CHINIQUY,
CHARLES PASCHAL TELESPHOR

(July 30, 1809–January 16, 1899), was ordained a priest in Canada, 1833. He became known as the “Apostle of Temperance of Canada.” In 1851, he brought 7,500 French Canadians into Illinois to found the French Colony of St. Anne. The church he built, at 334 South St. Louis Avenue, in St. Anne, Illinois, still stands. Late in life he was befriended by Abraham Lincoln. In 1859, he returned to Canada and began traveling and ministering in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. A prolific writer, he relayed his experience after studying the Scriptures:

It seemed that God was far away, but He was very near. Suddenly the thought entered my mind: “You have your Gospel; read it, and you will find the light.” On my knees, and with trembling hand, I opened the book. Not I, but God opened it, for my eyes fell on I Cor. 7:23: “You have been bought with a price; do not become the slaves of men.”

With these words the light came to me, and for the first time I saw the great mystery of salvation, as much as man can see it. I said to myself, “Jesus has bought me. Then, if Jesus has bought me, He has saved me. I am saved! Jesus is my God! All the works of God are perfect! I am, then, perfectly saved—Jesus could not save me by half. I am saved by the blood of the Lamb. I am saved by the death of Jesus. … "

I then felt such a joy, such a peace, that the angels of God could not be more happy than I was. …

It was thus I found the Light and the great mystery of our salvation, which is so simple and so beautiful, so sublime and so grand.2395