• English
  • Français
  • Italiano
  • Español
Francia 1
You are here:Home / Family News / NEF 2017 / Family News - October 14th, 2017 / The first companions of Michael Garicoits
Oct 14, 2017

The first companions of Michael Garicoits

Jean Magendie: all in the service of the foundation in America

Jean Magendie: all in the service of the foundation in America

 

F.V.D.
Bétharram, 3 November 1857

My dear friend,
Yes, yes, with all my heart, I send you the blessing of the old man and the priest; I wish it brings you happiness in life and in death...
We are waiting for your little brother, aspiring to be one of us; his father willingly consents and wants to help him be like you. Pray for us and for him, and always be homo idoneus, expeditus et expositus (1); it is the infallible means of being forever the joy and crown of your superiors, the Church and even of God. Amen! Amen!

To all of you in N.-S. J.-C.

Garicoïts, Ptre

It is brief, but how precious to have this letter from Michael Garicoïts to Mr. Magendie, his “dear friend”! The word of the “old man” - as he calls himself - to the youngest of those sent to Buenos Aires: a novice and hardly 22 years old when he is chosen for this mission! But what a religious career!
No doubt Michael Garicoïts wanted to ensure the American presence: alongside the first companion, the passionate and fiery Simon Guimon, needing someone quite young who had not completed his training. He thinks first of Brother Pierre Cachica - the one who left a the precious notebook of Father Garicoïts’ lessons. But he was the only son of a widow; we could not impose such a painful separation on his mother. So the choice was for a novice, a volunteer for this mission.
Jean Magendie was born in Beuste (about ten kilometers from Bétharram) on 24 March 1835 (the year when the first community was formed around Father Garicoïts). Between the ages of 16 and 19 he was a student in Bétharram; there his novitiate began on 22 October 1854 (at the time when the mission to America was planned); he made his profession, and on 31 August 1856, embarked with the others: for America!
In his letter of recommendation to the Bishop of Buenos Aires, Mgr. Lacroix, Bishop of Bayonne, spoke of a “young catechist” who accompanied the five priests and the two companion brothers; two years afterwards he asked him to admit him among the clergy, and to confer upon him the various orders. By 20 December 1863 Jean Magendie is a priest (exactly 40 years after Michael Garicoïts).
On 19 March 1858, the young Magendie, still a scholar, was with Fr Barbé and Brother Joannes heroically opening the College of San José in an old leather depot. The missionaries - and even Father Guimon - were in favour of it: they thought they would find vocations there as preachers. But five, six, twenty students in a dirty space was not sufficient: they had to close. The miracle came from the neighborhood: the priest looked to Father Barbé, who never refused to do a service; the police commissioner wanted a good education for the children of the neighbourhood; both became recruiting agents and there were 100 students in late July! Success led to another problem: the need to build, but where? Father Barbé didn’t want cheap land but money was lacking! Brother Magendie left his school work and insisted: “We must buy, the money will come!” The answer came: “Be quiet! You are only a child!” Yet the 23-year-old was right: a year later, on 19 March 1859, new premises host the College and Father Garicoïts sends others for teaching!
Father Barbé’s first collaborator, Father Magendie was soon to become the trusted counsellor. His righteousness and openness made him a respected and beloved educator. Naturally, on the death of Father Barbé on 13 August 1869, Father Magendie became the director of the college which he was for a long time.
In spite of health weakened by asthma, he put his talents at the service of all his colleagues. At the death of Father Harbustan, they put him at the head: from 1873 to his death he was “Superior of the American Colony”, in the words of Father Etchécopar, with whom he maintained a close correspondence. Under his guidance several foundations were started, including those of Rosario, La Plata and Barracas in Argentina, as well as in Asunción in Paraguay. With him, 82 priests and 19 brothers served five colleges, three churches, an apostolate, a novitiate and a community of formation. Several times, his duties brought him back to France: he participated in the general chapters and witnessed the process of beatification of Father Garicoïts, who had been his spiritual advisor.
Faithful to the religious life and the principles inherited from Michael Garicoïts, he also listened to the men and events of his time. He boldly defended the Church against sometimes virulent adversaries; one of them saying: “The man who most troubles me is this monk, and the frail Magendie!”
At the end of a busy life, he died in Buenos Aires on 20 October 1925; he was 90 years old. Is there a biography of this exceptional man? It seems not. Yet he has left documents, some of which differ from those usually used or supplement them...

Beñat Oyhénart scj

(1) Explanation from Fr. Etchécopar : «To live a good religious vocation you need to be idoneus, expeditus, expositus. : «Idoneus: fit to fulfil the aims of the institution; «Expeditus: freed from all ties which would hinder progress; «Expositus: exposed to the core before superiors so that they can use him according to his ability.»

Document Actions

NEF, Family news

Nef logoNEF, FAMILY NEWS

Nef is the official bulletin of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Betharram.
Nef is edited by the General Council.

You can read the NEF by going to the appropriate section of the portal, which also contains the archive of recent years.

Below you find the last three issues ...