Frédéric Janssoone

Blessed Frédéric of St-Yves Janssoone, O.F.M.
Evangelizer of French Canada
Priest, religious and missionary
Born	Frédéric-Cornil Janssoone 19 November 1838 Ghyvelde, Nord, France
Died	4 August 1916 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Venerated in	Catholic Church (Order of Friars Minor & Canada)
Beatified	25 September 1988, Vatican City, by Pope John Paul II
Major shrine	Chapel of St. Anthony Trois-Rivières, Quebec Canada
Feast	5 August

Frédéric Janssoone, O.F.M., also known as Frédéric of Ghyvelde or Frédéric of Saint-Yves (19 November 1838 — 4 August 1916), was a French-born Franciscan friar and priest who worked in France, Egypt, Palestine and Quebec, where he died. He was a popular preacher who re-established the Order of Friars Minor in Canada.^[1] He has been beatified by the Catholic Church.^[1]

Janssoone was born in the town of Ghyvelde, in the French Department of Nord, the country's most northwestern corner, on 19 November 1838. It is a part of French Flanders where the local language is a dialect of Flemish. He was the eighth and youngest of the thirteen children^{[clarification needed]} of Pierre-Antoine Janssoone and Marie-Isabelle Bollengier, and was christened Frédéric-Cornil. He was born into a prosperous farming family who prized culture, education and their faith.^[1]

Janssone was just nine years old in January 1848 when his father died. Four years later, in response, to a

His mother died in 1861, at which point Janssoone decided to resume his studies. After their completion, on 24 June 1864, he entered the novitiate of the Friars Minor, where he added the patronage of St. Yves to his name, making his profession the following year. He was ordained in Bourges on 17 August 1870. His ordination was done earlier than in the normal scheme, due to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War at the time. Military chaplains were in great need, and he was quickly assigned to serve at a military hospital.^[1]

After the war Jannsoone helped to establish a

To accomplish the demands of his duties, Janssoone had to sort through dozens of documents and manuscripts detailing the rules of procedure for the sharing of these sites with Christians of other Churches which had been worked out over the centuries of rule of the Holy Land under the Ottoman Empire. He compiled a guide to help the friars in their relations with the other Churches, which remains of use to the Custody today. He served in that post for ten years.^[1]

In addition to his many administrative duties during that period, Janssoone also served as a guide for the many Christian pilgrims who visited the Holy Lands from around the world. His knowledge and skill in presentation made him a popular guide. It was in this way that he met a priest from Canada, the Abbé Léon Provancher, pastor of Cap-Rouge in Quebec, who invited him to come to Canada. Janssoone accepted the offer in order to make a fundraising tour to help the various construction projects of the Custody.^[1]

Janssoone arrived in

Janssoone returned to Palestine in May 1882, exhausted and sick. He resumed his administrative duties and stayed there another six years. He would later write Provancher that, after reflection, were he ever to return to Canada, he would completely avoid the political aspect which had caused such an uproar and focus on the program established by St. Francis, one of preaching charity, penance and peace, focusing on bringing people back to God. He was to have a chance to carry out this intention.[1]

The impact of Janssoone's tour upon the Catholics of Quebec was enormous. They saw him as reviving a tradition of the Franciscan missions to that nation which had started at the foundation of

Janssoone arrived back in Canada at the end of June 1888 on a permanent basis, and by August had begun to build a residence, called St. Joseph Friary, at Trois-Rivières, which was the first community of Friars Minor in Canada in a generation. The friary was considered a Commissariat of the Franciscan Order, a small center of recruitment and fundraising. A new and more permanent structure was built in 1903.^[1]

Shortly after his arrival, Janssoone was drawn into the promotion of the local

While occupied with this, at the request of his superiors Janssoone also started to undertake massive fundraising drives which required travel throughout the province, a task he performed for fifteen years. He would preach in churches and go house-to-house for this, braving the harshness of the Canadian winter and farm dogs, selling some of the many books he wrote at night instead of sleeping. He had only one coat and would frequently sleep on the ground during these trips. Additionally, he also organized pilgrimages to the other great shrine of Quebec, the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.^[1]

In further service to the Franciscan movement, from his first arrival in Canada Janssoone worked to revive the

Janssoone took to his bed in June 1916 physically worn out by his many exertions in his ministries and in great pain. He was admitted to the Franciscan Infirmary in Montreal, where he was diagnosed as suffering from stomach cancer. After almost two months of intense pain, he died there on the following 4 August. His body was returned to Trois-Rivières, where he was buried in the small chapel he had built attached to the friary.^[1]

The cause for his canonization was begun in 1927. Inquiries into his life were made in Canada, France and Egypt, and his many writings were examined. Theologians approved his writings on 14 February 1937, and his cause was officially opened on 26 June 1940, granting him the title of Servant of God.^[4] On 25 October 1988, Janssoone was beatified in Vatican City by Pope John Paul II.^[1] His tomb is in the Chapel of St. Anthony in Trois-Rivières and has become a place of pilgrimage.^[5]

• Blessed Father Frederic Janssoone, run by the Franciscans of Eastern Canada