Born: Ossun (Hautes-Pyrénées), France, February 17, 1826.
Priestly ordination: Tarbes, July 12, 1853.
Took the habit: N.-D. de l’Osier, December 7, 1859.
Vows: N.-D. de l’Osier, December 8, 1860 (N. 526).
Died: Roma, Texas, June 26, 1907.
Pierre Joseph-Marie Clos was born in Ossun, diocese of Tarbes, France, on February 17, 1826. After his ordination to the priesthood in Tarbes on July 12, 1853, he was assistant priest in his diocese but he wanted to go to the foreign missions. He began his novitiate in Notre-Dame de l’Osier on December 7, 1859 and took vows there on December 8, 1860. He immediately received his obedience for Texas. The report of the novice master, Father Vandenberghe, is synopsised in the Personnel of 1862-1863: “an ardent priest, full of zeal, a good constitution and pleasant appearance. Lively and prompt in his attitude, likeable, agreeable in conversation, wins the affection of others by his nonchalance and simplicity. As assistant priest he was all-powerful among his people. Besides, he is a pious priest, disinterested and virtuous … He is of good character, generally speaking, although he tends to be susceptible. As for talent, it is forthcoming but not very deep, a healthy judgement but advice could be useful. He left for Texas at the end of 1860.”
Father Clos always ministered along the Rio Grande, sometimes at Matamoros in Mexico, sometimes in Brownsville and sometimes in Rio Grande City, Roma and San Antonio. He suffered quite a lot during the civil war in Brownsville and when he was a prisoner of the liberals in Matamoros for several days in 1866. The author of his death notice wrote: “Starting in 1860, or on the morrow of his religious profession, he was sent to Texas and was there until his death. He went through practically all the missions on the banks of the Rio Grande and it may be said that he spent most of his forty-six years as a missionary on horseback, visiting the Mexican ranchos. Neither heat nor cold nor hunger could separate him from them …” For a long time he was director, and then superior of the Roma mission. The author of his death notice continued: “In Roma and in the surrounding area, Father Clos was an oracle to whom people listened, he was the respected leader to whom all civil, political and religious matters were brought. So great was his influence in the area that his companions jokingly referred to him as El Santo Padre de Roma. He made one journey to Europe as delegate to the General Chapter of 1879. He died in Roma, Texas, on June 26, 1907.
Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.
