Edward Poppe was a Belgian priest. He was declared blessed

Beatification

Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...

 by Pope John Paul II on 3 October 1999.

Biography

Edward Joannes Maria Poppe was born in Temse

Temse

Temse is a municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Elversele, Steendorp, Temse proper and Tielrode. On January 1, 2006 Temse had a total population of 26,287...

 in 1890 as the third child and eldest son of a baker. He studied at the college of Sint-Niklaas

Sint-Niklaas

Sint-Niklaas is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Sint-Niklaas proper and the towns of Belsele, Nieuwkerken-Waas, and Sinaai....

 from 1905 until 1910, where he was a member of De Klauwaerts, a Flemish student association in the Flemish Movement

Flemish movement

The Flemish Movement is a popular term used to describe the political movement for emancipation and greater autonomy of the Belgian region of Flanders, for protection of the Dutch language, and for the over-all protection of Flemish culture and history....

 of before World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

Although his father died in 1907, he was able to continue his studies and to go to the seminary

Seminary

A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...

 in 1910 to become a priest. He studied Thomism

Thomism

Thomism is the philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, his commentaries on Aristotle are his most lasting contribution...

 at the Catholic University of Louvain. Influenced by the works of Louis de Montfort

Louis de Montfort

St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort was canonized in 1947. He was a French priest and known in his time as a preacher and author, whose books, still widely read, have influenced a number of popes....

, he became a fervent devotee of Maria. In 1913, he moved to the Great Seminar of Ghent

Ghent

Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...

, where he became a member of Filioli Caritatis, a group of young priests aiming for priestly sanctity.

When the war started in 1914, Poppe was called to arms, but fell sick in Bourlers, part of Chimay

Chimay

Chimay a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006, Chimay had a total population of 9,774. The total area is 197.10 km² which gives a population density of 50 inhabitants per km²...

. After strengthening again in Temse, he went to the seminar of Mechelen

Mechelen

Mechelen Footnote: Mechelen became known in English as 'Mechlin' from which the adjective 'Mechlinian' is derived...

, which stayed open. Finally, on May 1, 1916, he was ordained a priest. His motto was "Accendatur" - May the fire be kindled", referring to Luke 12, 49

But to bring a sword

"I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword" , part of the Lesser Commission, is one of the controversial statements reported of Jesus in the Bible. The saying has been interpreted in several ways...

, "But to bring a sword".

Poppe became the parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 associate pastor in Sint-Coleta, a poor labourers' parish in Ghent. He started a communion bond for the youngest children, introducing them to many aspects of Christianity. Poppe also chose to live in severe poverty and to be like one of his parishers.

Exhausted, due to his way of living and his weak health, he was transferred to a monastery in Moerzeke

Moerzeke

Moerzeke is a village located at the river Scheldt in the municipality Hamme, Belgium.-History:The name comes from the Gallo-Roman Mauriciacum, which means good or villa belonging to Mauricius. In the passing ages the name Moerzeke has been written in various ways...

. Mostly confined to his bed, he wrote numerous texts for the "Eucharistische Kruistocht" ("Eucharistic Crusade") of the Averbode Abbey

Averbode Abbey

Averbode Abbey is a Premonstratensian monastery situated near Diest , in the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels in Belgium.-1134-1800:Averbode Abbey was founded about 1134-1135 by Count Arnold II of Loon...

, often appearing in the popular youth magazine Zonneland

Averbode (publisher)

Uitgeverij Averbode is a Belgian publisher of books, comics, and magazines. The company is located in Averbode and is part of the Averbode Abbey. It has changed its name a few times since its foundation in 1877.- Names :...

.

When his health slightly improved, he was appointed as spiritual leader of the military school in Leopoldsburg

Leopoldsburg

Leopoldsburg is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006 Leopoldsburg had a total population of 14,403. The total area is 22.49 km² which gives a population density of 640 inhabitants per km².-External links:*...

 in 1922. A cardiac crisis in 1923, when visiting his mother with Christmas, made it impossible for him to return to Leopoldsburg, and he again was confined to the monastery of Moerzeke. He died there on 10 June 1924.

After his death

Poppe was soon revered as a saint in Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

, and his grave in Moerzeke became a destination for pilgrimage. Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier

Désiré-Joseph Mercier

-Early life and ordination:Désiré Mercier was born at the château du Castegier in Braine-l'Alleud, as the fifth of the seven children of Paul-Léon Mercier and his wife Anne-Marie Barbe Croquet....

promoted him as an ideal of the good priest, highly spiritual, ascetic, and ready to sacrifice his life for the Christian faith. The abbey of Averbode, which had often worked together with Poppe, also strived for his beatification. He became the Blessed Father Edward Poppe in 1999.

His birth house in Temse has become a museum, and the street is renamed "Priester Poppestraat". Another museum can be found in the monastery in Moerzeke. Statues of Poppe are erected in Moerzeke and in Ghent.

Sources

http://edouardpoppe.e-monsite.com/