FROM DEATH TO BIRTH
(155th – 200th)
February 23, 2023 marks the 155th DEATH anniversary of Verbist. June 12, 2023 marks the 200th BIRTH
anniversary of VERBIST. On June 2023, the CICM will have its 16th GENERAL CHAPTER.
“May God’s holy Will, not mine be done! How many times didn’t I have to kiss His protective hand these past seven
years because He had obstructed the realization of my wishes. After an act of submission to the divine decision I felt
such a deep calm in my soul.” -Th. Verbist, Hsiwantze, 20 October 1867.
The life of Theophile VERBIST is not long, and his missionary journey is very short. He was born in Antwerp, Belgium
on June 12, 1823 and died On February 23, 1868, Verbist died in Lao-hu-kou, on his way to Kuan-tung from Hsi-wantzu. He is not yet 45 years old and has been a missionary in Inner Mongolia for only twenty-seven months, that is, 2
years and 3 months, but he has seen and experienced the beauty and goodness of the mission. His death was a big
blow to the nascent Congregation. At that time, the CICM was only 5 years and 3 months old. Under normal
circumstances, the CICM would not have survived to continue the mission until now. But because of the leadership
imprints of its Founder Theophile Verbist, the CICM, not only survived but also expanded to other mission territories,
including the Philippines.
2 years and 3 months in the mission was enough for Theophile Verbist to pass on to his Confreres his missionary
qualities and attitudes that allowed the Congregation to navigate through many challenges and difficulties.
Theophile Verbist was born to be a visionary leader. Being born and raised in a large family, Theophile Verbist
developed from childhood the ability and the skill to interact with others: “At home, the mother, a cultured woman,
was stricter for her children than her husband. She looked very carefully after their education and instilled into them
a great distinction of manners that characterized them all.” (Pycke, 2010).
At a very young age, Theophile Verbist was initiated into the ways of religious life. From his family to his basic
education, Theophile’s manners were properly moulded: “When the twins Theophile and Edmond were seven years
old they went to the Jesuits’ school in Antwerp. Later, they studied at the minor seminary of Mechlin. The twins left
each other when they had completed their college studies. While Edmond started to study law to be a lawyer,
Theophile wanted to become a priest. He had first two years of philosophy then he went on to major seminary of
Mechlin to study theology for three years” (Pycke, 2010).
Family upbringing and education are the very foundation of Theophile Verbist’s leadership qualities which were to
be shown in full display when he would be founding the CICM missionary congregation. The leadership qualities of
Verbist were finetuned when he began working.
Theophile Verbist has lived through different mission difficulties. He has shown the way how to deal with challenges
and setbacks in the mission. He clearly pointed out that mission is hard, that community life is challenging and
demanding, that spiritual life needs a lot of patience, that internationality needs a lot of adjustments and adaptations,
that multiculturality needs to be worked out constantly, that integration needs a lot of sacrifices, that enculturation
demands a lot of learnings and understanding.
“The death of the Founder, in a little forgotten village of China far from his confreres and his home country, left a
flame burning that marks CICM. One might have expected the flame to be extinguished when the Founder died, but
the opposite proved to be true. His death left a call for others to continue the mission with a total gift of self. If
anything marks CICM, it is the call to leave everything for the sake of the mission. There is in CICM a call to a
brotherhood that has grown over the years. It has taken the shape of internationality and universal brotherhood. At
the bottom of it, all lies the call to be available totally, to be sent for a lifetime in the service of the Proclamation of
the Good News. There was no sense of discouragement among the other missionaries when the Founder died
because Verbist had not worked alone. In setting up his Congregation he followed the advice, even though it made
him change his first concepts of the mission and made him move more slowly than he wanted. He had always worked
closely with his companions. He rightly believed that he was doing God’s work and that the budding missionary
institute was the Congregation that the Lord loved from the beginning. Notwithstanding the pain of loss and the
restructuring that was needed, when he died, the torch was taken up with continuing enthusiasm" (Fr. Gabriel
DIERYCK, CICM).
Indeed, in the mission, there is a great need to work together as brothers, live in international, intercultural
communities, follow the advice of others, especially our lay partners who are experts in their fields, change our
mindsets and plans when needed, move slowly but surely, and not to get discouraged when difficulties arise. We can
all do these as long as we continue to subscribe to the Word Incarnate, the source of our spirituality and lifestyle.