VERLEY Gabriel (Father) - France

Fr. Gabriel was born on 22 March 1928 at Haubourdin, in the North of France (close to Belgium). He was 11 years old when war broke out. To protect themselves from the bombardments, the family decided to go south; the town of Bagnères de Bigorre welcomed them. He became a student of the college of Betharram at the age of 13, and then the following year joined the apostolic school. His adolescence was lived in the drama of war, with all the restrictions! The year of the Founder’s canonization, in 1947, he entered the novitiate in Balarin where he celebrated his first religious profession on 3 November 1948. He joined the brand new house of formation, the scholasticate of Bel Sito in Floirac; he was part of therst group having lived all the philosophical and theological training in Gironde, along with the elders who came back from Bethlehem, driven out by the war.

He celebrated his perpetual profession on All Saints’ Day in 1952; he was ordained a priest on 29 June 1955 in the cathedral of Bordeaux. The day after his ordination, he was first appointed in the community of Saint-Palais, where he remained for 7 years, teaching at the school of Etchecopar. It is an important stage which allowed him to have a particular attachment to Saint Michael Garicoits, the community of Saint-Palais being in charge of Ibarre and the community living in the birth place of Father Auguste Etchecopar, the beloved disciple of the Founder.

In 1962, it was the departure for Beit Jala, seminary of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, directed by Betharram for nearly 50 years. In 1965, he was appointed superior of the community in Ivory Coast and director of the cours normal Saint-Michel (a teacher training school); then the following year the whole community moved to Katiola to take charge of the Saint John seminary. In 1970, the new provincial called him to Betharram, as assistant and responsible for vocational animation, of which he would keep an unceasing concern throughout his life. He was the linchpin of the provincial review “Entre-Nous” (lit.: “among us”); in 1979, he was appointed provincial superior for 4 years. In 1983, the new provincial appointed him as director to the college of Charles de Foucauld in Casablanca. He had the grace to receive Pope John Paul II during his visit to Morocco who celebrated the Eucharist in the school ground. He managed the delicate transfer of the college to the diocese after 40 years of Betharramite presence. In 1986, he was appointed rector of the sanctuaries of Bétharram, but 3 years later he was sent to Notre Dame of the Refuge in Anglet as chaplain of the Servants of Mary where he remained for 5 years. He was also entrusted by the diocese with the service of ecumenism.

In 1994, the new formation house in the Ivory Coast lacked elders, therefore, he was appointed to the Adiapodoumé community which was also responsible for the parish of Saint Bernard. There, he displayed his real talents in liturgical animation, in particular in accompanying the construction of the chapel dedicated to the one who was then “Blessed” Mary of Jesus Crucified. In 1998, hewas appointed director and superior of the Maison Neuve, retirement home here in Bétharram, and he organized the transition of the functioning of the retirement home to a lay director. In 2009, he was again sent to Anglet as superior of the community. In 2014, it was his return to Bétharram, first to the Notre Dame community for 3 years, then as a resident at the retirement home.

Father Gabriel finished his “course” on 27 November 2020 at the hospital of Lourdes without complaining of his illness, expressing the fewest possible demands on the healthcare staff. He was of that race of flying camp that Saint Michael Garicoits dreamed of. A witness of ever-readiness in obedience and daily commitment to carry out the will of God.