“The Picpus Fathers in Montgeron” (1920-2020)
100 years of presence and service
by Fr. Gabriel Phalip sscc
(160 pp., Ed. Community of Montgeron, 2020)
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Fr. Gabriel Phalip, Superior in Montgeron, has just published a new book, beautifully illustrated, to mark the occasion of the centenary of the house in Montgeron.
The author begins by presenting the Congregation. This allows the reader to grasp what was at the source of the vocation and commitment of the religious who passed through this house, and who are present there today.
In this way, Father Gabriel takes us into the heart of the history of this community which was founded in 1920 for the formation of novices. While rendering services to the Diocese, for many years the house has also been the centre for the work of enthrone-ment. Today, the community, which is also host to the Provincial Services, continues to serve the local Church and offers accommodation to young students, thus pursuing its characteristic mission of hospitality.
In his book, Father Gabriel speaks about a very great figure, Father Paul Marie Julliotte.
Born in 1867 in Brunoy, Fr. Paul Marie had heard about Father Damien of Molokaï during his adolescence, and imagined himself joining him. Though he began working at Christofle as a chiseller, he chose to enter the Seminary of Versailles in 1886 and was ordained for this diocese in 1893.
In the Seminary, he became acquainted with the Congregation who was responsible for the seminary. It was therefore natural for him to seek to enter, in order to continue Damien's work, desiring "to die a leper in the service of lepers". Paul Marie made profession in Villepinte in October 1900. The following year, he went to the island of Molokai, full of "an intimate and incommunicable joy". In Kalawao, he developed all his talents, studied the leprosy bacillus, took photographs, rebuilt the church after the fire of 1906...
Paul Marie was then appointed Provincial Superior of the Hawaiian Islands and living in Honolulu. In 1912, he participated in the General Chapter and accepted, not without sacrifice, to take care of the Chapelle Sainte Cécile in Paris, in the XXe, which would later become the parish of Saint Gabriel. In 1918, Father Paul Marie was appointed Novice Master in Spain. He founded the house in Montgeron in 1920, and transferred the novitiate there.
In 1923, Fr. Paul Marie was appointed to Haïnan, China where he carried out a magnificent apostolate, building chapels, a school, a dispensary... From 1936 to 1939, he was Apostolic Prefect and founded a feminine and native religious congregation. He also thought of resuming his apostolate among the lepers... All this took place in a difficult context, in a "close to boiling over China", where priests had been murdered. In 1952, the situation became more complicated, the mission was confiscated and one father was expelled. Father Julliotte was forced to leave China in January 1953. He returned to Montgeron and then devoted his time to the novices as confessor. He died on 30 August 1956.
Father Paul Marie Julliotte was a formidable spiritual and missionary figure for our Congregation and for the diocese of Évry, a figure who deserves to be better known. He can be an inspiration for the Congregation was it seeks to renew the inner self and find new ways of being and serving in the Church.
Father Paul Marie Julliotte in Kalawao (Molokai Island)
11/15/2020