MAUNOIR, JULIEN, Blessed. - Jesuit, missionary in Brittany, b. at St-Georges-de-Rein-tembault on 10 Oct. 1606, d. at Plévin on 28 Jan. 1683. After completing his studies he intended to go to the missions in Canada, but, struck down by a severe infection which nearly carried him off, he vowed that if he recovered he would devote himself to the missions in Brittany. He recovered, and in 1641 began his apostolic work at Douarnenez and on the islands of Ouessant and Molènes.
He found Brittany spiritually abandoned, and in 42 years of mission work he completely transformed it; at first he traversed its dioceses with the elderly Fr. P. Bernard, and later organized an association of missionary priests from the secular clergy, which grew to 1000 members, with whom he accomplished the gigantic task of restoration. His method was based on preaching and popular catechesis, using symbolic pictures and spiritual songs in which the principal truths of faith and morals were expressed; to general communions he added religious processions representing certain mysteries of the life and passion of the Redeemer. He also organized spiritual exercises, both closed and open, for the entire people; for this purpose he opened a special house at Quimper, where each year about 1000 priests and lay people made their retreat. The Blessed had the gift of miracles. He was beatified by Pius XII on 20 May 1951.
M. composed many popular spiritual writings in the Breton language. His disciple was M. la Nobletz.
BIBLIOTHECA BENEDICTINO-MAURIANA.
SEU DE ORTU, VITIS, ET SCRIPTIS PATRUM BENEDICTI-NORUM E CELEBERRIMA CON-GREGATIONE S. MAURI IN FRANCIA.
LIBRI II.
AUTORE
R. D. P. BERNARDO PEZ, Benedictine; & Bibliothecario Mellicensi, qui etiam veterem insignem Anonymum de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis addidit, & hic primum ex Bibliotheca MSS. Mellicensi in lucem edidit.
CUM PERMISSU SUPERIORUM.
Augusta Vindelicorum & Graeci, Sumptibus Philippi, Joannis & Martini Veith, Fratrum. M. DCCXVI.
(1st. Enc. Catt. MAURINI (MAURISTS) - Title page of the Bibliotheca Benedictino-Mauriana, Augsburg 1716 - Copy in the Vatican Library.
still retain their vitality. Others, such as L'Art de vérifier les dates, the Palaeographia graeca, the De re diplomatica, and the Nouveau traité de diplomatique, though now outdated, represent milestones in the fields of chronology, diplomatics, and palaeography. But what has been produced (over 700 works by more than 220 authors) is but a small part of the vast body of material collected, which fills several manuscript volumes scattered in libraries throughout France, and especially in the National Library in Paris. Their love of study did not prevent the M. from firmly opposing the moral propositions condemned by Innocent XI in 1679, nor from rigorously observing monastic discipline to the end (cf. the Constitutions of 1770); when the French Revolution overwhelmed the Congregation and brought it to an end, the last Superior General, Dom Ambroise Augustin Chevreux, faced martyrdom bravely, dying on the guillotine together with 40 of his brethren (2 Sept. 1792).
The apologetic purpose, which was the primary motive of the M.’s cultural activity, did not impair historical precision: convinced that plain truth would confound the enemies of the faith and end the ecclesiastical controversies agitating France in the 17th and 18th centuries, they always aimed at meticulous research into documents, determination of their authenticity, and unvarnished presentation of the facts they revealed. The historical school of the M. constitutes the starting point of modern scholarly research, based essentially on three principles: the complete gathering of all sources relating to a single event or period; thorough examination of documents through recourse to all auxiliary sciences; and scrupulous citation of sources. They lacked, however, a broad vision of historical fact, an interpretive conception that would have enabled them to move from the ascertainment of facts to the construction of true history.