Born at Merlas (Isère), March 24, 1819.
Taking of the habit at Notre-Dame de l’Osier, April 7, 1849.
Oblation at Notre-Dame de Bon Secours, November 1, 1851. (no. 364)
Died at Notre-Dame de Bon Secours, September 24, 1894.

Joseph Rual was born in Merlas in the diocese of Grenoble on March 24, 1819. He began his novitiate at Notre-Dame de l’Osier on April 7, 1849. In the April 15, 1850 session of the General Council, he was admitted to first vows after having received from the novice master a report that “was judged adequate.” Brother Rual received his obedience for Notre-Dame de Bon Secours. That is where he made his perpetual vows on November 1, 1851. In the October 5, 1851 session of the General Council, he was unanimously admitted to vows. In the report of the session, the secretary wrote: “Rev. Father Martin presented Brother Joseph of the Notre-Dame de Bon Secours community for perpetual vows. This brother is a model of virtue, completely ingenuous, tractable and innocent. Very good worker.”

Brother Rual spent his life at Notre-Dame de Bon Secours where he served especially as sacristan, but also as cook, errand boy and handyman. In his obituary, Father Filet wrote: “As prayerful as he was devoted, as devoted as he was mortified, as mortified as he was regular in his observance, in two words, that is a sketch of Brother Joseph. Of regular observance he always was and, it was with a punctuality worthy of all praise that he carried out his responsibility as timekeeper.”

He died on September 24, 1894. La Semaine religieuse de Viviers announced his passing in their October 5, 1894 issue using these words: “The shrine of Notre-Dame de Bon Secours has just suffered a genuine loss in the person of one of its humble servants, a man known and esteemed throughout the region. Worthy Brother Joseph was not a learned man; he could neither read nor write. But his was an upright spirit. He possessed a good humor that was not without a certain shrewdness. He possessed a devotion that withstood any test and had a great spirit of faith. For those who knew him, he was a saint.”

Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.