austraLasia
#1833
Chanel - and the 'odour of
sanctity'
SUVA: 28th
April 2007 -- Thankfully
the 'phrase 'odour of sanctity' has lost currency as a phrase - 'odour' never
quite worked in English, even when apotheosized and meant to be something
pleasant. But perhaps we can make an exception for 28th April, given the
celebration, in the South Pacific, of its protomartyr, St Peter Chanel.
'Chanel' is, after all, the most prestigious fashion brand where perfumes are
concerned, though it is unknown whether or not today's Parisian fashion house by
that name is directly related to him - it is possible, since both Peter Chanel
and 'Coco' Chanel were French, and within a generation or two of one
another.
The Pacific Regional Seminary in Suva has St
Peter Chanel as its patron - some seventeen dioceses and several religious
Congregations, amongst whom the Salesians, have their theological students
attend PRS, as it is known. And the 28th April is the seminary's major
patronal celebration.
Peter Chanel joined the Marists in
1831 - they were founded just a few years before Don Bosco founded the
Salesians, and were given a large area of the Pacific and its islands as a
missionary mandate. Peter arrived on the island known today as Futuna
(Wallis and Futuna islands make up the diocese), where he and his small band of
missionaries were initially welcomed by the king, who had recently foresworn
cannibalism. However, the group's ability to quickly learn the language
and sway the people towards Christianity alarmed the sovereign and when his own
son asked for baptism, he promptly dispatched a group of islanders to put the
missionaries to death. On April 28th 1841 Peter was clubbed to death by those he
had come to save.
The result? Three years later the
entire island converted to Christianity, and today it stands out as a small
jewel in the Pacific, with numerous vocations still.
Spare
a thought today for the call to holiness and the call to serve, in the South
Pacific where in more recent years a solid group of young Salesians has also
emerged.
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