The Feast day of St. John Gabriel Peboyre is celebrated on September 11.

St. John was the oldest son  of a farmer in Le Puech, France.  He had seven younger siblings. Three of the brothers joined the Vincentian Fathers and two of the Daughter became Daughters of Charity.

When his younger brother was accepted into the Vincentian Seminary, his parents asked him to accompany the brother until he was settled.  He was surprised to find that he was also drawn to join the Vincentians.  His parents supported his decision to join the order rather than return home to farm.

In 1820, St. John was ordained a Vincentian priest.  He hoped to become a missionary and travel to China, however he was assigned to be a supervisor of the mother-house in Paris.

In 1835, he began his journey to China as a missionary.  It took five months to arrive.  He served the poor in Ho Nan  China before being transferred to Hubei.

Persecution began in 1839 and St. John Gabriel was arrested.  After being tortured,  he was found guilty of preaching Christianity and condemned to death.  He was tied to a stake and strangled.  His body wa retrieved and buried in the mission cemetery.

Pope John Paul II canonized St. John Gabriel Perboyre in 1996.

O my Divine Savior,
Transform me into Yourself.
May my hands be the hands of Jesus.
Grant that every faculty of my body
May serve only to glorify You.

Above all,
Transform my soul and all its powers
So that my memory, will and affection
May be the memory, will and affections
Of Jesus.

I pray You
To destroy in me all that is not of You.
Grant that I may live but in You, by You and for You,
So that I may truly say, with Saint Paul,
“I live – now not I – But Christ lives in me.

Prayer composed by St. John G. Perboyre

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows