Servant of God Père Jacques

Jacques de Jésus, OCD (born Lucien Bunel; 1900 – 2 June 1945), better known as Père Jacques, was a French Catholic priest and Discalced Carmelite friar. While serving as headmaster of a boarding school run by his order, he took in several Jewish refugees to protect them from the Nazi government of occupation, for which he was arrested and imprisoned in various concentration camps. Père Jacques was one of those who undertook efforts to help Jewish people during the Nazi occupation of France. His efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, resulting in his death at Linz, Austria, after having suffered in the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex in 1945, weeks after its liberation by Allied Forces. Pere Jacques was named one of the Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1985, as a non-Jew who risked his life during the Holocaust to save Jews. The cause for his beatification by the Catholic Church was opened in 1990. French film-maker Louis Malle paid tribute to Père Jacques, who was his primary school headmaster, in the 1987 film Au revoir les enfants. Born Lucien Bunel in Normandy in 1900, he was inspired by his father's example of deep piety and social service to study for the priesthood. He was ordained in 1925 to serve the Diocese of Rouen. After his ordination, he quickly became a noted preacher, as well as being a successful teacher. He also maintained a deep interior life of prayer. Bunel had considered becoming a Trappist monk before his ordination, and still sought some way of integrating his being drawn to an intense life of prayer, combined with service to others. When he came to know the Discalced Carmelite nuns at Le Havre, he found a spiritual tradition which answered his quest. He entered the order in Lille in 1930 and took the religious name Jaques de Jésus. While he was preparing for his final profession of religious vows in 1934, his superiors suggested that he consider opening a school for boys.