|
Blessed Br. Scubilion Rousseau |
 As
a devout young man in his native village in Burgundy, Jean Bernard
Rousseau was serving as a catechist when he was introduced to the
Brothers, who had just opened a school in a nearby town. He entered the
Paris novitiate in 1822. After ten years in elementary schools throughout
France, Brother Scubilion left France in 1833 to dedicate the remaining
thirty-four years of his life to the enslaved natives on the island of
Reunion in the Indian Ocean. Remembered as the "catechist of the
slaves," he inaugurated evening classes for them, which were well
attended, even after a long day of exhausting labor. He devised special
programs and techniques, suited to their needs and abilities, in order to
teach the essentials of Christian doctrine and morality, and prepare them
to receive the sacraments. He won them over by his kindly manner and his
respect for them. After the emancipation of the slaves in 1848, he
continued to care for them and to help them adapt to their new life of
freedom and responsibility. In the last years of his life, despite failing
health, he assisted the local pastor in visiting the sick, winning over
sinners, encouraging vocations, and even effecting what seemed to be
miraculous cures. At his death he was venerated everywhere on the island
as a saint.Born in Tharoiseau, France 21 March 1797 Entered the novitiate 24 December 1822 Died on the Island of Reunion 13 April 1867 Beatified 2 May 1989 |