Born: Guipronvel, Finistère, France, November 8, 1834.
Took the habit: Nancy, May 1, 1857.
Vows: Nancy, May 3, 1858 (N. 456).
Priestly ordination: Marseilles, June 24, 1860.
Died: Jaffna, Ceylon, May 10, 1874.
Gabriel Salaün was born in Guipronvel, diocese of Quimper, France, on November 8, 1834. In order to avoid military service, he left college before his final year and did one year of philosophy and one of theology in the major seminary of Quimper. There, in1856-1857 he met Father Jean Joseph Lagier o.m.i., superior of the seminary. He began his novitiate in Nancy on May 1, 1857. Having taken vows on May 3, 1858, he continued his theology course in Montolivet, Marseilles. Bishop de Mazenod ordained him to the priesthood on June 24, 1860 and gave him an obedience for Ceylon. The numerous very positive reports given by Francois-Xavier Guinet and Jean-Baptiste Berne, novice masters, and Father Antoine Mouchette, moderator of scholastics, are summed up very well in the note which appears after the name of Father Salaün in the Personnel register of 1862: “Salaün: physically strong, rough appearance, restless, very intelligent, solid virtue and piety, lively intelligence, prompt…”
He arrived in Jaffna on October 15, 1860, and studied Tamil in Colombogam. After a few months he was appointed assistant to Father Yves Le Cam in Batticaloa. He was in charge of the mission in Valigamam (1862-1865). In February 1865, Bishop Semeria appointed him superior of the vicariate house in Jaffna and director of the schools. Having contracted cholera in 1866-1867, his health was delicate and for a while he was assistant to Father Louis-Marie Boisseau in Kayts. Then, in 1872, he was director of the Saint Joseph orphanage in Colombogam.
From the time of his arrival in Ceylon, Father Salaün had felt the effects of tuberculosis. His condition worsened rapidly in 1874. He died in Jaffna on May 10 of that year, aged 39 years. He is buried in Saint Mary’s cemetery in Jaffna.
In the necrology note, Bishop Christophe Bonjean and Father Boisseau praise the virtues and the zeal of Father Salaün. Father copied many extracts from Brother Salaün’s retreat notes during his novitiate and scholasticate. They are full of interesting and realistic comparisons. Here, for example, is what he wrote about the need to strive for perfection: “The motives which oblige me to work for my progress: 1. the abundance of grace which I receive in religion: the cow that grazes on rich pasture gives more milk than the one that nibbles painfully on dried up sandy soil; so the religious must produce more good works than the secular person; 2. the sacred commitments contracted with God in religion; just as the wife must be more devoted to her husband than the maid, so a religious who contracts a real alliance with God must be infinitely more devoted to him than the secular person who is only the servant; 3. the commitment of religious with regard to souls: just as a father must not be content with merely procuring bread for his children, so the missionary must not be content with the measure of sanctity which would be merely enough; he must pursue his dream of acquiring the treasures of spiritual food so as to distribute them to the souls of which he is really the father…”
Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.
