Revolutionary Paris: Not an Ideal Educational Venue for a Missionary Studying Abroad
Paris in 1789 was far from an ideal setting for a Capuchin student to peacefully pursue his studies. Unfortunately, it was due to his superiors sending him to study languages in France that Brother Apollinaris of Posat, a 52-year-old Capuchin friar, met his tragic martyrdom on September 2, 1792. On that fateful day, Brother Apollinaris was not the only Catholic priest or religious person massacred in Paris, particularly at the Carmelite Priory and other detention centers across the city. Among the 191 Paris Martyrs of 1792, beatified by Pope Pius XI on October 17, 1926, were Brother Apollinaris of Posat, a Swiss Capuchin Friar Minor; Blessed John Francis Burte, a Conventual Franciscan; and Blessed Severin Girault, a Friar of the Franciscan Third Order Regular.
Raised by a Deserted Wife, Schooled by His Uncle, Educated by the Jesuits
Though a victim of the French Revolution, Brother Apollinaris of Posat was actually born in Switzerland on June 12, 1739, and baptized John James Morel. His birthplace was the village of Prรฉz-vers-Norรฉaz, near Fribourg, and his parents were John Morel and Mary Elizabeth Maรฎtre. John James was the second of three children. Before the third child was born, their father abandoned the family and emigrated abroad, leaving Mary Elizabeth to raise the children alone. John James’s uncle, Father Francis Joseph Morel, a parish curate, oversaw his early education, first at Prรฉz-vers-Norรฉaz and later at Belfaux, where Father Morel became parish priest in 1752.
From 1755 onwards, John James attended the Jesuit College of Saint Michael in Fribourg while lodging with his mother, who had become a professional midwife in the city. He excelled in his studies and graduated in 1762. In July of that year, he participated in a public debate on philosophical topics in front of a learned audience, gaining widespread approval. Due to his keen intelligence and piety, many contemporaries believed John James would become a Jesuit priest, but he had other plans.
John James Morel Becomes Brother Apollinaris of Posat, a Capuchin Priest
On October 24, 1763, John James entered the Capuchin novitiate at the friary of St. Anthony in Fribourg, taking the name Brother Apollinaris of Posat. After making his Solemn Profession a year later, Brother Apollinaris received the Minor Orders of Porter, Exorcist, Lector, and Acolyte and was ordained a priest at Bulle on September 22, 1764. From 1765 to 1769, he studied theology under Brother Hermann Martin of Reinach in Lucerne, where his academic performance was excellent. He publicly defended his thesis at Sion, in the canton of Valais, winning acclaim from many academics.
His Early Ministry as a Capuchin Preacher, Theology Lecturer, and Director of Formation
From 1769 to 1774, Brother Apollinaris undertook an itinerant preaching apostolate and served as a curate in various Swiss parishes, including brief stints in Sion, Porrentruy, Bulle, and Romont. In August 1774, he was appointed a lecturer at the Capuchins’ House of Theological Studies in Fribourg, where he also served as the Director of Capuchin Seminarians. During this period, he gave catechetical instruction to seminarians, young priests, and lay brothers in the fraternity. He also composed several treatises, one of which dealt with the relationship between philosophy and theology and was published posthumously in 1932. In 1780, he was appointed Vicar of the Sion Capuchin Fraternity and devoted himself once again to preaching.
A Much-Calumniated Catechist of the Youth
In 1781, Brother Apollinaris was sent as Vicar to the Capuchin Friary in Bulle. The mayor of Bulle asked him to instruct his two children in philosophy, a task Brother Apollinaris undertook in a small schoolhouse beside the friary. Other youngsters also attended this school, but sadly, many of his Capuchin confreres and some of the town's laypeople disapproved of his educational efforts. The brothers felt that school teaching disturbed the silence of the friary, while many lay opponents, political foes of the mayor, spread libelous rumors. To preserve peace, Brother Apollinaris requested a transfer to the Altdorf Friary, where his Novice Master was the Guardian. In 1785, he became the Director of a school attached to the friary at Stans and taught catechism to the children of the nearby village of Bรผren. His talents as a teacher attracted many young students, and his confessional always had a long queue. Despite his success, his apostolic activities aroused the suspicions of local enemies of the faith, who spread calumny about his teaching and attempted to undermine his moral reputation. Although the local mayor publicly supported Brother Apollinaris, the campaign against him became so intense that the Order's Ministers called him to account for himself. To avoid further difficulties, he was transferred to the Capuchin Fraternity of Lucerne on April 16, 1788.
Man Proposes, but God Disposes!
Shortly after his transfer, Brother Victorinus of Rennes, the Provincial Minister of the Capuchin Province of Brittany in France, happened to be passing through Lucerne. Hearing of Brother Apollinaris's hardships, he invited him to join the French Capuchins in their missionary work in Syria. Brother Apollinaris saw this as a providential opportunity. In the autumn of 1788, he traveled to Paris to learn Middle Eastern languages at the Marais Capuchin Friary. However, Paris was destined to become Brother Apollinaris's last field of apostolic activity and the altar of his sacrifice.
Ministry to German-Speaking Immigrants
Paris became Brother Apollinaris’s final mission field, where he ministered to over five thousand German speakers in the parish of Saint-Sulpice and served as chaplain to those incarcerated at Tournelle. When the Marais friary closed, he found accommodation in a layperson’s house and continued his ministry. Brother Apollinaris and the other priests of Saint-Sulpice refused to take the oath of loyalty to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. However, a baseless slander began to circulate in Paris, claiming that Brother Apollinaris had taken the oath. To clear his name, he published an article in L’Ami du Roi (The King’s Friend) on October 23, 1791, vehemently denying the accusation. He also composed a small treatise, Le Sรฉducteur Dรฉmasquรฉ (The Unmasked Seducer), in which he declared that obedience to the Church was equivalent to obeying the Holy Spirit and that “we must listen to the Church and not the Paris Town Hall.”
Subsequent Arrest and Detention as a Non-Jurist Priest
Brother Apollinaris's hard-line stance against the Civil Constitution of the Clergy enraged the authorities. On April 1, 1791, he had to leave the church of Saint-Sulpice and begin a clandestine ministry, taking refuge in the abandoned Meudon Capuchin Friary outside Paris. Eventually, he returned to the city and found lodging with a friend. On April 27, 1792, he wrote a letter to the Abbot of Altdorf, Dom Valentine Jann, expressing his readiness for martyrdom in a style reminiscent of Saint Paul the Apostle and Saint Ignatius of Antioch. “Rejoice with me,” he wrote, “join me in glorifying the Lord. We are amid insurmountable difficulties, but we do not succumb; we are exhausted, but do not despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; beaten, but not lost. Do not weep over me therefore. I am the wheat of Christ. It is necessary that I be ground by the teeth of the wild beast to become pure bread.” On the night of August 13, 1792, he administered the last sacraments to a dying man. On the morning of September 1, he celebrated Mass to prepare himself for martyrdom and then handed himself in to the authorities. Despite his insistence that he had never taken the oath of loyalty, he was immediately arrested and imprisoned in the church of the Carmelites, which was already crowded with detainees.
“These Priests Went to Their Deaths with the Same Joy as Someone Going to a Wedding!”
In late August and early September 1792, the Legislative Assembly dissolved into chaos, and the Paris Commune, led by the infamous George Danton, mobilized the ‘Sans-culottes,’ who acted as judge, jury, and executioner for the ‘Counter-Revolutionary’ clergy and religious. On August 31, 1792, a decree of deportation was issued to conceal a massacre already secretly planned for the following Sunday. On the afternoon of September 2, 1792, the ‘Sans-culottes’ thugs, who had already killed some forty clergy at the Carmelite Monastery, gathered the remaining prisoners in the church and conducted a mock trial. Each prisoner was asked if he had taken the oath; if the answer was ‘No,’ he was mercilessly executed. Among the 113 martyrs was Brother Apollinaris of Posat, who, it was reported, “went to his death with the same joy as someone going to a wedding.” He received the palm of martyrdom with a joyful heart and was beatified in 1926 by Pope Pius XI.
“There is a baptism I must receive and I look forward to the time of its arrival. If the seed of grain does not fall into the earth and die, it remains a single grain … As a man, I am afraid. As a Christian I hope. As a religious I rejoice. As shepherd of those five thousand souls I am jubilant because I have not taken the oath at all. We can do everything in him who strengthens us. All my enemies, my persecutors present, past and future, I embrace them and give them the kiss of peace as my greatest benefactors … Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! In truth, in truth I tell you, soaked with the blood of so many martyrs France will soon see a re-flowering of religion on her soil.” - Blessed Apollinaris of Posat
Prayer: O God, who by the glorious martyrdom of Blessed Apollinaris of Posat and his companions has given us an example of fidelity to Christ, grant that through their intercession, we may remain faithful to You and Your Holy Church. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.