Father Emilien Tardif

Father Emilien Tardif

 A missionary in the Dominican Republic

Fr. Emilien Tardif was born June 6, 1928 in Saint-Zacharie, Beauce, Quebec, Canada. He joined the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Quebec at the age of 21 and was ordained a priest on June 24, 1955. In September of 1956 he left to be a missionary in the Dominican Republic.

He was first a professor at the junior seminary of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the Dominican Republic; then he was the director of the magazine for families "Amigo del hogar" for ten years. In 1965 he was appointed Superior of his Congregation in the Dominican Republic, then the Provincial of the same congregation until June 1973, when he fell sick with pulmonary tuberculosis. He had to go back home to Canada to be urgently hospitalized at the tuberculosis hospital in Quebec. Following several medical tests doctors told him that maybe after one year of treatment he might be able to leave the hospital.

He recalls at that time, "after all those tests were taken on me, even before the physicians started to give me treatment, I received a visit of five lay people from a charismatic prayer group in Quebec. They came and prayed for me in my hospital room and the Lord healed me thoroughly within three or four days. I left the hospital in perfect health, which I still enjoy today!"

After that he started to study the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and to take part in retreats and conferences to get to know better this new Pentecost that the Lord has been giving his Church today.

 The charism of healing

The healing prayer of father Emilien Tardif

In November, 1973, the Lord gave him the charism of healing, which he says, "developed gradually and has been for me a wonderful instrument from the Lord to accompany my evangelization work." In the following year, 1974, he went back to the Dominican Republic, where he started to work in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, which lead him to preaching retreats on the five continents. "The Lord has given me one message only--I have to proclaim that Jesus is risen; that he is present in the Eucharist; that he has forgiven us. This message will never change, because the Gospel does not change. But, I do try to present that message differently. To a world which speaks of Jesus dead I shout `Jesus is Alive.' And Jesus confirms this by clear signs. With priests I try to speak more of the spiritual life, but to ordinary people I tend to give the one message `Jesus is Alive.'"

In April, 1975, the Lord also gave him the charism of the word of knowledge, which during the healing service comes to strengthen the faith of the people in the congregation. One healing stands out in his mind from this past year. "One cure which affected me deeply was that of an eight-year-old child in Nicaragua, who had never walked because of a paralysis which attacked her when she was only a few months old. Present on that occasion to witness the miracle were about thirty-five thousand people. I believe that the community prayer in a big gathering brings many blessings and great graces." As of today he has preached in 66 different countries. He says, "I am happy to put my health that the Lord restored in July, 1973, at the service of evangelization! (...) All over the world, the Lord manifests his glory by signs and marvels, reminding today's world that Jesus is alive in his Church and still has the same power and the same mercy for those who are suffering."

Extracted with permission from the April-May 1995 issue of the newsletter of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services office (ICCRS), headquarted at Vatican City.