• =?UTF-8?Q?14_April_=E2=80=93_Blessed_Lucien_Botovasoa_O=2EF=2ES=2E?=

    From rich@1:396/4 to All on Tue Apr 13 10:16:02 2021
    From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

    14 April =E2=80=93 Blessed Lucien Botovasoa O.F.S.

    Martyr, Layman, Father, Multi-lingual Schoolteacher, Catechist,
    Franciscan Tertiary, Musician and Singer.
    =C2 Blessed Lucien was born in 1908 in Vohipeno, Madagascar and died by
    being beheaded with a sword between 10pm and midnight on 14 April 1947
    on the banks of the Mattanana River near Ambohimanarivo, Manakara,
    Madagascar. He was wearing his tertiary =E2=80=9Cuniform=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93=
    khaki shirt and
    trousers with a black cord for a belt. His body was tossed into the
    river.

    Bl Lucien was a Madagascan Roman Catholic schoolteacher and a
    professed member from the Secular Franciscan Order. He served as a
    teacher for his entire life and was dedicated to both the religious
    and secular education of children. His thirst for the religious life
    led him to discover the Secular Franciscan Order in 1940 and he became
    part of it;=C2 he rallied others to know Saint Francis of Assisi and
    enter the order themselves. Botovasoa likewise adopted the Franciscan
    charism for himself through his fasting and clothing habits.

    Botovasoa's murder came during a period of tumult in Madagascar and
    his cause for canonisation opened on 11 October 2011 under Pope
    Benedict XVI in which he became titled as a Servant of God.=C2 Pope
    Francis confirmed in mid-2017 that Botovasoa was killed in hatred of
    his faith and decreed that he was to be beatified; it shall be
    celebrated in Vohipeno, Madasgascar tomorrow, the Third Sunday of
    Easter, 15 April 2018.

    Lucien Botovasoa was born in 1908 in Vohipeno, a rural town in the
    southeast of Madagascar, the province of Fianarantsoa.
    In 1918 he began studies in the state school and then proceeded to the
    Jesuit College of St Joseph in Ambozontany. In 1928 he concluded the
    studies and was awarded the teaching diploma and in the same year
    became a parish teacher in Vohipeno, making his own the motto of the
    Society of Jesus:=C2 Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.

    On 10 October 1930 he married Suzanna Soazana in the parish church of
    Vohipeno and on the following 12 September was born Vincent de Paul
    Hermann, the first of their eight children, of which only five
    survived. The Servant of God was an excellent teacher, working not
    only as the village teacher but also in the parish, with generous
    availability to the needy. In addition to Malagasy, he knew French,
    Latin, German, and Chinese. He was an exceptional musician and
    appreciated as a singer, becoming also the director of the parish
    choir. He was also an athlete and is described as always smiling and
    joyful.
    In 1940 the Servant of God stumbled upon the Rule of the Franciscan
    Third Order and it became for him a text for study and meditation. He
    decided to take up himself this following of Christ, with investiture
    in the habit of the Franciscan Third Order on 18 December 1944. He
    thus began to live a poor life of Franciscan spirituality,
    characterised by a deep piety and by the burning desire to bring the
    gospel everywhere.

    After the Second World War, in the years 1946-1947, there grew in
    Madagascar the desire for independence from France. In 1946, as
    supporter of independence, Tsimiho=C3=B1o, from the Clan of Ambohimanarivo, became king (Mpanjaka). At Vohipeno there were also violent clashes
    between the two factions. On 30 March 1947, Palm Sunday, the parish
    church was burned and so began the king's hunt for the =E2=80=98Chr=
    istian
    teacher,' Lucien Botovasoa, who was respected by both the Catholics
    and others in Vohipeno.=C2 Lucien was commanded to appear, or his family
    would be massacred.

    The Servant of God, realising what was happening, entrusted his wife
    and children to his brother and returned to Vohipeno. Around nine
    o'clock in the evening of 17 April 1947, his brother Andr=C3=A9 and=
    two
    cousins, under threat of death, were charged with arresting Lucien.
    Brought to the house of the king Tsimiho=C3=B1o, he was condemned to death without any trial. Arriving at the place of execution he knelt and was
    beheaded while he was praying for his murderers.=C2 His body was thrown
    in the river.

    https://anastpaul.com/2018/04/14/


    <><><><>
    Our Morning Offering

    Prayer to Do the Will of God
    By St Francis of Assisi (1181/82-1226)

    Almighty, eternal, just and merciful God,
    grant us in our misery, the grace to do for You alone
    what we know You want us to do
    and always to desire what pleases You.
    Thus, inwardly cleansed,
    interiorly enlightened
    and inflamed by the fire of the Holy Spirit,
    may we be able to follow
    in the footprints of Your beloved Son,
    our Lord Jesus Christ.
    And, by Your grace alone,
    may we make our way to You, Most High,
    Who live and rule in perfect Trinity
    and simple Unity
    --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
    * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)