Born in Marseilles, May 2, 1808
Taking of the habit, Marseilles, April 25, 1828
Oblation, Marseilles, April 25, 1829 (no. 36)
Ordination to the priesthood, Fribourg in Switzerland, April 2, 1831
Died at major seminary of Marseilles, September 16, 1836.
Alexandre-Marie Pons was born in Marseilles, May 2, 1808. He began his studies of Latin with Abbe Louis Armelin (1786-1856) and continued his studies at the minor seminary where he distinguished himself by his love for reading and his academic achievements. Latin was his favourite subject. He entered the major seminary in the autumn of 1827 at the time when the Oblates were taking over the staffing and running of the seminary. Before the end of the school year, he decided to enter the Congregation arid began his novitiate April 25, 1828 with Father Leon Gustave Reynier as master of novices. He continued on with his novitiate at Saint-Just near Marseilles under the direction of Father Guigues. He made his oblation April 25, 1829.
He subsequently continued his study of theology at the seminary in Marseilles the year of 1829-1830 and at Billens in Switzerland the year of 1830-1831. Right from his novitiate, Brother Pons stood out because of his passion for study. In a January 28, 1830 letter, the Founder wrote him: “It was wrong of me, my dear Brother Pons, to allow you to nourish yourself with Concina being, as you are, inclined to embrace opinions that are far too rigid. Concina will never be the author for our Congregation. Doctrinal uniformity being prescribed for us, we take it especially from the surest authors and prefer to derive from those whom the Church has recognized as having reached heaven a teaching quite contrary to that for which you have taken a liking. Liguori, Blessed Liguori, who is going to be canonized, has been adopted by us as the doctor with whom we ought to be more in agreement.” (Letters to the Oblates of France, 1841-1850, Oblate Writings I, vol. 7, no. 342, p. 195)
At Billens, while he pursued his theological studies, he taught Latin and taught alongside Fathers Casimir Aubert and Peter Telmon in the field of philosophy. He was ordained to the priesthood in Fribourg, Holy Saturday, April 2, 1831 by His Excellency Yenni, Bishop of Lausanne and Geneva. In December 1832, Father Guibert made the canonical visit of Billens and observed that the scholastic brothers “have made remarkable progress under Father Pons, not so much in the details of the subject as in methodology, etc.” (Letters to the Oblates of France, 1831-1836, Oblate Writings I, vol. 8, no. 442, p. 81)
At the beginning of 1833, the Founder recalled the novices and the scholastic brothers to Marseilles. Some priests, among whom were Father Mille, the superior and Father Pons, remained at Billens. With little preaching to do because they were as yet not very well known, they spent part of the summer touring on foot. In one of Father Pons’ obituaries, Father Charles Bellon wrote: “That is how, on foot, he visited the whole of Switzerland…” Bishop de Mazenod learned of this and, on June 23, 1833, he wrote a stern letter of rebuke to the priests at Billens. It was then that he sent Father Mille to Notre-Dame du Laus and Father Pons to the seminary of Marseilles. September 1, he wrote to Father Tempier, telling him: “Have him do a retreat in the course of which I forbid him to say Mass, and I approve no one but yourself as his confessor during that retreat.” (Letters to the Oblates of France, 1841-1850, Oblate Writings I, vol. 8, no. 459, p. 98)
Father Pons taught dogma at the seminary from 1833 to 1836 while at the same time teaching a class in the humanities to the scholastic brothers. He was also in charge of the youth group at Le Calvaire and chaplain of the Sisters of Saint Charles. Father Bellon who wrote one of the obituaries for Father Pons was one of his students at the seminary and he describes him in these words: “God, who always wants to keep his creature, man, in an attitude of humility, had fortified Father Pons against pride by giving him a smallish body which did not seem to be fully developed and which, even though he was twenty-five years of age, seemed to overshadow the rare gifts of mind and heart that he possessed. To see him, one would have taken him for a tiny student. Along with this stature went features that were commonplace and an appearance that was generally quite unkempt. His gradual loss of eyesight contributed even more to his shyness and diffidence. His gait, whether he was leading the community on a walk or whether he went to the city, was always hurried. He used to let his arms swing in a way that seemed to accentuate even more his natural movements. But, no matter how lively his temperament might have been, everything in him bore the stamp of an admirable gentleness, a virtue which led him to agree to do anything anyone asked of him…”
On September 16, 1836, Father Pons died following a few days of illness. .He was carried off by “the most vicious form of typhus.” The next day, Bishop de Mazenod announced the news to Father Mille at Notre-Dame du Laus: “The Lord has just taken away our excellent Father Alexandre Marie Pons, at 28 years of age, in the 8th year since his call. He died as one predestined, yesterday at 8:00 p.m., assisted by all his brothers, who had nursed him with heroic charity throughout his illness, fearless of its malign and contagious nature. My presence and words were so much of a comfort to our poor sick confrere that I made it my personal duty to console him until the end came.
Although for four days he could no longer speak, he remained conscious and fervently followed every edifying suggestion made. Following our custom his confessor, Father Tempier, frequently repeated the act of absolution which he received with joy. I think he had received an interior light warning him that his end was near, for since the holidays he has devoted himself to every practice of perfection, living out such an exact regularity that the whole community was edified. His conversation was only of God, and he did all thing for him.” (Letters to the Oblates of France, 1831-1836, Oblate Writings I, vol. 8, no. 585, p. 248-249)
In his Diary under the heading September 18, 1838, Bishop de Mazenod wrote a few pages that were Father Pons’ first obituary. In it, among other things, he said: “Endowed with great talents, he put them to work for the benefit of his brothers and for the salvation of souls by teaching various subjects before his ordination to the priesthood and by evangelizing, first of all, in the various parishes in the canton of Fribourg and then in Marseilles as circumstances dictated and finally by teaching theology at the major seminary. Father Pons knew Latin inside and out. He was even able to write poetry in that language. His practical spirit graced him with a great facility in learning and the ability to achieve mastery of the most abstract sciences. While writing his sermons, something he did effortlessly, as a means of entertaining himself, he would often work out some problem in geometry on the back of the sheet. He had a prodigious memory. He never forgot anything he had learned. As well, as a source of amusement, he learned botany and no one was more capable than he in finding what he wanted to know in the holy Fathers and other authors. He could recall in which volume and on which page he had read something. His talent was equal to his zeal. A measure of this was what took place during the 1835 cholera epidemic where, unassisted, he carried out admirably well ministry with two ambulances without defaulting in any way in on the help he bestowed in passing upon all in need. His health in no way suffered from this excessive workload dictated by necessity. Who would have thought that we would lose such a capable worker in the slack time of vacation? And yet, even his vacation time was put to good use. His final work was the composition of new offices which we wanted to introduce into the Congregation. It was while he was engaged in this holy work that death snatched him away. He had only done a good part of the office of the Immaculate Conception…”
Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.
