BL. DANIEL BROTTIER, PRIEST - 28 FEBRUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY

Saints celebrated on the 28th of February

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

BL. DANIEL BROTTIER, PRIEST 

Blessed Daniel Brottier was born on September 7, 1876 in the Diocese of Blois, France. Aged 10, Blessed Daniel made his First Communion. The following year, he was enrolled in the minor seminary at Blois. In 1896, he did one year of military service. He was ordained a priest in 1899. 

HE JOINED THE CONGREGATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

Blessed Daniel joined the Congregation of the Holy Ghost in 1902. From 1903 to 1911, he worked as a missionary to Saint-Louis, Senegal. At the request of Bishop Jalabert, he conducted a fund-raising campaign to build a cathedral in Dakar, Senegal. It was called the "African Memorial Cathedral". Firmly putting the family of God above considerations of nationality or race, Blessed Daniel endorsed that this cathedral serves as a memory for both the Senegalese and the French, which it does to this day. The cathedral was consecrated on February 2, 1936, just a few weeks before his death.

THE FIRST WORLD WAR

During the First World War, Blessed Daniel was chaplain in the French army. He attributed his survival on the front lines to the intercession of his patron saint St Therese of Lisieux, and built a chapel for her at Auteuil when she was canonised. This was the first church dedicated to the saint worldwide.

THE ORPHAN APPRENTICES

After the war he administered the Orphan Apprentices of Auteuil. Particularly notable of Blessed Daniel's work with the orphans of Auteuil was his eagerness to expand to previously unexplored means of seeking financial support. An example of this is that he mastered the art of the camera and offered instruction on film making to the children. He even produced a popular film on the life of St Therese of Lisieux.

HIS BEATIFICATION

Blessed Daniel died on February 28, 1936 in Paris of natural causes. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in January 1983. 

(📷 Blessed Daniel while serving as military chaplain for the French Army during the World War I.)