From the moment of his baptism, Theodore felt a call to devote himself exclusively to the service of God and mankind by becoming a priest. If the formation he was given at the seminary of Molsheim left much to be desired, God was working in his heart and was beginning to awaken in him the love for Israel which would give direction to his whole life. He received minor orders on October 28th, 1828, and priestly ordination on December 18th, 1830. Memoirs, pag. 19
The passion of truth which characterized his whole being was being purified. At the beginning it caused him to suffer from the limitations of the mind and of the heart. After his discovery of Christ, it urged him to ask further more question. This was not in order to question the validity of the faith but to know how to live it, how to bear witness to it. A deepening process took place and his passion for Truth made him open to others in a desire to transmit this truth. He no longer sought this Truth outside himself alone but also deep within his own being. It became the foundation of the permanent enthusiasm, very pure in quality, which formed the basis for his whole life.
It is a joy to watch his strong, original personality develop from its sources. Theodore knows how to be himself with all his qualities. It is possible to find the keys which give this man, so full of contrasts, his balance and his one-ness?
LISTENING TO THE WORD A refrain which continually appears under his pen perhaps opens a trails for us: “We must listen to the word of God” He repeats the “Shema Israel” an appeal continually repeated in the Bible: “Listen, O Israel!” Book 1, page 16

Written by María Clara Gutiérrez