“He came from La Capelle with a vast accumulation of knowledge seldom found in a young priest”
-Bishop Charles Binet
On August 12, we remember the death of our founder, Fr. Leo John Dehon. He died in Brussels on August 12, 1925.
“What a prominent place this city of St. Quentin had in the life of the octogenarian, of the great French citizen, of the excellent priest whom we mourn!” said Bishop Charles Binet in his eulogy for the founder. “He came from La Capelle with a vast accumulation of knowledge seldom found in a young priest. But like all good priests, he did not shut himself up in the ivory tower of his intellectual superiority, but threw himself wholeheartedly into work, especially among laborers.
“What matter of importance was undertaken in the field of religion at St. Quentin for 20 years without Fr. Dehon having his hand and also his heart in it? In his case, the man of action was never at odds with the man of learning. I wonder whether Leo XIII’s encyclical, Rerum Novarum, ever knew a more zealous apostle.
“But Fr. Dehon’s best loved undertaking was undoubtedly St. John’s College. With how much veneration, how much warmth and pious respect Fr. Dehon’s former pupils speak of him. Must one not be very great of heart to merit so much love?”
Pictured at the top of the page with missionaries in Brazil, Fr. Leo John Dehon was 82 when he died.
