Assumtion College - Heights Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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1 “Christ is the great central fact in the world’s history; to him everything looks forward or back¬ ward. All the lines of history converge upon him. All the march of providence is guided by him. All the great purposes of God culminate in him.” —Spurgeon 5

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DEDICA TION Holiness and learning are characteristics difficult to find today, even separately. When both these qualities, then, come together in one individual, the result is a truly outstanding person. Father Polyeucte is such a man. Father has led a life of quiet devotion to study (a devotion which is even more absolute than his attachment to good cigars). Many institutions in many countries have had the benefit of his great learning. Father Polyeucte is primarily a philoso¬ pher — this was his first love. His excellence in the field can be judged by the singular fact that just two months after completing his course of study at Louvain, he was named professor and began his teaching career with his former classmates as pupils. Father is also an expert in French literature, as those who have studied under him will readily agree. During the years 1946-50, he edited the literary criti¬ cism published in La Croix, the influential Assumptionist newspaper in Paris. Finally, Father is an historian; his published works (Portraits Assomptionistes, Vie du Pere d’Alzon, Histoire des Alumnats, etc.) reveal him both as a competent scholar and as a religious dedicated to the Assumptionist order. Indeed, Fr. Polyeucte can never really be considered apart from his dedication to God and to the Church, for this spiritual orientation is at the basis of his character and underlies all his actions. E (en ince his ordination to the priesthood on August 7, 1921, Father has been untiring in the execution of his religious duties. In his sermons and in his daily life, in the many important posts which he has filled in the order’s hierarchy, Father’s piety and ability are clearly demonstrated. He served in parishes on weekends, in addition to his other duties until 1956, when for reasons of health the 66-year-old priest was forced to become less active. Father’s life, cer¬ tainly, has been one of devotion, of prayer, and of zeal for souls; his history a model of Catholic virtue and action. We at Assumption College have had the advantage of his teaching and his example for many years, and it is with the deepest gratitude and respect that we dedicate the 1963 Heights to the Reverend Polyeucte Guissard, A.A. 7