A spiritual charism as a legacy

St. John Francis Regis

A member of the Society of Jesus, St John Francis Regis was one of the greatest preachers of the 17th century. He travelled throughout the Velay, Vivarais and Forez regions to evangelise the countryside. He died of exhaustion and cold in 1640, while on a mission in Lalouvesc, a small village that quickly became a place of pilgrimage.

Father Terme was deeply devoted to this saint, whose missionary zeal inspired him. He therefore placed the small congregation he founded in Aps in 1821 under his patronage: “The great St. Regis will protect you, it is his business.” In 1824, at his request, he was chosen by the bishop to be part of a group of missionary priests responsible for welcoming pilgrims to Lalouvesc during the summer and travelling through the countryside the rest of the year on evangelisation missions.

In this context, he wrote a book dedicated to the saint, “which contains a summary of the saint’s life; what pilgrims who come to pray to him must do to merit his protection; a large number of miracles performed at his tomb; and a number of prayers” (Sister Pacifique). Perhaps this corresponds to a brochure from 1827: “The Pilgrimage of St. John Francis Regis to Lalouvesc, by a missionary of St. Régis” (which mentions the spiritual retreat house of the Sisters of St. Regis). In any case, large excerpts from this brochure are reproduced in another dated 1845, after Father Terme’s death, but bearing “Etienne (Stephen)” as the author’s name.

Mother Thérèse shared this devotion with all her sisters. Together, they prayed novenas to St. Regis, notably in 1867 to ask for an improvement in the health of Mother Stephanie Dambuent. Mother Thérèse commented on 21 July: “Could he be indifferent to the prayers of his daughters, he who performs so many miracles for all those who have recourse to his intercession? I am determined not to stop pestering him.”

In 1879, celebrated as she was every year on 15 October – the feast day of St Teresa of Avila – she received this portrait of St Regis accompanied by relics of the saint. On 19 October, she thanked her correspondent, Mother Marguerite de Fraix, superior of the community of Lalouvesc, for giving it to her: “Thank you again for the beautiful and precious image of Saint Regis, which you were kind enough to give up for me.” And two days later, to thank another of her sisters, Mother d’Esparbès, for the wishes she had sent her, Mother Thérèse sent her the same portrait of St. Regis, on the back of which she wrote in her own hand: “Long live Jesus, long live his cross” (in memory of a religious who had recently passed away). It was a way of sharing, passing on and circulating the blessings and graces to be obtained by praying to the Saint of Lalouvesc.

Mother Thérèse repeated this gesture in 1881: she sent a new relic of St. Regis, received from Mother de Fraix, to her nephew, a priest.