Vicar General Of Marseilles
Jean Pierre Barthélemy Flayol was born at Saint-Maximin (Gard) on May 14, 1768. After the Revolution, he always exercised his ministry in the diocese of Marseilles: pastor of Fuveau, parish priest of Roquevire, archdeacon of Saint-Marie-Majeure, etc. On January 1, 1829, Bishop Fortuné de Mazenod appointed him honorary canon and, on February 10 of that year, vicar general. During the Revolution of July 1830, Bishop Fortuné was absent from Marseilles for a few months and Father Eugene de Mazenod was often absent from 1830 to 1837. Father Tempier and Canon Flayol had to take the administration of the diocese in hand. We have extant sixty letters written from 1830 to 1837 by Canon Flayol on behalf of Bishop Fortuné to the mayor, to the prefect, to the minister of public worship and to the parish priests of the diocese. On January 1, 1835, he was also appointed superior of the minor seminary.
In his correspondence, Eugene de Mazenod rarely mentions Canon Flayol, except when he suffered his first strokes. (Mazenod Diary, entries of 25 and 26 September 1838, February 28, 1839) and when he died on May 2, 1839. On that day, Bishop de Mazenod wrote in his diary: the Canon “fell asleep in the Lord the exact moment when I finished the plenary indulgence prayer in articulo mortis. I immediately called upon his intercession as one of the blessed who had just won his way to glory. He had celebrated Holy Mass this morning with his usual fervor. He had been present at the canonical office with his usual punctuality. Upon returning home and while waiting for supper, he fell, struck down for the fourth time. This was the final stroke. We are now deprived of the example of a man of God, a holy priest, a true model of all the priestly virtues. With all my heart I miss him. I both venerated and loved this good and faithful friend whose gracious heart was unrestrained in the kind things he said about me for he had an affection for me that was proof to any test. How few men there are who have grateful hearts; how rare are the men who are genuine friends!…”
Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.
