On October 18, 2026, a Mass of Thanksgiving was celebrated at the cathedral of the Diocese of Créteil, near Paris, in thanksgiving for the beatification of Father Gabriel Maria, a Franciscan who, together with St. Joan de Valois, was a co-founder of the Order of the Annunciat Sisters, as well as the author of the Rule of the Ten Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which he composed for the new order in 1501 under the inspiration of St. Joan.
On February 21, 2026, Pope Leo XIV confirmed his veneration since time immemorial (equivalent to beatification), thereby counting him among the blesseds of the Church.
The solemn liturgy was presided over by Bishop Dominik Blanchet, Ordinary of the Diocese of Créteil. Among those concelebrating were: the Apostolic Nuncio to France, Archbishop Cellestino Migliore; the Provincial Superior of the Franciscans in France and Belgium, Fr. Frédéric-Marie Le Méhauté, OFM; the Superior of the Polish Province of the Congregation of Marian Fathers, Fr. Eugeniusz Zarzeczny, MIC; and several dozen other priests.
The Annunciation Sisters participating in the celebrations came from many countries around the world: France, Poland, Costa Rica, Belgium, Burundi, and the Congo.
At the end of the Mass, the superior of the Annunciation Sisters’ convent in Thiais in the Diocese of Créteil, Mother Maria of the Beatitudes, expressed her gratitude on behalf of all the sisters present to those attending the ceremony, mentioning by name Fr. Eugeniusz Zarzeczny, MIC, the Provincial Superior, and thanking him for making it possible to establish the Annunciation Sisters’ convent in Grąblin near Licheń.
Father Gabriel Maria OFM, whose secular name was Gilbert Nicolas, was born around 1460 near Riom (France). He entered the Observant Franciscans at the monastery of Notre-Dame de Lafond, became a priest, and served as a professor of moral theology. His encounter with St. Joan of Valois (also known as St. Joan of France), wife of King Louis XII, led to the founding in 1501 of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary—the Annunciates. For about 30 years, he served as its General Visitor. In 1517, Pope Leo X bestowed upon him the name Gabriel Maria. He died on August 27, 1532, in Rodez (France). After his death, a spontaneous cult developed, and the faithful attributed numerous miracles to his intercession.
On February 12, 1502, Pope Alexander VI approved the rule of the Annunciates, which was given the name Rule of the Ten Virtues or the Ten Pleasures of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Once the approval was granted, the pope appointed Fr. Gabriel Maria as the general visitor of the new community. On the Solemnity of Pentecost in 1504, St. Joan de Valois took her private vows according to the rule of her order, and the order itself was approved shortly before her death, which occurred on February 4, 1505.
It was St. Joan of Valois’s desire to establish a male branch of her order. In a sense, this was realized two centuries after her death—on June 6, 1701, in Warsaw, when St. Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary Papczyński —the founder of the Marians—became the first in history to make a solemn profession to the Rule of the Ten Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, adapted for male religious orders, and subsequently had it adopted by the other members of his community. The Marians lived by this Rule for over two centuries, until, as a result of a reform brought about by difficult political circumstances, it ceased to be legally binding upon them. Nevertheless, it continues to inspire subsequent generations of Marians spiritually and remains an important element of the Congregation’s charism.
