Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier

Father Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier was quickly called to high responsibilities within the Order of Preachers, benefiting from the absolute trust of Father Alexandre-Vincent Jandel, then Master General. He began by exercising the office of sub-master of novices in Italy, then as master of novices and prior at the convent of Corbara in Corsica from 1861 to 1865. In 1865, during the restoration of the Dominican Province of Toulouse, he was appointed its first provincial prior, a position he would hold for three terms (from 1865 to 1874, then from 1878 to 1888). During this period, he resided for many years in Marseille, where he was the project manager for the construction of the convent and the church of Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire. In 1869, he also co-founded in Toulouse, with Mother Marie-Hedwige, the congregation of the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII considered creating him a cardinal, but the French government of the time opposed it, not looking favorably upon the appointment of a religious to the Roman Curia. Called to Rome, he became socius (assistant) and procurator general to the Master of the Order, Andreas Frühwirth. On May 21, 1904, during the general chapter of Viterbo, he was elected the 76th Master General of the Order of Preachers at the age of 72. During his generalate (1904-1916), he deployed intense pastoral and administrative activity: he restored numerous suppressed provinces throughout the world and erected new ones. He played a decisive role in the reorganization of the College of Saint Thomas in Rome, which he elevated in 1909 to the rank of Pontifical College, thus laying the foundations for the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, commonly called the Angelicum. He died on December 17, 1916, in his cell at the convent of San Clemente in Rome, while the Order was celebrating its seventh centenary. He is buried in the church of Santi Domenico e Sisto in Rome, adjacent to the Angelicum.

Father Cormier's reputation for holiness, wisdom, and peace was immense during his lifetime. It was said of him that "he brought peace to everything he touched." His intense life of prayer, his Marian devotion through the Rosary, and his profound love for the Eucharist deeply marked his contemporaries. Some testimonies from the period even mention phenomena of levitation before the tabernacle. He was also a highly regarded spiritual advisor to Pope Saint Pius X, who affectionately nicknamed him "the holy old man." After his death, his cause for beatification was introduced in Rome. His heroic virtues were formally recognized by the Church, and a miracle of unexplained healing, attributed to his intercession, was validated by the Holy See, paving the way for his beatification.

Father Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier was beatified on November 20, 1994, by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, alongside Marie Poussepin and Agnès de Jésus Galand de Langeac. In his beatification homily, Pope John Paul II declared: "A witness to the truth of Christ, Father Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier was so at the school of Saint Dominic... Truth is not an abstract notion; for us, it is a Person, the person of Christ, King of the universe. During his life, Fr. Cormier never ceased to live the truth and he communicated it to his Dominican brothers with humility and perseverance." His liturgical memorial is set for May 21, the anniversary of his election as Master of the Order.

The spirituality of Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier is fully inscribed in the Dominican tradition of the search for Truth (Veritas) through study and contemplation, ordered toward preaching for the salvation of souls. A man of peace in times of crisis and war, he knew how to govern the Order with remarkable gentleness and prudence. He leaves a major intellectual and spiritual legacy, notably through the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome, which remains a center of excellence for Thomistic theological and philosophical formation. He is also the author of several reference spiritual and hagiographic writings, including a biography of Father Jandel and the work 'The Instruction of Novices'.