«Blessed Antoine Chevrier: Following Jesus in his poverty»
Celebration of the 40th anniversary of the beatification 4 October 1986
On 4 October 1986, a celebration took place at the Eurexpo Park (Lyon), presided over by Pope St John Paul II, with Cardinal Decourtray serving as Archbishop of Lyon.
1. Cardinal Decourtray’s address to Pope John Paul II
Most Holy Father, on behalf of the Diocese of Lyon and the Prado community, I ask you to declare the Venerable Father Antoine Chevrier, a priest of the Diocese of Lyon and founder of the Prado, Blessed.
Antoine Chevrier was born in 1826 in the heart of the city of Lyon, near Place Bellecour. Ordained a priest in 1850, Father Chevrier spent his entire priestly ministry serving the poor in the suburbs of Lyon. It was there that he witnessed the extreme poverty of the working class. At Christmas 1856, whilst praying before the nativity scene, he felt called to «follow Our Lord Jesus Christ closely in order to work more effectively for the salvation of mankind».»
He sought advice from Jean-Marie Vianney, the Holy Curé of Ars, who encouraged him in his endeavour.
From 1860 onwards, in the former ballroom of the PRADO, he took in poor children for nearly twenty years, in an effort to turn them into «men and Christians».
He founded a spiritual family comprising secular priests, sisters and brothers, dedicated to the evangelisation of the poor, and to whom he proposed that they become «true disciples» of Christ: …Christ, constantly contemplated and imitated through a constant and intimate engagement with the Gospel – especially the Gospel of the manger and the cross – Christ, constantly received and offered in the Eucharist.
Just as Christ, the Word of God made flesh, sent by the Father into human life, so too, as Father Chevrier reminds us, the priest is called to reach out to people where they are, just as they are. Like Christ, the priest has a special concern for those who suffer most, for the forgotten, the despised and the excluded.
It was to the forgotten, the despised and the marginalised that Father Chevrier devoted the best of his time and his heart. And he did so out of love. Indeed, for the founder of the Prado, love for Christ cannot be separated from love for the poor. Therefore, the priest, as a privileged witness to this love, can only himself be poor – evangelically poor – amongst the poor.
Having devoted his entire life to others, he died on 2 October 1879, aged 53.
Cardinal Albert Decourtray
2. The declaration of beatification: «Blessed»
The Holy Father has declared Father Antoine CHEVRIER Blessed
We hereby declare that henceforth the Venerable Servant of God Antoine Chevrier,
A priest of the Diocese of Lyon and founder of the Prado, he may be called Blessed
«And you, Father Antoine Chevrier, guide us along the path of the Gospel. You are blessed! Your image rises and shines forth in the light of Jesus“ eight Beatitudes. This city of Lyon will call you blessed, for from the very day of your death it has already held you in high esteem. So too the Church, which venerates in you the ”little one»—exalted by Jesus above the learned—the priest, the apostle, the servant of the poor. Like Paul, seized by Christ, you lived forgetting what lay behind you, striving ever onwards. Yes, you are wholly turned towards the Future, towards the great future of all peoples in God. You ran towards the goal to win the prize that God calls us to receive on high, in Christ Jesus. It is the prize of love. It is Love!’
Homily by the Holy Father, Beatification of Father Antoine Chevrier (Lyon, 4 October 1986 at Eurexpo).
John Paul II : Dialogue with France: Homilies and Speeches by the Holy Father (Excerpts)
Summary of Pope John Paul II’s four-day visit to the Rhône-Alpes region.
Archive footage from the INA – Institut National de l’Audiovisuel – October 1986. At the Amphithéâtre des Trois Gaules, Eurexpo, Taizé, Paray-le-Monial, Gerland Stadium, Saint-Jean Cathedral and the Basilica of Fourvière.
Excerpts from Pope Francis’s address during his meeting with the Spiritual Family of El Prado.
«The poor have the right to hear about Jesus Christ. They have the right to the full Gospel.»
«I invite you to keep returning to the magnificent figure of your founder»
«A charisma that touches me personally»
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