Our Founders
Who are our founders?
GABRIEL DESHAYES
“If I am tempted to think, I am Somebody, I will remember where I come from.”
Founder of the Sisters of Christian Instruction of St. Gildas des Bois. Born in 1767. His father was a farmer and also a village butcher.
He was ordained as a priest in Jersey in 1792. Co-founder with another priest Jean Marie de La Mennais of the Brothers of Christian Instruction of Ploermel.
He became Superior General of several congregations. These being; the Company of Mary, the Daughters of wisdom and of the brothers of St. Gabriel.
Gabriel Deshayes died in 1841 at St. Laurent sur Sèvre.
He was known for his great sense of humour and being a practical joker. He was a deep spiritual man, whose trust in God was total. By people he was referred as an Athlete of Christ.
MICHELLE GUILLAUME
“She gave herself entirely to the work for which she was Destined.”
Foundress of the Sisters of Christian Instruction of St. Gildas des Bois. Born in Beignon in 1779 in a family of lowly farmers.
She was encouraged by Gabriel Deshayes to open a school in her native village in 1807.
She belonged to the Third Order of Carmelites.
Made religious profession with her companions on November 8th 1820. Died in 1826 at the age of forty seven years.
Her last words remain alive in the memory of the sisters:
“Be always united by the tenderest love for one another”.
Gabriel Deshayes and Michelle Guillaume under the inspiration of the Spirit, and faced with religious ignorance in the country areas, founded a little school for the poor children of Beignon. With the apostolic zeal of Fr. Gabriel Deshayes and the openness of Michelle Guillaume to the will of God led to the birth of our Congregation. This spiritual experiences our founders has become, for each of us today, a light by which we respond to our Vocation in the Church and in our world. (Constitution No 3)