February

February 4 – Bl. Marie Eugene of the Child Jesus, Priest | Optional Memorial

Henri Grialou was born in 1894 at Le Gua, Aveyron. His call to the priesthood came at the early age of ten years old. He entered the seminary at Rodez in 1911.

Interrupting his studies for the priesthood, Henri volunteered for the army in 1913. War followed and for five years Henri Grialou took part in the major campaigns at Argonne, Verdun and Chemin des Dames … In 1919 he was able to resume his seminary studies at Rodez, where he said “I made a definitive choice to become a priest.”

While on a retreat in preparation for his ordination to the diaconate, on the evening of 13 December 1920, Henri was reading a book on the life of Saint John of the Cross when he received a sudden overwhelming revelation that God wanted him to enter Carmel. Numerous difficulties would arise in pursuing this call however they only proved to strengthen his resolve to follow God’s will.

On 4th February 1922, Henri Grialou was ordained a priest, and on the same day he received a sign confirming his call to Carmel. He entered Carmel at Avon (Fontainebleau) on 24 February 1922, taking the name Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus. After his novitiate, he participated actively in the preaching that followed the beatification and canonization of Saint Therese of Lisieux (1923/1925), and the proclamation of Saint John of the Cross as Doctor of the Church (1926). He gave himself fully to this apostolate, thus contributing to the varied forms of renewal which the Church in France experienced between the two world wars.

In 1928, his nomination as Prior of the Petit Castelet Monastery in Tarascon, interrupted a period of intense activity. It was during this time that he assisted in the foundation of the Notre-Dame de Vie Secular Institute. Fr Marie-Eugene was next appointed Prior at Agen (1932-36) and at Monte-Carlo (1936-37). He was then elected as a member of the General Council of the Order in Rome, where he remained until 1955, apart from the war years of 1939-1945. More specifically, he was given the responsibility for all the French speaking Carmelite monasteries. He paid special attention to the persecuted communities.

On his return to France in 1955, he was elected Provincial (1957-60 and again in 1963-67). He observed closely the upheavals of the 1950s and the new initiatives for the apostolate in the Church. From 1965 onwards, his health gradually deteriorated. He concentrated his attention on the essential things: teaching the fundamentals of the spiritual life and supporting the growing numbers of people who sought his advice. After many months of severe suffering, he died on Easter Monday, March 27, 1967.

February 24 – Bl. Josefa Naval Girbés, Virgin | Optional Memorial

Bl. Josefa Naval Girbes (1820-1893) when she was a young woman, took a vow of chastity. Josefa was very active in her parish life. Opened a school for girls in her own home where she taught needlework and prayer. Member of the Third Order Secular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Teresa of Jesus. Great devotion for the Virgin Mary.

Josepha was born on December 11, 1820, in Algemesi, Valencia Province, Spain, and died on February 24, 1893. She was the first of five children in a spiritual family. She was baptized on the day she was born, confirmed in 1828, and made her First Communion a year later.

Although schools were not available, she learnt to read and write, and she became skilled in embroidery. At the age of thirteen, her mother died. Being the eldest, she helped her father raise her younger brothers and sisters, living in her maternal grandmother’s home. At the age of 18, under spiritual direction from her parish priest, she consecrated herself with a vow of perpetual chastity. She entered the then-Third Order (since 1979, called the Secular Order) of Discalced Carmelites, but documents were lost during the Spanish Civil War of 1936, and the date of her entry is unknown. In Algemesi, there is today a large picture of the Virgin of Carmel embroidered in gold and silk, made under Josepha’s supervision.

In an age when spirituality in Third Orders endeavored to replicate the way of life of the religious, Josepha seems to have lived out her Carmelite spirituality in her secular condition. She invited young women to her house, taught them embroidery, prayer and the evangelical virtues, sharing her wisdom and spiritual understanding. She died on February 24, 1893, having received the last sacraments. At her request, she was buried in the Carmelite habit.

On October 20, 1946, Josepha’s remains were removed to the parish Church of St. James and placed in a beautiful metal and glass coffin for all to venerate. After careful investigation of her life Pope John Paul II proclaimed the Decree for her heroic virtues on January 3, 1987. On September 1, 1988 the proposed miracle for her Beatification was accepted. The Beatification ceremony was celebrated in Saint Peter’s Basilica on September 25, 1988.