Claude (Br Amon) Duperron
From Marist Studies
From THE FIRST WAVE OF FRENCH MARISTS by Michael O'Meeghan SM, 2008, 18.
Br AMON (Claude) DUPERRON, aged 29 (on arrival in New Zealand in Group IV on 11 Jul 1840).
- Within a month of his arrival he left the Society. He died on 9 December 1840 at Kororareka after a shooting accident while hunting.
From Fr Garin NZ18421018:
- "Do you not have a terrible example in that Brother who, having left the Society here, going hunting on the beautiful day of the feast of the Blessed Virgin, accidentally received from his rifle the shot which caused him to die several days after; he himself said before dying that he had abandoned Mary and that she was punishing him for it on the very day of her feast."
Pompallier's account of Br Amon's departure:
- As you feel no less sensibly than myself the crosses which I have in this mission, today you are going to experience for the first time a very bitter one of them which happened to me this year, in New Zealand; here it is: may the Lord lighten it for you through his peace and kindness: the so-called Brother Amon, surnamed Dupéron, an active young man, with a great deal of ability in his trade as a baker, disembarked here in the Bay of Islands with his heart filled with bitterness against the two priests, and especially against Father Pèzant, with whom he had come from France on the corvette L’Aube. The first thing he asked me for on arriving, was some clothes from his belongings so he could find a job in the new colony of this country. That very greatly distressed me – I wanted to know the whole story, and I found that although Father Pèzant had been somewhat unwise on the ship in the penances he had given him for his failings, and in his way of directing religious on the sea voyage, the subject nevertheless was very weak in virtue appropriate to religious life, and seemed to me very bumptious, stubborn, full of himself, and very doubtful in his vocation from the time of his entry into religious life. If I can find the letter he wrote to me, I will send it to you enclosed in this one. However, so as not to act too hastily in the matter concerning this poor young man, although he deserved to be dismissed on the spot, I tried to reason with him. He listened to my advice quite well, then I got him to agree to live with me for a month, so that everything could be maturely considered and not to withdraw from the mission and the congregation after a rush of blood to the head. He agreed and I put him to doing the cooking for the station at the Bay of Islands, where I live; he did his work well and was devoted to me personally, but that was all; I saw with regret that he was not carrying out his religious obligation, he had accepted my advice at the beginning only because of deference, and not really to change his feelings towards the congregation. After a month’s stay in the house, he came and asked me the same thing as at the beginning. He completely opened himself up to me in a letter he wrote to me and particularly in a long conversation that I had with him. Seeing that in some way he did not fail in his vocation, because he had never had a true one, I allowed him to leave, and go and look for a job in the district. I exhorted him to at least not endanger his own salvation, I blessed for him a cross and a rosary which he promised me to always keep, and he got a situation as a cook with a caterer in Kororareka, a Protestant in religion, but Dupéron firmly promised me to carry out there his essential duties of religion. So there is one less child of the Society of Mary! Alas! May he become and remain a living member of holy Church, our mother! I have been really distressed over all that. Poor Father Pèzant was too inexperienced to direct the Brothers on the sea voyage.
Fr Épalle's accounts
- We have to take stock of another desertion – Brother Amon is no longer in our ranks. In a few words, here is his story: During the journey on the L’Aube coming to Oceania, this young man was caught out and perhaps punished for some failing by the Father responsible for carrying out the rule drawn up for the journey; he used that as an excuse to break away and saw himself from then on as independent. Having arrived in New Zealand, he said that he wanted to leave the mission. The Bishop has taken every prudential step possible to bring back that poor wretch to his duty, and it was only with difficulty that his Lordship eventually decided to give him a month to reflect on the situation. When this time was up, the young man declared that it was not because of what had happened on the ship that he was leaving, but rather because religious life was not his vocation. I entered religious life, he said, because my parents wanted me to marry a woman, while I wanted to marry another whom I loved, although she was not as well off. If I came here, it was only to distance myself from my parents. During the nearly two months he stayed in the mission, he acted like an upright man. Presently he is a cook in an hotel near us. May the name of the Lord be blessed.
- The former Brother Duperron, having gone hunting on the feastday of the [Immaculate] Conception, took a rest with his arms crossed over the mouth of the barrel of his gun, and the gun went off. His left arm and right hand were pierced, and he lost so much blood that after 28 (hours), he died, reconciled with the Lord, I hope. How important it is to choose Brothers well. If I can say it quietly, Reverend Father, how hard I found it to get that young man to go to confession, but I must add however that he died with clear signs of contrition and fortified with the last sacraments.
The Brothers of the first wave of Missionaries
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