On the Death of Father Marie-Dominique Philippe, O.P.

The French website of the Community of St. John has announced that the community's founder, Father Marie-Dominique Philippe, was called home to be with the Lord yesterday, August 26, 2006.  Translated into English, the announcement reads:

Father Marie-Dominique Philippe, founder of the Community of Saint John, died peacefully the morning of August 26, 2006, at the Priory of St. Jodard (Loire).  He was cared for there since his cerebral vascular accident of July 20.  He would have been 94 years old on September 8.

Until the day of his funeral, he will lie in wake for the brothers and sisters and all those who wish in the chapel of the brothers at St. Jodard.

The funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, September 2, at 10:30 a.m. in the primatial church of St. Jean in Lyon.   It will be celebrated by  Cardinal Philippe Barbarin.

In the afternoon, Father Marie-Dominique will be  buried in the cemetery of Rimont, in the intimacy of the Family of St. John (brothers, sisters and oblates).

As an act of thanksgiving for all that they have received through him, the members of the St. John's Family entrusts him to the prayers of all.

The following is an English translation of Pope Benedict XVI's message of condolence:

Informed of the death of Father Marie-Dominique Philippe, founder of the Family of St. John, the Holy Father directed the Cardinal Secretary of State to send the following message of condolence on his behalf to Father Jean-Pierre-Marie, prior general of the Congregation of St. John:

Father Jean-Pierre-Marie, Prior General of the Congregation of St. John:

Informed of Father Marie-Dominique Philippe's death, Pope Benedict XVI unites in prayer with all those who are in sorrow, especially with those who are close to the departed, as well as with the entire Family of St. John, whose founder he was.  The Holy Father asks the Lord to welcome into His Kingdom him who, for long years, guided and formed many people in the school of Christ, in the spirit of the "beloved disciple," planting in them a deep love of the Church and fidelity to the Successor of Peter.  His Holiness gives thanks for Father Marie-Dominique Philippe's life, entirely given to the Lord and to his brothers, rooted in the meditation of the Word of God, in search for, and passionate contemplation of, the truth.  May his testimony give to all those he guided the confidence necessary for the Gospel of Christ to always be proclaimed, welcomed and lived!  Trusting you, as well as all of the members of the Family of St. John, and all people who take part in Father Marie-Dominique Philippe's funeral, to the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles, with Saint John and Saint Dominic, the Holy Father imparts to you with all, as a pledge of comfort, a particular apostolic blessing.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano
Secretary of State and of His Holiness

In an Introduction to Mary, Mystery of Mercy by Father Marie-Dominique Philippe, O.P., online, Father Aidan Nichols, O.P., is quoted as saying of Father Marie-Dominique Philippe:

"Fr. Philippe extends the tradition of the 'vision' of Thomas Aquinas by creatively transforming it.  I think he will one day come to be regarded as a major inspiration in late twentieth, early twenty-first century Francophone Catholicism."

Updated September 1: The funeral mass will be televised live by KTO Catholic Television.  The KTO website says it can be seen by internet beginning at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, September 2, and will last 2-1/2 hours.  By my calculation, that time will be 1:30 a.m. Pacific Time and 4:30 a.m. Eastern Time in the U.S.  The website for the church where the funeral mass will be held is here.  For anyone traveling to Lyon to attend the funeral: a page on the cathedral's website says the church is accessible by Metro Line D, station Vieux Lyon / Cathédrale Saint-Jean.  Some useful addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses for the parish are on this page.

Updated September 6 (and 7):  Search engines are still leading people to this post.  See also this post about Father Philippe's funeral mass, and this quotation from Father Philippe about considering everything in Christ's gaze.  The Community of St. Jean webpage about Father Philippe's death has posted Cardinal Barbarin's welcome remarks and his homily from the funeral in French.  I have not yet found an English translation.

Updated September 9:  My translation of Cardinal Barbarin's homily is here.  Meanwhile, there is now a translation of the homily on the Community of St. John's English language page here.  I also translated the Cardinal's welcome remarks at the funeral, here, again finding that there is now a translation available on the St. John's site here.  The speech by Father Jean-Pierre Marie is still only available there in French; however, I am going to assume that they will translate that too in the near future and thus will not do so myself.