Father Gerin, the holy priest of Grenoble

Synthèse :

John Gerin was born into a modest family in Les Roches-de-Condrieu (France, Isère department) in 1797. He was the near-contemporary of two great French saints: Saint Benedict Joseph Labre and Saint John Vianney, with whom he became close friends. His father made clothes and his mother looked after the education of her ten children. There was no ostentation or luxury in the home, but there was a spirit of sharing and good humour, and a love of praying together.

As an adolescent, John was apprenticed to a master tailor in Lyon, who taught him the rudiments of the trade his father was already practising. His years of apprenticeship were marked by a love of manual labour and abandonment to Divine Providence. One day, John was meditating in the primatial see of Saint-John in Lyon, when he was suddenly startled by a gentle and maternal "voice". He turned round and scanned the interior of the building: there was no one around. But he was sure that "someone" had just "spoken" to him; a woman he didn't know. He had never experienced any sort of mental disorder, delusion, or hallucination... 
She asked him, in the name of God, to leave his job and become a priest, something he had never even remotely considered!

It was soon done. After saying goodbye to his family, he entered the major seminary in Grenoble in 1818. Although he came from a very humble socio-cultural background, he completed three years of theological and philosophical training there without any setbacks in his exams, after which he was ordained a priest.

His charisma was soon apparent to all. Successively appointed vicar of Saint-Symphorien-d'Ozon, parish priest of Feyzin, then archpriest of Saint-Symphorien, he seemed to be "burning through the stages". But, paradoxically, he was not the least bit hyperactive, and no one had ever found the slightest hint of worldly ambition in him; he surrendered himself to God's will and lived the Gospel values in an exceptional way. As he said himself, everything else was given to him as a bonus.

The Bishop of Grenoble gave him his full support: he first brought the nuns of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul to the diocese, then the Jesuits. He gave his help to the Sisters of Providence, while admiring the contemplative communities, which he wanted to see more of. Bishop Philibert de Bruillard of Grenoble appointed him a canon, a title he found hard to accept because of his great and abiding humility. When he was appointed a canon in Grenoble, hundreds of people attended the ceremony organised in his honour in the city's cathedral.

From his first appointment as vicar, Father Gerin initiated a number of charitable ventures. Right up until his last breath, he never interrupted or even slowed down the pace of his charitable activities: helping the poor, relieving the sick, reconciling sinners with God, and teaching children. His days began around four in the morning and ended past midnight. In addition to confessions, to which he devoted between eight and ten hours a day, he received his parishioners at any time of the day, and sometimes at night, preached every week, visited the sick, gave alms to the needy, prayed alone for an hour every day, made a Way of the Cross on Fridays, and wrote his correspondence every evening, never neglecting anyone...

In 1856, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour; but this distinction troubled him: everything he said, everything he undertook was, in his eyes, the exclusive fruit of grace, and not of his personal merits. He felt unworthy of such a distinction, but accepted it to avoid being difficult.

Shortly afterwards, the Bishop of Grenoble entrusted him with an unexpected mission: he asked him to go to Rome to bring Pope Pius IX the "secrets" of the two visionaries of Our Lady of La Salette (1846), Melanie and Maximin. Father Gerin set off, accompanied by Father Rousselot, hoping to be back in his beloved town of Grenoble as soon as possible, to be with his parishioners.

He died on 13 February 1863. By then, his popularity was at an all-time high. He was in demand from all sides: priests and religious came to him with projects, problems and worries; lay people flooded him with requests of all kinds, both spiritual (prayers, sacraments, teachings) and material (need for money, food, a job, etc.). The institutions he himself had founded absorbed his energy right up until the day he died.

Grenoble celebrated his funeral in an atmosphere of contemplation, peace and hope in the future. So many people were present to bless his body, which was laid out in the presbytery, that the floor of the building almost gave way! His tomb quickly became a place of pilgrimage. Miraculous cures were reported. People brought flowers to his tomb and sollicited the "holy priest Gerin" to intercede with God on their behalf.

In 1925, the diocese of Grenoble opened the cause for his beatification, a process that was abandoned three years later after the death of the priest in charge of the diocesan procedure, Father Charpin. It was reopened in 2018 thanks to the initiative of Bishop Guy de Kérimel, supported by all the French bishops. The diocesan investigation began in autumn 2023.

Au-delà des raisons d'y croire :

Completely lived out for God, Father Gerin's entire life, right up to his last breath, is an exceptional testimony to charity, devotion and availability to all people, regardless of their background and beliefs.

Aller plus loin :

Gilles-Marie Moreau, Le "bon curé" de Grenoble: l'abbé Jean Gerin (1797 - 1863), Paris, L'Harmattan, 2023.

En savoir plus :

• R.P. Amédée de Damas, Vie de M. l'abbé Gerin, ancien curé de la cathédrale de Grenoble, Grenoble, Rousset et Côte, 1870.
• Pierre-Henri Fissont, Petite biographie de Jean-Baptiste Gerin,curé de la cathédrale de Grenoble, Grenoble, Imprimerie Saint-Bruno, Grenoble, 1923.