In his pantaloons and short jacket, Frederic Ozanam experienced a thrill of importance, knowing that he had left childhood behind him as he set out for his first day in the Royal College! He was nine years of age. However, when he had to part company with his big brother, Alphonse, at the school chapel his courage left him and he began to experience the anxiety that many face on their first day in school.

He settled quickly and applied himself well to study, and by the end of the first term he was at the top of his class. Sometime during the second class, though, he became listless and lost the top place. His parents noticed that he was not eating well, so his father decided to take him to a friend’s house in the country, where he would rest and get plenty of fresh air and sunlight. A month later, when his father returned to take him home, Frederic was in good health again and eager to return to school.

Before long he became the leader of the class again. But his health continued to be a source of anxiety for his parents. Walking was prescribed by the doctor, and so Frederic began his ‘health walks’ around Lyons. Sometimes he would be accompanied by a classmate, at other times he would take a book. He often accompanied his father on his rounds, or went with his mother on her visits to poor people, and he discovered that it was often the same people that were visited by both his parents. Their care for people in need made a deep impression on him and was the strongest influence on his character.

As well as witnessing his parents’ dedication to those in need, Frederic also developed a great love of medieval history through his walks around Lyons and his conversations with his parents. Lyons was a city still recovering from the effects of the Revolution, and Frederic, with his keen intelligence and sensitivity, was aware of some the changes that had happened because of the Revolution.

May 2nd 1826, the day of his First Holy Communion, was a very special day in his life. During the preparatory retreat, he jotted down notes of the talks given by the retreat master and the resolutions they inspired him to make. On the night before his First Communion he knelt before his parents and asked their forgiveness for his many transgressions. The parents laid their hands on his head and blessed him. Next morning, dressed in pantaloons, double-breasted jacket and top hat and flanked by his two brothers, he walked behind his parents to the church. As he received his First Holy Communion, Frederic had a sense of awe and gratitude that the Lord Jesus was coming to him, body and blood, soul and divinity. Later that morning he was confirmed along with his friend, Jean Chaurand, and his cousins, Henri Pessoneau and Ernest Falconnet, who would later be among his colleagues in the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

At this time in his life everything was going well for Frederic. He loved and was loved by his parents; he was head of his class in every subject, noted even for his poetry in Latin; got on well with his friends and was admired by them. The world was at his feet.

And then he was struck by a major temptation against his faith, which tormented him and left him desolate and despairing. He read books on the faith and brought his struggles to his confessor, but still the difficulties tormented him. Frederic felt himself surrounded by darkness, and totally alone. At times he seemed to doubt his own existence. Then one day he went into the Church of St. Bonaventure, knelt and prayed humbly, promising to consecrate his life to the service of God in return for the gift of faith. Leaving the church, he went to talk to the renowned Abbe Noirot, a priest at the Royal College and a friend of his family. As the Abbe talked, light flooded Frederic’s soul, his faith was restored, and he made a vow to spend his life in the service of God.

Frederic would have liked to study literature, but his father wanted him to do law and Frederic accepted his father’s wish. Because of the troubled conditions in Paris in 1830, his study at the Sorbonne was postponed. It was decided that he should spend a few years as a clerk in a law office in Lyons in preparation for his future studies in Paris. He found this task dull, but he continued to study English, German, and Hebrew at home. He also went to art school.

Even at this early stage of his life, Frederic showed moral courage in confronting attacks on Christian living. He rebuked two law clerks in the office for the profanity of their language, and again in art school he challenged students who were mocking the Christian faith, reminding them of how painful it was for Christians to hear the faith they believed in scorned. It was at this time that the Saint-Simonians came to prominence in Lyons, promising a new heaven on earth. Frederic decided to rebuff them and wrote an article which was published in Le Precurseur. Since the editor failed to answer it, Frederic responded with a hundred page brochure outlining the strongest arguments against Saint- Simonianism. His brochure was highly acclaimed by the scholars of his day.

In 1831 Frederic headed for Paris to begin his studies in the Sorbonne. Though his father was anxious about the troubles in Paris and the irreligion in the Sorbonne, his good friend Abbe Noirot urged him to let him go, believing that Frederic would be among the young students who would rescue the Sorbonne from unbelievers. How right he was!