Saintly Children

John Rose of Belgium

John was born on February 24, 1921, in Frasnes, Belgium. Soon after he was baptised and then consecrated to Our Lady. When he began to speak his first sentences, his parents taught him to pray, "Good morning, dear little Jesus. Good morning, dear Mother of God." And later he added, "Good morning dear little Theresa of the Child Jesus." He proudly wore the Brown Scapular and medal of Our Lady and every morning he said three Hail Marys in honour of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady.

When John was only three years old, he went to kindergarten. There, Sister Firmine the teaching nun, taught little John to pray well. And one time when she was collecting alms for poor priests, John handed her a coin saying, "This is for me, so that I may become a priest."

Even when he was not yet four years old, John liked to occupy himself with religious play. At home, he always wanted to act out what the priest had done at Mass. Out of cardboard, he made an altar, candlesticks and an incensor for himself, and he would also preach a little sermon to his make believe congregation of people.

When John was only five years old, he wrote a letter to St. Nicholas, whose Feast Day is on December 6^th, "Great St. Nicholas, I would like to have a servers cassock and surplice, and a missal." He did this because it was his greatest desire to serve Holy Mass. But being too young, he was not allowed to serve Mass until he was seven years old.

On September 17, 1927, when John was six, he entered the school of the Brothers of Mary. He was very happy to go to school and he never entered the classroom without taking off his hat to his teachers and greeting them.

In school, John was very gifted and could remember well, whatever he learned. He knew by heart, word for word, the Catechism and the Gospels for the Sundays and Feast Days. He always did his work well in school and he kept his books neat and clean. And he always made sure that he was neatly dressed. But when it came to playing, John was a leader and he often got his clothes mussed up.

In 1930, John began to go to the school of the Christian Brothers, in Gosselies. His father had an office in that town, so every morning, father and son rode to the town on their bicycles. When they got home in the evening, Mr. Rose sat down with John and helped him repeat what he had learned in school.

One time John complained to his mother that he was always alone. His parents did not let him play much with other children, because they were afraid that he might become bad mannered and learn the wrong things. So John obeyed and offered his loneliness as a sacrifice to the Child Jesus. Later on the neighbour boy was allowed to come over and visit John. They played and studied together, and took little outings with their bicycles. In time, Mrs. Rose had a baby boy, then John was not so lonely any more.

John was always a pious child. He made the sign of the cross well and paid good attention when he said his prayers. He always carried a Rosary in his pocket and often said it on the way to school. During the month of May, he loved to place beautiful flowers on a little altar which he had.

As a true Child of Mary, John always took an active part in spreading good Catholic reading. He loved to sell the magazine which was published by the Brothers of Mary. He sold more than all the other boys and he had a special way of pointing out the beauty and goodness of the magazine. People were most eager to buy the magazine when John explained this to them.

John also had his faults. He was a very lively child and at times he was stubborn and rude. And he had to work to overcome these faults, just like other boys and girls.

Like St. Dominic Savio, John made a firm resolution not to sin. His motto was, "NEVER A SIN!" He was most upset when people used bad language and he always told his mother everything that bothered him about sin. John often went to confession because he said, "I want to keep my soul all white at all times, in case I should die." And John did not want to go to any theater or see any movies because he thought that these things were not always Catholic, and they might make a person become a bad Catholic.

After John received his First Communion, the young boy joined the Eucharistic Crusade. He then received Holy Communion on almost every Sunday, Feast Day and First Friday. During vacation he went to Communion daily. He was glad to wear the Eucharistic Crusade badge on his suit or shirt. He encouraged his family to go often to Holy Communion with him. John kept all the rules of the Eucharistic Crusade and he made all the weekly and monthly sacrifices that were asked of a Crusader.

Often John did small penances in order to prepare himself for hard missionary work. He obeyed his parents as soon as they asked him to do something and he even put little pebbles in his shoes.

On June 14, 1931, John was accepted at the Redemptorist Missionary School. He was to enter in September of that year, but on June 29, he suddenly fell to the floor. The doctor discovered that he had appendicitis and a swollen stomach. He was taken to the hospital the next day for an operation. On the way he took a little picture of Guy de Fontgalland with him. Guy was a holy child who died when he was about twelve years old and John tried to imitate him in every way. I will tell you more about Guy, this year, in a future Crusade magazine!

Before the operation, John offered up everything to Jesus for the conversion of poor sinners. After the operation, the boy was very thirsty. He wanted water, but if he took water he would die, so he had to make another sacrifice. The Sister in charge chatted with John and cheered him up. When thirst began to torment him again, the Sister encouraged him again.

John received his last Holy Communion on June 28, 1931. He was now no longer able to receive Holy Communion, because his tongue was swollen and he had to vomit much. On July 2^nd, a priest came to give him the Last Rites. John then said a prayer, looked up to Heaven and made the sign of the cross; and a moment later he was dead.

Students from Reves and Gosselies, Eucharistic Crusaders and others, came to John's funeral and laid flowers and wreaths on his grave. After the funeral, people often came to pray at his grave. We can hope that John is in Heaven and that he will help us to be good Catholics.

The End

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