THE ABSENCE OF LANDMARKS

A reminder of the map of the present series of reflections. In order to understand Mazenodian spirituality it is necessary to look at the formation of the instrument through whom the spirituality comes. What were the events and elements that formed Eugene? What were the things in the first 25 years of his life that gave enduring directions? What needed conversion before he was mature enough to allow God to become the center of his life?

To pick up the story again: Eugene had left France when he was 9 and returned at the age of 20. The landmarks that he had known as a child were no longer there for him – it was almost a new country and situation for him. France had changed radically since his departure at the beginning of the French Revolution. In order to enshrine “liberty, fraternity and equality” much blood had been shed. There was a new awareness of the dignity and rights of the human person, but the country was still a long way away from practicing these powerful ideals.

Pielorz observes:  “But no matter how concrete these changes were, they did not touch the upper crust of Aix. It would retrench itself in its former mentality and the extravagant spending of former times. This was the society which welcomed back the son of the former President of the Court of Accounts.”    The Spiritual Life, p. 95

Rene Motte narrates:

When Eugene returned from exile, he was not immediately able to enjoy the delights of the city of Aix because he had military conscription hanging over his head. There was a real possibility of him being drafted if his name came up in the lottery. To escape this fate, he had the option of paying for a replacement. As a result, Mrs. de Mazenod sent her son to Saint Laurent because the cost of finding a replacement in a small village would not be as high as it would be in a city like Aix. Eugene, therefore, went to spend five months at Saint Laurent while waiting for the census to take place. For him, it was a time of depressing boredom compared to the worldly life he had lived in Sicily. He wrote to his father:

“I have left that hateful solitude after five months of exile; they seemed more like five centuries.”

http://www.omiworld.org/en/dictionary/historical-dictionary_vol-1_s/970/saint-laurent-du-verdon/

Unbeknown to this bewildered young man, God was at work in all these events to mold him and prepare him to be a future bearer of Gospel light and meaning to many who were without landmarks.

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“Of all the bewildering things about a new country, the absence of human landmarks is one of the most depressing and disheartening.”   Willa Cather

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1 Response to THE ABSENCE OF LANDMARKS

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    I had forgotten about this time in Eugene’s life, of his having to avoid serving in the military and of his ability to pay to have another fulfill his duty. It must have been so difficult to go from having everything that he could want, all the beautiful things of life, and return to France, to Aix after such a long time. Then as if to add salt to his wounds he had to withdraw to Saint Laurent for 5 months simply to be able to avoid being in the military.

    Upon reflection this morning I am faced with Eugene’s mother who did what she had to do to provide for her two children and the young Eugene who must have wondered if he was once again ‘losing everything’ that he thought was the point of living.

    Most certainly God was at work in preparing him for what he would be called to do and be, especially as founder of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. But I think too of the young men that Eugene would later send out to many foreign lands, of the young men who would be sent to Canada, the north and moving westward into lands which were largely unsettled. My goodness – there would be I imagine a large and vast territory in their lives which would have been devoid of any type of landmarks.

    A lot of ‘letting go’ for a young man, and who would he have to relate to? I think of my time when I first sobered up – life was not easy then, in fact having to relearn almost everything in light of sobriety. And then going from a big city to the community of Madonna House more than half-way across the country. It was not the distance so much as the interior and way of living and being that was so radically different. For me there were no landmarks, save for those that I would trace out and make in my life.
    Eugene – a larger than life type of man – incredibly ‘alive’. I imagine that most of us, if we are guided to looking at our lives, will see the small and large ways we have been without landmarks at one or many points in our lives. Frank wrote that God was preparing Eugene to bring Gospel light and mean to the many who were without landmarks. Eugene and Frank both – it seems to me they are helping us to do the very same, so that we too can be future bearers of the Gospel light and meaning to others who are without landmarks.’

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