Lucien Botovasoa
madagascan member of the Third order of Saint Francis
Feast: 14 April (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 4 May 2017 — Martyrdom recognised (decree list, 2017)
Who they were
Lucien Botovasoa was born at Vohipeno, Madagascar, in 1908, the eldest of nine children in one of the village's first Christian families. On 10 October 1930 he married Suzanne Soazana; they had eight children, five of whom survived.
A primary school teacher and Franciscan tertiary, he prayed daily, including at night, adored the Eucharist, went to morning Mass, fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays and lived in genuine poverty. On the evening of 17 April 1947, in the persecutions around independence, he was taken to the king's house and condemned to death without trial for following Christ.
The miracles
As a martyr, beatified without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A teacher and father who stayed faithful to Christ and the Church unto death.
Connected on this site
- Francis of Assisi Saint“His thirst for the religious life led him to discover the Secular Franciscan Order in 1940 and he became part of it; he rallied others to know Francis of Assisi and enter the order themselves.” — Wikipedia
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Lucien Botovasoa
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q30101461 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Lucien Botovasoa (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.