Born at Liaucous (Aveyron) January 28, 1817.
Ordination to the priesthood in 1842.
Taking of the habit at Notre-Dame de l’Osier, October 31, 1856.
Oblation at Notre-Dame de l’Osier, November 1, 1857. (no. 443)
Dispensed from his vows in 1861.
Pierre Lacroix was born at Liaucous, a parish in the commune of Mostuéjouls in the diocese of Rodez on January 28, 1817. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1842. For eight years, he worked as a missionary in Indochina. Taken ill, he returned to France and spent a few months with the Capuchins, with the Brothers of St. John of God and at the Carthusian monastery, La Grande Trappe. He began his novitiate at Notre-Dame de l’Osier on October 31, 1856 and made his oblation there on November 1, 1857. In his reports on the novices, Father Vandenberghe stated that Pierre Lacroix was a good priest, he loved to work “he preaches as often and as long as he is asked to” and readily hears confessions. In the months of August and September 1857, he wrote: “I find him a bit of an oddball in community life; his preaching is uninspiring… virtuous and full of dedication.”
After his oblation, he was sent to Notre-Dame de Bon Secours. In 1861, he asked to be dispensed from his vows. Later on, he would write to Father Fabre that he left the Congregation because Father Martin and the priests at Bon Secours took a dim view of him and showed him little consideration. In the Personnel Registry of 1862-1863 it is written that he was granted a dispensation from his vows because of “a stubborn adherence to his own ideas, narrow mindedness, unacceptable for preaching, a good priest, but an odd individual.”
Upon leaving the Oblates, Abbé Lacroix spent six months with the Carthusians, three months with the Passionists, then was appointed parish priest in the diocese of Périgueux. About 1865, he wrote to Father Fabre, asking to be readmitted to the Congregation. We do not know what Father Fabre told him, but the name of Pierre Lacroix no longer appears in Oblate sources.
Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.
