THE
FORMER PRESBYTERY (The arrival of Fr. CHEVALIER - 1854)
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THE
FORMER PRESBYTERY (The arrival of Fr. CHEVALIER - 1854)
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History In 1764, the
town bought this building for a presbytery. The only remaining part of
the presbytery that was occupied by Fr. CHEVALIER is the N.W. corner which
acts as a buttress for the adjacent house. The new wing of the infant
school has now been built on the site. |
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Emile MAUGENEST was parish priest of ISSOUDUN from 1861-1871. Fr. CHEVALIER replaced him in 1872. Until 1880, he had his own room with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and he would work there in the mornings on his correspondence and writings. He went to the presbytery for his midday meal and stayed there until evening.
The expulsion
of Religious during the revolution. (the anticlerical
laws of 1880 and 1903)
From the 5 November 1880, after the first expulsion (Jules Ferry decree), Fr.
CHEVALIER's only residence was the presbytery. There he organised the affairs
of the Congregation, supported by a number of MSC curates. In 1907, the time
of the Inventory, the presbytery door was battered down and Fr. CHEVALIER was
expulsed. The following account was written by Fr. SADOUET who witnessed the
event.
21 January, 1907: Fr. Founder and his curates are expulsed from the presbytery.
"At about 8.00 in the morning, the police commissioner, Rouré, accompanied by
three policemen: Monjoin, Jouannet and Rosier, made his way to the presbytery.
He found the door closed. In spite of his summons the door remained closed.
At 2.00 p.m., he returned accompanied by a housebreaker, named Paris, who works
for M. Naudin the locksmith. After the three summonses which had no more effect
than those of the morning, the commissioner ordered Paris to break down the
door. He took a pole-axe and struck the door. Immediately the crowd cried: 'Down
with the thieves! Long live Fr. Chevalier!'. Finally the door gave way and the
commissioner soon found himself in the presence of Fr. Chevalier who was sitting
with De Bonneval, his curates, Le Boeuf - a journalist, and a young man called
Lucien Sadouet.
Fr. Chevalier protested strongly and M. de Bonneval and Fr. Michel did likewise.
The policemen, Jouanet and Rosier, bare headed and with tears in their eyes,
took hold of the armchair in which Fr. Chevalier was sitting and carried him
outside. The parish priest of Issoudun wept when he saw the debris from the
battered door and heard the crowd calling out to him. Fr. Chevalier was taken
to the "Rue Daridan" in M. de Bonneval's carriage while the crowd sang the 'Parce
Domine' and booed at the thieves. The curates were also expulsed. "
| The Congregation will become international because of these expulsions. The expulsed religious will be welcomed by other countries such as Holland, ... |
From the time of Fr. CHEVALIER
"Our little Society is not the work of man but of God. It came to birth in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, under the powerful protection of Mary" (Jules Chevalier).
Fr. CHEVALIER's
Faith Journey.
The two curates make
plans to begin a novena :
"I ve been dreaming of something similar for a long time. I'm with you in this,
so let's begin." (Maugenest)
"Right, but first we must be sure that it is God's will. We should speak first
to our good parish priest about it, as we would be starting the work in his
parish; if he agrees, that will be one step forward and then he can help us
when we approach the diocesan authorities. After that, as we have no resources
to start any work, and are close to the promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate
Conception, we will make a novena to the Immaculate Virgin, asking her as first
fruit of the incomparable honour to be conferrred on her, to obtain from the
heart of her divine Son a clear sign of his approval, together with the means
to set our project in motion ".
How
does this inspire us today ?
- Do we have faith
to move mountains? How attentive are we today to the "signs of the times"?
- How important is Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in our life ?
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THE FIRST SIGN |
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