The first companions of Michael Garicoits

At the end of the year 2017 and a gallery of portraits of Michael Garicoïts’ first companions, what should we retain? The NEF has introduced the very first disciples and in particular those who left for America. In telling the story of the beginnings, we realize that it is also made of human stories, sometimes just «little stories».

The founder does assure us: «First God created our work, it is holy; men could not have even begun it»; and he makes pray: «My God, look not at my sins, but at the Society your Sacred Heart has conceived and formed”. Of course many also took their part in building this community. The influence of Father Guimon is striking, to name but one; even though Father Garicoïts reproached him for a few things, including at the time of deciding on the mission in America. Yet the first companions did not always get what they wanted; the Catholics of Uruguay for example wanted Father Larrouy for Vicar Apostolic, even though he thought the suggestion was inappropriate, and Michel Garicoïts refused! Not too many honours for his religious men!

“Brothers are needed for the priests of the community”. That was the conviction of the founder from the beginning; Father Etchécopar tells us. He continues: «They will be looked upon not as servants, but as brothers and co-workers; they will consider themselves in a holy and perfect condition because of their vows, their works and the fruit of their works, and they will behave not out of fear, but out of love.» Brother Arnaud Gaye opened the way for the brothers.

Arnaud too, the shepherd of Rieulhès (hamlet of Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre), was attracted by Father Guimon! In 1840 he was preaching in Peyrouse, close to Lourdes. In the confessional, the 25-year-old spoke of his idea of​ a vocation; the priest, in a hurry, replied: «We will see later!” A few days later, the determined man returned with his request; the missionary told him, «At Bétharram, we are looking for brothers. You will be just like us, eat the same bread and meat, drink the same wine; there will be no difference between us ...», and mischieviously he continues: «If you are greedy, you must not come; you will lose, because you will have your hands full of work! «

Within the family, everyone opposed Arnaud; the best-intentioned suggested he go to Garaison or to the Brothers of the Christian Schools. He made his choice: «The idea of​ Bétharram, the idea of being associated with the good fathers of Bétharram, that speaks to my heart!” So he went to Bétharram. There he finds Father Chirou, always warm, but unable to decide for him. Soon afterwards, the shepherd pushes on to Igon and meets Father Garicoïts; only to find himself sent back to Father Guimon, since he had already spoken to him!

Would Arnaud be discouraged? He joined the army, then gave it up just as quickly ... On 24 March 1840 he was at the door of Bétharram’s superior. For Father Garicoïts, there was only one question: what should he do with this lad given his background? First of all, he started studying at the school of Our Lady. Then a supervisor left and Arnaud’s age meant he could replace him. Then the sacristan went away: with a cassock and a surplice, Arnaud provided the service instead. Later on the laundryman and the refectory manager were missing: Arnaud replaced them valiantly! Except that, carrying out so many duties, one Holy Thursday he forgot to extinguish the candles after the service ... and once, the table was not set at meal time, and Father Perguilhem, always accurate, had to wait ... and even worse, Father Bellocq, watch in hand, reproached him for any delay.

The sheep, they were patient! «I was so happy with my flock!” he says. Even Sister Marthe at Igon, realized that he was being asked to do too much; she spoke to Father Garicoïts: «We must help this brother. Even if he had four feet and four hands, he couldn’t get it all done!” Finally, discouraged, he himself decided to leave: «I have too much work!” The superior replied: «What do you want? I too have work, ten times more than I can do. Patience! We do what we can; God will not ask for an account of what we cannot do. Also you are getting on in years ... You know that God wants you here. Besides, I would be alone if everybody went away. I would have to hire a servant ... “ And so Arnaud stayed right until the end!

On his death in 1894, Father Etchécopar reported a stranger’s testimony: «Who is this brother? Seeing him is good for me; he has the face of a saint”, and he added, «I think he was right; for my part, I had experienced the same impression many times; and only a few days ago, seeing this valiant brother standing, at work, following every aspect of the Rule, as if in full health, always the same, despite his swollen legs, almost without sleep and without food, always busy, seemingly tireless, always serene, I felt moved and I blessed God silently seeing such gentle courage, both ancient and young.”

Following Brother Arnaud, in 1843 and 1844, other good vocations appeared. Those brothers were the joy of Michael Garicoïts: he particularly loved them! He went to meet them in their workshops. On asking him the reason for his visit, one heard the answer: «The pleasure of seeing you!»

Surely, the brothers constitute «that part of the building to which the founder attached so much importance» (Father Etchécopar). The brothers, present beside the priests, even silently, managed by their simple existence and simple life, to overcome the resistance of Mgr Lacroix: they made the birth of a true religious family possible.
Michael Garicoïts says of their place:

«Brothers are needed by the fathers of the community (...) The brothers participate in all that is highest in the community, in the priesthood itself. They are the arms, the feet of the priests. They will have, if they wish, the greater part of the fruits of preaching (...) This is how you have to see things. It is necessary to exercise, in the narrow framework of its use, the immensity of charity. But if the ideas were as narrow as the room in which you work, and the feelings as low as the worktable, then it would be better if a millstone was attached to your neck and you were thrown into the sea.»

Throughout the history of the Congregation, the brothers are present. Even today, throughout the world, they are for their brother priests the living reminder of their common identity as religious. Since the general chapter of 2011, the title of the religious family is «Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Bétharram»; even if it is a «clerical institution», it is composed of «religious, priests and brothers» (see Rule of Life No.1).

The truth obliges us to recognize that the brothers did not always have, «just like [priests], the same bread, same wine, same meat»; differences have existed, unfortunately! In the institution, some books - such as Spiritual Master - do not mention the existence of the brothers ... And yet when two young Béarnais men from Hours, blood brothers, presented themselves to Bétharram, one to be a priest, the other to be a domestic, both became religious: one brother Léopold Duvignau died in 1986 in South America; the other, Father Pierre Duvignau, died in Bétharram in 1995; so how the oldest, the author of Spiritual Master, could forget his brother, Brother Léopold ...?

«Brothers are needed from the fathers of the community» today, as in the old days ... «Be small, submissive, content and constant; and God will bless you,» says Michael Garicoïts today, as he wrote on 21 August 1861 to Brother Joannès ...

Beñat Oyhénart scj

The 11 episodes of the series “The first companions of Michel Garicoïts” are now available in a single downloadable pdf file in the section Multimedia<Library of the Congregation website www.betharram.net.