14 Facts About Basil Moreau

Basil Moreau's father was a farmer and a wine merchant.

Basil Moreau grew up in the midst of the turmoil of the French Revolution.

Basil Moreau was able to receive a good primary education by the generosity of his parish priest Abbe Julian Le Provost who tutored him.

In 1814 Provost made arrangements for Basil Moreau to enter the minor seminary at Chateau Gontier.

In 1816 Basil Moreau entered the diocesan seminary in Le Mans, when the hostilities of the Revolution toward the Church had subsided.

At the age of 22, in 1821, Basil Moreau was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Le Mans at the Old Visitation Convent Chapel of the Sacred Heart, while the Cathedral of St Julien in Le Mans was under restoration.

In 1823, Basil Moreau became professor of philosophy at the minor seminary of Tesse.

Basil Moreau founded a group of priests within the Diocese of Le Mans to assist diocesan clergy in his various endeavors to re-invigorate the Church, especially preaching parish missions.

Basil Moreau made good on that vision by founding in 1841, with Leocadie Gascoin, a third society within the Congregation, that of the sisters.

The cause for Basil Moreau's beatification was formally opened on 20 June 1950, and he was given the title of Servant of God in 1957.

Basil Moreau was beatified in Le Mans by Pope Benedict XVI on September 15,2007, the feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Basil Moreau Seminary, located on the University of Notre Dame campus, is the main seminary for the American province of the Congregation of Holy Cross.

In 1841, Basil Moreau sent Edward Sorin and six brothers to the Diocese of Vincennes, Indiana to assist the bishop is setting up a school for boys.

Basil Moreau Catholic is affiliated with many other Holy Cross educational institutions worldwide, but they are the only one named after the founder of Holy Cross, Basil Moreau.