Reflections from France
October 3 to 5, 2025, was a very special time for Oblates from around the world. Many gathered in Troyes, France, a town on the west coast of France, where Fr. Louis Brisson and Mother Mary de Sales Chappuis founded the Oblates, to celebrate 150 years since the founding of the congregation. Festivities took place all weekend for the Oblates who gathered from five continents.
From the North American Provinces, Oblate Fathers Bill Davis, Joseph Chorpenning, Michael Murray, Brother Dan Wisniewski, Deacon Jonathan Dick, OSFS, and Seminarians Mr. Matthew Trovato, OSFS, and Mr. Bill Grebe attended the celebrations.
Below are short reflections from a few of the travelers!
Fr. Michael Murray, OSFS
Pastor of St. John Neumann Church, Reston, VA
Early 20th-century newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane is credited for coining the phrase, “Use a picture. It is worth a thousand words.” Despite my best efforts, I could never have captured enough images to convey completely the experience of celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales in Troyes, France. I do hope my modest efforts as a freelance photographer to visually document the people and places of the three-day event convey something of the energy, enthusiasm and excitement of this once-in-a-lifetime celebration for those not fortunate enough to attend in person. View Fr. Murray’s photos here.
Mr. Matthew Trovato, OSFS
Oblate Seminarian, Washington, D.C.
Our brief but eventful time in Troyes was most impactful for me in seeing the environment in which our founders lived and worked every day. Most especially, our visit to the Visitation Monastery in Troyes gave me the deepest sense of connection to Father Brisson and Mother Chappuis. I sat in the chapel, which looked much the same as it did when they celebrated mass there. I saw the same grille separating the nuns’ choir, where Mother Chappuis would have sat every day. Being in that space, I was moved by the fact that this was the very space where the interior spiritual process of Brisson’s (long!) discernment of whether or not to found the Oblates and Oblate Sisters took place. After I had heard the story of Fr. Brisson so many times, to be in the place where he plodded along his own spiritual journey day after day renewed by admiration and understanding of his holiness and his eventual sense of mission as founder of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales.
Mr. Bill Grebe
Oblate Seminarian, Washington, D.C.
After hearing so many stories of the Oblates’ foundation over the last decade, seeing the sites where they took place was a tremendous blessing. Brisson’s clock, the room where Jesus appeared to the Good Mother, and even the founders’ tombs were incredible to see. The best part of the trip, though, was seeing all the Oblates, Oblate Sisters, and lay partners from the different provinces. To see both our roots (Troyes) and our branches (the people from all over the world) invigorated my faith in our charism. It reminded me that the world needed it back then, and that it needs it even more now.
