Pierre-Marie Mermier

Pierre-Marie Mermier (1790–1862), founder of the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales

Pierre-Marie Mermier (born August 28, 1790 in Vouray, † September 30, 1862 in La Feuillette) was a French priest of the Catholic Church. He founded the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales .

Life

Childhood to ordination

Pierre-Marie Mermier was born on August 28, 1790 in Vouray, in the parish of Chaumont-en Genevois in Savoy . The French Revolution had badly damaged the Church in Savoy. Many priests had left the country, the few who remained went underground. Mermier's parents were avowed Catholics and risked their lives and property by taking in the priests. Between the ages of four and ten, Mermier was therefore able to experience at home how Holy Mass was secretly celebrated there. The faith and courage of his parents and those priests at this time motivated him to want to become a priest himself.

Since all churches and Catholic schools were closed during the French Revolution, Pierre-Marie Mermier received his first school lessons from his mother. In 1800 peace returned to Savoy. Mermier came to Melan for further schooling. In 1807 he was accepted into the Chambéry seminary . He was very diligent in prayer, a hardworking student, and very considerate of his fellow students. He was ordained a priest on March 21, 1813 at the age of twenty-three and a half years.

First years of priesthood and beginning of the parish mission

His first activity as a priest led him as a chaplain to Canon Desjacques near Magland . He devoted himself to his work there with tireless zeal. During the day he taught the children and at night he continued his theological studies. After three years he was asked to teach and educate the students at Melan College. In 1819 , at the age of thirty, the Archbishop of Chambery appointed him pastor of Le Châtelard .

Pierre-Marie Mermier was a consistent priest of immeasurable zeal. Most of the people around him, however, behaved rather indifferently to the Catholic doctrine and practice as a result of Jansenism , Gallicanism and the French Revolution. With a view to renewing people in their religious life again, Mermier contacted Joseph-Marie Favre. This priest held so-called parish missions in the diocese of Chambéry with great success, a kind of intensive faith course for the entire parish. They met in 1821 and Mermier was immediately enthusiastic about this new type of pastoral care. In the same year the two decided, together with other diocesan priests, to devote themselves entirely to this task. They then moved from one parish to another and stayed in each parish for about four to six weeks. They prayed, preached, and encouraged people to rebuild their faith. It was a wonderful opportunity for religious conversion, renewal, and education.

Monsignor Claude-François de Thiollaz, Bishop of Annecy , appointed Mermier as Spiritual of the Seminary in 1823 . In 1826, however, the bishop allowed him to devote himself fully to the parish mission. Step by step, a group of missionaries was formed. In Mermier the conviction matured that the parish mission plays an irreplaceable role in pastoral care and that it is therefore essential to found a community of missionaries who are entirely dedicated to the service of mission , and that this community should be under the special protection of St. Francis de Sales stand, who as a missionary for four years led the Chablais, who had become Calvinist, back to the Catholic faith.

Foundation of the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales

In 1832 , Pierre Joseph Rey became the new Bishop of Annecy. In 1834 he allowed the group of missionaries - at that time there were exactly six priests - to move into a house in La Roche. On September 29, 1836 , the bishop then granted the provisional recognition of the new community and its rules of the order . At that time the group was still called "Missionaries of Annecy". On August 8, 1837 , she founded the motherhouse in Annecy at a place called La Feuilette. The house became a house of prayer and study. In this house the young religious received their formation for the apostolic and Salesian life . The new community was recognized under civil law on October 15, 1838 . In this recognition it was determined that the new congregation should be named "Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales". On October 24, 1838 , the missionaries of St. Francis of Sales by Pope Gregory XVI. officially recognized for the entire Church.

Pierre-Marie Mermier founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales for the church mission, the mission in other countries and for the education of the youth. His missionary zeal led him to ask the Pope for a mission area abroad. The Pope then gave him a huge missionary area in India, which Mermier accepted, although his congregation was still in its infancy at the time and only eleven members had made profession . With regard to upbringing, Mermier was of the opinion that the educator should be mild as a mother to his students and wise as a father. In 1856 Mermier took over the direction of the College of Évian and in 1857 of Melan.

In Chavanod he met Claudine Echernier. This woman had promised in 1837 that she would live a humble, humble life in the service of the poor. With the help of Pierre-Marie Mermier, in 1839 she founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross of Chavanod, which was dedicated to the education of poor girls.

The last years of life

Between 1828 and 1857 , Pierre-Marie Mermier personally carried out ninety community missions. He believed the sermon was the primary means of preaching the word of God. He himself gave very well prepared sermons, spoke with deep faith and great persuasiveness. He used a fatherly tone and showed benevolent understanding for sinners, just like his example, St. Francis de Sales. He led his missionaries to live a life of kind and gracious charity. He placed his Congregation under the protection of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows , which for him expressed a very Salesian way of devotion to Mary.

Despite his age of 67, Mermier took over the parish of Pougny as pastor on June 26, 1857 . There he fell ill and came back to La Feuillette. His eyesight and his spiritual agility decreased more and more. When he was feeling a little better, he went on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of La Salette in July 1859 . On June 6, 1860 , he suffered a severe stroke and became completely blind . On August 10, 1862 , Pierre-Marie Mermier fell and suffered a double fracture on his right leg. He died on September 30, 1862.

Web links

• Missionaries of St. Franz von Sales Official website in English
• Pedigree of the Salesian Family
• Lexicon on Francis de Sales and Salesian spirituality