GOD WILL REWARD HIM, BUT THE DEATH OF A GOOD SUBJECT IS A GREAT LOSS FOR THE CONGREGATION

Today, the anniversary of the death of our good Father Mie, I learn of that of Fr. Frederic Michel. He was one of our best men, filled with virtues, but virtues quite uncommon, talented and learned to the full, a well formed man he was. He left the seminary of Grenoble for the novitiate the very day of his ordination, not wishing even to visit his parents. He was the 200th of our Oblates and had made his profession only a few months previous; it is a great loss.

Letter to Fr. Telmon, 10 March 1849, EO I n 113

Fr. Frederic Michel died suddenly just after preaching his first parish mission, as Eugene noted in his diary:

Disturbing news of the death of Fr. Michel. He had just finished the mission in Saint Bonnet where he had given proof of his great zeal and generosity. Fr. Lavigne who gave this mission with him, wrote to tell me that he had acted like a saint. I fear that Fr. Lavigne was not able to moderate his zeal or to require that he take more care of himself personally. I am very much afraid that what Fr. Lavigne calls a cold was an irritating cough and perhaps the beginnings of a chest infection which the poor man who died was unwilling to care for. God will reward him, but the death of a good subject is a great loss for the Congregation.

Eugene’s diary, 10 March 1849, EO XXII

REFLECTION

“By dying young, a man stays young forever in people’s memory. If he burns brightly before he dies, his light shines for all time.” (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)