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Theophile Verbist, and his twin brother Edmund, were born on June 12, 1823, in Antwerp, Belgium to Guillaume Verbist and his second wife, Catherine Van Honsem. The twins had a brother from their father’s first marriage before his wife died, and as time went on, they had four more siblings. Growing up, the twins knew French and Dutch.
When they were seven, Theophile and Edmund began their educational journeys in the school run by the Jesuits in Antwerp and then in the minor seminary of Mechelen.
When they finished their foundational education, the twins began separate vocation paths. Edmund went on to study law, and Theophile went to the seminary to study for the priesthood.
Theophile was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Mechelen by Cardinal Engelbert Sterckx on September 18, 1847.
Like almost all diocesan priests, Father Theophile had various posts in addition to the usual activities of priesthood such as celebrating Mass and Reconciliation, counseling, visiting the sick, and the like. For example, his first assignment as a priest, beginning in October of 1847, was as supervisor of the minor seminary of Mechelen. Then, in August 1853, he was appointed chaplain of the military school in Brussels where he was noted for his kindness.
After serving for about ten years in the military school, Father Theophile found himself also serving as chaplain to the Sisters of Notre-Dame de Namur. Because of his prayer regime both before and after celebrating Masses, the Sisters pegged him as a man of prayer.
In 1860, Father Verbist, while still functioning as a chaplain to the military school and convent of sisters, was made the National Director of the Holy Childhood Association in Belgium. The Holy Childhood Association is part of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, specifically designed to support missionary work serving children and youth of the world.
In October of 1860, China signed a treaty allowing missionaries from France and other nations to do their missionary work. Father Theophile was excited about this news, for he harbored a desire to become a foreign missionary. One of his goals as a future missionary was to one day establish an orphanage in China, as he had read about homeless orphans in that country.
In 1860, Father Theophile conceived a plan to gather a group of fellow diocesan priests to go to China and establish an orphanage there. Cardinal Sterkx gave his permission under one condition, that Father Theophile and other priest join congregations that were already doing foreign mission work such Jesuits.
Instead of bowing to the cardinal’s vision, Father Theophile managed to convince the cardinal and the Belgium bishops to establish a new Belgium missionary congregation. So, on November 28, 1862, a new congregation was established. Originally, its objective was to send missionaries to China, and it was formally named the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (C.I.C.M.). Because it was founded in the Scheutveld area of Brussels, sometimes the men were known as the Scheutist Fathers, and the cardinal named Father Theophile as the first Superior General. (Today, the members of this order are known as Missionhurst in the United States of America, and the order has missionaries throughout the world.)
In 1862, while Father Theophile was visiting Rome, he requested that the new missionaries be assigned Hong Kong. That request was denied because another group of missionaries had already been working there.
On September 1, 1864, the Vatican assigned the new congregation to work in the northern part of China named Inner Mongolia. Unfortunately, because the government of China required the missionaries to have a French passport, the Scheutist Fathers were delayed a year.
On August 25, 1865, Father Theophile finally set out on their missionary journey with four companions: three other priests and a lay missionary. On February 23, 1868, Father Theophile and his band were joined by three new CICM priests, and their missionary work began to expand east.
Like foreign missionaries everywhere, the new group experienced many unexpected events to challenge them, events such as famines, accidents, diseases, and even martyrdom.
At the age of 44, Father Theophile died on February 23, 1868, from typhus in the city of Laohugou while visiting the eastern areas where the missionaries were working. Father Theophile’s death would not be known in Belgium until the following June.
Father Theophile Verbist’s body is buried in the Verbist Chapel in Anderlecht, a city in the province of Brussels, Belgium.
