Letter of September 23, 2005

Venerable Pierre Toussaint - Haitian American
The Most Reverend Carl F. Mengeling, Bishop of Lansing

Outside New York City, the Venerable Pierre Toussaint is
unknown to most American Catholics. Even though this Black
Catholic layman lived and died before the Civil War on June 30,
1853, he is very relevant to American Catholics today.

Before becoming Benedict XVI, Cardinal Ratzinger wrote in ‘Called to Communion’ (1991), "the saints are the true normative majority in Christ’s Church by which we orient ourselves. They translate the divine into the human and eternity into time. They teach us what it is to be human. They never abandon us in our pain and solitude. They accompany us at the hour of our death".

His words echo these of St. John Chrysastan (407) thirteen hundred years ago: "Set the light of saints on a lampstand; so we don’t stumble in the darkness of our own making. By the light of the saints which is really God’s light in the world, we see the light".

The Archbishop of New York, Cardinal John O’Connor initiated the Canonization Process in 1989. In 1990 Toussaint’s body was removed from St. Peter Cemetery and placed in the crypt of St. Patrick Cathedral.

It was at old St. Peter Parish, founded in 1785, that Toussaint attended daily Mass for over 60 years. Cardinal O’Connor said in 1999: "We had the body of Pierre Toussaint exhumed with the cooperation of the civil authorities and brought here, and he is now buried beneath this high altar with all the bishops, archbishops and cardinals of New York. It will be a great privilege for me to be buried in a vault in the same section with Pierre Toussaint".

Pope John Paul II declared him Venerable on December 21, 1996. It is the first step toward declaring this Haitian-born slave as the U.S. first black saint. During his October 1995 visit to New York, Pope John Paul II said, "Beneath the high altar of this Cathedral, together with the former cardinals and archbishops of New York, there is buried the servant of God Pierre Toussaint, a married man, a one-time slave from Haiti. What is so extraordinary about this man? He radiated a most serene and joyful faith, nourished daily by the Eucharist and visits to the Blessed Sacrament. In the face of constant, painful discrimination he understood, as few have understood, the meaning of the words, ‘Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.’ No treasure is as uplifting and transforming as the light of faith."

Pierre was born into a black slave family in 1766 in the French colony of Haiti. He lived in Haiti for the first 21 years of his life. In 1787 the Berard family fled to New York with him, his sister and three other slaves. That was the year the U.S. Constitution was adopted. He remained in New York for the next 66 years until his death on June 30, 1853 at the age of 87.

His life preceded the Civil War (1861-1865). It was during this war that President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.

Pierre’s grandmother and parents were devout Catholics. The Toussaint’s were treated benignly by their owners, the Berards, who were Catholic. They observed the French Code of 1685 that required slaves to be baptized and given instruction and rest on Sundays and Holydays. As a house slave, Pierre learned to read and write.

The revolution in France led to political upheavals in Haiti and other French colonies. The elder Berard’s gave their plantations to their son, Jean Berard and his wife, Marie and returned to France in 1787. Jean and Marie and two daughters fled to New York accompanied by five slaves - Pierre, his sister Rosalie, an aunt and young Juliette whom he later married.

The Berard’s settled on Barclay Street near St. Peter Church, the only Catholic Church in New York City. For over 60 years, Pierre attended the 6:00 a.m. daily Mass at St. Peter’s.

Pierre continued his work as a barber but became an expert in hairdressing. His reputation spread and many of New York’s wealthiest sought Pierre to create their elaborate hairdos. His income increased and eventually he became wealthy.

In 1791 Jean Berard returned to Haiti to reclaim the plantation and died there of pleurisy. His wife Marie in New York was already heavily in debt and now penniless. She gave Pierre her jewels to settle the debt. He payed the debt, returned the jewels and provided for Marie Berard until her death in 1809.

She freed him before her death. He bought his sister, Rosalie’s freedom and Juliette’s, whom he married in 1811. When Rosalie died, they adopted her child Euphernia and several homeless children.

In these 60 years he gave away his entire wealth and died penniless. New Yorkers on all levels of society knew of his self-sacrifice and charity. He and Juliette provided food and shelter to the homeless; helped refugees find work and cared for victims in the frequent cholera and yellow fever epidemics. With St. Elizabeth Seton, one of New York’s first orphanages was founded. He raised funds for the first St. Patrick Cathedral and the first Catholic school for Blacks. When St. Peter Church, where he attended the daily 6:00 a.m. Mass, burned down, most of the funds for a new church came from him.

After 40 years of marriage, Juliette died in 1851. Two years later, Pierre Toussaint died on June 30, 1853, age 87.

Pray that his beatification comes soon!