Frederic Ozanam: Man in the Middle
National Guardsman and Peacemaker
By Ron Ramson, CMBlessed Frederic Ozanam lived most of his life in the midst of revolution. He saw, heard and smelled the consequences of armed violence. As a leader and member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, he ministered to the military and to the victims of armed conflict.
In April 1848, Frederic along with Fathers Henri Louis Charles Maret and Jean Baptiste Henri Lacordaire, OP, published their newspaper “The New Era.” The paper would not belong to any political party but maintain independence in order to speak the truth to all with impartiality, colored always with charity and temperance. The new newspaper received the endorsement of the Archbishop of Paris, Denis Auguste Affre, something which he had never given before to any paper.
It was in this paper that Frederic wrote some of his greatest writings in the promotion of social justice. He defended the rights of the common working class.
How he must have been torn in two by the uprising of the workers! He found himself literally in the middle of the June civil war.
Frederic served in the National Guard, and speaks of the various buildings he had to secure during June of 1848. He wrote his brother, Alphonse the priest, that his detachment had many false alarms, heard shots fired in the surrounding streets, had to patrol the boulevards at some risk, but ?thank God we did not pull a trigger.?
Frederic was ready for any emergency. He writes, ?I confess that it is a terrible moment when a man embraces his wife and child with the feeling that it is perhaps for the last time.?
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul paid dearly for these days; several members were killed. President General Adolpe Baudon had been shot in the leg and so incapacitated.
Those who have read Victor Hugo’s classic “Les Miserables” or have seen the play “Les Mis” know of the struggle and anguish of the ordinary working class. When they rebelled against the government, part of their defensive strategy was to set up barricades at various locations in Paris.
While on duty with Emmanuel Bailly (former President General of the Society) and Leon Cornudet (one of the first Vincentians), Frederic and they came up with the idea of inviting Archbishop DA Affre to mediate between the two sides of this terrible Civil War. They talked it over with the Vicar General of Paris; he agreed and gave them a letter to get them safe conduct through the barricades to the archbishop.
The archbishop graciously received the three Vincentians and confessed that he, too, had thought about the possibility. His only questions were on how to reach the insurgents. Would the commanding France general allow him to intervene?
When one of his priests interrupted the conversation and told Archbishop Affre about more atrocities, he decided to act immediately. The Vincentians insisted that he wear his purple cassock so that he could be easily seen by both sides.
The French military and the National Guard saluted the archbishop as the four walked from Ile-St.-Louis to the National Assembly to see the commanding general.
General Cavaignac admired Archbishop Affre’s intentions but was concerned about the danger involved. General Brea had been sent with a flag of truce, but had been taken prisoner by the insurgents. The archbishop had made up his mind: he was going to the barricades.
The general handed the archbishop a proclamation of peace which they had written. The archbishop took something to eat, went to confession as if it would be his last, and then headed for the barricades. Frederic, Emmanuel and Leon begged to accompany him, but he refused. His excuse was that their National Guard uniforms would make his mission more difficult and dangerous. He took two priests and a layman with him.
As they made their way, some military personnel asked for his blessing, others begged him not to go. As they arrived at the fighting, the French military stopped firing and then the insurgents. A Vincentian named Brechemin who had been following them, attached a white handkerchief to a tree branch and moved in front of the archbishop.
The archbishop finally stopped and began reading the peace proclamation. Some men from both sides started to move toward him. A shot rang out; the archbishop dropped to the ground. One of the insurgents held him in his arms. Several others came and carried the archbishop to a near-by rectory. The archbishop died within two days. His last words were: ?May my blood be the last to be shed.?
Frederic wrote: “It was not a riot but a civil war which was waged, the most difficult to end of all wars, for, smoldering, it waits for an opportunity to burst out again. I have no hope save in God and in the merits of the holy archbishop.”
The civil war suddenly came to an end the next day. When the grief-stricken Frederic and the other two Vincentians witnessed the good that emerged from the self-sacrifice of their archbishop, they realized that they had been unconscious instruments of a merciful Providence.
