Fr. Theophile Verbist | Course Paper

Fr. Theophile Verbist (1823-1868)

The life story of our Founder, Fr. Theophile Verbist, is

not long. He was born in Antwerp in 1823. He had a

twin brother, Edmond, who became a lawyer. Theophile

studied in the Seminary of the Archdiocese of Malines

and was ordained a priest in 1847. During the firrst

years of his priestly ministry, he was on the staff of the

minor seminary. Later, he became the chaplain of the

military school in Brussels and concurrently served as

chaplain of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. In

1860 he was appointed National Director of the Holy

Childhood, a pious association that animates its

members to support the missions, especially children in

need, and more specifically in China. His work with this

association, combined with his two other appointments,

represented the first visible mark of his orientation to

the mission. It was not, however, the beginning of his

missionary vocation. According to oral tradition, it is in

the chapel of the Sisters that, whilst praying, Theophile

Verbist set up his plan to become a missionary. The

flame was lit in his heart, nourished in gratitude for the

faith so easily received in Catholic Belgium, and in

compassion for the many who had not yet heard the

worried about the difficulty and extension of this

mission, Verbist remained full of enthusiasm and

dynamism. Even though he was confronted with the

difficult and sensitive take-over of the mission when he

arrived in China, Verbist was optimistic that something

good would come out of it in the end. Because of his

many responsibilities, Verbist had almost no time to

focus on the study of the Chinese language. Still, as

soon as the could express himself somewhat in Chinese,

he got involved in direct apostolate in Hsi-wan-tzu.

The Final Legacy

Theophile Verbist died on February 23, 1868 in a small

place in China. He had left Hsi-wan-tzu, the main

mission station, for a trip of five months to visit the

whole Vicariate before he would go back to Belgium.

The travel was done by ox-cart which moved slowly,

and shall we say “painfully” because it had no

suspension, over the rocky roads and through the

mountain passes. He did not want one of the confreres

to travel with him so as not to deprive one of the