Joseph Gérard, OMI (12 March 1831 – 29 May 1914) was a French

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest and a professed member from the

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest later recognized as a Catholic saint. The congregation wa ...

; he worked in the missions among the

Basotho The Sotho (), also known as the Basotho (), are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Southern Africa. They primarily inhabit the regions of Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. The ancestors of the Sotho people are believed to h ...

people in

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

and the Free State province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. His works in the mission are now attributed to a partial degree to a boom in Catholicism in Lesotho, where he was well-known and regarded for his extensive work; he was even working up until a month prior to his own death just before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. His beatification was celebrated in Lesotho on 15 September 1988.

Life

Joseph Gérard was born in Bouxières-aux-Chênes on 12 March 1831 as the eldest of five children to Jean Gérard and Ursule Stofflet. He spent his childhood on his farm and had a religious upbringing. 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 2 February 1842 and 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 ...

on 24 March 1844. He received his religious education from the

and he later joined their order on 9 May 1851 when he commenced his period of the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

. He studied in the

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...

Pont-à-Mousson Pont-à-Mousson () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. Its inhabitants are known as ''Mussipontains'' in French. It is an industrial town (mainly steel industry), situated on the river Moselle. Pont-à-Mou ...

from October 1844 before moving to Nancy for his theological studies. He was there from October 1849 until later pursuing it in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

from mid-1852; he then completed them while in

. He was not a gifted academic but rather was quick and adept at learning languages which would help him in learning the Zulu and

Sesotho Sotho (), also known as ''Sesotho'' (), Southern Sotho, or ''Sesotho sa Borwa'' is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language spoken in Lesotho as its national language and South Africa where it is an official language. Like all Ba ...

languages that he used for his active work in the missions. Gérard moved to South Africa in 1853 and never returned to his native

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He made his perpetual vows on 10 May 1852. The order's founder

Eugène de Mazenod Eugène de Mazenod, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, OMI (born Charles-Joseph-Eugène de Mazenod; 1 August 1782 – 21 May 1861) was a French people, French aristocrat and Catholic Church in France, Catholic bishop who founded the congregat ...

elevated him to 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 ...

and on 3 April 1853 assigned him to

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

in South Africa in 1853; he set off not long after on 10 May after bidding farewell to his family the previous day. He arrived in Natal on 21 January 1854. Gérard was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood at

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

on 19 February 1854 and received ordination from Bishop Allard. He began his work among the

Zulus Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They originated from Nguni communities who took p ...

in the Natal vicariate but met with little progress there. In January 1862 he joined Bishop Marie-Jean-François Allard in starting the first Catholic mission in Lesotho since there had existed a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

congregation that the a French movement founded. Gérard approached and received permission from the Basotho King

Moshoeshoe I Moshoeshoe I () ( – 11 March 1870) was the first king of Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor Tribal chief, chief of the Bamokoteli lineage, a branch of the Koena tribe, Koena (crocodile) clan. In his youth, he helped his fat ...

and so helped found the "Motse-oa-'M'a-Jesu" ("Village of the Mother of Jesus") mission around south of

Thaba Bosiu Thaba Bosiu is a Constituencies of Lesotho, constituency and sandstone plateau with an area of approximately and a height of 1,804 meters above sea level. It is located between the Orange River, Orange and Caledon Rivers in the Maseru District of ...

now at the present

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. Moshoeshoe held Gérard in great esteem and respect for remaining in the nation during the Free State–Basotho War and it has been said that it was at Gérard's encouragement that the chief sought

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

intervention at the end of the conflict. Moshoeshoe also allowed for the Christian authorities to consecrate Lesotho to the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

on 15 August 1865. But Gérard's work still progressed at a slow pace: at the end of 1879 there were 700 Catholics in the nation. In 1875, he founded the Saint Monica mission in the

Leribe District Leribè is a Districts of Lesotho, district of Lesotho. It has an area of 2,828 km2 and a population in 2016 of approximately 337,500. Hlotse is the capital or Camptown (Lesotho), camptown of the district. The district has one additional town, ...

in northern Lesotho. From there he serviced the Basotho of Lesotho and also all those who lived in the neighboring

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

. He returned to the Roma congregation in 1898 where he continued his work for the remainder of his life. He died in mid-1914 after suffering from ill health for at least a month prior to his death.

Beatification

Gérard's spiritual writings were approved by theologians on 25 July 1952. The beatification process commenced under

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

on 1 March 1955 and he became titled as a

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 ...

while the confirmation of his 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 ...

allowed for

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

to name him as

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 ...

on 13 November 1976. The miracle required for his beatification was investigated and later received validation from 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 ...

on 14 March 1986; a medical board approved it on 3 December 1986 as did theologians on 13 March 1987 and the C.C.S. members on 19 May 1987.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

approved this miracle on 1 June 1987 and beatified the late priest while on his visit to Lesotho on 15 September 1988. 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 the O.M.I. priest Thomas Klosterkamp.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle

Santi e Beati
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gérard, Joseph 1831 births 1914 deaths 19th-century venerated Christians 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century French Roman Catholic priests Beatifications by Pope John Paul II French beatified people French expatriates in South Africa French expatriates in Lesotho French Roman Catholic missionaries People from Meurthe-et-Moselle Roman Catholic missionaries in Lesotho Roman Catholic missionaries in South Africa Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate