Today we celebrate the memorial of Blessed Daniel Brottier.

Daniel was born in France in 1876 and began his teaching profession after receiving his ordination. That did not please him for very long. Beyond the classroom, he wished to apply his enthusiasm for the gospel. He joined the Holy Spirit Congregation, which took him to Senegal in West Africa, and became a member. His health was declining after eight years there. After being compelled to leave Senegal, he returned to France and worked to raise money for building a new church there.

Daniel enlisted as a volunteer chaplain at the start of World War I and served at the front for four years. He did not back away from his obligations and often risked his life to care for the sick and dying. It was incredible that he spent 52 months in the thick of war without sustaining a single wound.

After the war, he assisted in starting a program for abandoned and orphaned kids in a suburb of Paris. He spent the last 13 years of his life there. Pope John Paul II only beatified him in Paris 48 years after his death in 1936.

After the war, he assisted in starting a program for abandoned and orphaned kids in a suburb of Paris. He spent the last 13 years of his life there. Almost 48 years after his death in 1936, Pope John Paul II had him beatified in Paris.

Source: franciscanmedia.org