Young people
(always in search of stars to follow and role models to imitate) have
a need to hear something about past and present day real heroes and
heroines to offset all the rave reviews of the latest
rock-celebrities, who, too often, have clay feet in their daily
private lives.
In this connection they may come to hear something about Claude des
Places, one of the youngest ever founders of a major religious
Congregation who accomplished so much and influenced so many other
young people during his short life.
Although this young man belonged to a different century, it is
remarkable how similar many of his experiences on and off campus were
to those of any high school or university student in Europe or North
America today. He, too, had to struggle with all the agonies and
ecstasies of growing up and making career decisions that at first
were not fully understood or approved by his friends, his professors
or even his family.
HIGH SCHOOL DAYS
Claude began high school at the local Jesuit College in Rennes.
There, before long, he was recognized as an honour student. As
valedictorian at his graduation he gave such a remarkable speech (a
dissertation in Latin) that he was invited to Versailles in Paris as
guest of the Royal Family. Wow!
But Claude was more than a serious scholar. He was a great all
rounder, very popular with the staff and greatly admired by his
peers. Handsome, gifted with a wonderful speaking voice and stage
presence, in all three years in high school he had important roles in
the annual school plays and featured in frequent gigs and ballet
sessions. Outside of school he was an avid hunter, a very good
horseman (no cars in those days!), and very useful with a sword and a
gun. He even thought of joining the armed forces.
THE SERIOUS SIDE OF HIS CHARACTER
Claude may have been a live wire in and out of school, lively and
restless like everyone else, but there was a deeper side to his
character. He had been given a wonderful Catholic upbringing at home
(particularly by his mother Jeanne) and, like so many boys then and
now, he might have been considered "out to lunch" if others
knew he still believed in God and said his prayers, but not Claude!
As one of his biographers tells us - "Claude gathered some of
his friends and without saying anything to his parents or teachers,
formed a small prayer group with its own rules of devotions, silent
reflection and self-discipline exercises." However, as that
biographer was quick to add, Claude was no Jansenist (the religious
fundamentalists of his day) or ready-made saint, "he had a very
lively and restless temperament that inclined him in a very different
direction." In passing, it might be mentioned that among this
group was none other than the now well-known St. Grignion de
Montfort, a life-long friend and later a collaborator in trying to
solve some of the serious religious problems of the Church in rural France.
THIRD LEVEL STUDIES
Graduating from high school at 16, Claude was considered too young to
go on to University, so he was given a 'finishing off year' in the
university city of Caen on the coast. Away from home, for the first
time, as a biographer put it "Although there were many
opportunities to become dissolute in a large town of young men from
different countries who were, like him, on their own, Claude
apparently didn't compromise his morals but went on to win three of
the five student awards. This was no small achievement in a college
that was one of the most famous in the Kingdom of France and where
gifted students from several provinces and even abroad entered into
keen competition."
AN UNRULY LAW SCHOOL CAMPUS
The real test for Claude came when he was 19. To satisfy his parents'
wishes he spent three years in the Law School of Nantes. Student life
there was an all time wild. "Instead of being locked in
intellectual discourse with the professors in the halls of learning,
the law students were frequently involved in brawls, fist fights,
even armed violence on the streets". Claude once again passed
all his exams with flying colours. At 22 he graduated with a
Licentiate in Law. His family had great plans for him. Claude,
however, had other ideas. He would become a priest.
THE DIE IS CAST
With the world at his feet and so many promising careers open to him,
he had great difficulty deciding between a military career (a family
tradition), law and provincial politics (like his father), management
and future ownership of the family real-estate business (as only
son), or the priesthood where he saw several possibilities as a
diocesan or a religious priest. But once the die was cast, there was
no turning back; not even a compromise with his family's suggestion
that he now combine his theological studies with another degree at
the Sorbonne, the University of Paris. No, Claude would concentrate
solely on the spiritual preparation and take non-degree courses at
the Jesuit College in Paris. This, as history was to show, made all
the difference in his life.
SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES
All during his high school and university studies Claude had been
very active in the usual sodalities and charitable organizations
(many similar to the present day Legion of Mary, KC Squires and
Vincent de Paul Society). As a seminarian at St. Thomas College and
member of the AA's (The Assembly of Friends), he became involved in
helping immigrant chimney sweepers from Savoy and some poor
seminarians at the Jesuit College. The hostel he opened for the
latter eventually became the famous Holy Spirit Seminary, and the
nursery of a whole new religious foundation - the International
Missionary Congregation of the Holy Spirit (the Spiritans)
CLAUDE'S LEGACY TO YOUTH
Claude des Places, then, was no ready made hero or miracle-working
saint, but an ordinary school boy and young adult, striving by the
grace of God and his own best efforts to be and do the best he could
and hopefully to be a credit always to his family, high school,
college, country and the Catholic Church. Even in founding the Holy
Spirit Seminary he was no old or middle aged rector laying down laws
for others, but a young man in his prime - the first to follow the
Rules he wrote. Most unexpectedly in the late summer of 1709 he fell
seriously ill of pleurisy accompanied by a violent fever and after a
short but painful illness, patiently borne, he died peacefully at the
age of 30 years and 7 months on October 2 of that year.
HIS DEATH AND LAST REQUEST
Even in dying, Claude left a memorable lesson to his youthful
associates, many of whom had difficulty understanding why God would
take one still so young, so necessary to the Seminary, and only two
years a priest. Claude breathed his last breath, happily quoting
Psalm 84, the triumphant pilgrim hymn, confident that the good God
would use his untimely death for the best interests of his young
foundation. He made only one request - that his friends bury him not
with an expensive tombstone, but in a nameless plot among the poorest
of the poor, whom he and they had pledged to serve.
Welcome
to the site of the TransCanada Province of the Spiritans. We are a
Roman Catholic Religious Congregation of over three thousand members,
founded in 1703. Our missions are spread worldwide. While we may be
found involved in many diverse ministries, we have dedicated
ourselves to working with the poor and in those situations where the
Church has difficulty in finding ministers. We hope you enjoy your
visit to our site and that while browsing you will keep us in your
prayers. May God bless you.
