Solemnities, Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials, and Traditional Dates of Commemoration
May 16. The Catholic Church commemorates 11 Saints today: 4 bishops, 1 bishop and confessor, 1 bishop and martyr, 2 abbots, 1 martyr, 1 religious, and 1 priest. Check the list given at Saints for the Month of May.
The lives of the Saints are interesting because they have lived the Christian life to a heroic degree. Spurred by the love of God and to serve Him in the Church, many of them in their young adulthood have chosen to enter religious life and/or the clerical state. However, what is true may be the opposite for others. It can happen that none of them chose to follow that direction at first. They may have led wayward lives at first before being converted to a life of grace with God. And there are a few who have not led a sinful life but chose to live a comfortable way of life. An example is the story of St. Andrew Hubert Fournet.
St. Andrew Hubert Fournet (ca. December 6, 1752-May 13, 1834 A.D.) or André Hubert, resisted his mother's desire for him to be a priest. But when he visited an uncle who was a priest in a desolate parish, he was inspired to enter religious life. So he studied, was ordained, and became his uncle's assistant. He became a parish priest and converted from a comfortable style of living to one of austerity and simplicity. When the French Revolution began and started to hound the French clergy, Andrew went into hiding in Spain. When Andrew returned, he had difficulty resuming his life as a pastor. However, when a concordat between Napoleon and the Holy See was signed in 1807 A.D., Andrew was able to found, together with St. Elizabeth Bichier, a congregation to whom he composed a rule for the religious life. St. Andrew Fournet devoted the rest of his life as confessor and spiritual adviser to the congregation he co-founded with St. Elizabeth Bichier. This congregation was dedicated to the education of children [1][2][3].
Andrew Fournet died on May 13, 1834. He was canonized in 1933 A.D.
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