February 28--Bl. Daniel Brottier, Priest

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To look at today's saint, one might imagine him to be a mall Santa Claus, with his white hair and long bushy beard.  But the two medals pinned to his chest, the Croix de guerre and the Légion d'honneur, indicate something else, his service as a chaplain for the French during World War I.  Bl. Daniel started his ministry as a priest teaching in a school.  However, he wanted to serve beyond the classroom and joined the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, who sent him to a mission in Senegal in West Africa.  When World War I broke out he returned and served as a chaplain in the trenches on the front.  During 52 months of service he never suffered a single wound, which he attributed to the intervention of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.  After the war he took over an orphanage outside of Paris.  

Bl. Daniel was a brave man who faced the hardships of war with the love of service.  He saw in the faces of his charges the face of Jesus.  He was no mall Santa Claus, but he was a man of faith and bravery and determination.  These are qualities that we can bring to our service.  He once said:  "My secret is this: help yourself and heaven will help you. ... I have no other secret.  If the good God worked miracles [at the orphanage], through Thérèse's intercession, I think I can say in all justice that we did everything, humanly speaking, to be deserving, and that they were the divine reward of our work, prayers and trust in providence."  This is the "secret" of being a Christian.

*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Daniel_Brottier_1920.jpg