Rey recounts an anecdote concerning Eugene’s enthusiastic preaching and the not-so-enthusiastic response of the local pastor of St Laurent.
During the three Sundays that he passed at St. Laurent, Father de Mazenod took the responsibility to preach the sermon in Provençal at the parish church and to explain the Creed. On the last Sunday he wanted to complete the set of instructions and so he prolonged his sermon beyond the usual time. It was the day in which the Mass was sung. However the pastor, usually an excellent man of great virtue, became impatient at this length for which he did not understand the reason.
He lifted up his cassock and looked at his watch and began to mutter loudly against this talk that was never-ending. Eventually he could contain himself no longer and he cried out to the preacher:
“But, sir, finish, or else we will still be here at midday”
“Just one more moment, monsieur the pastor”, he responded.”
But after a while this moment became too long for the pastor. He suddenly got up from his chair and went to the center of the altar and with a resounding voice intoned: “Credo in unum Deum.”
The preacher was forced to leave the pulpit immediately unable to say a further word, but with a smile on his face.
Rey I, footnote on p. 230