FONQUERLE Fernand (Brother) - France

Religious of Betharram and friends, it is Brother Fernand Fonquerle who assembles us here. He assembles us in this Chapel where he used to come often to play the organ during the prayers of the faithful. Singing and music were generally his department, as well as love of the liturgy, even with some fragments of a rubric. This can be easily explained by the time he spent in a Benedictine monastery. Brother Fernand put his love for music at the service of Christian communities living next door to Betharram, especially the Montaut parish where he directed the choral for long years and where he used to go willingly, most times on foot.
Other parishes called on him too for help with catechism, prayer groups, and Senior Citizens Groups. Here we are thinking about the parishes of Bordes, Lestelle and Montaut. It did him a world of good and at the same time he rendered great services.
He nourished his faith, drawn from the spirituality of St Michael Garicoits, within his religious community; for a long time at Betharram but also at Sarrence and Pau. He was also in contact with other places of prayer and pilgrimage, for example Paray le Monial; every year for the feast of the Sacred Heart, he used to get us the programme ordered especially from Paray le Monial.
As a Religious-Brother he lived in our midst, with his weaknesses and strengths, just like any one of us! Recently, physical and moral suffering took its toll on him. In spite of all that, often a smile would light up his face making a lasting impression on all who approached him.
He died quite suddenly, and after only a few hours in hospital. He was our brother, and as such we shall keep him in our prayers.

Firmin Bourguinat, scj

I was lucky to have had good working relation with Brother Fernand. I found that he wa a man who felt suffocated, full of fears and scars; despite a certain fragility he was capable of showing great brotherly care and attention, of sharing his joy in the service of the Lord, of praising Him in song and music. He loved the Divine Office and all the lovely celebrations. Brother Fernand was marked by his experience in a monastic community before entering our Congregation.

Perhaps those who knew Brother Fernand will have discovered how God calls his followers in the heart of their fragility. “Nothing therefore can come between us and the love of Christ, even if we are troubled and worried, or are being persecuted...... These are the trials through which we triumph, by the power of Him who loved us”. (Rom 8, 35-37). God loves all mankind just as he is. Sometimes God carries and supports him in the midst of his fickleness, his doubts and his weaknesses. “Come to me all you who labour and I will give you rest” says Jesus to us in the Gospel chosen for this funeral. God chose the path of weakness to prove his great love for mankind; Jesus chose our human condition to the extent of undergoing terrible suffering and a shameful death.

Religious Life is not a path of fulfilment by everything which is powerful, strong or brilliant. No, Religious Life is the humble response to God’s call inviting us to leave everything for the sake of the Kingdom. It is a response which engages the whole person with all his weaknesses, a response looking for consistency in life, a conversion to be resumed day after day, the total gift of one’s life in the following of Christ poor, chaste and obedient. This was Brother Fernand’s experience and now he is enjoying that inner peace which he sought throughout his whole life.

Religious Life is still the offering of one’s whole life to the Lord. Prayer and praise form an essential part of this life so as to grow in that deep peace with the Master of the Interior Life, Jesus Christ. “Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, I praise you; what you have hidden from the wise and the sage you have revealed to these little ones”. Brother Fernand certainly tried to offer his life as a prayer of praise and intercession, by his availability for playing the organ to accompany the hymns during the celebrations at the sanctuaries including Lestelle and Montaut.

“Nothing can separate us from the love of God, in Jesus Christ, our Lord”, says St Paul. What hope is there for us this evening! What hope to know that a whole life is worth something in God’s eyes! What a hope to know that a whole life of love for God cannot be lost in the presence of death! God’s love is stronger than anything else. God’s love has overcome death. What a source of consolation this is for us as we try to conform our lives to that of Christ, whatever our vocation may be.

God our Father, you are the source of Life and Love. We thank you for Brother Fernand’s life; you gave us your Son, he is helping us to have confidence for it is in our weaknesses that we have the strength to progress, to get up again, and to always believe that life is stronger than death. We now present our Brother Fernand to you and ask you to receive him into your peace and your light for all eternity. Amen

Jean-Dominique Delgue, scj