Born: Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle), France, October 13, 1836
Took the habit: Nancy, May 9, 1858.
Vows: Montolivet, May 27, 1860 (No.504)
Priestly ordination: Autun, July 5, 1863
Dispensed from Vows: 1869.
Marie-Jules Auguste Cosson was born in Nancy, France, on October 13, 1836. His parents were Henri Cosson and Justine Thérèse Henriel. He began his novitiate in Nancy on May 9, 1858. In his 1858 report the novice master wrote: “Cosson: this young man has come from a world where his faith had undergone complete shipwreck. He was brought back by an excellent priest whom he knew and he has given himself to God without bargaining.” During 1859-1860, while following the course in philosophy, he did a second year of novitiate in Montolivet and there he pronounced his vows in the presence of Bishop de Mazenod on May 27, 1860. He studied theology in Montolivet during 1860-1862 and then in the scholasticate in Autun in 1862-1863. Bishop Jacques Jeancard ordained him to the priesthood in Autun on July 5, 1863.
The note after his name in the Personnel Register of 1862-1863 reads as follows: “ordinary height, character: attached to his own opinion, exercises influence, judicious, tenacious, somewhat dull, inclined to pessimism, health quite good, some stomach trouble, enlightened and true piety, has no illusions about his faults, needs strength to deal with his character, talents above average, penetrating mind, reasons a lot, after his ordination he was appointed professor of philosophy in Autun; he is well informed, he has done very good studies, he speaks well in both Latin and French.”
He taught for only one year. He then ministered in Liverpool in 1864-1867, in Saint-Pierre-Apôtre, Montreal in 1867-1868, in the bishop’s house Ottawa and the parish of Saint Joseph, Lowell, at the beginning of 1868. In July 1868 he wrote to the Congregation of Propaganda asking to be dispensed from his vows. In an undated letter he wrote that he did not make his vows freely and that, in England, nobody paid any heed to him. In the minutes of the general council on February 4, 1869, the secretary general wrote: “The departure of Father Cosson is to be deplored, although it is not to be regretted because of the attitude he adopted. The reply of Propaganda to his request to be dispensed from his vows was seen in the sense that he could be dispensed by a bishop.”
After his departure he was assistant priest in the parish of the Immaculate Conception, Marlborough, Massachusetts in 1868-1871 and then pastor in our Lady of the Rosary, Spencer, Massachusetts until his death which occurred on July 25, 1879.
Yvon Beaudoin
and Gaston Carrière, o.m.i.
