sitting down, standing up, all meant agony. A continuous, excruciating pain attacked his bone marrow, and the sensibility of his limbs was such that the most insignificant contact triggered the most atrocious suffering. In addition, an obscure feeling of weariness and ponderosity in the legs brought his pains to their extreme.

Who can tell of Fr Bakker's anxiety, and with what terror he would follow, over many years, the progress of the disease that was mining him? But he had perfect resignation. "To suffer," he wrote in 1886, "this is my lot henceforth. Yet, I am happy. This illness is a gift of God, and while you never get accustomed to the inner feeling of being rejected from society and feared by your neighbours, such a vivid pain is still part of God's will: therefore, it is also part of mine."

His humility was no less moving. "I have indeed deserved it and more," he wrote, "I am in no doubt about this, and until now I have born my cross lovingly. My main concern is that I can not work anymore, and being very much like the fifth-wheel of a car." Who would not admire such a sublime feeling in a man who had devoted himself entirely to the salvation of these poor lepers?

Apparently, one of the saddest effects of leprosy is the selfishness it provokes among its victims. Fr Bakker did not suffer such misery. Thus, God seemed to show how his divine hand somehow softened the stroke that was given. Never did the holy religious man cease to give thanks to his benefactors, his superiors, and his congregation as a whole! How thankfully he remembered the gifts that had been made to his poor orphans, to the lepers he lived with! With what zeal he prayed and had others pray for the contributors to his work! He also bore his superiors continuously in his mind, and for them he would at once climb up to God. "With all I have received," he would write them, "how may I even think about sufferings? In Heaven, we shall forget everything we call suffering down here." He also said once: "The question remains - what shall I return to the Lord for all He has given to me ? All I can give to God is myself, and I shall do my best to give myself to Him with a thankful heart."

A letter for the new year sent to the Very Reverend Provincial Father of Holland brings even more light on the inner feelings of such a noble heart. "My Most Reverend Father," he told him, "let me wish you a very happy new year together with my most humble thanks for all the good which I hold, God permitting, from your Reverend. And since you know my limitations, I am confident you will not find me indiscreet to beg for your intercession towards the Most Reverend Father General. I know of no other way to show how thankful I am but by observing my Rules in as much as my disease permits me, and by providing all the help, however insignificant, that I am able to provide - and then, by suffering with love - yes, hopefully, with love!"

A huge consolation had, until 1888, supported Father Bakker in his terrible trial. By the end of that year, however, it was taken away from him. His fingers had to be amputated after being attacked by the leprosy, which prevented him from then on from celebrating the holy sacrifice of mass. Three years of helplessness went by in these conditions, three horrendous years from a natural point of view, yet sanctified by the most sublime resignation. "Fr Bakker," a fair judge in terms of devotion wrote, "seems to forget his own pains so as to concentrate on those of others. Before I left for Europe, I asked him if he longed for any sort of relief, whether or not I could do something for him? – 'No, Your Excellence,' he answered, 'I don't need anything. But be generous with our poor lepers.' And the old prelate added with much reason, 'I take him as a saint, and I think he is one indeed.'"

In August 1890, Father Bakker's pains increased considerably. A violent oppression and evil fevers were added to his sufferings without altering his unshakable patience. On August 23rd, knowing he had come to the end, he called one of his fellow priests and told him: "Father, would you please give me the last rites, since I am going to die shortly." He received the sacraments with astonishing devotion and, as he was asked whether he wished something special to be told to his superiors or to his family, he said, "Oh, no! But make sure my superiors, and in particular His Eminence, are thanked for all the good things I received from them in the Congregation." Then he added in a whisper, "I have always lived for the Congregation, and now I die for it."

Then, he begged for forgiveness from all his fellow priests and brothers in the various houses for all the trouble he had possibly caused them, and he expressed his desire that his death should be announced to his relatives. On August 26th, he communicated for the last time. He entered his agony in the afternoon, but all of a sudden, he came back to reason for a short while: "Oh!" he said, "How much I long for Heaven!" And then he died. It was half past nine in the evening.

Father John-Nicolas Bakker was 57 years old. He had spent 35 years in the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, including 24 in Surinam and 7 in the lepers institution of Batavia.

Travellers visiting Batavia's cemetery may see there, at the foot of a great mission cross, surrounded by five thin palm trees, three tombs marked by crosses, forever worth of our veneration: that of Blessed Father Peter Donders, that of a secular priest, Fr Hémink, who also sacrificed his life for numerous lepers, and finally that of Fr Bakker. Tears come to the eyes at the thought of these obscure and sublime devotions, which only the Catholic religion is able to generate; but who could think, without an equally profound joy, of the wonderful crown that is the reward of such admirable virtues? †