Jewels from Jane, January 30

January 30, 1791

"Mother Saint John [Fontbonne] was alarmed when she saw Father Ollier [Pastor at the parish church in Monistrol] embracing the new ideas and seeking to draw with him the priests of his own city and those of the neighboring villages. Father Ollier was a learned; intelligent man but he was consumed with ambition. On December 28, 1790, he announced from the pulpit that he would take the constitutional oath imposed on the clergy. Rome had not yet spoken, and many very good priests, considering the oath as a simple formality, thought they could pronounce it with or without restriction.

"The Civil Constitution of the clergy separated the church of France from papal authority. It was no longer the Pope who appointed bishops; it was the Assembly of the Department. It was no longer the bishop who named the rectors; it was the Assembly of the district. It was no longer Rome which settled conflicts between the priests and the faithful; it was the civil authority. No doubt about it, the law was schismatic.

"Bishop de Gallard, in December, 1790, wrote an admirable pastoral letter, in which he expressed his motives for refusing to take the oath. He ended with these words: 'I have told it respectfully, but I have had to tell it with all the zeal and liberty you should expect from a bishop.'

"This letter should have changed the dispositions of Father Ollier. It had no effect. On Sunday, January 30, 1791, he took the constitutional oath publicly in the church and, by his advice and example, drew several priests of the city into the schism....

"Mother Saint John's soul was filled with sadness. She felt that a great misfortune threatened the parish and the community. She was not mistaken."

Mother St. John and the other sisters heard while they were in prison that “On June 6, 1794 [Ollier] was arrested and taken to Paris [having been accused of embezzlement]. On July 16 he was condemned to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal and was guillotined the same day.”

From Mother Saint John Fontbonne: A Biography

Translation adapted from the original French edition by a Sister of Saint Joseph, Brentwood, New York