After Eugene’s death a General Chapter of the Oblates was convoked in 1861. At the opening session two of the senior members of the Congregation spoke: Father Tempier and Bishop Guibert.
Father Tempier opened the General Chapter by declaring his conviction regarding Eugene:
“This Venerable Man is no longer with us, but his spirit continues to live always in the heart of his children ….”
Bishop Guibert’s address echoed the same sentiments, speaking of the Oblate Congregation as our “mother”:
“Yes, our Father has died, but know that our Mother remains; and I regard her as being immortal; she will live by the spirit of her Founder.”
Joseph Fabre, who was elected to be Eugene’s successor, concluded the Chapter of 1861 by saying:
“I feel the assistance of our much loved Founder; he has not left us!
I was at his deathbed and said to him, “You will always be among us.” “Yes,” he replied, and he has kept his promise.
He remains among us through the Holy Rule which he had left us, and which is the expression of his love for God and the salvation of souls: it is the glorious testament of his enormous heart, and in observing it we will find all our strength.”
This is really true and my personal experiences testify that. All it takes is to watch the oblates work and one will understand that the founder is still seriously breathing in his missionaries. All the same, we always need his continuous intercession to carry on this mission that he really loved and continues to love. I think this confirms the saying: “like father like sons”.
Alison, omi
Since I was a very little girl I have always thought, always believed that when we die it is simply our body which dies. Who we are, the soul of who we are, our spirit, our beings, would live on. It was all tied-up in and around God. I could not explain it or give the how but it was a surety. It was a great mystery and an even greater hope. I am older now and have since learned words to put around this truth of who I am and who all of us are. I am still unable to fully explain it, this mystery of true life any more than I can explain the intricate details of how what I write and share here each day remains “out there somewhere” on the internet. I don’t have to be able to explain it or wrap words around it in order for it to be true and usable and a part of my daily life. And my spirit and others’ are communicated and shared using this “internet”. I don’t have to be able to explain how I breathe in and breathe out, I simply do it. And I am okay with that.
And thus it is with St. Eugene, always with us, his spirit,who he was and is for he lives on in a way that we cannot imagine just as he lives on, his spirit in the legacy he left us, in his writings and his congregation, his sons and daughters. It started with those few around him when he died, those Oblates but over the past 150 plus years it has grown, to include all of us who dare to share in his charism, his spirit.
Once when in the presence of an Oblate, I called myself a daughter of St. Eugene. I was immediately corrected and told that I was an “adopted” daughter (with there being almost the idea of “only” in there). My reaction, though silent, was swift and I thought first “you’ve got to be kidding me” and secondly of one of my cousins who was adopted as a baby into our family. She was my cousin – a part of the family, not separate, not measured or limited in any way, simply Kate my cousin.
St Eugene will always be one of those “larger than life” men, it is who he was – he gave his “all” to God and so on to us. “He remains among us through the Holy Rule which he has left us, and which is the expression of his love for God and the salvation souls; it is the glorious testament of his enormous heart, and in observing it we will find all our strength.” An extension of the gospels in a way, how we become living gospels. It is for all, sons – and daughters to live out as we feel called. His spirit, not limited, freely given and lived-on in so many of us together. Awesome.
Since I was a very little girl I have always thought, always believed that when we die it is simply our body which dies. Who we are, the soul of who we are, our spirit, our beings, would live on. It was all tied-up in and around God. I could not explain it or give the how but it was a surety. It was a great mystery and an even greater hope. I am older now and have since learned words to put around this truth of who I am and who all of us are. I am still unable to fully explain it, this mystery of true life any more than I can explain the intricate details of how what I write and share here each day remains “out there somewhere” on the internet. I don’t have to be able to explain it or wrap words around it in order for it to be true and usable and a part of my daily life. And my spirit and others’ are communicated and shared using this “internet”. I don’t have to be able to explain how I breathe in and breathe out, I simply do it. And I am okay with that.
And thus it is with St. Eugene, always with us, his spirit,who he was and is for he lives on in a way that we cannot imagine just as he lives on, his spirit in the legacy he left us, in his writings and his congregation, his sons and daughters. It started with those few around him when he died, those Oblates but over the past 150 plus years it has grown, to include all of us who dare to share in his charism, his spirit.
Once when in the presence of an Oblate, I called myself a daughter of St. Eugene. I was immediately corrected and told that I was an “adopted” daughter (with there being almost the idea of “only” in there). My reaction, though silent, was swift and I thought first “you’ve got to be kidding me” and secondly of one of my cousins who was adopted as a baby into our family. She was my cousin – a part of the family, not separate, not measured or limited in any way, simply Kate my cousin.
St Eugene will always be one of those “larger than life” men, it is who he was – he gave his “all” to God and so on to us. “He remains among us through the Holy Rule which he has left us, and which is the expression of his love for God and the salvation souls; it is the glorious testament of his enormous heart, and in observing it we will find all our strength.” An extension of the gospels in a way, how we become living gospels. It is for all, sons – and daughters to live out as we feel called. His spirit, not limited, freely given and lived-on in so many of us together. Awesome.
Dear Frank, Thanks for this message.
It was the first time I had heard a “Johanine” style message from the found and “ancients”. Reading it slowly for the second time it gave me a feeling of presence and that as we prepare for the Trienual we are not alone but embraced tenderly by a cloud of holy witnesses.