Born to Alphonse and Marie Bellière in Normandy, France, Maurice Bellière's mother passed away a week following his birth. Leaving the baby along with his sister, Alphonse left for the Mauritius for good, while Antoinette, the sister, who soon married Louis Barthélemy, was to be left childless from her marriage. Without being formally adopted, Maurice grew up believing he was their son, coming to learn the truth only when he was eleven years of age. Deeply affected by this news, he entered the seminary in 1894. Joining the Missionaries of Africa, he made his novitiate in Algiers prior to pursuing studies at the seminary of Carthage and was ordained priest on June 29, 1901.
In his second year as a seminarian, still troubled by his thoughts, he took a leap of faith and wrote to the Carmel of Lisieux asking for someone to pray for him, being inspired to do this after reading of a man who had been brought back to God by prayers. Thérèse helped him a lot through her correspondence, wroting him eleven important letters in all.
Hoping to come across a devoted nun who could pray for the salvation of his soul and help him to be faithful to the vocation God had given him as priest and hopefully a missionary, Mother Agnès chose Sr. Thérèse Martin for the task, which led Maurice to maintain a regular correspondence with her. Up to her last strength "The Little Flower" wrote and encouraged him. Returning to France after serving as a missionary in Nyassa, present day Malawi, suffering from sleeping sickness caused by tsé-tsé, Bellière died the following year at the age of thirty three while hospitalized at Bon Sauveur in Caen and was laid to rest along with his second mother, Antoinette.
In his second year as a seminarian, still troubled by his thoughts, he took a leap of faith and wrote to the Carmel of Lisieux asking for someone to pray for him, being inspired to do this after reading of a man who had been brought back to God by prayers. Thérèse helped him a lot through her correspondence, wroting him eleven important letters in all.
Hoping to come across a devoted nun who could pray for the salvation of his soul and help him to be faithful to the vocation God had given him as priest and hopefully a missionary, Mother Agnès chose Sr. Thérèse Martin for the task, which led Maurice to maintain a regular correspondence with her. Up to her last strength "The Little Flower" wrote and encouraged him. Returning to France after serving as a missionary in Nyassa, present day Malawi, suffering from sleeping sickness caused by tsé-tsé, Bellière died the following year at the age of thirty three while hospitalized at Bon Sauveur in Caen and was laid to rest along with his second mother, Antoinette.
Born to Alphonse and Marie Bellière in Normandy, France, Maurice Bellière's mother passed away a week following his birth. Leaving the baby along with his sister, Alphonse left for the Mauritius for good, while Antoinette, the sister, who soon married Louis Barthélemy, was to be left childless from her marriage. Without being formally adopted, Maurice grew up believing he was their son, coming to learn the truth only when he was eleven years of age. Deeply affected by this news, he entered the seminary in 1894. Joining the Missionaries of Africa, he made his novitiate in Algiers prior to pursuing studies at the seminary of Carthage and was ordained priest on June 29, 1901.
In his second year as a seminarian, still troubled by his thoughts, he took a leap of faith and wrote to the Carmel of Lisieux asking for someone to pray for him, being inspired to do this after reading of a man who had been brought back to God by prayers. Thérèse helped him a lot through her correspondence, wroting him eleven important letters in all.
Hoping to come across a devoted nun who could pray for the salvation of his soul and help him to be faithful to the vocation God had given him as priest and hopefully a missionary, Mother Agnès chose Sr. Thérèse Martin for the task, which led Maurice to maintain a regular correspondence with her. Up to her last strength "The Little Flower" wrote and encouraged him. Returning to France after serving as a missionary in Nyassa, present day Malawi, suffering from sleeping sickness caused by tsé-tsé, Bellière died the following year at the age of thirty three while hospitalized at Bon Sauveur in Caen and was laid to rest along with his second mother, Antoinette.
In his second year as a seminarian, still troubled by his thoughts, he took a leap of faith and wrote to the Carmel of Lisieux asking for someone to pray for him, being inspired to do this after reading of a man who had been brought back to God by prayers. Thérèse helped him a lot through her correspondence, wroting him eleven important letters in all.
Hoping to come across a devoted nun who could pray for the salvation of his soul and help him to be faithful to the vocation God had given him as priest and hopefully a missionary, Mother Agnès chose Sr. Thérèse Martin for the task, which led Maurice to maintain a regular correspondence with her. Up to her last strength "The Little Flower" wrote and encouraged him. Returning to France after serving as a missionary in Nyassa, present day Malawi, suffering from sleeping sickness caused by tsé-tsé, Bellière died the following year at the age of thirty three while hospitalized at Bon Sauveur in Caen and was laid to rest along with his second mother, Antoinette.
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