MO. AUGUSTA TESCARI, OCSO
Except in monastic circles—especially French-speaking ones—Blessed Marie-Joseph Cassant is a very little-known Trappist. Discreet, reserved, and unassuming, Fr. Cassant lived his life in a way that drew little attention to himself. He spent nine years at the Abbey of Our Lady of the Desert in southern France, passing almost completely unnoticed. One of his biographies is included in Robert Masson’s aptly titled book, God’s Unnoticed Ones.
Yet Marie-Joseph Cassant is someone worth talking about because he is one of the humble and simple people for whom Jesus gives thanks to the Father. He is a soul completely oriented toward God, passionate about God, and captivated by the love of Jesus.
Joseph Cassant was born in 1878 in Casseneuil, France, to devout and hardworking farmers who enjoyed a certain degree of economic prosperity. As a child, he was deeply devout and of average intelligence. He had a poor memory and little imagination. From a young age, he played games that reflected his desire to become a priest. He was fascinated by the liturgy. At home, he would reenact the gestures he had seen the celebrant perform during Sunday Mass. After his grandmother died, he became the caretaker of the small altar in her room. He was shy and obedient but became demanding and stubborn when choosing those who would serve at “his” Mass. He wanted the Mass to be perfect and celebrated it with great piety while wearing paper vestments. He attended the St. John Baptist de La Salle boarding school, run by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, for nine years as a day student. He had good will and extraordinary common sense, but his intellect showed little development. Despite his relentless dedication to his studies, his academic results were mediocre.
A classmate remembers him as reserved, shy, but always smiling. During recreational breaks—which he had been forced to attend, putting his studies aside—he would practice on the parallel bars to keep himself away from the groups playing noisy games.
He received his First Communion at the age of twelve. During the preparatory retreat, he jotted down the parish priest’s instructions for proper preparation: desire, prayer, and silence. These would become the guiding principles of his entire life, motivated by his love for Jesus.
His privileged and secluded childhood unfolded between his home, school, and church. It was clear that he would never be a farmer like the other boys in the village. His exceptional piety aroused both admiration and bewilderment in his parents and brother, Emilio. He had no friends outside his family circle and was extremely reserved around girls. At fourteen, he naively wrote in his diary, “First day of the year 1892… Lord, one day I will be a saint. I hope so with your grace… Lord, I come to ask you for the grace to become a saint.” He wrote in broken French, using the plural for the singular. But, he immediately clarified the exact meaning of his desire: “Give me the intelligence and everything that will be useful for becoming a good priest.” As we will see later, the Lord granted this humble yet passionate request exactly as the boy had asked.
Joseph had more or less managed to pass elementary school. As he grew older, however, he developed a greater sense of responsibility and became fully focused on achieving his goal of becoming a priest. He began taking Latin lessons and added French tutoring the following year. Despite the effort he put in and the time he spent studying, he saw no results. By the end of the school year, the fifteen-year-old Joseph realized he was one of the lowest-performing students in his class, outperformed by children as young as ten or twelve.
