THE LIFE AND SPIRITUALITY OF BLESSED FREDERIC JANSSOONE

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

On August 5, the Church in Canada celebrates the life and witness of Blessed Frederic Janssoone. Born in 1838 in the North of France, he entered the novitiate of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor in 1864 in Amiens and was ordained a priest in 1870. In 1881, Father Frederic made his first trip to Canada to establish an annual collection for the Holy Places and to submit to the Bishops a plan for the Commissariat for the Holy Land in Canada. He paved the way for the reestablishment in Canada of the Order of Friars Minor, which had ceased to exist with the death of the last Recollet in 1812. Father Frederic travelled from one parish to another in several Quebec dioceses, and went door-to-door selling his works. The profit from his sales went toward the establishment of several communities of consecrated life: the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, the Poor Clares, the Franciscans of Trois-Rivières, and the Sister Adorers of the Precious Blood of Joliette. He died of stomach cancer in Montreal on August 4, 1916. Father Frederic is buried in Trois-Rivières. He was beatified by Saint John Paul II on September 25, 1988.

The following outline of his life and spirituality is part of an initiative by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) to celebrate the Year of Consecrated Life. The CCCB English Sector Office for Evangelization and Catechesis has developed catechetical resources on the life and spirituality of Blessed Frederic Janssoone.

Link to the biography of Blessed Frederic Janssoone (PDF)
Link to catechetical resources in English
Link to the website of Blessed Frederic Janssoone