Born at Menin (Belgium), September 30, 1824.
Taking of the habit at Notre-Dame de l’Osier, July 24, 1847.
Oblation at Notre-Dame de l’Osier, July 25, 1848. (no. 201)
Ordination to the priesthood at Aix-en-Provence, September 21, 1850.
Left the Congregation in October 1851.
Victor Verhulst was born at Menin in the diocese of Bruges on September 30, 1824. After two years of theological studies at the major seminary of Bruges, armed with a very favourable letter of recommendation from the superior of the seminary, he entered the novitiate at Notre-Dame de l’Osier on July 24, 1847 and made his oblation there on July 25, 1848. In its July 15, 1848 session, the General Council had admitted him to vows, but suggested to Father Vincens, the novice master, to “prolong a bit his trial period” because he was “somewhat lacking in the area of prayer life.” After two years of studies as a scholastic at the major seminary of Marseilles, he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop de Mazenod on September 21, 1850.
He exercised a few months of ministry, initially at Aix, then, at Le Calvaire in Marseilles where he suffered boredom and returned to his family in Belgium. On November 9, 1851, he wrote to Bishop de Mazenod to ask pardon for his conduct and his unfaithfulness without stating clearly whether he intended to remain an Oblate or not. Two days later, the Bishop of Bruges wrote to the Founder telling him that Victor Verhulst had been sent away from the seminary in 1847 because “in the judgment of his superiors, he had no calling to the ecclesiastical state.”; consequently, the bishop refused to give him any assignment in the diocese. Let the bishop of Marseilles who ordained him find work for him in his own diocese.
Subsequently, in the Congregation, the name of Victor Verhulst no longer appears. According to a note left in his dossier in the general archives, he died at Courtrai in August of 1863.
Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.
