My Dear Sisters

My Dear Sisters, Life of Bl. Jean-Joseph Lataste, OP, Apostle to Prisoners (1832-1869 by Fr. Jean-Marie Gueullette, OP, translated by Fr. George G. Christian, OP

Author: Fr. Jean-Marie Gueullette, OP
Genre: Biography
Date Published:  Les Editionos Du Cerf, www.editionsducerf.fr, Paris 2012.  Translated 2018 by Fr. George G. Christian, OP, New Hope Publications, New Hope Kentucky, www.newhope-ky.org
Number of Pages: 260 softcover
Print Price: $22.95

This 2018 translation of the recently beatified Fr. M. Jean-Joseph Lataste, OP, the spiritual father of the Dominican Sisters of Bethany, was written by the Vice-Postulator of his cause for beatification, Fr. Jean-Marie Gueullette, OP.  Gueullette tells Fr. Lataste’s life, from birth to death in a balanced and thorough account and is very much worth reading for fans of Catholic biographies, and those involved in the Catholic chaplaincies inside prisons. The author’s rendering of the intellectual and social milieu of the times adds understanding to the situations Fr. Lataste had to deal with.  Fr. Lataste was a prophet, and like all prophets, his ideas were not universally welcomed, not even by his order.  But you can’t hold down the Holy Spirit, and God’s will prevails.

Fr. Lataste was all about mercy and redemption.  He is known as the "Apostle of Prisons."  He was a French Dominican who lived in the 19th century.  As a new preacher, he was assigned to preach a retreat in a women's prison.  The women were used to sermons that condemned them for their crimes and emphasized their unworthiness.  But Pere Lataste's sermon spoke of God's love.

           My dear sisters!
           I am not sure whether you noticed: in the beginning, what I called you: My dear sisters,--
          My dear sisters!  Do you understand that? After all, what are you to me? P. 98

The women were surprised.  They came into the chapel with their heads down, disgraced women who were too ashamed to look a priest in the eyes.  But as the good friar spoke of God's love, then one by one their heads popped up.  Their expressions changed from surprise, to attentive, to hopeful, to being, oh, so very open.

Nota Bene: this is Lataste spirituality.  He tells the inmates that they are equal to nuns  and monks. Appreciating women as his sisters in Adam and in Jesus Christ, Fr. Lataste developed an idea absolutely original in the history of the Church…he ventured to formulate the notion of welcoming into religious life ex-prisoners.  God forgave them and they felt called to contemplative life. P. 232

    The community of Bethany was conceived in the heart of Fr. Lataste during adoration
     of the Blessed Sacrament in prison, while he was praying in the midst of inmates like
     a brother among his sisters and as he felt overwhelmed by the enthusiasm that
     filled the chapel.  P.233

This is the biography Fr. Gueullette relates. Although it is a scholarly work, written by an academic, it is very readable.  You learn not only about Fr. Lataste but about his innovative idea of prisoners becoming Dominican nuns.  His spirituality is all about God’s immense love and mercy.  Fr. Gueullette meticulously researched his biography and his intellectual scholarship adds credibility to this interesting new biography.