“It is only after having dressed his missionaries from head to foot in this solid armor of virtue that Bishop de Mazenod allows himself to say to them: then, full of confidence ….”
YENVEUX, A. Les saintes Règles de la Congrégation des Missionnaires Oblats de Marie Immaculée d’après les écrits, les leçons et l’esprit de Mgr. C.J.E. de Mazenod,
Paris, 1903, vol. 1, p. 17
To answer the question as to what the Missionary must do in order to become an apostolic man – a co-operator of the Savior, Eugene spells out the “virtues and examples of our Savior Jesus Christ” that they must “strive to imitate:”
We must work seriously to become saints, walk courageously in the footsteps of so many apostles who have left us such fine examples of virtue in the exercise of a ministry to which, like them, we are called;
renounce ourselves totally,
maintain in view exclusively the glory of God, the building of the Church, the salvation of souls;
renew ourselves constantly in the spirit of our vocation;
live in a habitual state of self-denial and
in an unremitting determination to achieve perfection,
working unstintingly to become humble,
gentle,
obedient,
lovers of poverty,
repentant,
mortified,
detached from the world and our families,
brimming with zeal,
ready to sacrifice our goods, our talents, our rest, our persons and our lives for the love of Jesus Christ, the service of the Church and the sanctification of our neighbor.
One of Eugene’s early biographers, Alfred Yenveux, describes this passage as being dressed “from head to foot in this solid armor of virtue” – in the impenetrable metal coat of armor worn by soldiers. Eugene concludes with a call to oblation, using the military vocabulary of St Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, with which he was very familiar:
Then, filled with confidence in God, we must enter the lists and fight unto death for the greater glory of God.
1818 Rule, Part One, Chapter One, §3. Nota Bene.
Missions, 78 (1951) p. 16
The vocabulary of this list of virtues was in keeping with the current teaching he had received at the seminary. Perhaps if he were writing today, I believe that Eugene’s vocabulary would have been closer to the following list of virtues, because this is the spirit of the above list:
Being poor in spirit… gentle… mourning… hungering and thirsting for justice… being merciful… pure in heart… peacemakers… persecuted in the cause of uprightness…” Matthew 5:3-12
“Once again we understand the importance of staying with Jesus, not so much to imitate certain words or to pick some phrases, but to identify oneself with his way of life, his way of acting, so as to witness to it and to repeat it in the same way. That is how Jesus prepared his own and how he continues to prepare all those in the Church who are called to stay permanently with the Lord.” C.M. Martini
If yesterday was “the school of Jesus” then today is surely the curriculum of practical application. In looking at Eugene’s list of virtues – they look inspiring and a little daunting at the same time. I react with a “okay God, you have instilled this desire within the deepest part of me, and so I shall follow – but am still a little overwhelmed by it all. Grant me your most tender mercy and show me the way.” Part of me wants to ask Eugene if he is/was crazy while part of me at the same time acknowledges that yes he was crazy but what the heck, lets join him because it seems to be where I belong, because secretly it is what my heart desires. That acknowledgement, that conscious acknowledgement leads me into a soft “ohhhh” moment.
And then another of those moments as I read and absorb some of the virtues from Matthew. I ponder the words of this morning’s Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation about letting go and say – okay Lord, here I am, am struggling through it, so take what you will, again I give it to you – whatever this part of self is that I am trying to let go of. Lets get to work with the daily living and working.
Over the past couple of months I have noticed that it seems to be a daily and conscious decision, a daily commitment, a daily turning it over. And then a lot of gentle side glances as I watch how it all progresses. The wonder and awe seems to be becoming less buried.
Isn’t it awesome how God gives to each of us, exactly what we need from day to day and moment to moment in our journey. Thank you Eugene for showing this way of life.
What a difference time makes. This morning as I read this I found myself singing “…the Lord hears the cry of the poor, blessed by the Lord” (it sounded within soft and like a cry for mercy – putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward, slow, plodding, silent, almost a plea). Then to read my comments from a year ago and to be in such a different space. My first thought was “you’ve got to be kidding me”, I am so not ‘there’.
Perhaps by revisiting and ‘putting on’ the virtues that Eugene lists. I look at his list and want to reword it – the words seem a little bit strong, a little bit rigid and perhaps a shade to zealous – daunting. (Secretly I look at the idea of watering them down and need to guard against the temptation to do that.) “We must work seriously to become saints, walk courageously in the footsteps of so many apostles….” and “…ready to sacrifice our goods, our talents, our rest, our persons and our lives for the love of Jesus Christ, the service of the Church and the sanctification of our neighbor.” There it is – the ‘letting go’, the ‘dying to self’ truly for the love of Jesus, out of which arises the ‘service’ to the Church and the giving, sharing with our neighbour. That is one of my deepest desires but it sounds so ‘holy’ and ‘pious’ and ‘unreal’ that I keep it hidden and could only ever say it in a whisper for fear of being ‘judged’.
That is what I want and perhaps the most that I can do at this moment is to call upon God and trust that He will give this to me. I am incapable of doing this on my own. Show me the way, again and again, one step at a time. “…. to identify oneself with his way of life, his way of acting, so as to witness to it and to repeat it in the same way.” Or as Eugene said to put on the virtues, to imitate, to practice until they become a way of being. I cannot say why but the image that comes to mind is that of moving to pick up the cross. Perhaps fitting as we move through Lent towards Passion Sunday and then on through the mysteries of the Triduum, of the Resurrection.