Born at Colla (Italy), March 13, 1814
Taking of the habit at Notre-Dame du Laus, March 25, 1832
Oblation in Marseilles, July 16, 1833 (no. 54)
Ordination at Marseilles, February 18, 1837
Died at Vico, November 8, 1890.
Antoine Étienne Rolleri was born March 13, 1814 at Sedaletti, a hamlet of Colla, near San Remo, diocese of Ventimiglia. It seems he made his secondary studies at the Jesuit college in San Remo. He entered the novitiate at Notre-Dame du Laus on March 25, 1832 and made his oblation in Marseilles July 16, 1833. After his philosophical and theological studies in the major seminary of Marseilles, Bishop de Mazenod, still Bishop of Icosia at the time, ordained him to the priesthood February 18, 1837. In his Diary entry of that day, the Founder wrote: Ordination of Rolleri “who had prepared himself so well for this great blessing. May the Lord, along with the sublime character with which he marked him by the imposition of hands, grant to this beloved son, all the blessings that my heart wish him and which I call down on him with all the ardor of my soul at the very moment that I made him a priest!”
The new priest began by helping Father Étienne Semeria working with the Italians at Le Calvaire. In the summer of 1837, he was sent to Vico with the goal of being trained by Father Albini in the work of preaching missions who, during the seminarians vacations, evangelized some of the villages of Corsica. Already at the end of September Father Albini left Vico for the seminary. He left Father Rolleri as treasurer with brothers Jean Ferrand and Jean Métifiot. The young priest could not stand the isolation of this monastery, isolated in the mountains. The Founder noted in his Diary entry of October 4: “Father Rolleri is in despair, because, for his sins, I relegated him to such a wretched community in a house whose shortcomings he enumerates in a way that would be amusing if it was not a matter of things as serious as regularity endangered to the point that it is in that country.” On the 16th of that same month, he wrote again in his Diary: Letter to Albini to congratulate him on the success of the parish missions. “I told him that he was wrong to leave Father Rolleri alone at Vico. I only sent this young priest to Corsica to be trained by him in the preaching of missions. He should be his ordinary companion. Letter to Father Rolleri. I boosted his morale which is suffering faced with the defective way of life at Vico. I rebuked him severely about certain expressions of discouragement he used which are very inappropriate…”
On January 27, 1838, in a letter to Father Guibert, Superior at Ajaccio, Bishop de Mazenod commended to his concern and care “Father Rolleri who is suffering from boredom alone in that house in the country deprived of books.” He advised him to call him to Ajaccio “to await the moment of accompanying Father Albini on some parish missions which Father Albini would have to give in the course of the coming year.” Father Rolleri was recalled to Marseilles where he ministered to the Italian population from March to June of 1838. Then, he was sent back to Corsica along with Father Anthony Gibelli.
During his vacation time in 1838, Father Albini again preached several missions and brought with him Father Gibelli with whom he was very satisfied. Since Father Rolleri was ill, he left him in Vico. In a July 7 letter to the Founder, Father Albini wrote that humanly speaking, he does not have the presumption to assume that this priest would be useful for preaching missions, but, he adds, everything is possible for the one who inspired you the thought of sending him to us.”
Father Rolleri spent the summer in Vico with a recurrent fever. Then, in November, he was called back to Marseilles. In the summer of 1839, he took over from Father Semeria working with the Italians. Father Semeria was sent to Vico to continjue the missionary work being done by Father Albini who died May 20.
At the end of 1847, Father Stephen Semeria left to found the mission of Ceylon. Father Rolleri replaced him as superior of the monastery at Vico from 1847 to 1853. During these few years, in addition to preaching, he oversaw work on the old monastery: repairing the roof and the individual cells where the ceiling was too low. In 1853, the monastery of Vico became a school for secondary education for vocations to the priesthood. At that time, Father Rolleri was assigned once again to work with the Italians in Marseilles.
In 1860, he was put in charge of the parish missions in Corsica. He remained at Vico untill his death in 1890. During this time, he preached a lot of missions. We find various accounts of them in Missions OMI right up until 1890. It was Father Albini’s opinion that only the grace of God could make a good preacher out of Father Rolleri. God’s grace did produce fruit. He preached often and with success. In this regard, the author of his obituary wrote: “His sermons were substantial and well prepared. His Italian was simple and lucid, but at the same time, it was precise and pure. Learned men took pleasure in listening to him and people from the rural areas could understand him and benefit from his teaching. His voice was powerful and, at the same time, lucid like his style. He used to preach with a lot of heart and ardour. His listeners were strongly impressed and, in general, with the help of divine grace, they would yield to the power of his argument and the vigour of his exhortations to go to confession, to receive Holy Communion and their Christian lives improved… He is certainly the one among our priests who preached the most missions in Corsica, since he spent almost his entire life exclusively in this kind of ministry and he lived on to his sixty-sixth year. While he was at the monastery, he was an example of regularity, especially of punctuality for the exercises done in common. He loved silence, recollection and study, gladly stayed in his cell and only came out on rare occasions…”
On February 18 and 19, 1887, they celebrated his golden anniversary of priesthood. He was, then, appointed superior of this house, a position he held until his death, November 1890.
Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.
