Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us And Blessed Daniel Brottier

Stand In The Gap With Us And  Blessed Daniel Brottier 2/28/2024

Born in France in 1876, Daniel was ordained in 1899 and began a teaching career. That didn't satisfy him long. He wanted to use his zeal for the gospel far beyond the classroom. He joined the missionary Congregation of the Holy Spirit, which sent him to Senegal, West Africa.

A story from his childhood recounts that his mother asked him what he would like to be when he grew up. Daniel's answer was, "I won't be either a general or a pastry chef—I will be the Pope!"

I will be the Pope!" His mother reminded him that to be the pope, he would first have to become a priest. Little Daniel piped up, "Well, then I'll become a priest!"

At the age of 10, Brottier made his First Communion

Daniel spent most of his life in the trenches—one way or another.

Restless in his life as a teacher and determined to be a missionary, the young Abbé Brottier joined the Congregation of the Holy Spirit at Orly in 1902.