Rogue, Pierre René, Bl.

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ROGUE, PIERRE RENÉ, BL.

Martyr; b. Vannes, northwestern France, June 11, 1758; d. there, March 1, 1796. After ordination (1782), he joined the vincentians (1786) and taught in their seminary in Vannes from 1788. During the french revolution he refused to take the oath supporting the civil constitution of the clergy. Although the government forbade him to exercise his priestly functions, he engaged secretly in apostolic work and rendered signal service during a typhus epidemic. While carrying the viaticum to the dying, Rogue was apprehended and imprisoned (Dec. 25, 1795). When offered an opportunity to flee, he refused to take it, and spent his days in prison helping fellow prisoners until he was guillotined. His remains are enshrined in the cathedral at Vannes. He was beatified by Pope Pius XI on April 29, 1934.

Feast: March 1.

Bibliography: l. brÉtaudeau, Un Martyr de la Révolution à Vannes: Pierre-René Rogue (Paris 1908). j. l. baudot and l. chaussin, Vies des saints et des bienheureux selon l'ordre du calendrier avec l'historique des fêtes, (Paris 193556) 13:114119.

[m. lawlor]