Every day of the year, retired Viatorians living in the Province Center offer up a prayer
Fr. Robert Bolser, CSV, offers morning Mass with the help of Br. Don Houde, CSV, left
during their morning Mass for the beatification of their founder, Fr. Louis Querbes.
Even now, exactly 10 years after Fr. Querbes was declared a “Servant of God” in Lyons, France, and the beatification process officially began, Viatorians continue to have faith.
From Lyons, documentation supporting his cause was transported to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome, in order to advance the process to the next step in the quest toward sainthood, to be named venerable.
Just last year, Fr. Alain Ambeault, CSV, provincial superior, said Fr. Querbes’ case was advancing. The position papers documenting his life and ministry, moved up and now will be reviewed by the Special Congress of Theological Consultants in November, 2017 — in advance of the 225th anniversary of the birth of Fr. Querbes, to be celebrated in 2018.
Viatorians gather at the grave of Fr. Louis Querbes in Vourles, in 2009
Back in 2007, on the day Fr. Querbes was named a Servant of God, Fr. Mark Francis, CSV, then superior general, celebrated a Mass in the church Fr. Querbes had built in Vourles, France.
“I am convinced Fr. Querbes is speaking to us today,” Fr. Francis said. “He is telling us to be confident in the future; that our faith in Christ can help us to overcome any obstacle. God is with us!”