Last week, I devoted my bulletin column to St. André Bessette, the only Holy Cross religious to be canonized a saint, since his feast day was earlier this month. In another week, we have another Holy Cross feast day coming up. A week from tomorrow (January 20th) is the feast day of Blessed Basil Moreau. (The term “blessed” designates that he has been beatified, which is the last step on the path to sainthood before someone is canonized and officially becomes a recognized saint. That means that Fr. Moreau is in need of one more miracle before, God willing, he is canonized.)
Basil Moreau was born in France just as the French Revolution was coming to a close. In the aftermath of the Revolution, the Catholic Church had been decimated. This also meant that the educational system had been decimated, especially in rural areas. Thus, Fr. Moreau became a diocesan priest at a time when people were in desperate need of a solid education, in the faith as well as in all other areas.
Fr. Moreau tackled the need for Christian formation by assembling a group of “auxiliary priests” who traveled from parish to parish to preach parish missions with the hope of re-evangelizing the people. He addressed the need for general education by assuming leadership of the Brothers of St. Joseph, a group of lay brothers that had been formed to found parish schools. In 1837, he combined the auxiliary priests with the Brothers of St. Joseph, and the Congregation of Holy Cross was born! Today, Holy Cross serves as “educators in the faith” all over the world, including here at Christ the King, where Holy Cross priests and brothers have staffed the parish since our foundation in 1933.
I think Fr. Moreau has a lot to say to us today. After all, the culture in which we live has a lot in common with post-Revolutionary France, especially the way in which so many people lack the basic Christian worldview that we took for granted in previous generations. Fr. Moreau offers us hope that we can bring the Lord into precisely this kind of culture, becoming men and women with hope to bring to a world in need.
Blessed Basil Moreau, pray for us.
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