Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier

Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier (8 December 1832 – 17 December 1916) was a French Dominican friar and religious priest, who served as the 76th Master of the Order of Preachers from 1904 until 1916. Cormier was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 20 November 1994.

Biography

Early life and education Cormier was born Louis Stanislas Henri Cormier on 8 December 1832, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, in Orléans, France, of a well-to-do family of merchants. His father died when he was still young, after which his mother took him and his only brother Eugène to live near their uncle who was a priest. His brother Eugène died shortly afterwards.

Cormier maintained his enthusiasm for music throughout his life, especially sacred music. Franz Liszt heard him play the organ on one occasion and declared him to be a "master of the art".

Advancing to the major seminary of the diocese of Orléans which was conducted by the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice, Cormier studied philosophy and theology. He was admitted into the Third Order of Saint Dominic while a seminarian. Cormier was granted a dispensation to be ordained without having reached the canonical age. Soon after this, however, he made a complete recovery. Following his profession, Cormier was appointed sub-Master of novices at Santa Sabina. In 1863 he was elected prior of the convent of Corbara in Corsica.

Master of the Order After the General Chapter, Cormier was called to Rome as socius to the newly elected Master of the Order, Andreas Frühwirth, who later became a cardinal. In Rome, Cormier was appointed Procurator of the Order. On 21 May 1904 he was elected as Master of the Order at the general chapter held at the Convent of S. Maria de la Quercia near Viterbo. He held this post until 1916. As Master, he restored many suppressed provinces and erected new ones, including that of the Most Holy Name of Jesus in the Western United States of America. Building on the legacy of the Order's first Roman studium at the priory of Santa Sabina founded in 1222 and the studium generale that had sprung from it by 1426 at the priory of Santa Maria sopra Minerva and that in 1577 became the College of Saint Thomas, Cormier established the new studium generalissimum as the principal vehicle of dissemination of orthodox Thomistic thought not only among the Dominicans, but also among the secular clergy. The college was elevated in status and renamed Pontificium Collegium Divi Thomae de Urbe in 1906. Cormier gave to the Angelicum his motto as Master General, caritas veritatis, "the charity of truth."

On Holy Thursday, 17 April 1916, just before his retirement Cormier delivered a speech to the Angelicum entitled "Vie intime avec Jesus: allocution prononcee au College Angelique."

The college would go on to be elevated in 1963 to the rank of Pontifical University.

Retirement and death After the end of his term in 1916, Cormier retired to the priory at the Basilica of San Clemente in Rome. He died there on the following 17 December at 12.30 pm after a brief illness.

His body was laid in state at the church of San Clemente. He was buried at the Campo Verano cemetery, Rome, in the tomb of the Order of Preachers. On 17 December 1934 his remains were transferred to the Angelicum University Church of Saints Dominic and Sixtus, where his body rests above the high altar in one direction, and above the altar of the University Chapel directly behind it in the opposite direction.

Beatification During his life Cormier was noted for his saintly qualities: "He gives peace to everything he touches." On numerous occasions he was seen by friars at the Angelicum to levitate in the air while praying before the Blessed Sacrament.

Cormier's spiritual writings were approved by theologians on 16 July 1941 and 17 July 1946. His cause was formally opened on 22 June 1945, granting him the title of a Servant of God. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 20 November 1994. His inspiration to Dominican life, Agnes of Jesus, was beatified in the same ceremony with him.

In his sermon for the beatification Mass, the Pope noted that, in beatifying Cormier, "the Church wishes to recognize and honor the work of the human intellect, illuminated by faith."

The feast of the Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier is celebrated by the Dominican Order as an optional memorial on 21 May, the anniversary of his election as Master of the Order.