Born at Savoulx (Piedmont), May 12, 1807
Taking of the habit at Notre-Dame du Laus, September 29, 1835
Oblation at Marseilles, November 1, 1836 (no. 68)
Ordination to the priesthood, Marseilles, June 24, 1838
Died at Notre-Dame de l’Osier, May 13, 1869.
Jérôme Pont was born May 12, 1807 at Savoulx, a village in the diocese of Susa in Piedmont. We know nothing of his childhood and youth. We do know, however, that from 1828 to 1830, he was already a cleric and he taught at the college of Pont-de-Veyle (Ain). Subsequently, he taught in other places; then, in 1833 to 1835 he taught in Bourg-d’Oisans in the diocese of Grenoble where he came into contact with the Oblates. He began his novitiate at Notre-Dame du Laus, September 29, 1835 and made his oblation at Marseilles November 1, 1836. After two years of studying theology with the scholastic brothers at the major seminary of Marseilles, Bishop de Mazenod ordained him to the priesthood June 24, 1838.
Letters from Bishop de Mazenod and a few Oblates allow us to follow Father Pont in the various positions he fulfilled (missionary preacher, teacher and treasurer) and the places where he worked. Initially, he was sent to Notre-Dame de l’Osier (July-December 1838). The Founder writes in his Diary entry of July 6: Departure for l’Osier of “the excellent Father Pont, so good, so virtuous, so punctual, so attentive, so humble, so full of good will and, at the same time, endowed with more than enough talents and recognized as one of the best students of theology at the major seminary …” Subsequently, he functioned as a mission preacher at Notre-Dame du Laus (September 1838 to September 1839) and Notre-Dame de l’Osier (1839 to 18411). He then spent ten years at the major seminary of Ajaccio as professor. In 1850, he received a personal invitation to attend the General Chapter.
While he was a mission preacher at Notre-Dame de l’Osier from 1851 to 1856, he was at the same time treasurer of the second province of France. From 1856 to 1859, we find him acting in the roles of teacher and second assistant at the scholasticate at Montolivet. In the end, the spent the last ten years of his life at Notre-Dame de l’Osier. That is where he died, May 13, 1869, as a result of a chill which had been neglected. Father Audruger, superior of the house at that time, broke the news of his death in letter to Father Fabre in a few pages that heaped a great deal of praise on Father Pont. Among other things, we read the following: “A genuine religious, a true Oblate of Mary, a pious storehouse of the customs of our older priests, of the traditions of our beloved Founder, someone he venerated with filial devotion, he preserved and reanimated among us the family spirit while at the same time he edified us by his punctuality, his mortification, his charity, through the manly and charming examples of the most exalted holiness. No one more than he was a stranger to selfishness, to a self-centred life. His humility led him to accept tasks that others avoided the most. With a smile, he accepted as the tasks of filling in for others, even the most disagreeable tasks. Endowed with extremely sound judgment, adept at debating issues, although he was too non-assertive or too indecisive to resolve the questions, he still knew how to relinquish irrevocably – a very difficult thing – his most firmly held opinion when the competent authority adopted an opposite opinion. With the simplicity of a child, in spiritual direction, with the openness of a novice, he obeyed with the generosity of a saint…”
Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.
