Louis Brisson, OSFS (23 June 1817 – 2 February 1908) was a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Roman Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' re ...

and the founder of both the

Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales The Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales (Latin: Oblati Sancti Francisci Salesii, O.S.F.S.) are a congregation of Roman Catholic Religious Sisters who base their spirituality on the teachings of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal. (Th ...

and the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. He founded the female branch alongside

Léonie Aviat Léonie Aviat (16 September 1844 – 10 January 1914), her religious name Françoise de Sales, was a Roman Catholic professed religious and the co-founder along with Louis Brisson of the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales. Aviat served on ...

and the male branch alongside the

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

Thérèse Chappuis. Brisson's founding of the congregations stemmed from his desire to improve the working conditions of middle-class girls and to ensure their protection and the promotion of their faith. His beatification received approval from

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

and it was celebrated in France on 22 September 2012.

Life

Louis Alexander Alphonse Brisson was born on 23 June 1817 in

Plancy-l'Abbaye Plancy-l'Abbaye () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. Population See also *Communes of the Aube department The following is a list of the 431 communes of the Aube department of France France, official ...

Aube Aube ( ) is a French departments of France, department in the Grand Est region of northeastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube (river), Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),

as the sole child of Toussaint Grégoire Brisson (1785–1875) and Savine Corrard (1795–1881); he was baptized "Louis Alexandre Sosthène" on 29 June in the village parish church. He received his initial education at home from his parents and the local priest and while being schooled from 1823-31 became interested in the

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

. He made his

First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communion (ot ...

on 22 March 1829 and that June received his

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on o ...

. He desired to become a priest and studied for it from 1831-35 before the reception of the

tonsure Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in ...

on 13 July 1835. He continued his studies from 1836-40 before being given the minor orders on 6 July 1838. He was made a sub-deacon in

Sens Sens () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km southeast from Paris. Sens is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture and the second la ...

on 25 May 1839 as his own bishop could not do it due to illness. Brisson was elevated into the

diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Catholi ...

on 21 December 1839. He received his ordination on 18 December 1840 and celebrated his first

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

on 22 December. He received his ordination from Bishop Marie-Joseph-François-Victor Monyer de Prilly because the bishop of his diocese was ill and could not ordain him. On 1 October 1843 he was appointed as the

spiritual director Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divinity, divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters ...

for the

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

of the Visitation Sisters and did this at the request of the convent's superior

Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

Thérèse Chappuis. In 1858, Bishop Pierre-Louis Coeur appointed Brisson diocesan director of the Catholic Association, intended to defend and spread the faith in Christian countries. Chappuis was convinced that Brisson would be the priest to establish a religious order of men in the spirit of

Francis de Sales Francis de Sales, Congregation of the Oratory, C.O., Order of Minims, O.M. (; ; 21 August 156728 December 1622) was a Savoyard state, Savoyard Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Geneva and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He became n ...

. Chappuis soon managed to convince Brisson to establish an order to that design despite the fact that the priest was not enthusiastic about it. In addition to his activities as a priest he served as a teacher to seminarians and continued his interest in natural sciences; this passion saw him construct an astronomical clock used at the motherhouse of the Oblate Sisters of Saint Francis de Sales. Brisson became concerned with the welfare of the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

girls in the textile mills and so established shelters where those girls could become women of conscience and faith. In 1866 he co-founded (alongside

) the Oblate Sisters of Saint Francis de Sales to provide for their education; and in August 1875 established the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales for priests and religious brothers performing similar apostolate work. Father Brisson met

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

on 6 November 1881 who encouraged his work and encouraged him to send Oblates into the missions. The 1905 legislation on Church-State relations and complete secularization of France saw the secularization of the religious houses which included exiling the occupants. The Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales transferred their General House near

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

but Brisson returned to his birthplace. Brisson soon became ill due to his advanced age and his condition deteriorated more so after collapsing on 16 January 1908. He was no longer able to receive the Eucharist as of 23 January and was confined to his bed. He lost his speech on 28 January. Léonie Aviat learned of his dire condition from her fellow religious and rushed to his bedside after receiving a formal telegram. The nun was at his bedside for the next fortnight until 2 February 1908 when Brisson died at 10:34am and she attended the funeral on 6 February in which he was buried in his parents' tomb. His remains were later relocated on 10 April 1961 and entombed on 11 April.

Beatification

The informative process for the beatification opened on 11 February 1938 and this was later finished on 15 December 1949. The process for the approval of his spiritual writings began on 22 March 1950, and they were approved on 1 March 1955. The documentation accumulated from these two processes were sent to the

Congregation for Rites The Sacred Congregation of Rites was a congregation of the Roman Curia, erected on 22 January 1588 by Pope Sixtus V by ''Immensa Aeterni Dei''; it was divided into two separate congregations by Pope Paul VI on 8 May 1969. The Congregation was cha ...

but were held in Rome until 6 October 1995 when the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passi ...

validated both processes via a decree. The

Positio A ''positio'' (short for the Latin ''positio super virtutibus'': "position on the virtues") is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a Catholic person is declared Venerable, the second of four steps on the path to can ...

came to the C.C.S. in 1998 while theologians approved it on 25 November 2005 as did the C.C.S. later on 29 September 2009.

titled Brisson as

on 19 December 2009 after issuing a decree that recognized the late priest lived a model life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...

according to the

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

and

theological virtues Theological virtues are virtues associated in Christian theology and philosophy with salvation resulting from the grace of God. Virtues are traits or qualities which dispose one to conduct oneself in a morally good manner. Traditionally the theolo ...

. The miracle for beatification was investigated in

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

from 20 June 1981 until 27 July 1981 but did not receive formal validation from the C.C.S. until 7 March 2008 at which point a medical panel of experts approved the miracle on 10 February 2011. Theologians likewise approved it on 7 June 2011 as did the C.C.S. members on 13 December 2011. Benedict XVI approved this healing to be a legitimate miracle on 19 December 2011 and thus approved that Brisson would be beatified. Cardinal

Angelo Amato Angelo Amato, Salesians of Don Bosco, S.D.B. (8 June 1938 – 31 December 2024) was an Italian Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints between 2008 and 20 ...

presided over the beatification on 22 September 2012 on the pope's behalf; more than 3000 people attended the service with 1500 people watching it on television screens in Brisson's birthplace. The current

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Observed i ...

for this cause is Madeleine-Thérèse Dechambre.

References

External links

Louis Brisson

The Salesian Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brisson, Louis 1817 births 1908 deaths 19th-century venerated Christians 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century French Roman Catholic priests Beatifications by Pope Benedict XVI Founders of Catholic religious communities French beatified people Venerated Catholics by Pope Benedict XVI

Life

Beatification

References

Further reading

External links