Blessed Anne-Alexandre-Charles-Marie Lanfant

Blessed Anne-Alexandre-Charles-Marie Lanfant Also known as

Father Alexander Charles Lanfant

2 September

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Born to a middle-class family, Alexandre studied at Trinity College in Lyon, France, then became a Jesuits novice on 7 September 1741 at age 15 in Avignon, France. He taught grammar, rhetoric and humanities in several schools in the French cities of Aix, Besançon and Marseille, studying theology all the while. Ordained a priest in 1759. He made his solemn profession in the Jesuits in 1760 in Macon, France, and soon became a noted preacher of parish missions in the region of Nancy, France.

When the Jesuits were suppressed in France in 1762, Father Alexandre was able to continue his priestly ministry under the protection of Duke Stanislaus I of Lorraine. Upon the death of the duke, Father Alexandre travelled to Vienna, Austria where he served as preacher in the court of Empress Maria Theresa. In 1789 he returned to Paris, France, where he served for two years as confessor to King Louis XVI, and there became the target of the enmity of the Jansenists.

Alexandre was arrested in August 1792 in the persecutions of the French Revolution for his faith, his priesthood, his refusal to take the oath to the civil constitution, and the assumed influence he had over the king. One of the Martyrs of September.