Daniel Brottier

Blessed Daniel Brottier
Father Daniel Brottier served as military chaplain for the French in the First World War.
Born	September 7, 1876 La Ferté-Saint-Cyr, France
Died	February 28, 1936(1936-02-28) (aged 59) Paris
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church
Beatified	November 25, 1984 by Pope John Paul II
Feast	February 23

Blessed Daniel Jules Alexis Brottier, C.S.Sp. (September 7, 1876 – February 28, 1936) was a French Roman Catholic priest in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost. He was awarded the Croix de guerre and the Légion d'honneur for his services as a chaplain during World War I, did missionary work in Senegal, and administered an orphanage in Auteuil, a suburb of Paris. He was declared venerable in 1983, and beatified on November 25, 1984, by Pope John Paul II.

Biography

Early life

Daniel Brottier was born in La Ferté-Saint-Cyr, France on September 7, 1876, the second son of Jean-Baptiste Brottier—a coachman for the Marquis Durfort—and his wife Herminie (neé Bouthe).^[1] Signs of a priestly vocation were evident early in Brottier's life. A story from his childhood recounts that his mother asked him what he would like to be when he grew up. Daniel's answer was, "I won't be either a general or a pastry chef—I will be the Pope!" His mother reminded him that to be the pope, he would first have to become a priest.^[a] At the age of 10, Brottier made his First Communion, and enrolled a year later in the junior seminary at Blois.^[1] Brottier was ordained on October 22, 1899 and became a professor for three years at the college in Pontlevoy, France.^[1]

Missionary work in Africa

Determined to be a missionary, the young Father Brottier joined the Congregation of the Holy Ghost at Orly.^[2] He was thereafter sent as a vicar to a parish in Saint-Louis, Senegal in 1903, disappointed that he had been assigned to a city rather than the rough country.^[3] The zealous Brottier immediately set to work. He gave weekly instructions to secondary school students, founded a center for child welfare, and published a parish bulletin, The Echo of St. Louis.^[3] His health suffered from the climate, however, and he spent a six-month period of convalescence in France in 1906.^[1] His poor health would force him to return to France once again and for good in 1911.^[2]

After his final departure from Senegal, Brottier spent a brief but personally significant stay at the Trappist monastery at Lérins—the same island monastery associated with Saint Patrick's preparation for evangelization in Ireland. Brottier had been feeling called to a more contemplative life than he had been living as a missionary in Africa, but the stay at Lérins rid him of that idea. As Brottier wrote to his sisters, "I lived unforgettable hours in the recollection of the cloister in an atmosphere of sacrifice and immolation. But the lack of sleep, and especially of food, wore me down, and after a few days I had to yield to the evidence: I was not made for this kind of life".^[3]

Even after he had left Senegal, Brottier was asked by Bishop Hyacinthe Jalabert, the Apostolic Vicar of Senegal, to conduct a fund-raising campaign to build a cathedral in Dakar.^[1][2] To this end, Brottier was appointed the vicar general of Dakar, though he was residing in Paris.^[3] Brottier focused on this project for seven years over two periods (i.e., 1911–1914 and 1919–1923), the interlude being a result of the First World War.^[3] The so-called "African Memorial Cathedral" was consecrated on February 2, 1936, just a few weeks before Brottier's death.^[2]

My secret is this: help yourself and heaven will help you. ... I have no other secret. If the good God worked miracles [at Auteuil], through Thérèse's intercession, I think I can say in all justice that we did everything, humanly speaking, to be deserving, and that they were the divine reward of our work, prayers and trust in providence.

—Daniel Brottier^[3]

Service during World War I

At the outbreak of the First World War, Father Brottier became a volunteer chaplain for France's 121st Infantry Regiment.^[1] He was cited six times for bravery, and awarded the Croix de guerre and the Légion d'honneur; he attributed his survival on the front lines to the intercession of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, and built a chapel for her at Auteuil when she was canonized—the first church dedicated to the saint.^[2][4] After the war, Brottier founded the National Union of Servicemen (L'Union Nationale des Combattants), an organization of French veterans of various conflicts.^[1]

Work with the orphans of Auteuil

In November 1923, the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, Louis-Ernest Dubois, asked the Congregation of the Holy Ghost to assume charge of an orphanage in an arrondissement of Paris, the Orphan Apprentices of Auteuil.^[1] Father Brottier, with his associate chaplain Yves Pichon, labored for thirteen years to expand the facilities and worked for the welfare of the orphans. He dedicated his work to two aims: to save the most poor and unfortunate, and to dedicate those efforts to the intercession of Saint Thérèse.^[1] In 1933, Brottier pioneered a program that placed the children in the households of Catholic paysans associated with the Orphan Apprentices. The fruit of his labors at Auteuil included the construction of workshops, opening a printing house and a cinema, and launching magazines. At the time of his arrival, the facility was in charge of 140 orphans; when Brottier died, there were more than 1400.^[1]

Particularly notable of Brottier's work with the orphans of Auteuil, and perhaps of his work in general, was his eagerness to expand to previously unexplored means of seeking financial support. An example of this is that he mastered the art of the camera and offered instruction on film making to the children. He even produced a popular film on the life of his personal patron, Saint Thérèse.^[3]

Father Brottier died on February 28, 1936 in the Hospital of Saint Joseph in Paris.^[1] Fifteen thousand Parisians attended his funeral mass, at which Cardinal Jean Verdier preached the homily.^[2] He was buried in the Chapel of St. Thérèse in Auteuil on April 5, 1936.^[1]

A young Father Brottier in 1903, ready to set out for Senegal, posed for a picture with his parents, Jean-Baptiste and Herminie

Veneration

Father Brottier was declared venerable on January 13, 1983 with a decree of heroic virtue by Pope John Paul II. He was beatified on November 25, 1984 in Rome.^[2] The cause for his canonization was greatly advanced by the claim, in 1962, that his body was as incorrupt as on the day of his burial.^[3] In addition, many miracles have been attributed to his intercession.^[3] His feast day is February 23.

A residence hall at Duquesne University—an American university founded and administered by the Holy Ghost Fathers—is named Brottier Hall in memory of Blessed Daniel Brottier.^[5]

Selected bibliography

• Delgado, Pierre (1946). Un grand ami des enfants. Le père Brottier. Paris.  (French)
• Cristiani, Léon (1963). Le Serviteur de Dieu, Daniel Brottier. France-Empire.  (French)
• Gilbert, Alphonse (2000). Le bienheureux Daniel Brottier. Paris: Sarment-Fayard. ISBN 2866792858.  (French)
• Grach, Antoine (2006). Le bienheureux père Daniel Brottier, 1876-1936. Du Sénégal à l'œuvre d'Auteuil. Karthala. ISBN 2845867913.  (French)
• O'Carroll, Michael (1944). Disciples of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (On Pope Pius XI., Marie, sister of Saint Theresa, and Daniel Brottier. With portraits). Dublin: Catholic Truth Society of Ireland.  (English)
• Pichon, Yves (1954). Le Père Brottier, 1876–1936. L'Oeuvre d'Auteuil.  (French)
• Vast, Jean (1984). Père Daniel Brottier : missionnaire à Saint-Louis du Sénégal. Saint-Louis: Unir.  (French)

Notes

• ¹ In French, the story runs as follows. MOTHER: Que seras-tu plus tard? — DANIEL: Plus tard, maman je ne serai ni patissier ni général, je serai pape! — MOTHER: Pour devenir Pape, il faut devenir prêtre. — DANIEL: Et bien je serai prêtre.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} "Chronologie". Fondation D'Auteuil. 2009. http://daniel.brottier.blog.fondation-auteuil.org/pere-brottier/2009-25e-anniversaire-de-la-beatification/. Retrieved March 31, 2010.  (French)
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Jones, Terry. "Blessed Daniel Brottier". Patron Saints Index. http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/saintd03.htm. Retrieved March 31, 2010. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Mushi, Gaudence. "Blessed Daniel Brottier (1876-1936)". The Spiritans. Spiritan Generalate. http://www.spiritanworld.net/wwwroot/cssphistmission/D.Brottier%20.html. Retrieved March 31, 2010. 
4. ^ Ansart, Stéphane (March 1, 2006). "Les saints du 28 février". http://pagesperso-orange.fr/ansart/Sanctoral/Annee/0228.htm. Retrieved March 31, 2010.  (French)
5. ^ "Life in Brottier Hall". Office of Residence Life. Duquesne University. http://www.duq.edu/residence-life/living-learning-centers/brottier/index.cfm. Retrieved March 31, 2010. 

External links

• Saint of the Day feature from AmericanCatholic.org (by Leonard Foley, O.F.M.)

Persondata
Name	Brottier, Daniel
Alternative names
Short description	Catholic priest and beatus
Date of birth	7 September 1876
Place of birth	La Ferté-Saint-Cyr, France
Date of death	28 February 1936
Place of death	Paris, France