An impulse for the Congregational Council August 24-29, 2009 in La Salette

        1.     A few thoughts on the human and spiritual profile of Fr. Berthier

        1.1    The faith of Fr. Berthier was strong and clear, humble and full of strength

Already the young Berthier, when he was still a seminarian, showed great clearness in regard to his ideals and steadfastness in his convictions about faith. This became clear, when he entered the seminary in Grenoble. It was October 1858 and he was 18 at the time. Later he reported about his entering the seminary:

"When I passed the threshold of my room, I did not know what was going on within me, but I wanted to be alone by myself and cry. The thought that the small room might probably have been a room of martyrs, confessors and certainly of holy priests, made me look at it with respect and veneration. In my thoughts I saw those, who had been there earlier ...; it appeared to me that their virtues had sanctified the place and all this said to me: Be worthy of your predecessors. What witnesses were these walls, of how many deeds and of which heroic virtues, of which ardent requests, what kind of witness were this bed and the table. All this was to me like a call in a sermon to become a saint ... I must become a saint." In stating this, the young Berthier likely thought of the parish priest of Ars and of the missionaries who had been trained there and who had achieved something great in the missions.