Father Rene “Biz” Bisaillon, Missionary of Our Lady of La Salette (Courtesy photo)
La Salette missionary to the Philippines a man of ‘inexhaustible charity’
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Father Rene “Biz” Bisaillon, a Missionary of Our Lady of La Salette, who worked among the poor in the Philippines for 32 years before coming to Hawaii in 1991 to serve in parishes on Kauai and Oahu, died March 10 in the Philippines. He was 88, a member of the La Salette order for 67 years and a priest for 60 years.
“Father Biz is a man of God, a faithful and devoted servant of our Lord,” said Father Eric Castro, district superior of the Missionaries of La Salette in Hawaii and California. “He is a man of prayer, of deep spirituality. He is a man of sympathy, with a tear for every woe and a smile for every joy.”
“He was a man of lovable tenderness, gentle and gracious in his disposition,” Father Castro said. “He thought of every person with inexhaustible charity. Day in and day out, he fulfilled his ministry in quiet fidelity, humility and joy.”
In April of 2009, on the occasion of his 50th anniversary of ordination, Father Bisaillon thanked his parents, whom he described as “very devout Catholics,” for encouraging him in his vocation.
“Most of all,” the priest wrote, “I thank the Lord Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, who inspired me to go to the missions and saw me through difficulties of a new country, new customs, new food (i.e. balut [fertilized developing egg embryo], which now I like) a new language, a country of deep faith, love and poverty.”
Father Bisaillon was born in Cohoes, New York, on March 17, 1931. He entered La Salette Seminary in Enfield, New Hampshire, in 1947. He was ordained on April 25, 1959, and on Sept. 19 of that year went to the Philippines.
He ministered in the missions in Isabela, Philippines, on northern Luzon Island, from Sept. 20, 1959, to June 25, 1991.
He retired on Kauai in 1991. He was a priest “in residence” at Holy Cross Parish, Kalaheo, St. Theresa Parish, Kekaha, and St. Joseph Parish, Waipahu. He returned to the Philippines in June 2016.
Father Castro said his fellow La Salette priest was much loved by the people he served.
“In the numerous people with whom he came in contact in the mission, in the generation which he served, the lives he brightened, the souls he cheered, in his untiring devotion to the people, young and old, he won for himself an affection which we may all envy and which we La Salettes will all do well to emulate,” Father Castro said.
“Father Biz gave an inspiring and joyful witness of his love for God and self-sacrificing service in his priestly ministry,” he said. “And here, I would say, is where the greatness of this La Salette missionary, a man of God, shone forth.”
Father Bisaillon’s funeral and interment took place on March 14 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, Biga, Silang, Cavite, Philippines.
