From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
5 July =E2=80=93 Blessed Joseph Boissel OMI
=C2 Priest and Martyr, Missionary of the Missionary Oblates of Mary
Immaculate, Founded by St Eugene de Mazenod, Apostle of sick =E2=80=93 born=
on
20 December 1909 in Le Loroux, Ille-et-Vilaine, of the Archdiocese of
Rennes , in Brittany France and died by being shot on 5 July 1969 on
the road near Hat I-Et, Bolikhamxay, Laos, aged 59. He is one of the
Seventeen Martyrs of Laos (including ten French, six Laotians and an
Italian), whose combined Feast day is 16 November.
Joseph Boissel was born 20 December 1909 in the Marches of Brittany
(France), in the hamlet of La Tiolais, outside the town of Loroux.
into a family of modest farmers and became fatherless at the age of
14. He entered the Minor Seminary of the Oblates of Marie-Immaculate.
His masters found him =E2=80=9Cconscientious, very devoted, honest and fran= k=E2=80=9D
and especially =E2=80=9Cvery attached to his vocation.=E2=80=9D He was Orda= ined a
Priest on 4 July 1937.
Fr Joseph received his orders to the brand new mission of Laos, begun
less than two years earlier. He arrived in Laos in 1938.
In March 1945, the Japanese hit Laos. On 1 June Fr Joseph Boissel was
captured with his companion Father Vincent Le Calvez and the Apostolic
Prefect, Msgr Jean Mazoyer, OMI. All three were taken to Vinh,
Vietnam, where they were held among a hostile population.=C2 Back in
Laos in 1946, Joseph again found his Tran Ninh peoples and had contact
with the Hmong.
On Saturday, 5 July 1969, he decided to go to Hat I-=C3=8At, a village of Kmhmu' refugees a good 20 kilometers from Paksane, going up along t=
he
River Nam San. Because of the lack of security, that year he had been
unable to go there to administer the Sacraments, for several months.
The Catechist Andr=C3=A9 Van was there and he needed to know that he was supported.
Setting out around four in the afternoon, he took two young Laotian
Oblate Missionaries with him as usual, they were to help him with the
visits, the care of the sick and the religious service.
The following is told by one of the two passengers, the only survivor
able to do so:
Two or three kilometers before arriving at the village, at a bend in
the road, I heard a burst of gunfire aimed at us. The tires blew out
and I was hit in the hand. I saw a red flag moving in the forest
bordering our route. A second burst of gunfire and Th=C3=A9r=C3=A8se was hi=
t in
the head, since I am smaller, the bullets did not hit me. The firing
came from the left, on the driver's side.
Father Boissel was hit in the head =E2=80=93 near the mouth and in the skul=
l.
The jeep went into a ditch, turned over on us and burst into flames.
Father's glasses were broken, he died on the spot=E2=80=A6 His big =
eyes were
open. All three of us were completely covered with blood.
Father Boissel was dead, Th=C3=A9r=C3=A8se was unconscious. I was in a huge daze=E2=80=A6 not moving=E2=80=A6 like dead. But I saw three young Vietname=
se soldiers
going around the vehicle three times. One said: =E2=80=9CLet's kill=
them!=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93
=E2=80=9CLet's burn the vehicle and its occupants!=E2=80=9D They mo=
ved away and threw
a grenade at the car. The grenade exploded =E2=80=93 it was the explosions
that caused our injuries. I said, =E2=80=9CO Lord!=E2=80=9D but veil of dar= kness came
over me=E2=80=A6
I don't know how long we stayed like that in the car. But Th=C3=A9r=
=C3=A8se came
to first. She pushed me to get out=E2=80=A6 The grenade had deafened us=E2= =80=A6 It
was difficult for us to communicate, to understand one another=E2=80=A6 Bot=
h
of us prayed to the Lord: =E2=80=9CIf you still need us=E2=80=A6 send someo=
ne to help
us.=E2=80=9D We went to sleep along the road. I put my hand on Th=C3=A9r=C3= =A8se's heart
and she put hers on my heart =E2=80=93 united in suffering.
Oh, we had to wait a long time, from 4:30 until about 9:30. Finally,
some people arrived to pick us up. Father's body had been burned to
the point that his face was totally unrecognisable. Th=C3=A9r=C3=A8se, hit =
in
the head, remained mentally handicapped as a result of the attack. She
really has no happiness in living.=E2=80=9D
Fr Joseph was Beatified on 11 December 2016 by Pope Francis. The
recognition was celebrated in Laos, presided by Cardinal Angelo Amato.
https://anastpaul.com/2020/07/05/
Quotes by Bl. Julian of Norwich on wrath
=E2=80=9CFor I saw no wrath except on man's side, and He forgives that in u=
s,
for wrath is nothing else but a perversity and an opposition to peace
and to love=E2=80=A6we, because of sin and miserableness, have in us a wrat=
h
and a continuing opposition to peace and to love.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=9CI saw truthfully that our Lord was never angry, nor ever shall be,
for he is God: He is good, He is life, He is truth, He is love, He is
peace; and His power, His wisdom, His love, and His unity do not allow
Him to be angry (For I saw truly that it is against the character of
His power to be angry, and against the character of His wisdom, and
against the character of His goodness). God is the goodness that
cannot be angry, for He is nothing but goodness.=E2=80=9D
And this too: =E2=80=9C=E2=80=A6when I saw all this, it was necessary to ag= ree that
the mercy of God and the forgiveness is in order to abate and consume
our wrath, not His.=E2=80=9D
Bible Quote:
Therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God
for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions
and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God's
righteous judgment so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom
of God, for which indeed you are suffering."=C2 [2 Thes 1:4,5,] DRB
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An act of oblation:
O Jesus, humbled in the Eucharist to be the source and center of
charity of the Catholic Church and the strength of souls, we offer
Thee our prayers, our actions, our sufferings in behalf of Thy
priests, to the end that each day may behold the wider extension of
the Kingdom of Thy Sacred Heart. Amen.
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)