Born at Laître-sous-Amance (Meurthe et Moselle), April 9, 1829.
Taking of the habit at Notre-Dame de l’Osier, October 31, 1850.
Oblation at Marseilles, November 21, 1851. (no. 318)
Ordination to the priesthood at Marseilles, October 8, 1854.
Died at Nancy, May 18, 1859.
Léon François Lagrue was born at Laître-sous-Amance in the diocese of Nancy on April 9, 1829. At the end of his secondary studies at the minor seminary of Pont-à-Mousson, he entered the novitiate of Notre-Dame de l’Osier on October 31, 1850. On November 21, 1851, he made his oblation at the major seminary of Marseilles where he studied theology until his ordination by Bishop de Mazenod on October 8, 1854.
During Brother Lagrue’s studies at the scholasticate, Father Mouchette, the moderator of scholastics, often noted in his reports on the scholastics that Brother Lagrue is “fragile of health... has spat a bit of blood..., is moderate in his participation in the exercises in common..., is good and very regular in his observance, etc.,” On October 16, 1854, Bishop de Mazenod wrote: “I ordained to the priesthood Father Lagrue to send him into Paradise marked with the sacred character so that he will be able to bear it with glory for all eternity.”
After his ordination, Father Lagrue lived at Notre-Dame de Lumières in 1855-1856, then at Nancy from 1857 until his death in 1859. Father Guinet immediately wrote to the Founder, telling him: “His life, his long illness, especially toward the end, and his death, everything was a source of edification. All of those who saw and heard him during his last days could not help saying: “Oh, he is one of the blessed; he is a saint.” By a May 24 letter, Father Casimir Aubert, provincial of Midi province, communicated to the Oblates the passing of Father Lagrue “as a result of a chest ailment from which Father Lagrue had been suffering for several years.”
Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.
Sources
Oblate General Archives in Rome. Oblation formula, November 21, 1851; letter from Father Lagrue to Father Tempier without name or date. (His share of the inheritance at the death of his Father in 1847); letter from Father Aubert to the Oblates, May 24, 1859.
