WHO IS SAINT EUGENE? EUGENE, VICAR GENERAL OF MARSEILLE

1823 : nomination as principal Vicar General of his uncle, Bishop Fortuné de Mazenod. It was a difficult work of restoration and rebuilding a diocese that had not had a resident bishop for 21 years. For Eugene, who was a dynamic preacher and loved being in the field of evangelization, having to be an administrator in an office (and often a disciplinarian to correct abuses) entailed great personal suffering and sacrifice for him. He did it for love of the Church.

I must resume my post. This will be, I hope, again to do my duty there, to try by my every zealous effort to bring a little bit of life back into a dead diocese whatever appearance of health it may have; there will no doubt be new crises, there was never a reform without hurting, wounding plenty of people! No matter; have God alone before us, the honour of his Church, the salvation of the souls entrusted to us; consult only the divine Wisdom, trample on human wisdom, and God will be our help. But one must have much virtue to sacrifice one’s peace for one’s duty, to face the hatred and persecution of men precisely so as to do good for men. This virtue is acquired and conserved only by union with God, prayer and meditation, etc., walking always before God and keeping one’s eyes on heaven alone and its rewards which are none other than God himself. Lord! Grant me the grace of being ever more deeply imbued with these thoughts!

Retreat notes, May 1824, E.O. XV n.156

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1 Response to WHO IS SAINT EUGENE? EUGENE, VICAR GENERAL OF MARSEILLE

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    I reflect this morning on how much our life we spend doing what God asks of us, the every day down-to-earth nitty-gritty of life. I look at Eugene and see how he did it, with love and grace and I am sure that most who saw him in his role as an ‘administrator’ did not feel that they were any less loved or important in any way than those whom he wished to spend his time with preaching. In other words his attitude and how he treated those who came before him in his role of Vicar General. I am reminded a little of Mother Theresa who suffered for so many years and yet she loved so greatly.

    I am not trying to minimize the struggle but I do think that this might be a little of what it is to be like on the cross along side of Jesus, to be looking at the world through the eyes of Jesus on the cross. So much did Eugene give himself to God that he accepted to do whatever he was asked by God, by the Church even though it meant sometimes great struggle and pain. The phrase ‘the guts and the glory’ comes to mind – the guts of our lives for the glory of God. Such an incredible gift God gave to Eugene, the gift to be able to preach and convert – it came naturally to him and he loved to do it and yet God called him also to set that aside for much of the time to serve – as Vicar General, as Superior General, as Bishop of Marseilles… Hervé Aubin wrote that he confided to his journal “If I showed outwardly all that I am suffering, I would be considered crazy.” The guts and the glory of the cross that he shared as a cooperator of Christ our Saviour. Could we do any less?

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