Father, I made your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love you had for me may be in them and I may be in them. John 17:26.

With Christ I hang upon the cross, and yet I am alive; or rather, not I; it is Christ that lives in me. True I am living, here and now, this mortal life; but my real life is the faith I have in the Son God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.  Gal 2:20

Run with resolution the race which lies ahead of us, our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Hebrews 12:2

These were basic texts in our Founder’s formation. They are the basis also of any genuinely Christian life. Fr Piperon, in his Writings on the Life of the Founder, has left us a description of him as a seminarian.

He was a determined worker with a strong spirit.  He was endowed with practical judgment and a strong will which no difficulty could disconcert. All praised him as the perfect seminarian, the student endeavouring to reproduce in himself the great virtues of Jesus Christ, the Sovereign Priest. The directors esteemed and loved him. They saw him as one of the best in the seminary and they rejoiced at the emulation for virtue that his zeal stirred up amongst his confreres.  

Such was the student Chevalier as I knew him during the few years spent with him in the seminary.  I do not think that I have used colours too bright in trying to paint this portrait.  If ever our fellow students of that time happen to read these pages, they could witness to their truth (op. cit. 128).

The Letter to the Hebrews played an important role in Sulpician theology and spirituality. Thus the key point of priestly formation in the Bourges Major Seminary can be summed up in Fr Piperon’s reference to the words: “endeavouring to reproduce in himself the great virtues of Jesus Christ, the Sovereign Priest”.
    
Others can teach a seminarian what he has to do in his ministry, but he has to take responsibility himself for becoming what he has to be:. “Ultimately, all formation is self-formation” (Pastorem dabo vobis n.69). The same applies to ongoing formation. It is the task of formators, in a variety of ways, to support and encourage this process. Jules Chevalier accepted this fact and, typically, set out to do something practical about it.

During the first three years of his priestly formation, Jules applied himself more particularly to the cultivation of the interior virtues: recollection, the spirit of faith and mental prayer. To arrive at this more surely, he practiced courageously mortification of the senses and penance (op.cit. 127).

It has been claimed that 10% of our life is made up of what happens to us; 90% of how we react to what happens to us. Thus, a Christian life aims to ensure that our reactions are also Christ’s reactions.  True I am living, here and now, this mortal life; but my real life is the faith I have in the Son God, who loved me, and gave himself for me  (Gal 2:20). In other words, the reality of the Father’s love in the heart of Christ dying on the cross has to become, by God’s gift, a reality in ours. St Paul refers to this process as a ‘dying with Christ’ – a process of ‘mortification’ in order that we may grow into “the full stature of Christ” (Eph 4:13). To achieve this, Sulpician spirituality aimed at “keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus” (Heb 12:2)..

He continually recalled Saint Paul’s exhortation to the first Christians in Hebrews 12:2. He too wanted to contemplate constantly “the author and perfecter of our faith”. Jesus whose Sacred Heart has loved us beyond all measure, and who was consumed without reserve for the salvation of souls. (ib. words not underlined in the original)

This approach to formation was also made into a method of prayer:  Jesus before my eyes (adoration); Jesus in my heart (communion); Jesus in my hands (cooperation and action). To have one’s eyes ‘fixed on Jesus’ was not an escape from the realities of life. It had to govern the way a priest was to carry out his ministry.

From the beginning of his clerical life, Jules Chevalier had a high idea of the dignity of the priesthood.  He often said to himself, and he repeated frequently to us, his younger fellow students, that the priest must be another Jesus Christ, hence his mission is to continue his works on earth.  Therefore, he must reproduce in his life the great virtues of which Jesus Christ has left us such sublime examples.  Like Jesus, he must be consumed for the glory of God.  Like his divine Saviour, he must be gentle and humble of heart.  Like him, he must live poverty, practice penance, be compassionate towards the weak, help sinners, bring back the lost sheep, even carry them in his arms to the divine sheep-fold.  Like his divine model, the priest must be ready to suffer all for the salvation of souls.  Neither trials nor suffering, nor persecution, nor fear even of death must turn him from the service of God. Thus thought our young seminarian. (ib)

Fr Piperon admits that at the start Jules “let it be too evident that he was making continuous efforts” but adds that this was ‘innocent” and that ”Every beginner in the way to perfection is led into these noble exaggerations” (p.131). At the same time, while “the less serious reproached him for being too reserved”, others “admired his ease in showing friendship” (p.127)  and Piperon also remarks that Jules “was simple in his relations with his confreres, gentle and charitable towards all, severe with himself” (op.cit. 127) .
    
Thus, the Founder’s seminary formation specifically followed the principles given by Jean-Jacques Olier, the founder of the Sulpicians. Fr Piperon mentions that both Jules Chevalier and Ėmile Maugenest “formed by the disciples of Father Olier, had retained a deep affection for the seminary traditions” (op cit. 187). The principle underlying this formation is clearly stated in the introduction to the rule of life drawn up for the seminary of St Sulpice.

The first and last end of this institute will be to live completely for God in Christ Jesus our Lord in such a way that the interior life of his Son penetrates the depths of our heart and that each be able to say what St. Paul said about himself with confidence: It is no longer I that live, it is Christ who lives in me (Gal 2:20).  This will be for all their single hope and their single thought, this also will be their one exercise: to live interiorly the life of Christ and to manifest it in action in our mortal body. (Pietas Seminarii).
 
We are fortunate in having the text of an unfinished sermon written by Jules Chevalier as a seminarian and which gives us an example of how concretely he understood ‘interior transformation’ and the ‘mortification’ it called for.
    
When Jules entered the Minor Seminary, he did not come straight from school, but from work experience; he was two and a half years older than others in his class.  Some students made fun of him. Two who were given to ragging new arrivals tormented him even when he was praying in the Chapel; one of them pulled his hair and pushed him to the ground. Jules got up and slapped him hard on the cheek. .  
    
A well known Sulpician priest, Abbé Mollevaut, preached the retreat at the beginning of Jules’ first year in the Major Seminary. It was a turning point in his life.  He writes, “His words were simple but ardent and full of faith; they made a deep impression on my soul. I came out from these pious exercises converted and desiring to be an exemplary seminarist”. If difference in age was a cause for mocking when he was in the Minor Seminary, now a difference in seriousness of conduct had the same effect.
    
We are fortunate in having part of the text of a sermon he preached in the seminary on forgiving those who insult us. It gives us an insight into how he tried to transform his attitudes in order to have the “same mind as Christ”. His words are a challenge to all of us.

Everyone regards a person who would wilt under abuse as a weak and timid soul.  Although it is painful for our corrupt nature, it is heroic to forgive sincerely insults and offences.  No matter how difficult it is, God has a right to expect it of us; indeed he has commanded us to do so; and he has certainly given the example himself. You may tell the person who offended you that you have forgiven him, even that you love him, but perhaps this is only to avoid further trouble; and fearing that his company may re-awaken angry thoughts, you decide to keep out of his way.  What kind of forgiveness and love is that if the mere presence of the one you pretend to love only inflames you with hateful and angry thoughts? You say you love your brother, and yet you try to avoid his presence. What blindness! This is not in the spirit of Our Lord’s command.   The trouble is you are seeing only the man and not God in him.  Even if it is hard to love your enemies you must see God in them…Would you strike the one who is held in the arms of Jesus? Jesus loves him, and holds him to his heart.  Pierce him and you pierce the Heart of Jesus where he is held.

These were not just pious words of a seminarian; he lived it to the end of his life. Fr Piperon tells us how those who knew him well used to say: “If you want to obtain a favour easily from Father Chevalier, do him an injury” (p.283)

Continuing formation is a duty for all religious. It should enable them to deepen their commitment to their vocation, community life and mission.  CS 92.

Father Dennis James Murphy MSC