Two bells out of France

The bells were cast at Valence in 1861, by the foundry of the widow Grégoire, and the man who paid for them put his name in the bronze: Casimir Grégoire. Fr Joseph Grégoire, who was building the church while they were being made, had been born at Valence himself — donor, founder and priest, one name and one town. They did not ring here for another eleven years. The crates came by sea and got as far as the District Collector's office at Tirunelveli, and there they stayed. What moved them in the end was the metal itself: someone looked at the bells and saw the cross cast into them, and Our Lady with the Child in her arms, and knew they belonged in a Catholic church, and said so to the Collector. In 1872 they were hung at last, one in each of the two towers. People here still say that when the two ring together there is a sweetness in the sound that is heard nowhere else in this country.

DocumentedThis moment rests on 5 sources.

Auguste Jean 1894p. 446

Le 24 octobre, 1887, était le 50e anniversaire de l'arrivée aux Indes de la petite troupe conduite par le P. Bertrand. Les missionnaires offrirent ce jour-là le saint Sacrifice en action de grâces. Des agapes fraternelles, présidées par Mgr Canoz, réunirent au Collège Saint-Joseph tous les Pères de Trichinopoly. Il nous reste à faire connaître ceux de nos Frères qui, durant cette même période, sont allés recevoir la — récompense de leurs travaux. P. Joseph Grégoire. De 1873 à 1878 moururent huit ouvriers apostoliques, dont les années de service au Maduré varient de vingt-six à trente-cinq. Le premier nom sur cette liste est celui du P. Joseph Grégoire. Né en 1815, à Valence en Dauphiné, il entra dans la Compagnie le 28 juin 1840, et arriva au Maduré le er i septembre 1843. Il travailla surtout dans le district du sud, qu'il gouverna de 1849 à 1852. Il administra ensuite, jusqu'en 1863, la chrétienté de Vadakenkoulam. Il y revint encore en 1867, après avoir rempli divers emplois dans le nord, et y passa les dernières années de sa vie. Le P. Joseph Grégoire fut donc surtout l'apôtre de Vadakenkoulajn. C'est à sa persévérante énergie principalement que cette belle chrétienté est redevable de sa grande église. Ce que la construction de ce sanctuaire lui coûta de soucis et de fatigues, Dieu seul le sait. Mais .une peine bien plus sensible lui vint des lutte

446

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In English

“Born in 1815, at Valence in Dauphiné, he entered the Society…”

What this source establishes

The convergence, and it is documented on both sides. The bell was cast at VALENCE by a Grégoire and paid for by a Grégoire; Auguste Jean says the priest who was building the church at that moment, Fr Joseph Grégoire, was born at VALENCE. Donor, founder and priest of one name and one town. That the bells were therefore his own family's gift is an inference and is left to the reader, not asserted.