spiritanfeasts

January 16th

Our Lady of Victories

It was in Paris at this shrine in the parish church of the same title that Fr. Libermann said his first Mass. It was here also, thanks to the parish priest, Fr. Desgenettes, that Fr. Libermann met Bishop Barron and planned to send his first missionaries to West Africa. For decades, the Spiritan communities of Chevilly and the Motherhouse made an annual pilgrimage to the shrine. In recent years a representation of Fr. Libermann has been engraved on the new altar at the shrine. The statue of Our Lady of Victories stands over the high altar in the Motherhouse, in Chevilly and in Blackrock College, Ireland, and is found in one or more churches in most of the older missions. There is a much-frequented representation of the statue in St. Peter Claver's church in Philadelphia.

February 2nd

Libermann Day

Francis Libermann, the son of a Jewish rabbi, was born in Saverne in Alsace (France) in 1802. He was converted and was baptized a Catholic in 1826. He then entered the seminary of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. When he suffered his first epileptic seizure a year later, it was the beginning of twelve years of obscurity. In retrospect, these years would better be described as "the making of an apostle" for they were prologue to a creative outburst that took everyone by surprise. Founder of a missionary congregation, Superior General, renowned spiritual director, confidant of government officials Libermann had discovered his missionary vocation to the most abandoned. He was to revitalize the African missions. He died in 1852 but he is still a source of strength and encouragement for Spiritans and for many others.

February 28th

Brottier Day

Daniel Brottier was born on 7 September 1876 in Ferte-Saint-Cyr in the diocese of Blois, northern France. Quite early on he showed an interest in religious things. Not surprisingly, he entered the seminary and was ordained a priest on 22 October 1899. However, not content with working for the Catholics of France, he decided to give his life to bringing the gospel to unbelievers. With this in mind he entered the congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers. He was sent as a missionary to Senegal, W. Africa where he worked with great drive and commitment in the parish of St. Louis. He was recalled to France in 1911 and became involved in raising funds for the cathedral of Dakar, capital city of Senegal. In 1923, he was named by Cardinal Dubois as director of an institute which provides accommodation and education for orphans, known in French as L'Oeuvre d'Auteuil. He died exhausted by his efforts on 28 February 1936 leaving behind the reputation of a man of God and a great Christian. Fr. Brottier's body was exhumed in 1962 with a view to his beatification. It was found perfectly preserved, 26 years after his death. Daniel Brottier was declared "Blessed" by our Holy Father in Rome on November 25th, 1984.

April 28th

St. Grignon de Montfort

St. Grignon was seven years older than Claude Poullart des Places; they lived in the same street in Rennes and were companion at school. Grignon, now a priest, was in Paris when Claude and his twelve companions had their first Mass on Pentecost Sunday 1703 and it was possibly Grignon who celebrated it. He and his successors in his Congregation kept up close links with the Holy Ghost Seminary. The friendship between Claude and Grignon will account for some of Claude's strong devotion to our Blessed Lady. (Montfort, where Grignon was born, is within easy distance of Rennes.)

May 27th

Foundation Day

Pentecost Sunday in 1703 fell on May 27th. (For a long time it was mistakenly understood to have been May 20th) Strictly, this calendar date rather than the movable Pentecost Sunday is Foundation Day. In the 1950's the General Council decided that Foundation Day would be celebrated on the Thursday within the Octave of Pentecost (a day when most of the Mass of Pentecost Sunday was repeated), since May 27th often fell awkwardly close to Pentecost itself without being on it but May 27th will continue to retain its memories and importance.

Pentecost Sunday

Pentecost
(Date varies)

On Pentecost Sunday 1703, after Mass, in Our Lady's chapel of the church of St. Etienne des-Grès in Paris in front of the statue of Notre Dame de Bonne Délivrance, the so called Black Madonna of Paris, the 24-year-old, not yet ordained, Claude Francis Poullart Des Places (1679 - 1709) and his dozen friends consecrated themselves to bring the Good News to the poor by dedicating themselves to the Holy Spirit under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin. That day marked the humble beginnings of the Spiritans, the Congregation of the Holy Ghost.

September 9th

Laval Day

When he died in Mauritius in 1864, there were 40,000 people at his funeral. In the crowds who continually throng to pray at his tomb, Catholics brush shoulders with Moslems, Hindus and Buddhists. In 1977, the government of Mauritius made 9th September, the anniversary of his death, a national holiday. April 24th, 1979 is the date of the ceremony of his beatification in Rome. Jacques Laval is the first Holy Ghost Father to be so honoured. Jacques was born in Normandy (France) in 1803. After two years as a parish priest in Normandy, he handed over all his possessions to Francis Libermann, leader of the missionary Society of the Holy Heart of Mary (which fused with the Congregation of the Holy Ghost in 1848) and left for Mauritius where the slaves had recently been liberated. Among them Jacques was to spend the last 23 years of his life without ever seeing his native France again. In long hours of prayer, God came close to him. He guided and strengthened him, He gave him the courage to continue to trust the people and so become the "Apostle of Mauritius".

September 9th

St. Peter Claver

The Jesuit St. Peter Claver is considered a patron of African peoples because he cared with great devotion for the slaves arriving in South America. For long he was invoked in our community daily prayers. Since his feast falls on Blessed Fr. Laval's day, Fr. Laval is naturally compared to him for apostolic zeal.

October 1st

St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Pope Pius XI declared St. Thérèse Patroness of the Missions. Fr. Brottier in particular had exceptional devotion to her; he built at Auteuil the first church in Paris dedicated to her. Likewise, Bishop Shanahan prayed at her grave before her remains were transferred to the convent chapel and he also visited her sisters in the Carmel. Pere Liagre, in his 'Retreat with St. Thérèse, demonstrated the likenesses between Fr. Libermann's spirituality and Thérèse's.

October 2nd

Des Places Day

Claude Poullart des Places, our founder of the Spiritans, grew up as the eldest son of a wealthy lawyer in Rennes, Brittany. Having finished high school at fifteen, he then graduated top of his class at college. Claude left for Paris to study theology at the Jesuit seminary. There he saw how many of the other seminarians were living a hand-to-mouth existence. He gave them his meals and lived on the leftovers of the Jesuits for his own food. But his social conscience told him handouts were not enough, so on Pentecost Sunday, 1703, he opened a hostel for four or five of these poor students. Unknown to Claude, the future Holy Ghost Congregation had been born. In 1707 he became a priest. Two years later he got pleurisy and died. The talented firstborn son of wealthy parents was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave in Paris.

October 28th

SS Simon and Jude

It was on this feast of two apostles that Francis Libermann made the definitive decision to throw in his lot with his two friends, Le Vavasseur and Tisserant, in their project of the Work for the Blacks. It can be considered a kind of Foundation Day of the Society of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When all theology studies throughout the Congregation were done in Chevilly, France, this was ordination day for all; old chalices in the Congregation have this ordination date engraved on them.

December 3rd

St. Francis Xavier

This Jesuit patron of the missions is noted for his zeal in spreading the true faith. Fr. Libermann refers to him as a model of combined prayer and missionary activity.

December 10th

Our Lady of Loreto

There was, and is, a shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in the gardens of Sulpician seminary at Issy, with which Libermann was familiar. Later in Rome he decided to make a pilgrimage on foot right across Italy to pray in the original shrine. He always claimed that Our Lady of Loreto delivered him sufficiently from his epilepsy to be ordained priest. Before Lourdes (1858), Loreto was the main Marian shrine of Europe, regularly visited by those who traveled to Rome. Fr. Libermann, of course, had died before Lourdes.

(Research by Myles L. Fay,CSSp - editing by Paul McAuley,CSSp)

January 16th	Our Lady of Victories	It was in Paris at this shrine in the parish church of the same title that Fr. Libermann said his first Mass. It was here also, thanks to the parish priest, Fr. Desgenettes, that Fr. Libermann met Bishop Barron and planned to send his first missionaries to West Africa. For decades, the Spiritan communities of Chevilly and the Motherhouse made an annual pilgrimage to the shrine. In recent years a representation of Fr. Libermann has been engraved on the new altar at the shrine. The statue of Our Lady of Victories stands over the high altar in the Motherhouse, in Chevilly and in Blackrock College, Ireland, and is found in one or more churches in most of the older missions. There is a much-frequented representation of the statue in St. Peter Claver's church in Philadelphia.
February 2nd	Libermann Day	Francis Libermann, the son of a Jewish rabbi, was born in Saverne in Alsace (France) in 1802. He was converted and was baptized a Catholic in 1826. He then entered the seminary of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. When he suffered his first epileptic seizure a year later, it was the beginning of twelve years of obscurity. In retrospect, these years would better be described as "the making of an apostle" for they were prologue to a creative outburst that took everyone by surprise. Founder of a missionary congregation, Superior General, renowned spiritual director, confidant of government officials Libermann had discovered his missionary vocation to the most abandoned. He was to revitalize the African missions. He died in 1852 but he is still a source of strength and encouragement for Spiritans and for many others.
February 28th	Brottier Day	Daniel Brottier was born on 7 September 1876 in Ferte-Saint-Cyr in the diocese of Blois, northern France. Quite early on he showed an interest in religious things. Not surprisingly, he entered the seminary and was ordained a priest on 22 October 1899. However, not content with working for the Catholics of France, he decided to give his life to bringing the gospel to unbelievers. With this in mind he entered the congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers. He was sent as a missionary to Senegal, W. Africa where he worked with great drive and commitment in the parish of St. Louis. He was recalled to France in 1911 and became involved in raising funds for the cathedral of Dakar, capital city of Senegal. In 1923, he was named by Cardinal Dubois as director of an institute which provides accommodation and education for orphans, known in French as L'Oeuvre d'Auteuil. He died exhausted by his efforts on 28 February 1936 leaving behind the reputation of a man of God and a great Christian. Fr. Brottier's body was exhumed in 1962 with a view to his beatification. It was found perfectly preserved, 26 years after his death. Daniel Brottier was declared "Blessed" by our Holy Father in Rome on November 25th, 1984.
April 28th	St. Grignon de Montfort	St. Grignon was seven years older than Claude Poullart des Places; they lived in the same street in Rennes and were companion at school. Grignon, now a priest, was in Paris when Claude and his twelve companions had their first Mass on Pentecost Sunday 1703 and it was possibly Grignon who celebrated it. He and his successors in his Congregation kept up close links with the Holy Ghost Seminary. The friendship between Claude and Grignon will account for some of Claude's strong devotion to our Blessed Lady. (Montfort, where Grignon was born, is within easy distance of Rennes.)
May 27th	Foundation Day	Pentecost Sunday in 1703 fell on May 27th. (For a long time it was mistakenly understood to have been May 20th) Strictly, this calendar date rather than the movable Pentecost Sunday is Foundation Day. In the 1950's the General Council decided that Foundation Day would be celebrated on the Thursday within the Octave of Pentecost (a day when most of the Mass of Pentecost Sunday was repeated), since May 27th often fell awkwardly close to Pentecost itself without being on it but May 27th will continue to retain its memories and importance.
Pentecost Sunday	Pentecost (Date varies)	On Pentecost Sunday 1703, after Mass, in Our Lady's chapel of the church of St. Etienne des-Grès in Paris in front of the statue of Notre Dame de Bonne Délivrance, the so called Black Madonna of Paris, the 24-year-old, not yet ordained, Claude Francis Poullart Des Places (1679 - 1709) and his dozen friends consecrated themselves to bring the Good News to the poor by dedicating themselves to the Holy Spirit under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin. That day marked the humble beginnings of the Spiritans, the Congregation of the Holy Ghost.
September 9th	Laval Day	When he died in Mauritius in 1864, there were 40,000 people at his funeral. In the crowds who continually throng to pray at his tomb, Catholics brush shoulders with Moslems, Hindus and Buddhists. In 1977, the government of Mauritius made 9th September, the anniversary of his death, a national holiday. April 24th, 1979 is the date of the ceremony of his beatification in Rome. Jacques Laval is the first Holy Ghost Father to be so honoured. Jacques was born in Normandy (France) in 1803. After two years as a parish priest in Normandy, he handed over all his possessions to Francis Libermann, leader of the missionary Society of the Holy Heart of Mary (which fused with the Congregation of the Holy Ghost in 1848) and left for Mauritius where the slaves had recently been liberated. Among them Jacques was to spend the last 23 years of his life without ever seeing his native France again. In long hours of prayer, God came close to him. He guided and strengthened him, He gave him the courage to continue to trust the people and so become the "Apostle of Mauritius".
September 9th	St. Peter Claver	The Jesuit St. Peter Claver is considered a patron of African peoples because he cared with great devotion for the slaves arriving in South America. For long he was invoked in our community daily prayers. Since his feast falls on Blessed Fr. Laval's day, Fr. Laval is naturally compared to him for apostolic zeal.
October 1st	St. Thérèse of Lisieux	Pope Pius XI declared St. Thérèse Patroness of the Missions. Fr. Brottier in particular had exceptional devotion to her; he built at Auteuil the first church in Paris dedicated to her. Likewise, Bishop Shanahan prayed at her grave before her remains were transferred to the convent chapel and he also visited her sisters in the Carmel. Pere Liagre, in his 'Retreat with St. Thérèse, demonstrated the likenesses between Fr. Libermann's spirituality and Thérèse's.
October 2nd	Des Places Day	Claude Poullart des Places, our founder of the Spiritans, grew up as the eldest son of a wealthy lawyer in Rennes, Brittany. Having finished high school at fifteen, he then graduated top of his class at college. Claude left for Paris to study theology at the Jesuit seminary. There he saw how many of the other seminarians were living a hand-to-mouth existence. He gave them his meals and lived on the leftovers of the Jesuits for his own food. But his social conscience told him handouts were not enough, so on Pentecost Sunday, 1703, he opened a hostel for four or five of these poor students. Unknown to Claude, the future Holy Ghost Congregation had been born. In 1707 he became a priest. Two years later he got pleurisy and died. The talented firstborn son of wealthy parents was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave in Paris.
October 28th	SS Simon and Jude	It was on this feast of two apostles that Francis Libermann made the definitive decision to throw in his lot with his two friends, Le Vavasseur and Tisserant, in their project of the Work for the Blacks. It can be considered a kind of Foundation Day of the Society of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When all theology studies throughout the Congregation were done in Chevilly, France, this was ordination day for all; old chalices in the Congregation have this ordination date engraved on them.
December 3rd	St. Francis Xavier	This Jesuit patron of the missions is noted for his zeal in spreading the true faith. Fr. Libermann refers to him as a model of combined prayer and missionary activity.
December 10th	Our Lady of Loreto	There was, and is, a shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in the gardens of Sulpician seminary at Issy, with which Libermann was familiar. Later in Rome he decided to make a pilgrimage on foot right across Italy to pray in the original shrine. He always claimed that Our Lady of Loreto delivered him sufficiently from his epilepsy to be ordained priest. Before Lourdes (1858), Loreto was the main Marian shrine of Europe, regularly visited by those who traveled to Rome. Fr. Libermann, of course, had died before Lourdes.
		(Research by Myles L. Fay,CSSp - editing by Paul McAuley,CSSp)