Born at Saint-Maurice (Rhône), October 1, 1842.
Taking of the habit at Notre-Dame de l’Osier, October 25, 1858.
Oblation at Montolivet, May 27, 1860. (no. 512)
Dispensed from his vows in July of 1862.
Joseph Dominge was born at Saint-Maurice in the diocese of Lyon on October 1, 1842. As a child, he was taken in and reared by the institution the Holy Family at Marseilles from which he was sent away because of a deficiency of prayer life. He showed himself to be precociously gifted with some literary talent. He was accepted at the novitiate of Notre-Dame de l’Osier as a student in September of 1857. Father Vandenberghe found him to be regular in his observance, open, but lacking in his prayer life and endowed with a character that was listless and tending to conceit. He was given the habit on October 25, 1858 and subsequently some progress was noted with a little more energy, more prayer and tractability, but still harbouring a hidden vanity and a desire to please.
Sent to Montolivet in September of 1859, he made his oblation before Bishop de Mazenod on May 27, 1860. Father Mouchette, the moderator of scholastics, never refers to this brother by name until the period from the month of October 1860 until May of 1861. He always judged him harshly. Among other things, he wrote: “October 1860, Dominge, seems filled with conceit… He is not straightforward, nor is he much concerned about small matters. He seeks to flatter his superiors… January 1861, a very imperfect candidate. I believe I see more and more pride in him. February-March, I believe he is very unsupernatural in his conduct. I doubt that he is revealing what lies at the bottom of his heart. I fear for his future because what he calls his kind of person will expose him to many dangers and I doubt that his virtue will stand the test…”
In the Personnel Register of 1862-1863, under the name Dominge, we read: “All he did at the scholasticate was lay about, without any taste for theological studies and with a prayer life that is anaesthetized. He asked to go teach for one year at Vico. Before the end of the year, he asked to be dispensed from his vows stating that he did not want to become a priest or a religious. It is probably pride that has brought about his ruin. he was dispensed from his vows on July 12, 1862.” A few letters written by Brother Dominge and the reports of the General Council confirm these affirmations. On July 20, Brother Dominge wrote a letter to Father Mouchette to thank the Oblates for what they had done for him and to ask their pardon for having caused them so “much trouble.” In an August 10 letter, Father Fabre wrote a letter of recommending Joseph Dominge to the vicar General of Lyon stating that Brother Dominge explained his leaving the Congregation using these words: “I do not want to become a priest; I run great risks as to my virtue.” “I must tell you,” added Father Fabre, “that this young man is very capable and that he could be very useful in an educational institute.”
Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.
