Cordier, Jean-Nicolas, Bl.
CORDIER, JEAN-NICOLAS, BL.
Martyr and Jesuit priest; professor of theology; b. near Souilly, Lorraine, France, Dec. 3, 1710; d. Île Madame, La Rochelle, France, Sept. 30, 1794, (age 83). Cordier joined the Jesuits at Nancy (1728), and studied at the University of Pont-à-Mousson, where he received a doctorate in philosophy. He was a professor of theology at Dijon, Auxerre, Autun, Strasbourg, and Pont-à-Mousson. Later he was prefect of studies at Rheims (1757–61) and superior of the Saint-Mihiel community at Verdun (from 1761-62). Following the suppression of the Society until the suppression of all religious orders (1790), he acted as chaplain to a convent in Saint-Mihiel. The aged priest retired to Verdun, where he was arrested (Oct. 28, 1793). After a six-month imprisonment at Bar, he was taken to the prison ship Washington for deportation. He was the first of the prisoners to die on the Île Madame, which was used as a hospital. He was beatified by John Paul II, Oct. 1, 1995, together with other martyrs of La Rochelle.
Feast: Jan. 19 (Jesuits).
See Also: rochefort ships, martyrs of, bb.
Bibliography: i. gobry, Les martyrs de la Révolution fran-çaise (Paris 1989). j. n. tylenda, Jesuit Saints & Martyrs, 2d ed. (Chicago 1998): 165–167. Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1995): 923–926. L'Osservatore Romano, no. 40 (1995): 3–5; Documentation Catholique 19 (1995): 923–26.
[k. i. rabenstein]