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"Be what you are, Be at its best!"      - St. Francis de Sales

Editorial  Introducing the MSFS St. Francis de Sales  Fr. Peter Memier MSFS in St. Lucia  Fr. Louis Favre General Assembly 1997  Wellspring Fransalian Media Centre  Suvidya College     VISAKHAPATNAM PROVINCE Congress of the FRANCE-SWISS PROVINCE NAGPUR PROVINCE PUNE PROVINCE SOUTH-WEST PROVINCE NORTH-EAST INDIA TANZANIA Vol. 1  January 1999

Fransalian International

About 60 years ago, Europe became the theatre of a new dramatic event in the history of mankind: the Second World War II broke out through Hitler's politics of expansionism.

The MSFS Congregation could not escape the horrors of war; many confreres (including seminarians) lost their lives on the battle fields especially of France and Germany. But the story recounted here is not just a sad remembrance. We can tell it with pride, because it is deeply rooted in the Gospel words: "There is no greater love than this that a man should lay down his life for his friends" (Jn. 15:13).

Ville-la-Grand (a former Roman "oppidum" called "Villa magna") is today a small town of 7,000 inhabitants, near Annemasse and Geneva, to the south of the Lake of Geneva.  In 1922, the MSFS bought a house here, formerly an orphanage, to house a new junior seminary, called "Juvenat St. François de Sales".  The confreres who came with the first batch of students could not guess that 22 years later the peculiar geographical situation of the house would save many human lives!  As we can see on the map, the school and the gardens are built along the Franco-Swiss border.  There's just a wall and a road separating the two countries.  When France was occupied by German troops (around 1942), the wall was topped with barbed wire and German soldiers came regularly to survey the border.  Switzerland remained a neutral country, so that the yearning for freedom drove many people across the border, among them; great many Jews hunted by Hitler's soldiers.  The MSFS community at the school did not remain deaf to the cries of distress and the confreres did everything possible to help save lives.  Two of these conferrers, Fr. Louis Favre and Bro. Raymond Boccard, deserve mention in a special way.

Fr. Louis Favre (1910-1944)

Bro. Raymond Boccard (1904-1996)

"Deus Providebit" was his motto, and when the Fathers wondered if he could become a Brother, his reply was: "Yes". After his novitiate in Les Allinges and Ru (Fribourg), Raymond became "Brother Raymond". For 60 years he has been the ever smiling and ever-singing gardener of Ville-la-Grand, selling flowers in the markets and making a great number of friends.  His fidelity to his friends was quite astonishing.  Every new year he wrote a number of cards in English, Spanish, Polish and French.

When World War II broke out, Raymond was too old to be sent to the battle field. So he remained a reservist in the valley of Maurienne, defending the place against Italian invaders for two years.  When he came back to Ville-la-Grand, he joined Fr. Favre and his friends, helping the people to escape. His main duty was to watch from his room windows. When the German patrols disappeared behind the 'S' part of the wall, he lifted his hat and that was the signal for the people hiding in the gardens.  Using a ladder they climbed the wall and jumped into Switzerland. Some of them were sent back by the Swiss customs; then Raymond accompanied them, carrying their luggage to the Annemasse Railway Station. None of them had proper travel documents and whenever he went past the Germans, Brother Raymond used to greet them with a smile, without fear.

Brother Raymond was a key witness to the dramatic events of 1944. Many people came to thank him after the war; there were many entries made in his little black diary of the new friends he made. In 1987, he went to Jerusalem where he planted the "Yad Vashem Memorial Trees" in memory of Fr. Favre, of Pernoud and of himself.  Brother Raymond died on October 1, 1996, in Annemasse.