Bl. Johannes Ludovicus Paquay

Valentin Paquay was born in 1828 in Tongeren (Tongres), Belgium, the fifth of eleven children. After his father's sudden death in 1847 he entered the Franciscan friars, and he was ordained in Liège in 1854. His superiors sent him to Hasselt, where he stayed for the rest of his life as superior and vicar of the friary, and twice as a provincial leader.

He preached constantly in simple, persuasive words, and above all he heard confessions. People travelled long distances to confess to him, and he was sometimes compared to the Curé of Ars. He led Hasselt's Secular Franciscans (lay members of the Franciscan family) for twenty-six years. He was devoted to the Eucharist, the Sacred Heart, the Stations of the Cross and Mary Immaculate. He died in Hasselt on January 1, 1905.

Johannes Ludovicus Paquay was beatified in 2003 by John Paul II.

Beatification allows public veneration, usually in a particular region or religious family. Canonization extends it to the whole Church.