BUCH (Buche, Busch), Michel-Henri, known as le Bon Henri. — Founder of the “Fratelli calzolai” [Brothers Shoemakers], born on 3 May 1598 at Arlon (Luxembourg), where he attended the Carmelite school; died in Paris on 9 June 1666. As a traveling shoemaker through Luxembourg, the Rhineland, and France, he exercised, following the example of SS. Crispin and Crispinian, an effective apostolate among his fellow craftsmen, bringing many from vice to an exemplary Christian life. Settling in Paris and becoming the friend and collaborator of Baron Gaston de Renty (q.v.), one of the leaders of the “Compagnie du St-Sacrement,” he founded there, under his patronage and with the support of St. Vincent de Paul and the approval of Archbishop Gondi, the association of the “Fratelli calzolai.”
The Société des frères chrétiens cordonniers de St-Crépin et St-Crépinien (foundation act of 2 Feb. 1645, in A. Bessières, p. 430) united its members in communities of life and work, to serve God and neighbor. Without true religious vows, the members promised celibacy and obedience to their elected superior, living on the fruit of their labor and devoting any surplus to the needy, especially those of the same profession. In 1647, an association of tailors arose on this model. Similar foundations followed elsewhere. B. continued to direct his work and died, after a long illness, in a reputation for holiness on 9 June 1666.
The French martyrology (under 9 June) and the Petits Bollandistes accord him the title of Venerable, but there is no evidence that his cause of beatification was ever introduced. His widely diffused work survived until the French Revolution.