The Apostle of Prisons, Pere Marie Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P. was ordained a priest 150 years ago, on February 8, 1863. Here are some of his impressions on that very day. These are compiled by Renata Commazind from the Resurrection Community in Casco, Maine.
Ordination to the Priesthood of Fr. Lataste – February 8,
1863 The Apostle of Prisons
Approaching his Ordination, Fr. Lataste still felt the fear
before the sanctity which such a mission demands. But he is not crushed anymore
by that call, as when he was young.; he trusts now in God’s mercy:
He writes;” Oh! How the power of the Priest is high,
marvelous, redoubtable! Also, when one often sees men at the hight of their
position of their work in the world, never though can a priest, as virtuous and
saintly he might be, ever be worthy of his mission, rigorously speaking; he
will always be less; what he will be, he will be, not by his merits but only by
the great mercy of God towards him.”
Pg. 100 of “Ces femmes qui etaaient mes
soeurs”
Book by Fr. Jean Marie Gueullette O.P.
February 8, 1863- Marseille - Br. Jean Joseph Lataste is
ordained to the Priesthood by Msg. Petagna, representing the Bsp. of Marseille.
In the Oratory of the Third Order Sisters of St. Dominic.
February 10.- Fr. Jean Joseph celebrates Mass for the first
time. It is the Commemoration of the suffering of Our Lord.
Febr. 11, - Feast of the Engagement of Mary and Joseph. Fr.
Lataste celebrates the second time ,Holy mass at the Grotto of St. Mary
Magdaleine at La St. Baume.
February 23, 1863 he writes to Mrs. Piron ( a good friend ) “ Yes, now I am a priest, a servant of God,
priest for all eternity. I leave it to you and your heart and piety to guess
what feelings were then in my soul and still are every day. Feelings of joy,
gratefulness, love, of total giving of myself to the will of God, who is so
good, so merciful, so wonderful toward his children, even to the weakest and
most unworthy. The 8th and 10th of Feb., are two days, which I will never
forget. My father and my oldest brother Theophil and the youngest of the three,
my brother Honore, were with me. The always pious and good Honore and the two
others were first uneasy, but then deeply touched. The light has not yet
touched their souls, but everything moved them: the dignity of the celebration,
the impression which a first Mass gives, especially in the presence of 80 Monks,
a day of a solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the fraternal welcome,
which they received, the intimate joy and the true fatherly affection which one
receives in a Cloister.” By Robert
and Claude Evers in “Apostle of Prisons”
