| CURIA GENERALIZIA MARIANISTI Rome, October 23, 2004 Death Notice No. 28 (To all Unit Administrations) The Province of France recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, SERGE GAETAN HOSPITAL, priest, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on October 18, 2004, in Antony in the 65th year of his age and the 46th year of his religious profession. Serge Hospital was born on February 18, 1940, at Delle in the Territory of Belfort, near the Swiss border. From his birth, he benefited from two cultures, Latin and German. An only son, he received an education in which rigor and filial love of his parents went hand in hand. He made his first profession on September 12, 1959, at La-Tour-de-Sçay and his perpetual profession on October 4, 1964. His ordination by Archbishop Lallier of Besançon took place in Delle, on March 21, 1970. That same year, he earned a licentiate in theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. After his seminary, he was sent to Belgium as chaplain at the Collège in Rèves where he stayed four years. On his return to France and after one year at Antony, he was appointed novice-master at Art-sur-Meurthe, a position he held until 1999, at which time the development of the Centre Chaminade in Bordeaux was confided to him. The last stage of service to the Society of Mary was his appointment as vice-provincial in 2001. Father Serge Hospital was a great Marianist figure. He was more of a reference than a personality. His main qualities can be summed up in the following terms: attention to others, being a good listener, exactness of thought, knowledge of the fundamental writings of the Society of Mary, a spirit of openness that took into account the aspirations of the young all the while holding to the basics of the past, coherence in his life and his writings, artistic qualities that he showed in his manual skill and his musical formation (piano and organ). The years he was novice-master were the most remarkable of his life. Several generations of young men benefited from his competence and his talents. Many articles on spirituality in Marianist magazines or others bore his signature and through them one can notice the clarity of his writing and the wealth of his knowledge of Marianist texts, which he knew how to share. In other respects, he was careful to interpret the texts well and to be faithful to the true spirit of Father Chaminade. On several occasions, he pointed out the necessity of getting the sources of the Marianist spirit out of the sand in which they were stuck. Serge was a spiritual master who had a keen sense of human virtues. The discernment of vocations, the accompaniment in difficulties, prudent advice, regular correspondence to encourage, a sense of humor, a sense of celebration, briefly a string of qualities with a touch of mischievousness, a lot of good common sense and realism. He could defend and argue his opinions. Some found him obstinate on a few very precise subjects like the work of the Working Brothers or on the use of the active members of the Province. His long tenure as a member of provincial Councils and spiritual direction helped him to consider the cases and problems with faith and realism. He was also a defender of the Fraternités Marianistes and the other branches of the S.M. To his credit, too, we can add the “Chemins de Saragosse,” the Formation Guide… The Province of France is very happy to have another intercessor before
the Lord and Mary. Serge was a model of religious life, with exceptional
human and relational qualities as well as spiritual. Today, near his
Master, he has the necessary distance to look back at what he did,
with his pipe at the corner of his mouth and playing a game of cards. |