Monthly Archives: December 2018

I wish you a Blessed Christmas and every blessing during 2019. There will be a pause until the end of January. During our pause I invite you to consult the many reflections on this website which have been published since … Continue reading →

Eugene was ordained to the priesthood on 21 December 1811 and celebrated his “First Mass” on Christmas Eve. He invited his mother to be united with him in a special way. Dear mother, be one with me on Christmas Eve, … Continue reading →

One of the privileged moments of prayer for Eugene was to be able to unite himself with those he loved in the presence of God. In our Oblate tradition we have come to know this exercise as “oraison.” As a … Continue reading →

It seems surprising that as the sixth ministry Eugene puts the community prayer of the Breviary: All the priests, oblates, and novices are bound to recite the Divine Office in common, according to the rite of the Holy Roman Church, … Continue reading →

The church of the Oblate Mission house in Aix was never a parish. The community was young, dynamic and obviously attracted many people to their services –either in the church or in the various ministries of the Missionaries in the … Continue reading →

The common theme running through all the descriptions of the ministry of the Missionaries was this infallible rule: We are never to lose sight of one of the principal ends of our Institute, which is to help the most abandoned … Continue reading →

Committed to preaching the Gospel to the most abandoned and to be ministers of God’s compassion in the sacrament of reconciliation, Eugene continued to explain the ministry of the Missionaries in his Rule of Life: Article 3 The direction of … Continue reading →

What more sublime purpose than that of their Institute! Their founder is Jesus Christ, the very Son of God; their first fathers are the Apostles. They are called to be the Saviour’s co-workers, the co-redeemers of mankind 1818 Rule, Part … Continue reading →

Eugene’s own conversion experience had been the awareness of God’s boundless love and mercy: Blessed, a thousand times blessed, that he, this good Father, notwithstanding my unworthiness, lavished on me all the richness of his mercy Retreat Journal, December 1814, … Continue reading →

The next section of the Rule of 1818 moves to the logical conclusion of preaching: helping the listener to come to a personal encounter with God as Savior. Preaching should make people aware of their need for conversion, best expressed … Continue reading →