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The Holy Heart of Mary - preparing and sending out missionaries |
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Novitiate and first departures
The first novitiate of the Holy Heart of Mary at Neuville-les-Amiens
Libermann opened the novitiate of the Holy Heart of Mary at la Neuville-les-Amiens on September 27, 1841. There were two novices who were ready to be ordained priests. The novitiate was the final stage of preparation before departure for the missions.
At the end of 1841, the group adopted a provisional rule. Frédéric Le Vavasseur was sent to work among the black people of Reunion in February 1842. At the end of the same year, Eugène Tisserant, who had been working in the parish of Saint Ambrose in Paris and was assistant director of the archconfraternity of Our Lady of Victories, came to Neuville for three months before setting sail for the mission of Haiti. And in December of 1842, an appeal was made to the new congregation that would be of great significance for the future.
Mission to the Two Guineas
Mgr. Jean Rémi Bessieux, Vicar Apostolic of the Two Guineas . |
The first three Irish missionaries who came from the United States to Cap des Palmes had already been there for twelve months and from the moment of their arrival they had been suffering from various fevers. Mgr. Barron, the one in charge, went to Europe to look for more missionaries but without success. Then, in his desperation, he went to visit Fr. Desgenettes, the parish priest of Our Lady of Victories, who immediately introduced him to Francis Libermann. The result was that nine months later, a group of seven missionaries of the Holy Heart of Mary, accompanied by three young laymen, sailed from Bordeaux and arrived at Cape Palmas for the start of Advent, 1843.
Mgr. Barron, who came from Waterford in Ireland, spent the winter of 1843- 1844 in his own country looking for more recruits. The news he received from the Two Guineas was very discouraging: two missionaries of the Holy Heart of Mary had died, along with Denis Pindar, the American layman. The second American priest, John Kelly, had lost heart and had returned to the United States.
Of the ten missionaries put at the disposition of Mgr. Barron, seven died of various tropical diseases by the end of the first year. By August 1844, of the first fifteen missionaries who came to the West coast of Africa, ten French and five Irish, there remained only Fr. Bessieux at the mission of Cape Palmas and Brother Gregoire at Grand Bassam.
The two boarded a French ship that was heading for Gabon; when they arrived at Libreville, they decided to stay. That day, September 28, 1844, marks the beginning of the mission in Central Africa. Fr. Bessieux described their aim in a letter: we are here "to work for the salvation of souls and to give them knowledge of a religion which will bring them great joy".
Difficulties in Haiti
In Haiti, Eugène Tisserant was named Prefect Apostolic, but he came up against great opposition. Returning to France in May, 1845, Rome transferred him to Guinea as Prefect Apostolic . But having left Toulon at the end of November, the ship was wrecked off the coast of Morocco on December 7, with the loss of all passengers and crew, including Eugène Tisserant himself.
The Work for the Black Peoples
The climate of the Two Guineas proved to be very bad for the first missionaries and the work that had been started with such enthusiasm now seemed to be in danger of folding up. But when the news of the deaths finally reached La Neuville, all the members of the community begged Libermann to let them set off at once for Guinea. "Far from discouraging us", he wrote, "this news made us even more anxious to go".
So the interest in this mission for the black people gathered pace and a new generation of missionaries offered their services to the Church. Libermann and his brothers were not exceptional men, but simply people who gave themselves totally to the mission, united to Christ through the Holy Heart of Mary.
Animation of the Mission
Libermann continued to direct and encourage the new foundation. He put his whole trust in the God who guides our history, and found his will in events as they happened. He took care to seek advice from those with missionary experience, like Mgr. Luquet and Mother Javouhey.
He wrote as often as possible to his confreres, explained the ideas behind the provisional rule to the novices, drew up a memorandum for the Propaganda in Rome. In 1845, he gave some final advice in a letter to two members who were sailing from Bordeaux for Gabon:
"As you begin this important mission, do not rely on your own strength, prudence and action. Place your whole confidence in God and Mary...Try not to be impatient in your work. Leave things to mature in their own time; do not try to pick the apples before they are ripe. Always and whatever the circumstances, follow the way of Providence. But once you have carefully looked at the situation, and thinking only of pleasing God, forge ahead with what seems to be right and put it into action with total confidence in God".
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Libermann had this to say about the gift of the apostolic life to the novices at Neuville:
The ordination of the first three Africans priests at the Seminary of the Holy Spirit: David Boilat, Arsène Fridoli and Jean-Pierre Moussa (from left to right)
"The apostolic life contains in itself the perfection of the life of Our Lord, which it is modeled upon. More than in any other way of life, it makes us like Jesus himself. The Congregation of the Missionaries of the Holy Heart of Mary is a community of priests which, in the name of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, gives itself totally to proclaiming his Gospel and establishing the Kingdom amongst the poorest and most abandoned in the Church of God.
They must see themselves as apostles sent out by Jesus, so their prime concern must be to carry the teachings of the Gospel engraved on their hearts and announce them wherever they go. They should do their utmost to make known the mysteries and the will of God to those who have never heard of them. Their job is to steer those who are losing their way towards him, and to fill those who are already on the right road with love and holiness.
Their Master is sending them to the poorest, so they will not start missions except amongst the most abandoned. They should never lose sight of the fact that they now exist for these poor people, to serve them and give themselves totally for their salvation.
They should always see themselves as unworthy of such a wonderful vocation, incapable of themselves of carrying out this God-given task. The only way is to put all their trust in the Master who is sending them out, and to do their best to carry out the great plans that God has for them".
In 1846, Libermann wrote a Memorandum on the Mission for the Black People to the Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda in Rome:
"Throughout Europe, there is a spontaneous movement to help the black people and to raise them from their present oppressed state. Many societies have sprung up, both commercial and humanitarian, which are actively involved and the most powerful governments of Europe are devoting considerable resources to it.
We see this widespread movement as the action of God, and we are delighted that divine Providence, having left these poor people for so long in darkness and suffering, is now starting a movement that is bringing so many resources to bear to improve their lot.
But we do not hide our fears that this movement, started with much good will towards the black people, might become dangerous for them and disastrous for their souls. Government employees, traders, the henchmen of the humanitarian societies (nearly always the rejects of the nations of Europe and enemies of the Church) are rapidly spreading amongst these peoples. In bringing a limited relief to some of their material sufferings, they will surely do great harm to their souls".
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Libermann considered the objections that had been raised in some quarters against the Work:
"From the beginning, several people tried to put us off this undertaking: they tried to persuade us that our zeal and efforts were being directed to a lost cause that could never bring success. In talking of the black people, they told us that they would never be able to conduct their own affairs or persevere in any good habits that we would try to teach them. They are stupid, incapable, heartless, robbers and unteachable to the point that even whipping them will not achieve the desired result. Their nature is corrupt and vicious so there is no point in wasting your efforts for nothing"
Libermann abhorred this colonialist language, and from their very first missionary experiences and the reports sent back by members of the Holy Heart of Mary, he systematically refutes these racist allegations. Speaking of the Haitian context, he wrote:
"To disprove these sort of assertions, we have seven hundred thousand witnesses in Haiti. These people were born as slaves, so from the start, they were totally neglected. For fifty years they received no form of religious instruction whatsoever, but they had constantly before their eyes the public scandal of priests who were nearly all mercenaries and openly reduced the priesthood of Christ and all things sacred to objects of merchandise...Yet these people stood up to all this and remain deeply and consistently attached to the Church...
It is true that most of the black Haitian people were only Catholics in name with a few external practices: such religion as they had was mixed up with many superstitious and sometimes idolatrous practices.
But it would be morally impossible for them to be otherwise. They were dragged out of Africa to a life of slavery, condemned to live in ignorance and unending work in brutalising situations, totally ignoring their intellectual, moral and religious needs. These same people were then suddenly freed from the oppressive yoke of slavery and delivered from the tyrants who had ill-treated them for so long. But they were left entirely to their own devices, with a limitless freedom without direction or boundaries, and always living under the fear of falling again into the hands of their masters. One needs to appreciate this to understand all the subsequent misery and horror of this unfortunate island".
Libermann continues to plead his case in favour of the black people:
"In the colonies, the blacks are given such repulsive and disgusting works that they abandon it as soon as they are no longer beaten into submission...
In the colonies, the Whites never work. They look down on any sort of manual labour; this is reserved for the slaves".
Libermann was far from being naïve or a dreamer. His confrères on the missions also recognised the faults of the people they were serving. Having explained the situation in which the people were living, he shows how the missions will be built on solid and stable foundations, based on the local conditions. His foundations will eventually follow the basic patten of other Churches.
"In order to succeed with our very limited resources, we cannot just leave things to chance, with a vague idea of converting non-believers...there must be an overall plan and a timetable for the execution of the detailed steps, which will need much patience and perseverance"
In his missionary strategy, Libermann realised that there could be no success without an apostolic plan of action. One essential step in this plan had to be the training of a local clergy. This had already been thought of in 1820. Fr. Baradère, a Spiritan and the Prefect Apostolic of Saint Louis in Senegal, wrote: "The only way to evangelise the black people is to give them their own priests". Saint Louis already had a community of Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny. Mother Javouhey visited them in 1822 and, as a result, three young men from Senegal, David Boilat, Arsène Fridoil and Jean-Pierre Moussa were sent to Paris to study theology at the Seminary of the Holy Spirit. They were ordained priests on September 19, 1840.
The creation of a local clergy became a permanent priority of spiritan missions from that time onwards.
The shipwreck off the coast of Morocco in which Fr. Tisserant died
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Libermann was ordained priest by Mgr. Mioland, the Bishop of Amiens, on September 21, 1841 . He visited Fr. Desgenettes, celebrated Mass at Our Lady of Victories and within the week opened the novitiate of the new foundation at Amiens.
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