Jacques Fesch (1930–1957) was born on April 6, 1930, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, into a well-to-do family; his father was a bank director of Belgian origin and his mother was devoted, though his parents’ marriage was troubled. Raised with a nominal Catholic education, he drifted from the faith as a young man and embodied a restless, indulgent lifestyle in his early adulthood, marked by boredom, failed ambitions, and relationships that led to marriage and fatherhood at a young age.

In February 1954, disillusioned and desperate to finance an imagined escape to a life of adventure, Fesch attempted a robbery in central Paris that went disastrously wrong and resulted in the death of police officer Jean Vergne. He was quickly arrested, tried, and condemned to death; the crime shocked the nation and made headlines across France.

While awaiting execution in La Santé Prison in solitary confinement for over three years, Fesch experienced a profound spiritual transformation, returning to the Catholic faith with deep repentance, engaging in prayer, reading spiritual works, and writing a spiritual journal and letters that spoke of his conversion, mercy, and hope. His last months were marked by reconciliation with family and a sincere embrace of faith, and on October 1, 1957, at age 27, he was guillotined, leaving behind writings that inspired many and led the Catholic Church to open a cause for his beatification.