Chauliac, Scipion

Born at Valleraugue (Gard), May 10, 1809
Taking of the habit at Notre-Dame de l’Osier, September 13, 1845
Oblation at Notre-Dame de l’Osier, September 14, 1846 (no. 162)
Ordination to the priesthood at Marseilles, November 15, 1846
Died at Limoges, August 8, 1888.

Scipion Chauliac was born in Valleraugue, in the diocese of Nîmes, May 10, 1809. He studied at the minor and major seminaries of Nîmes. As a cleric in minor orders, he taught for ten years in four colleges and minor seminaries. At the age of 36, he entered the novitiate at Notre-Dame de l’Osier on September 13, 1845 and made his oblation on the 14 of September, 1846. A few months later, Bishop de Mazenod conferred major orders upon him and ordained him to the priesthood on November 15, 1846.

He was then appointed to teach Sacred Scripture, first at the major seminary of Ajaccio and then at the major seminary in Marseilles. But at the end of the year 1846, he was, instead, sent to Notre-Dame de Bon-Secours as custodian of the shrine and to prepare himself to preach parish missions under the direction of Father Toussaint Dassy. In the fall of 1847, he received his obedience for the new Oblate house of Limoges. It was there that, with the exception of some short absences, he spent the rest of his life, first as a mission preacher and then, during his last years, doing replacement work for priests and their assistants. He also found time to help in the work of the Good Shepherd and he also worked with the poor of the city and the pilgrims going to the shrine of Notre-Dame de Sauvagnac.

Father Melchior Burfin, the individual who wrote his obituary, tells us that Father Chauliac was a very good religious, meticulous observer of the Rule and very faithful to his vows. He added that Father Chauliac was endowed with a fiery temperament, a vivid imagination, was of robust health and had a strong voice. He was a missionary, but not an orator. In spite of that, he never refused to preach; he would hear confessions for days on end and made the faithful sing a lot. In a January 27, 1853 letter to Father H. L. François Merlin, Bishop de Mazenod wrote that Father Chauliac “is definitely one of our best missionaries.” His name is sometimes mentioned in Missions O.M.I.. In 1865 and 1867, he is qualified as “an untiring worker,” “a tireless preacher in dialect.”

His final sickness before he was carried off by pneumonia in the house at Limoges on August 8, 1888. His body was laid to rest in the Maupetit family tomb in the cemetery of Limoges.

Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.