1815 - 2015: 200th anniversary of the birth of Bishop Tepano Jaussen ... A good birthday gift! A beautiful gift!
A book has just been published:
"LIFE OF MONS. TEPANO JAUSSEN,
bishop of Axiéri and first Vicar Apostolic of Tahiti. "
Fr. Venance Prat sscc
Éditions Univers Polynesiens, Papeete, 2015
Volume 1, page 465 (Volume 2 is in press)
This large 1,200-page manuscript, penned by Father Venance Prat (born in Clot, France, in 1826 and died in Braine-le-Comte, Belgium, in 1921), has remained intact in the archives for 94 years!
While it is titled "Life of Bishop Tepano Jaussen", this book, in two volumes, goes far beyond the person of the first Vicar Apostolic of Tahiti. In it we find the birth of the first Catholic communities of Polynesia: Tahiti, Gambier, Tuamotu, Easter Island, Fiji, Society Islands, the Cook Islands...
There were so many difficulties and humiliations be endured and experienced this young bishop during his 36 years of episcopate! But what a joy to see that the Gospel is rooted in a multitude of islands!
If the birth of the Gospel in the islands is due to the faith, courage and presence of the missionaries, this book, meanwhile, is the fruit of faith and enthusiasm of Christians today, who have taken the challenge of this memory, of this beautifully illustrated publication.
To be noted also are the repertoire of sscc priests, brothers and "donated" and glossaries that the book offers.
02/16/2016