Saint of the Day: Bl. Pierre-Joseph Cassant

Trappist Monk (1878-1903)

His life

+ Pierre-Joseph was born in Casseneuil, France. He felt called to the priesthood at a young age, but after months of tutoring by his parish priest, it became clear that he would never be able to master studies in the diocesan seminary.

+ He entered the Trappist abbey of Sainte-Marie-du-Désert, in part because he could still pursue the priesthood but in an environment where the studies would be less demanding and there would be no expectation of pastoral responsibilities.

+ As a monk, he was known by the religious name “Marie-Joseph.”

+ Pierre-Joseph was ordained a priest in 1902, but he lived as a priest-monk for only nine more months. A victim of tuberculosis, his health was already failing at the time of his ordination.

+ After being granted a visit to his family, he asked to return to the abbey and he spent his final days caring for the other monks in the infirmary. He died in his monastery on June 17, 1903.

+ Blessed Pierre-Joseph was beatified in 2004.

For reflection

“Father Marie-Joseph always put his trust in God, in contemplation of the mystery of the Passion and in communion with Christ present in the Eucharist. Thus, he permeated himself with the love of God and abandoned himself to Him, ‘the only true happiness on earth,’ detaching himself from worldly goods in the silence of the Trappist monastery. In the midst of trials, his eyes fixed on Christ, he offered up his sufferings for the Lord and for the Church. May our contemporaries, especially contemplatives and the sick, discover from his example the mystery of prayer, which raises the world to God and gives strength in trial.”—Pope Saint John Paul II at the beatification of Blessed Pierre-Joseph Cassant

Prayer

O God, who in your kindness called your servant blessed Pierre-Joseph to the following of Christ, grant, we pray, through his intercession, that, denying ourselves, we may hold fast to you with all our heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal: Common of Holy Men and Women—For a Monk)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.