The first companions of Michael Garicoits

With Michael Garicoïts and Simon Guimon, the society of Betharram was just an abstract idea. With the arrival of fr Chirou, the project starts taking the shape of a trio, the beginning of a real community.

Lots of questions about Fr Jean Chirou. Firstly, why call him the “first companion” when Simon Guimon was already with Michael Garicoïts? He was the first to come to rejoin his former schoolmaster; at that time, Guimon was absent, busy, as so often, going from mission to mission.

Who was Jean Chirou? He was the first to arrive in the new society in 1834. He was also the first to succeed the founder, in 1863. And between those two dates? The Betharram historians are not very talkative. Born in 1808 in Pontacq – 13 kms from Lourdes – he was at the Betharram Seminary when he felt uncertain about his vocation; he was tempted to live out another life somewhere else. So, he looked for a good advisor – why not this Garicoïts that his friends feared so much? He weighed things up, made a decision, and wasn’t disappointed. “You do well not to blindly want to do what others do... have the courage to show yourself to be a good and fervent seminarian. Leave your friends who are full of the spirit of the time; give your whole self to the Lord. He wants you to be a saint and a very holy priest.”. The seminarian would never forget it. From 1830, the future founder confided his plans in him. He was ready to follow him. He was just sub-deacon and Michael Garicoïts had not yet met Fr Leblanc in Toulouse.

Now a priest, on the 17th December 1831, Jean Chirou became a curate in Morlaas. On 27th May 1833, he asked to rejoin the Betharram Society, which Monsignor D’Arbou himself desired. The bishop agreed, but appointed him to Louvigny. A little patience! In mid- August 1834, he was sent urgently to Urt at the other end of the diocese. And there, a miracle! On Sunday 28th September 1834, just before Mass, he received a letter: he could go to Betharram. The homily was short, vespers followed straightaway ... and then he got on his mare. 120 kms further, at nightfall, came the reunions!

Michael Garicoïts wasn’t expecting him. Guimon even less so. God knows where he preached! But the former schoolmaster and the refound disciple had so much to talk about. And what a lot of emotion! What was there to eat? Nothing except a bit of bread and the last of the bacon, quickly roasted by the chimney fire. “Never have I eaten with more happiness, or with such a good appetite” said Fr Chirou. It was easy to believe him!

In October 1835, the “Betharram staff ” gave themselves an order and elected Michael Garicoïts as Superior; each promised obedience and poverty, and renewed the vow of chastity. Chirou was one of the six names quoted by Fr Fondeville in the Congregation’s ‘birth certificate’. On the 10th September 1841, the first commitments were made, according to the constitution of Monsignor Lacroix: if Fr Guimon managed to obtain the faculty of committing oneself through vows, the bishop minimised the impact of this and insisted on appointing the Superior.

What about Fr Chirou’s missions? “A pleasant orator, full of gentleness”, he was a missionary. However, we only know of two missions he undertook, in 1838 and in 1856. A true missionary, he didn’t understand opening up schools. He moved away from the founder’s demands and leaned towards the Bishop’s opinions which were less restrictive. Was it to push him away that Michael Garicoïts appointed him to Oloron and then to Sarrance? However, Fr Chirou guaranteed he loved Fr Garicoïts more than anyone.

When, on 14th May 1863, the founder died, Monsignor Lacroix was there for the funeral, and to put his ideas in place and to only authorise voluntary vows. He appointed Jean Chirou as superior – out of that very first team, he was closest to the Bishop. The promised new constitution was slow to come; the community suffered from this lack of clarity. However, in 1868, Monsignor Lacroix proposed a vote at the assembly of priests: 23 voted – 16 for obligatory vows and 7 for voluntary vows. Two thirds were loyal to the original ideal.

And as for Fr Chirou during this time? A good administrator, he continued the legacy of the founder. If Fr Larrouy, another companion from the start, had dared to write to him: “the spirit of the foundation has been extinguished and the thoughts of the founder destroyed”, he would have recognised this himself. “Poor Fr Garicoïts, how he has suffered from our opposition! ... I see it clearly now; he had good reason to stand against us 100 times.”

The epitaph on his grave reminds us that we owe the restoration of Betharram’s Calvary to Fr Chirou. Between 1867 and 1873, with Fr Basilide Bourdenne as architect, he fulfilled Garicoït’s desire, thanks to donations from pilgrims, to sacrifices made by the community and the contribution of the “colony of America”. The benediction was planned for 14th September 1873. It was to happen without him. A sudden illness took him from us on 29th August.

Fr Auguste Etchécopar succeeded him and permanently established the Congregation.

Beñat Oyhénart sci