"You imitate God’s Providence because you feed the poor of Jesus Christ. You make the manna descend on the hungry, you quench the thirsty. You know the sad state of the unfortunate, poor and sick who never enjoy a pleasant day. To give life to these people, to provide clothes with which they can cover themselves, to give them a bed and shake them up on which their wounded and sickly bodies rest, to give them a sweeter life by cleansing and tending their dirty and cancerous wounds: is that not to resurrect them, to draw them out of death, to make the sun shine for them, to create a new earth?"
(Venerable Peter Joseph Triest - 1828).

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On Monday, April 14, 2025, just a week before he died, Pope Francis approved the decree allowing the Servant of God Peter Joseph Triest to be called "venerable." This is a very important step toward beatification. Actually, it confirms from the Church that it considers Father Triest a saint and that it is now waiting for a sign from God to formalize this also in a beatification and later in a canonization. At the basis of this decree is the positio that was elaborated in which the main emphasis focused on the evidence that Father Triest lived the virtues in a heroic manner and thus gave to his life a special radiance. Indeed, Father Triest’s life did not go unnoticed by the people of his time, but also continues to shine on all of us today.

During Holy Week, Pope Francis met with only one more prefect of a dicasterum, which was also to be his very last official meeting, and that was Cardinal Semerano who offered him a short list naming two persons eligible for beatification and four whose heroic practice of the virtues was recognized, including the well-known architect of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Antonio Gaudi, who of course received all the attention in the international press. But first in line was our beloved Founder Peter Joseph Triest with the mention of the three congregations he founded: the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary, the Brothers of Charity and the Sisters of Childhood Jesu. The fourth congregation he founded, the Brothers of St. John de Deo, was no longer mentioned since it has since been dissolved. This gives the pontificate of Pope Francis, which has since come to its end, a very special meaning for us. We may call this the work of Divine Providence that this recognition happened at the beginning of Holy Week, giving us, as it were, a foretaste of the resurrection joy that was a major theme with Father Triest and that was at the root of his unaccountable commitment to the poor. "For to them too the joy of resurrection was to be brought by drawing them now already out of the womb of death." When I myself was able to see Pope Francis very closely on Easter at the end of the celebration in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, I sent him my thanks wordlessly, and when I learned of the Pope’s death the next day in the same St. Peter’s Square, it was again with the same grateful heart for the last gift he had given us.

This decree marks the end of a lengthy process in which many have worked to bring to the Church the arguments that Father Triest should also be officially considered a saint and, in time, formalized. It is at the same time a starting point of a new way to work on the continuation of the process. All of us are asked to pray for Father Triest’s beatification and also to go to him with our concerns. We may now openly express our devotion, venerate his relics and pray with his texts. We therefore ask that any answers to prayer that we can attribute to the intervention of the Venerable Father Triest be made known to us. You can do so by mail at the following address:rene.stockman.fc@fracarita.net. We can then also disclose them in the next newsletters that we will produce regularly from now on. The postulator, Dr. Waldery Hilgeman, continues to monitor the process also in Rome, and this in close collaboration with the Dicasterum for the Causes of Saints.

For the Church to take the next step, a miracle is required, obtaining a physical healing that cannot be proven from a scientific point of view. Let us confidently look forward to this so that we can take the important next step and effectively name and venerate Father Triest as a Blessed or Saint. He deserves to gain this wider renown so that many may find inspiration in his heroic living of the Gospel in his time. He remains a shining example also for today.

Venerable Peter Joseph Triest, pray for us.

Bro. René Stockman,
Promoter of postulatio.

Prayer for obtaining the beatification of the Venerable Peter Joseph Triest and of a favour upon his intercession

Lord Jesus,

Following your example, your servant Peter Joseph Triest opened his heart completely to the love of the Father.
He became a priest moved by charity and concerned for the poor, the sick and those who suffer. By reaching out to them en comforting them, he wanted them to let them experience the joy of the resurrection.
In cooperation with those who followed his example, he gave witness to the evangelical message of love in his time and initiated a trail of charitable initiatives wherever he went.
Grant that his memory may remain alive in all those places where people live and work, inspired by his words and by his actions.
Grant also that through the proclamation of his sanctity the Church may encourage the faithful to be inspired by his example.
Through his intercession, we ask for this favour: .........
and for the grace to understand even better that God is Love and that it was your sole desire to live in his love. Amen.