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Sep 11 – Feria / S John Gabriel Perboyre
Description
Sources Used Today:
- "Christian Hope" — From the Assumption to Advent
- "700 Traditional Pilgrims at the Feet of Our Lady of Częstochowa" (FSSPX.news)
- The SSPX Podcast: "What Is the Difference Between a Priest and a Bishop?" (SSPX Podcast)
- View on YouTube
- Listen & Subscribe on SSPXpodcast.com
- The Spiritual Life — Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (Angelus Press)
Please support our new project, the Archbishop Lefebvre Biography Audiobook:
- Learn more:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Wp4MQdK2o
- Donate:https://sspx.gifts/audiobook
Saint John Gabriel Perboyre spent years dreaming about the missions in China before he ever imagined he would actually go there.
He was born in 1802 in a small farming village in southern France, one of eight children. As a boy, John Gabriel wasn't originally planning to become a priest. He accompanied his younger brother to a school run by the Vincentians and intended to stay only long enough to help him settle in.
Instead, John Gabriel discovered his own vocation.
He entered the Congregation of the Mission, founded by Vincent de Paul, and was ordained in 1826. His great desire was to become a missionary in China, partly inspired by his younger brother Louis, who had volunteered for the Chinese missions but died during the voyage.
John Gabriel asked to take his place.
His superiors initially refused because his health seemed too fragile.
Eventually, they changed their minds.
In 1835, he sailed for China. After months at sea, John Gabriel entered the country disguised in Chinese clothing, learned the language, and began traveling between scattered Catholic communities. Missionary life meant long journeys, unfamiliar food, hiding from authorities, hearing confessions, celebrating Mass secretly, and teaching Catholics who might