Desbrousses, Louis

Born at Peudihen (Côtes-du-Nord), March 4, 1832.
Ordination to the priesthood at Rennes, December 20, 1856.
Taking of the habit at Notre-Dame de l’Osier, September 21, 1858.
Oblation at Notre-Dame de l’Osier, September 25, 1859. (no. 491)
Died at Notre-Dame de Sion, January 25, 1871.

Louis Desbrousses was born in Pleudihen in the diocese of Saint-Brieuc on March 4, 1832. He made his secondary studies at the minor seminary of Saint-Méen in the diocese of Rennes and then attended the major seminary at Saint-Brieuc. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 20, 1856 and was for a time a member of the Immaculate Conception Fathers in Rennes before entering the novitiate of Notre-Dame de l’Osier on September 21, 1858. Father Vandenberghe, the novice master, during the first month of this candidate’s novitiate wrote: “his dispositions are very good, a great simplicity…not very self-assured, observes the rule regularly and punctilious enough…, a peaceful disposition.” In January of 1859, he judged him severely: “every thing in his person is petty; slow, procrastinating, indecisive, fearful, hypersensitive, protecting his fragile little self, without being malicious.” It seemed that the master of novices did not intend to present him for vows when Bishop de Mazenod passed through l’Osier in the month of August and saw in Father Desbrousses “everything needed to become and Oblate.”

Father Desbrousses made his oblation on September 25, 1859 and received his obedience for Saint Jean d’Autun where he served, first as assistant priest and then as a mission preacher. He worked in Autun from 1859 to 1865, at Angers from 1865 to 1868. He was subsequently a member of the house in Talence, then at Notre-Dame de Sion. He preached a great deal. According to Father Zabel “his kindly and common touch, his charming manners and his compassionate character won him the people’s hearts. He was loved wherever he went. People saw in him in an outstanding manner the desire to please and the concern not to wound anyone or to cause annoyance. In spiritual direction, whether in the pulpit or in the confessional, he always inclined to mercy and pardon […] In community, he displayed the same qualities. Never did he display any sign of spite or bitterness. He heart could not harbour a grudge. Always kind and eager to please his confreres, if he thought that he had annoyed them in some way, he immediately set about clearing up any misunderstanding and very often he asked for pardon and asked that the whole incident be forgotten. Good hearted, kindly, a man of prayer and easy to get along with, his only ambition was to love others and to lead people to love God.”

On January 13, 1871, he went to Parey-Saint-Césaire near Nancy to preach on the occasion of a jubilee. Struck down by illness after a few days, he preached and heard confessions right until the end of the jubilee and returned on January 23 “in terrible shape” we read in his obituary. The medical doctor who was called in was reassuring and said that this was the result of exhaustion. In reality, Father Desbrousses had contracted hemorraghic small pox. He died on January 25, 1871. Well beloved by the people, a large crowd and twenty seven ecclesiatics attended his funeral.

Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.