Mass in his honour, 10th anniversary of his death
Father Émilien Tardif
Abbé Yves Rancourt, president
Mass in honour of a great religious man at the Assumption church
June 15, 2009 at 10:31 p.m., Beauce.com
About 300 people had gathered at the Assumption church on Monday to pay tribute to Father Émilien Tardif, who died ten years ago. During a special Mass, “Jesus is alive”, special tribute was paid to this man who worked as a devoted missionary in the Dominican Republic.
Maria Sangiovanni
Maria Sangiovanni, a woman of faith who worked with Father Émilien Tardif and co-founded the Community of the Servants of the Living Christ, had left the Dominican Republic to come and bear witness to the faith of this exemplary man who worked relentlessly to spread the good news and good to all. “I am here to highlight the life of Émilien Tardif, and to celebrate God, who created such an extraordinary person,” she said, speaking in Spanish.
Through several testimonies and anecdotes, she highlighted this great missionary who preached in more than 70 countries, visiting every continent. “At his side, I have seen the blind see and the sick healed.” Maria Sangiovanni thus told the assembly gathered in the Assumption church of the miracles she had seen, performed by Father Émilien Tardif. She related in particular the healing of paralytics and the physically disabled in a stadium in Mexico, and the healing of 14 young children in the terminal stage in California, where Father Émilien Tardif had announced their imminent recovery. “And when they asked him how that was possible, he would answer: The explanation can be had. Jesus is alive in our midst. That is the only possible explanation,” added Maria Sangiovanni, before the choir went on with religious hymns.
A missionary born in St-Zacharie
Father Émilien Tardif thus wanted to spread the message that Jesus was truly alive and risen among men. A true model for many, Father Émilien Tardif knew how to teach the strength of a community in the Dominican Republic.
A native of St-Zacharie, Father Émilien Tardif took to the vocation at a very young age. As early as 1956, he left for the Dominican Republic and became the provincial administrator of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in 1971. He is a missionary born in St-Zacharie. He would remain in the Dominican Republic for more than 40 years and devoted himself quickly to the work there, taking part in the building of an evangelization school, a seminary, chapels and centres of human development.
Some residents of Beauce present at his 10th anniversary of death had personally known Father Émilien Tardif, having been to grade school with him. For them, and for many others as well, he was a great man for whom they have great admiration and trust.
Maria Sangiovanni spoke with passion about Father Émilien Tardif.