French Saints in the Havre Branch Experience an Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Published October 4, 2026 at 7:59 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
After a period of being scattered and without a shepherd, the few Saints remaining in the Havre Branch in France experienced an intense outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This manifestation filled them with joy inexpressible, moving them to renew their covenants and feel a desire to live their religion more deeply than ever before.
Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):
I was really surprised to find those few left, as it were without a shepherd, and surrounded with wolves, so much of the Holy Spirit was there, that the few Saints who formerly composed it were scattered about in different places, but they were full of faith and the spirit of the work was made manifest to overflowing, with joy inexpressible, making them feel to confess their sins and forgive everybody. For several evenings after, old and young were renewing their covenants, not to me, but because they felt inclined to live their religion more than they had ever done before.
In Their Own Words
“I was really surprised to find those few left, as it were without a shepherd, and surrounded with wolves, so much of the Holy Spirit was there, that the few Saints who formerly composed it were scattered about in different places, but they were full of faith and the spirit of the work was made manifest to overflowing, with joy inexpressible, making them feel to confess their sins and forgive everybody. For several evenings after, old and young were renewing their covenants, not to me, but because they felt inclined to live their religion more than they had ever done before. — Millennial Star 17:44”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 3 November 1855 (Vol. 17, No. 44). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1855-11-03_17_44 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Fuller account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 17, No. 44 (3 November 1855), p. 699 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1855-11-03_17_44
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