Augustin Aubry

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Augustin Aubry[1]

First Vicar-Provincial of the Vice-Province of England and Ireland 1885-1887

Visitor-General of the Missions of Oceania 1893-1899

First Provincial of the Province of Oceania 1899-1900

Augustin Aubry was born on 25 March 1847 at Bar-le-Duc, Meuse,[2] in the Diocese of Verdun, the youngest of three children to Didier Justin Aubry, weaver, and Françoise Diels, both aged 42. His mother died in 1854 and his sister, Elisabeth, in 1857. Marists staffed Institution Saint-Augustin 1859-69, which Aubry attended.[3] In 1867, he completed his secondary schooling by passing the baccalauréat-ès-lettres of the Faculté des Lettres at Nancy.[4]
His Marist formation started at Montbel,[5] novitiate at Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon and then Belley.[6] He was sent to Institution Saint-Marie in Riom (a town north of Clermont-Ferrand) for the 1870 school year as a supervisor.[7] However, the school was told to send the pupils away after two months as the college was being taken over as an ambulance station during the Franco-Prussian war.[8] Aubry received permission to volunteer as a soldier in the Légion des volontaires de l’Ouest (the renamed Pontifical Zouaves), signing up in January 1871.[9] [10] After the disrupted year at Riom, he returned to Belley, where he was professed in the Society of Mary on 20 July 1872.
While completing his theology in Dublin, Aubry also had supervisory or teaching duties at C.U.S. Victor Poupinel reported in June 1874,[11]
Going to Ireland to study theology is a harder test than you might think, but Brother Aubry got through it quite well. Although he has benefited from studying English, he still needs at least another year to ensure the success of what he has acquired: but he does not wish to do this second year. He would like to prepare for mathematics and to be placed at La Seyne. It seems that there is an agreement on this subject with Reverend Father Depoix.
But, apart from the reason I have given, we will need a French teacher to replace Father Pimor either in Dublin or in Dundalk. Brother Aubry's success in theology has been rather mediocre: the difficulties of English, the troubles of the first few months, his rather weak taste for this study are the cause. He wishes to come to Senlis[12] if he is ordained a priest; this favour would make him accept the second year of Ireland.
It is of note given his desire for and later work in the missions of New Zealand and Oceania, that he was tonsured by Bishop Philippe Viard (Wellington, NZ), received the Diaconate from Bishop Pierre-Ferdinand Vitte (New Caledonia) and was ordained a priest on 24 August 1874 in Dublin by Bishop Francis Redwood (Wellington, NZ), along with Felix Watters, the bishop’s first ordinations.[13] [14]
His first appointment was to St Mary's College, Dundalk (Ireland) where he remained until 1884. In his first year there, he set up a choir, which had some success. He was content in his role and was happy to continue in 1875.[15] At the end of the 1877-78 school year, Father Favre instructed sending Aubry to visit his father at Senlis and also expressed the belief that he was capable of becoming a skilful teacher.[16] For the 1878-79 school year, the Superior General agreed with Jean Leterrier’s idea that Aubry should teach moral.[17] Twice, Victor Poupinel mentions “a letter full of common sense and religious spirit” that Aubry had written to Favre.[18] However, a year later, Leterrier was not happy that Aubry had not said Mass the last week at Dundalk, “piety, unfortunately, is not his strong point”, and wanted assurance that he really does a retreat.[19] Poupinel acknowledged this and indicated that the Superior General would write to Aubry to return to Dundalk and to make a good retreat beforehand; in addition, a complaint was made against the provincial for not accounting for members of his province with regard to this matter.[20]
By 1883, Aubry had made several requests to be sent far away and Poupinel was considering his placement in New Zealand.[21] However, he remained at Dundalk to replace Patrick Grew, who was on sick leave.[22] In 1884, he went to Paignton, Devon, England[23] for a rest period where he was bursar and assisted with the pastoral care of Brixham.[24]
From 1872 England, Ireland and America had been part of the Paris province and the Vicar Provincial responsible for these areas was Jean Leterrier. It was decided to divide this responsibility and, while Leterrier continued as Vicar Provincial for America, Aubry became Vicar Provincial for England and Ireland.[25] To take up this position, Aubry had completed six months of pious exercises instead of a second novitiate (replacement allowed by the Vatican because of the religious expulsion from France in 1880)[26] in order to take the vow of stability on 10 August 1885.
He arrived in Dublin at the end of a very well-run retreat lead by Théophile Le Menant des Chesnais.[27] [28] One of the first matters he was to deal with was in which house he was going to live; correspondence shows that he was based more at Notre Dame de France at Leicester Square than any other house in the Vice-Province, this to assist with covering staffing needs.[29] When Etienne Chaurain, the long-term head of the London mission based at St. Anne’s in Spitalfields, passed away in 1887, Aubry filled the void as indicated in the SM Index.[30] [31]
During his term, there were issues with the status of the chapel at C.U.S, health issues with seminarians and ordained Marists and appointments to finalise. His three-year term as Vice-Provincial was coming to an end, and Aubry, then at Paignton, asked not to be given another term,[32]
As far as I'm concerned, I've told you more than once, for the last fifteen years I've done nothing but improvise new functions; I've touched every branch of teaching; each year has been a new programme. The result is an empty and somewhat sick brain. If I could have a little time to fill it, as it is not too late, I would be very grateful, I don't know how I managed, but I was never able to make myself understood on this subject by Father Leterrier or Father Poupinel. What I said to them then has more or less happened: at forty I have accomplished absolutely nothing and I no longer have either the strength or almost the taste to accomplish anything, and soon I will find myself adding one more to the number of those we don't know what to do with.
It would still be possible to remedy this. A few years in a position that would allow me to work while making me useful would have this result. I have practised a little ministry during the last two years, if I interrupt it for pure and simple administration, it is over, I have to sign up again to remain empty all my life. In Dublin ministry will be impossible for me. I will then have to go back to teaching: that will mean putting you in a bind before six months; unless I remain completely idle, which would be neither to the advantage of the house nor to my own.
His request was met as he was appointed superior of the novitiate house at Paignton 1887-88 followed by some months at Notre Dame de France.[33]
Aubry’s desire for the missions was finally fulfilled in 1889. He travelled to New Zealand as Archbishop Francis Redwood’s private chaplain [34] and became Bishop John Grimes’ private secretary. Given his teaching background, he carried out inspections of schools in the Christchurch Diocese with him being formally appointed Inspector of Schools in October 1891.[35] He spent time in parishes – relieving for Aimé Martin in Hokitika in February 1892 before becoming parish priest at Timaru in August of the same year.
This appointment was cut short with his nomination as Visitor-General for the Oceanian missions for a term of three years on 15 November 1892,[36] replacing Claude-Marie Joly who had died in March of the same year. He had been recommended by Leterrier after the latter had completed a visitation of the Sydney houses.[37] Aubry received notification of his appointment early January 1893. In his acknowledgement he wrote, “servus tuus sum ego” and that he would be attending the annual fathers’ retreat starting 11 January, “I'll take advantage of it to prepare myself spiritually”.[38]
Once Louis Hurlin had arrived from Sydney to replace him at Timaru, Aubry left Wellington on 3 February 1893 sailing on the Waihora to arrive in Sydney on 7 February to be based at Villa Maria in Hunters Hill. After a month in Sydney,[39] he managed to travel to Fiji and New Caledonia, returning to Sydney on 1 June on the Birksgate before leaving 11 days later on the Mariposa for the General Chapter, travelling via the United States.[40] He intended visiting Brisbane beforehand re accepting the Bishop’s offer of running a college and a residence and then taking the mail boat to America to see confreres in Apia along the way.[41] [42]
As Visitor General of the Oceania Missions, he attended by right the 1893 General Chapter in Lyons, held 1-18 August, the first Visitor to do so.[43] At that Chapter he asked that the Society erect a Province of the Mission territories so that the missionaries would have elected representation at future Chapters. At preceding chapters, Oceania had been represented by the General Procurator for the Missions apud infideles and the Assistant General responsible for them.
By 15 October, Aubry had received the vows of his older brother, Michel, who had entered the Society as a coadjutor Brother in 1886 and had visited Ireland to meet with Cardinal Moran, Archbishop of Sydney to discuss what the prelate had included in his report to Propaganda:[44]
Solomons
1. Moran insisted that the Marists take charge of this mission. As it was now an English colony, the Church needed to be in advance of the protestants who were likely to go there.
2. Bishop Vidal had assured him that Vidal would find staff.
3. The MSC Fathers had refused the mission and so it fell back to the Marists as it had been given to us in the first place.
Aubry attempted to divert the Cardinal but the latter stood by what Vidal had proved to him, that it was not only a necessity but also a possibility.
Samoa
The Cardinal had asked for a vicar apostolic since Bishop Amand Lamaze (Central Oceania) had been the vicariate’s administrator since 1879.
Aubry had not ascertained the Cardinal’s motivations for his interest in the missions, “perhaps he thinks he’s the patriarch of the antipodes”.
The Cardinal would positively view the missionaries working toward the English taking possession of Tonga. “As I observed that our fathers hardly concern themselves with politics”, Moran replied that the missions would earn more under English than German administration.
Sydney
The Cardinal accepted our right to permanent occupation of St. Patrick’s. Aubry wanted a signed document, which Moran was going to deal with after his return to Australia.
Between January and March 1894, he also conducted missions’ promotion in several major and minor seminaries, covering several thousand kilometres.[45] “This long and hectic journey left me exhausted and aching everywhere.”[46] He met with varying interest during his visits, as his position was not perceived as highly as a vicar apostolic.
Departing Marseilles on 3 April 1894, he arrived in Sydney on 7 May. He left again a month later on Polynesien with Pierre Le Rennetel to travel to New Caledonia for that mission’s golden jubilee festivities,[47] arriving back in Sydney on Tanais on 26 June.
Upon his return, Aubry held the delayed annual retreat 8-14 July and found that Zephirin Muraire, who had been appointed Procurator when Louis Hurlin was transferred to New Zealand as a direct swap for Aubry, still did not have the accounts ready.[48] [49] On 15 July 1894 Aubry wrote to superior general Martin with his concerns about Muraire's competency and announced that he was taking over as procurator and moving to St. Michael's until he could make some sense of the figures. The minutes of Aubry's Provincial council put a charitable slant on Muraire's retirement, “It was decided that Rev. Fr. Muraire should give up the procure so as to take complete care of the people of Villa Maria.”[50]
By 30 September 1894, Aubry thought he was in a position to give superior general Martin a reasonably accurate assessment. He had uncovered a cash deficit of £3,372/7/10, due mainly to the use of procure funds to build St. Michael's church at Dawes Point, and the first stage of the church at Woolwich, and to poor investment practices.[51] He was relieved when he received the superior general’s response of 25 October, which approved the measures Aubry had taken.[52]
At Aubry’s request, on 21 March 1895, the general council appointed Auguste Guillemin as procurator of the Missions at Sydney,[53] who was in role by 1 May. Aubry himself continued to use St. Michael's as his headquarters when he was in Sydney, although he also kept a room at Villa Maria.
At Cardinal Moran’s request, Aubry wrote an article on “Missionary Results in New Caledonia” for the inaugural issue of the Australasian Catholic Record.[54] The publication deadline meant that he could not ask for permission from the Superior General and after discussing with his council, presumed the permission. The article was meant to have been anonymous, but the editor anglicized his name and added further titles.[55]
Further to Aubry’s 1893 discussions with Cardinal Moran, the latter, despite the Vatican’s ruling, still wanted Fiji elevated to a diocese. Aubry did not see that the change to the Bishop’s see from a titular one would make any difference. A diocese means being part of an ecclesiastical province with the metropolitan having rights to inspection and nomination of successor. He referred to what occurred in New Zealand after Bishop Viard’s death in 1872 during the administration of Bishop Patrick Moran of the Diocese of Dunedin, who had no missionary knowledge. The Society would be judged on lack of suitable churches,[56] “Why doesn’t your congregation support them better?”
He would hope for a better evaluation from Marist prelates in NZ. But how long would a Marist be metropolitan and from the “protection” given to the Māori missionaries of NZ, the “interest” can be inferred, which will be shown to those of the islands, even by our own prelates.
It seems to me in summary that it would be better to stick to Rome’s idea and postpone this establishment until we are in a position to erect an ecclesiastical missionary province containing Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and perhaps one day the Solomons and the Hebrides. The interests of these missions would certainly be better understood and better promoted by a synod of missionary bishops than by a plenary council of Australia or New Zealand.[57]
Aubry’s evaluation of the situation is insightful, considering it took another 71 years before the elevation of the vicariates to dioceses in 1966.
Aubry ensured that visitation occurred. Once things had been sorted at the Procure, he was on the seas again. He left for Samoa on 15 May 1895 on Taviuni. Letters from this trip were received from Noumea and Apia.[58] He landed in Auckland from Tonga in October and finally arrived back in Sydney on 3 November.
His 1896 trip started again in May on board the Duguay Trouin for New Caledonia.[59] Most of his time was spent in Fiji. He arrived again in Auckland, New Zealand from Tonga, this time accompanied by Armand Olier. From mid-October, they visited confreres before attending Bishop Lenihan’s consecration on 14 November.[60] Aubry sailed from Auckland on Tasmania on 17 November and arrived was back in Sydney on 21 November in time to attend the laying of the foundation stone for an extension to the convent high school at Ashfield with Bishop Moran on Sunday 22 November.[61] He returned to New Zealand in time for Christmas 1896, returning to Sydney 8 March 1897 on Rotomahana from Auckland.
Even with staffing difficulties in Sydney during 1897, Aubry managed to get to Noumea in October,[62] returning from there on Tanais on 2 November. A month later,[63] he crossed the Tasman Sea once again, this time to conduct an extraordinary visitation of the New Zealand Province, which lasted until March 1898.[64] He finally arrived back in Sydney 2 April on Waihora from Auckland. In 1899, he left on 28 June for Samoa and Tonga, returning 22 September on Westralia from Auckland.[65] Letters were sent from Apia and Ma’ofaga in July and August respectively.[66] New Caledonia had Aubry’s attention in 1900, leaving on 2 May on Pacifique, returning to Sydney 3 July on Armand Behic before leaving for the last time in September, destination Marseilles on Ville de la Ciotat to attend the General Chapter.
Although primarily preoccupied with the Society's activities in Oceania, Aubry did address himself to the question of the expansion of the Marist congregation in Australia, a charge he had been specifically given by the superior general and his council during the meetings of 1893. Aubry attempted to increase Marist manpower in Australia by local recruitment and pleas to Lyons for reinforcements (which did not eventuate) and at four proposals for the extension of the Society's operations in Australia, only one of which came to realization – after his provincialship had ended.
Two days before Christmas 1895, Aubry discussed the question of local vocations with his council, since he had received three applications to join the Society. The councillors were unanimous that the recruitment of new members was an important responsibility resting on all Sydney Marists, and believed also that something should be begun at Villa Maria to receive them.[67] The General Council minutes of 28 April 1896 recorded the receipt of a letter from Aubry announcing the commencement of an apostolic school at Villa Maria.[68] The description was perhaps a little grandiose. It would seem that several applicants were invited to become house guests at Villa Maria, and the community shared responsibility for tutoring them in their studies and initiating them into the practices of religious life.
Aubry noted in May 1896, that he was going to ask Didier Gallais "to teach a few young men who have been received as postulants in Villa Maria", and further that he had given Jean Baptiste Coué "the spiritual care of the young men".[69] Midway through 1897 Gallais left Sydney to work in New Zealand and Aubry cancelled his annual visitation to the island Missions; the Provincial council minutes note that "he is going to fix himself at Villa Maria to take charge of the apostolics in place of Father Gallais, who is on the point of leaving for New Zealand".[70] He later sent two students (probably those same postulants) to New Zealand for seminary training. When the New Zealand province demanded an annual stipend for the students Aubry decided to stop recruiting, regarding the New Zealand confreres' attitude as rather miserly!
The Villa Maria monastery community in the second half of the 1890s was not a happy community with a number of differing personalities. Friction in community relationships was not a male monopoly at Villa Maria. In 1892 the sole occupant of the convent of the Third Order of Mary Regular was Sister Delphine, who it seems was not a positive community member. Others did not stay there long and with continuing increasing issues with her behaviour, Aubry finally sent her back to France.[71] By 1899 a happier atmosphere prevailed in the convent, with three permanent residents.
Aubry made attempts to ensure the Marist spirit was maintained in the Australian houses. Council minutes provide examples of his expectations:[72]
• Religious life in the three Australian houses is in full conformity with the Constitutions and Statutes
• Temporal is administrated according to Bull “Romanos Pontifices” and SM Rules
• SM definitively established in Australia need to fix it solidly to its natural bases:
o Faithful observation of the Rule
o Mutual understanding between houses
• Measures to take to make community life more regular and more conform with our SM spirit:
o Readings at mealtimes
o Monthly retreat
o Superior or Vice Superior at Villa Maria to preside at meals
o Mutual relations: the superiors are the confreres’ defenders; confidence, affability must reign among them; always allow an inferior the time to explain himself; the order of sermons must be arranged in advance
In the early 1890s, with the support of Cardinal Moran, the Marists were hopeful of being the first religious order to break the "closed-shop" approach of Brisbane's Archbishop Robert Dunne, who allowed only secular clergy to work in his diocese.[73] At Easter 1893, Dunne offered the Society of Mary the opportunity to open a secondary school; Aubry responded with a request for a parish instead, but Dunne demurred.[74]
In 1895 and again in 1900, the Society was offered Australian aboriginal Missions, the first in the Vicariate Apostolic of Cookstown [Cairns]. Aubry was doubtful about it in reporting to Lyons, and the Marist general administration showed no enthusiasm for the venture.[75] In 1900, the Trappists asked the Marist general administration if the Society would be willing to take over the Trappist Aboriginal Mission at Beagle Bay in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.[76] Aubry, to whom the Trappist request was forwarded for comment, pointed out the difficulties the Society was experiencing in providing sufficient men for recently opened Missions in the New Hebrides and the Solomon Islands. He also warned the general administration that other religious orders had found aboriginal Missions a difficult proposition. The Trappist offer was not taken up.[77]
The last offer of a parish came in 1899 when in October, Charles Murlay had been given a trip to Rockhampton for the blessing and opening of the partially completed cathedral. The new bishop, Joseph Higgins, was short of priests and took the opportunity of Murlay's presence to offer the Society of Mary care of the parish of Gladstone or the parish of Longreach, or both. Aubry went to Rockhampton in March 1900, to talk to Higgins but on his return to Sydney the Provincial council decided to defer a decision "for want of men and money".[78] After Aubry’s term as Provincial, the parish of Gladstone was accepted by the general administration of which Aubry was then a member in 1901.[79]
Aubry had completed the required term of 5-years’ residency in New South Wales in 1898 and was naturalised that year. This allowed him to vote and own land. The certificate of naturalization held in General Archives indicates as his date of arrival 1889, when he first stepped onto Australian soil, headed for New Zealand.[80]
On 28 October 1898, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith issued a decree in Rome erecting the Marist Mission territories in Oceania as a Province of the Society of Mary,[81] [82] with Aubry’s appointment as Provincial of the Marist Province of Oceania confirmed in 1899.[83] The Province consisted of the whole of Australia, the Vicariates Apostolic of New Caledonia, of Central Oceania (Wallis, Futuna, Tonga), of the Navigator Isles (Samoa and Tokelau, including also the mission to the North Solomons), of Fiji and Rotuma (including also the mission to the South Solomons), and the Prefecture Apostolic of New Hebrides.
The erection of the Province would have changed Aubry's life little, its main purpose being to enable Marist missionaries in Oceania to send elected delegates to the general chapter. Aubry's role remained essentially the same: to visit regularly the various Marist Mission territories in Oceania, to interview the men in the field, to report back to the Marist general administration, to recommend individuals for positions of authority, and to govern the Society's modest operations in Australia. Ordinarily a Marist Provincial would have power to move personnel within his Province, but Aubry's capacity to do this was severely limited by the unique structure of the new Province. It was composed of four vicariates (the Mission-territory equivalent of a diocese), each under the control of a Marist bishop: Amand Lamaze (Central Oceania), Hilarion Fraysse (New Caledonia), Pierre Broyer (Navigator Islands, Samoa) and Julien Vidal (Fiji). New missionaries arriving from Europe were designated for a specific vicariate; personnel were appointed to areas within the vicariates by the appropriate bishop, and they could only be transferred between vicariates by the mutual consent of the bishops concerned.
In the 1899 SM Index are listed four Marist bishops, 129 Marist priests and nine coadjutor Brothers working in the Oceania Missions. This excludes the 10 Marist priests and seven coadjutor Brothers in Australia and the Third Order of Mary Regular sisters.[84] In order to attempt to visit and interview each individual every three years, Aubry and his successors needed to be absent from Sydney for long periods of the year, undertaking hazardous and physically taxing journeys through tropical regions where facilities and means of transport and communication were often extremely primitive.
There had been some Samoans and Wallisians helping at Villa Maria and by 1899 the only Pacific islander remaining was Abel, an elderly Futunian, for whom Aubry asked permission to be professed as a coadjutor brother as a reward for "all the years he has helped us".[85] It does not appear as if permission were given, as Abel was simply enrolled as a member of the Marist Third Order.
Aubry was becoming tired of being Provincial. In November 1899, in a lengthy report for the general administration on Marist personnel and communities in Australia, he wrote:[86]
... if God is pleased to give me the pleasure of seeing you at the General Chapter, I shall probably ask you to let me take advantage of the article in the Constitutions which reduces the officers to the rank of privates. The more I see, the less confidence I have in my ability as an administrator. I fail in what is needed, and I fail myself. I believe that I have never done as much good as I did when I was the teacher of the Fifth Class.
God and a Messageries Maritimes steamship, Ville de la Ciotat, got Aubry to the Marist general chapter in Lyon in October 1900, where he was relieved of his Provincialship, but not in the way he expected.
Instead of returning to teaching, Aubry was selected an assistant general of the congregation,[87] with the Superior General giving him special responsibility for Oceania.[88] On 10 November 1900 he participated in the General Council meeting which nominated Armand Olier as his successor in Oceania. His last task as Provincial was to communicate the promulgation of the degrees from the Provincial Chapter. As a post-scriptum Aubry wrote,[89]
P.S. – A vote of the General Chapter calls me to other functions.
I will never forget, dear Confreres, the edifying examples of which I have been the happy witness in my visits through your missions, nor the fraternal charity with which you have always welcomed me. I don't know if I've done you any good; I am sure in any case that I have not done as much for you as I would have liked. But, responsible for taking your interests into the Council of the V.R. Father General, I have, in leaving you, the consolation of still being able to serve you. Count on my devotion and allow me to count on a small share of your merits and your prayers.
Let us love one another in the Lord.
Aubry was to hold this post until the 1905 Extraordinary General Chapter, which was held to elect a new Superior General, Jean-Claude Raffin. He was then given responsibility “for the English speaking Provinces, England and Ireland, the United States and New Zealand” and became the Monitor of the Superior General.[90]. He continued in these positions until his death, attending his last General Council meeting on 8 April 1919. He was also appointed Superior of the Novitiate for the Third Order Regular of Mary and chair of its council.[91] He first lived at Ste-Foy-lès-Lyon. During the period of religious expulsion, he is listed in the SM Index as living at Differt, Belgium in 1904.[92] By 1908 he is back in Lyons at 20, rue du Juge de Paix.
This final period allowed him to strengthen his inner life as a Marist. He made frequent visits to Fourvière and daily during the month dedicated to Mary. He gave catechism classes and was an English teacher.[93]
Aubry had suffered from diabetes for several years and had tried several methods to manage it.During April 1919, the symptoms became more pronounced. He was still able to say Mass on Wednesday 30 April but on 2 May, he accepted the Last Sacraments.[94] Augustin Aubry, first Provincial of Oceania, died on 4 May 1919, with his funeral occurring two days later. He is buried in the Cimetière de Loyasse in Lyons.
In an undated avowal,[95] listing what he considered his faults, he finished with,
I thank the Society of Mary for having raised me, admitted me and kept me in its bosom despite my mediocrity and my unworthiness. I die happy in my vocation,[96] without doubt regretting the time and graces I wasted, but full of confidence in the merciful goodness of she who gave me her name.
O Maria, mater dulcissima,[97] tuus sum ego, salvum me fac in aeternum.
Upon hearing of Aubry’s death, James Moran (to become an Assistant General himself in 1921) sent condolences to the Superior General, commenting that they had first met when Moran was a pupil and Aubry, seminarian at Dundalk. He highlighted Aubry’s proficiency in English, “Among other things, one thing should be noted: he wrote English as well as the best among us, much better than most English or Irish. He had a style of writing English that was perfect in every way.” “That he died a Christian, a fervent Marist, does not surprise us; he died as he lived.”[98]

Appendix: Mission Visitation

?/03/1893 -1/06/1893 Sydney-Fiji-New Caledonia-Sydney
15/05/1895-3/11/1895 – Sydney-New Caledonia-Samoa-Tonga-Sydney
30/05/1896-21/11/1896 – Sydney-New Caledonia-Fiji-Tonga-Auckland-Sydney
12/10/1897-2/11/1897 – Sydney-New Caledonia-Sydney
2/12/1897-2/04/1898 – Sydney-New Zealand: extraordinary visitation-Sydney
28/06/1899-22/09/1899 – Sydney-Samoa-Tonga-Sydney
2/05/1900-3/07/1900 – Sydney-New Caledonia-Sydney

Notes

  1. ↑ A review of Aubry’s life was started for the update to the NZ Province necrology in 2021. This text, based on Aidan Carvill’s 1994 compilation, was reworked by Elizabeth Charlton from 2023 and completed during the Marist Summer Studies Programme held in July 2024 in Rome. The following sources were checked for information: SM appointment sheet, Poupinel, Lettres Favre, Superior General Letters, OMPA, PapersPast and Trove, Archives NZ, National Archives of Australia, NSW State Archives, APM (personal file, Vice-Provincial, assistant’s files, visitation reports).
  2. ↑ Archives de la Meuse. Cote 2 E 29 (68) BAR-LE-DUC Naissances, Mariages, Décès (1847), Entry no.121 p.34/312 https://archives.meuse.fr/ark:/52669/17svpml6r3xz/93aef9ed-553a-4fc2-8fef-afdf34e26e19
  3. ↑ Bishop John Grimes of the Diocese of Christchurch also went to school there; though it is not known if their time overlapped.
  4. ↑ APM 620-57 Aubry Augustin. Personal file. Bachelier-ès-Lettres, awarded 6 August 1867.
  5. ↑ The scholasticate of Montbel was in La Crau, Var. Bourtot, Bernard SM, «Les Pères Maristes à Montbel (1852-1903) ». Forum Novum 12 (2010) 114-123
  6. ↑ The scholasticate at Belley was the property known to Marists as “La Capucinière”. It is now the site of the Lycée du Bugey. The building of the former chapel is known as “La Chapelle Mariste”.
  7. ↑ Obituary. L’écho des écoles apostoliques de la Société de Marie. T2, n.8, 247-250.
  8. ↑ Lettres aux missionnaires, 25 May 1872, p.50L
  9. ↑ APM 620-57 Aubry Augustin. Personal file.
  10. ↑ In addition to Aubry, there were four further volunteers, who all went on to become Marist missionaries in Oceania: Xavier Chaboissier (New Caledonia), Bishop Ephrem Bertreux (Solomon Islands), Bishop Pierre Broyer (Tonga), Pierre Le Rennetel (Sydney) https://bibliotheque.diocese-quimper.fr/files/original/95d48f3c7643303eec06f0bb39212c30.pdf
  11. ↑ Poupinel doc.2016 [29] Juin 1874. – Rapport de Victor Poupinel sur la maison de Dublin
  12. ↑ Institution Saint-Vincent, staffed by Marists from 1869. His father and older brother, Michael, were living at the school, 12, rue de Meaux from at least 1872. Archives départementales de l’Oise 1872 Census Senlis Cote 6Mp6742, p.62/100 https://ressources.archives.oise.fr/v2/ad60/visualiseur/recensement.html?id=600016167
  13. ↑ APM 620-57 Aubry Augustin Personal file.
  14. ↑ Bishop Francis Redwood had been consecrated at St. Anne’s Spitalfields by Cardinal Manning on 17 March 1874.
  15. ↑ Poupinel doc.2020 [4; 13] 187505 Mai 1875. – Rapport de Victor Poupinel sur sa visite à Dundalk
  16. ↑ Poupinel doc.2099 18780728 Poupinel to Leterrier
  17. ↑ Poupinel doc.2105 18780808 Poupinel to Leterrier
  18. ↑ Poupinel doc.2208 [9] 18791204 Poupinel to Leterrier; Poupinel doc.2209 [6] 18791204 Poupinel to Toulorge
  19. ↑ APM 1155-14776 Lettres du p. Leterrier. 18800814 Leterrier to Poupinel
  20. ↑ Poupinel doc.2251 [13] 18800819-20 Poupinel to Leterrier
  21. ↑ Poupinel doc.2446 [4] 18830524 Poupinel-to Leterrier
  22. ↑ Poupinel doc.2489 [6] 18831018 Poupinel to Yardin
  23. ↑ With the 1880 expulsions of religious congregations from France, the novitiate moved to Paignton in October 1881.
  24. ↑ Bulletin No.1 pour missionnaires Maristes de l'Océanie Octobre 1885
  25. ↑ Bulletin No.1 pour missionnaires Maristes de l'Océanie Octobre 1885
  26. ↑ Lettre du R.P. Vicaire Général, No.72-II-62, 23 août 1885
  27. ↑ APM 1155-14774 R. Fr. A. Aubry (Vice-Prov). 18850818 Aubry to ?
  28. ↑ Le Menant des Chesnais had not long arrived from an aborted collection tour of USA with Leterrier’s permission. APM 795-1664 Le Menant des Chesnais Théophile personal file. 18850702 Le Menant to ?
  29. ↑ APM 1155-14774 R. Fr. A. Aubry (Vice-Prov). 18851007 Aubry to Grimal; APM 1155-14774 18861224 Aubry to ?
  30. ↑ Etienne/Stéphane/Stephen Chaurain (born Etienne François Chorain at Marlhes, Loire) at St. Anne’s 1851-1887, except 1866-1869 at Jefferson College, Louisiana.
  31. ↑ APM 1155-14774 R. Fr. A. Aubry (Vice-Prov). Address given on letters in this file
  32. ↑ APM 1155-14774 R. Fr. A. Aubry (Vice-Prov). 18870719 Aubry to ?
  33. ↑ Obituary. L’écho des écoles apostoliques de la Société de Marie. T2, n.8, 247-250
  34. ↑ 1/02/1889-9/03/1889 Marseille-Sydney on Yarra; arrived in Wellington from Sydney on 21/03/1889 on Tekapo
  35. ↑ MAW DCP 46-47 18911023 Circular of the Bishop of Christchurch
  36. ↑ APM 620-57 Aubry Augustin Personal file. 18921115 Letter of nomination
  37. ↑ APM 1681-24875 Lettres R. Fr. Leterrier (Prov.). 18920816 Leterrier to Martin
  38. ↑ APM 1498-21376 R.P. Augustin Aubry Vis. Gen. Miss. (1893-1898) Vis. Provincial (1899-1900). 18930129 Aubry to Martin
  39. ↑ "THE NEW HEAD OF THE MARISTS." Freeman's Journal. 4 March 1893: 14 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115575254
  40. ↑ OMPA Reel 400 D.10.1 From Provincial of Oceania to Provincial Procurator: Augustin Aubry 18930808 http://hdl.handle.net/1885/249518
  41. ↑ APM 1498-21376 R.P. Augustin Aubry Vis. Gen. Miss. (1893-1898) Vis. Provincial (1899-1900). 18930525 Aubry to ?
  42. ↑ Mariposa would make a stop of a few hours at Apia. "Advertising" The Sydney Morning Herald 17 March 1893: 1, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13901355
  43. ↑ Lettre du T.R.P. Supérieur Général, No.87-III-12, 25 septembre 1893
  44. ↑ APM 1498-21376 R.P. Augustin Aubry Vis. Gen. Miss. (1893-1898) Vis. Provincial (1899-1900). 18931015 Aubry to ?
  45. ↑ APM 1498-21376 R.P. Augustin Aubry Vis. Gen. Miss. (1893-1898) Vis. Provincial (1899-1900). Details of journey in letters sent between 18940216 and 18940324
  46. ↑ APM 1498-21376 R.P. Augustin Aubry Vis. Gen. Miss. (1893-1898) Vis. Provincial (1899-1900). 18940316 Aubry to ?
  47. ↑ "Shipping." The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser 16 June 1894: 1220http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163326455
  48. ↑ The presentation of Aubry’s work in Australia, is taken and in parts summarised from McMurrich sm, Peter. Not Angels, nor Men Confirmed in Grace: The Marists in Post-Federation Australia, 1892-1938. Sydney: Revised MA Thesis, 2008.
  49. ↑ APM 418 18921228 Muraire to Martin
  50. ↑ APM 1498-21376 R.P. Augustin Aubry Vis. Gen. Miss. (1893-1898) Vis. Provincial (1899-1900). 18940715 Aubry to Martin
  51. ↑ APM 1498-21376 R.P. Augustin Aubry Vis. Gen. Miss. (1893-1898) Vis. Provincial (1899-1900). 18940930 Aubry to Martin. Aubry was later to revise this assessment, saying simply, in 1895, that "the suspected deficit will be much less". APM 1498-21375 R.P. Augustin Aubry Vis. Gen. Miss. (1893-1898) Vis. Provincial (1899-1900). 18950401 Aubry to Hervier (?).
  52. ↑ APM 1498-21376 R.P. Augustin Aubry Vis. Gen. Miss. (1893-1898) Vis. Provincial (1899-1900). 18941129 Aubry to Martin
  53. ↑ APM General Council Minutes 21 March 1895
  54. ↑ "Australasian Catholic Record." Freeman's Journal. 22 December 1894: 15. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115551851
  55. ↑ APM 1498-21375 R.P. Augustin Aubry Vis. Gen. Miss. (1893-1898) Vis. Provincial (1899-1900). 18950113 Aubry to Martin
  56. ↑ For context, Moran had not been impressed with St Joseph’s Church in Dunedin when he arrived in 1871 in the newly-erected Diocese. See Hugh Laracy. 'Moran, Patrick', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1993. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2m55/moran-patrick
  57. ↑ APM 1498-21375 R.P. Augustin Aubry Vis. Gen. Miss. (1893-1898) Vis. Provincial (1899-1900). 18950326 Aubry to ?
  58. ↑ OMPA Reel 400 D.10.1 From Provincial of Oceania to Provincial Procurator: Augustin Aubry http://hdl.handle.net/1885/249518
  59. ↑ Departure 30/05/1896, arrive Noumea 2/06/1896
  60. ↑ New Zealand Tablet, 20 November 1896: 3 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZT18961120.2.2. Olier is named Ohalasen / Ohlsen in various NZ newspaper reports.
  61. ↑ "Sunday Services." Evening News. 23 November 1896: 8. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108211112
  62. ↑ 18971012; "ROMAN CATHOLIC." The Sydney Morning Herald 16 October 1897: 7 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14123357
  63. ↑ Sailed on Mararoa 2-6/12/1897
  64. ↑ APM 1679-24852 Relationes Visitatorum 1866-1925 18980405 Aubry to Martin.
  65. ↑ "Very Rev. Father Aubry's, S.M., departure for the Islands." The Catholic Press 1 July 1899: 11 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104661825
  66. ↑ OMPA Reel 400 D.10.1 From Provincial of Oceania to Provincial Procurator: Augustin Aubry http://hdl.handle.net/1885/249518
  67. ↑ OMPA Reel 382 C1 PCM, 23 December 1895 http://hdl.handle.net/1885/249500
  68. ↑ APM General Council Minutes 28 April 1896
  69. ↑ APM 1498-21375 18960509 Aubry to (?)
  70. ↑ OMPA Reel 382 C1 PCM 14 June 1897 http://hdl.handle.net/1885/249500
  71. ↑ APM OP418 18970809 Aubry to Martin
  72. ↑ OMPA Reel 382 C1 PCM 14 May 1895; 23 September 1897 http://hdl.handle.net/1885/249500
  73. ↑ Boland, T.P., James Duhig, University of Queensland Press, 1986, p.108
  74. ↑ AMPA B130 18930706 Aubry to Martin, copy and English translation
  75. ↑ APM 1498-21375 R.P. Augustin Aubry Vis. Gen. Miss. (1893-1898) Vis. Provincial (1899-1900). 18951210 Aubry to Martin
  76. ↑ APM 1612-23442 Fundationes Propositae (domorum). 19000605 Abbot of Saint-Lieu-Sept-Fons to Martin
  77. ↑ APM 1498-21374 R.P. Augustin Aubry Vis. Gen. Miss. (1893-1898) Vis. Provincial (1899-1900). 19000731 Aubry to Martin
  78. ↑ OMPA Reel 382 C1 PCM 20 April 1900 http://hdl.handle.net/1885/249500
  79. ↑ APM General Council Minutes 2 February 1901
  80. ↑ Museums of History New South Wales. Naturalization index 1834-1903 https://mhnsw.au/indexes/naturalisation-and-citizenship/naturalization-index/; State Archives Collection. Aubry Augustine https://search.records.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/1ebnd1l/INDEX1415756; APM 620-57 Aubry Augustin. Personal file
  81. ↑ Lettre du T.R.P. Supérieur Général, No.94-III-19, 8 novembre 1899
  82. ↑ AMPA B100.2 18981028 Decree n.30699, copy
  83. ↑ Lettre du T.R.P. Supérieur Général, No.94-III-19, 8 novembre 1899
  84. ↑ 1899 SM Index (printed after November 1898 but does not note the erection of the Oceania Province on 28 October 1898). Australasian Catholic Directory 1898, pp.117 ff. By 1905, the number was around 150 priests, in 1910 around 170, and in 1920 about the same
  85. ↑ AMPA B130 18991112 Aubry to Martin, copy.
  86. ↑ AMPA B130 18991112 Aubry to Martin, copy
  87. ↑ APM 2129-8241 Minutes of the 1900 General Chapter
  88. ↑ Lettre du T.R.P. Supérieur Général, No.96-III-21, 17 novembre 1900
  89. ↑ OMPA Reel 382 C.2 Lettre du R.P. Provincial d’Océanie no. 3, le 1er novembre 1900 http://hdl.handle.net/1885/249500
  90. ↑ Letter of the V.R.F. Superior General, No.104-IV-6, 17 November 1914
  91. ↑ M.C. de Mijolla smsm. Origins in Oceania: Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary 1845-1931. Rome 1984, p.288
  92. ↑ In 1887, the Marists opened an apostolic school at Differt, Messancy. With the 1903 expulsions of religious congregations from France, part of the school was taken to house the scholasticates from France.
  93. ↑ Obituary.L’écho des écoles apostoliques de la Société de Marie. T2, n.8, 247-250
  94. ↑ MAW GHL2 187-189 19190606 Raffin to Holley
  95. ↑ APM 620-57 Aubry Augustin Personal file. Undated avowal
  96. ↑ This evokes the current 1988 Constitutions n.92 “…Thus in continuity with the experience of the first Marists, the Society of Mary, generation by generation, becomes a reality in the world and its members know the joy that comes from a whole-hearted response to their vocation.”
  97. ↑ Aubry swapped “dulcissima” for “amabilis”. “Matre dulcissima nostra” appeared in the first sentence of the profession formula (Antiquores Textus, II p.55). Mater dulcissima (in various declensions) appears six times in 1872 Constitutions, nn.200, 215, 242, 334, 353 x2. Of relevance here, n.242 “n.242 A religious on the verge of death must constantly keep in mind that he is a victim offered up and consecrated to God under the auspices of blessed Mary, his most sweet Mother, in union with Christ, …”
  98. ↑ APM 620-57 Aubry Augustin Personal file. 19190507 Moran to Raffin

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