Gilbert Nicolas

In 1498, Gilbert Nicolas became the confessor and spiritual director of Princess Joan of France (Saint Joan of Valois). After the annulment of her royal marriage, Joan settled in Bourges and sought Gilbert's help to found a Marian contemplative order. Gilbert drafted the Rule of the Ten Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He traveled to Rome to obtain the approval of Pope Alexander VI, which was granted in 1502. At Pentecost in 1504, Joan and Gilbert took their vows, becoming co-founders of the order. After Joan's death in 1505, he assumed sole direction of the order and supervised the foundation of numerous monasteries (Albi, Béthune, Bruges, Rodez, Bordeaux, Chanteloup, Louvain). In 1517, Pope Leo X granted him the religious name of Gabriel-Maria. He also founded the Order of Peace for the laity.

Father Gabriel-Maria distinguished himself by his profound humility, refusing both a doctorate in theology and the episcopate. He established himself as a man of peace and dialogue within the Franciscan family during times of internal tension. He was also the author of the moral theology treatise Lunete Confessorum (or Bursa Marie) intended for confessors. Despite declining health, he continued his pastoral visits before passing away peacefully on August 27, 1532, at the Annonciade convent in Rodez, after having recited the Vespers of the Virgin Mary. He was buried in the convent church, and a spontaneous cult quickly developed among the faithful.

The cause for beatification began in France with inquiries in Créteil and Agen. The decree on his writings was signed in 1916 and the apostolic process opened in 1927. After a long interruption, the cause resumed in 2003, with a transfer to Créteil in 2009 and a nihil obstat in 2010. The complementary diocesan inquiry was closed in 2015 by Bishop Michel Santier, and the Positio was published in 2021. On February 21, 2026, Pope Leo XIV authorized the promulgation of the decree confirming his heroic virtues and his immemorial cult through an equipollent beatification, thus inscribing him in the catalogue of the blessed. His liturgical feast is set for August 27.

The spirituality of Blessed Gabriel-Maria rests on three major axes: the imitation of the ten evangelical virtues of the Virgin Mary through the co-authored rule, a deep Eucharistic and Christocentric devotion, and the service of peace and reconciliation. His legacy is perpetuated today in the monasteries of the Annonciade (notably in Thiais in France, Westmalle in Belgium, and in Poland) which still follow his rule, as well as through the Annonciade Chemin de Paix Fraternity and the rediscovery of his theological writings.