Saint of the Day

June 9: Blessed Joseph Imbert

During the French Revolution of the late eighteenth century, the anti-Catholic government imprisoned and killed many priests, nuns, and vowed religious.

Blessed Joseph Imbert was born around 1720 in the city of Marseilles and became a Jesuit priest. He was the apostolic vicar of Moulins when he was arrested for being a faithful Catholic priest and sentenced to imprisonment in the rotting ships of Rochefort, which were being used as prisons at the time. On this date in 1794, Joseph died from the wretched conditions of the ship hulks and died a martyr. Pope John Paul II beatified him in 1995.

Blessed Joseph, give me your courage in facing persecution.