SEMINARIES: WE WILL DEVOTE OURSELVES GENEROUSLY HEART AND SOUL TO SUCH A NOBLE AND IMPORTANT MINISTRY

The first request of the Bishop of Ajaccio was that the Oblates establish a major seminary for the education and formation of priests in Corsica.

Because of the quality men that you need, it will cost me a lot to tear them away from the various ministries that they are carrying out with incredible blessings and success; but I am determined to make every sacrifice to establish solidly the immense good that you have in view and which will be done, with God’s help, through the cooperation of the men of God whom according to your command I am going to place at your disposal to set up your Major Seminary.

Letter to Bishop Casanelli d’Istria, 19 September 1834, EO XIII n 83

The Founder’s biographer, Rey, gives the background to his immediate positive response to the Bishop’s request.

“But the missions, the first, and properly speaking, only end of the Oblate Congregation necessarily evoked another end, that of the sanctification of the clergy”.

“In fact, to prepare the people for the missions and even to make the missions possible, to support the work of the missionaries, to assure their success, to gather, maintain and carry on its fruits, it was necessary to have worthy priests, and holy priests at the head of their parishes…

In addition, we would say that the sanctification of the clergy, next to the missions, and with the missions, is the main end of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The holy Founder formally declared this to them: ‘Assuredly, the most excellent end of our Congregation next to the holy missions is the direction of major seminaries. For the missionaries would expend the sweat of their labors in vain in their attempts to snatch sinners from spiritual death if they did not have in the parishes priests imbued with the Spirit of God, faithfully following the example of the Divine Shepherd and pasturing with vigilant and constant care the sheep which had been brought back to the fold. That is why, to the extent that we are able, we will devote ourselves generously heart and soul to such a noble and important ministry’”.

See: https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/ends-of-the-congregation/

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1 Response to SEMINARIES: WE WILL DEVOTE OURSELVES GENEROUSLY HEART AND SOUL TO SUCH A NOBLE AND IMPORTANT MINISTRY

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    I recently attended a showing of the documentary “From Tears to Hope” which was made following the Rwanda Genocide. It dealt with the view that it was the men who were targeted to be killed with the women and children being left to die; it was a patriarchal society where often the women had little or no schooling and where they were in charge of the running of the house hold (cleaning, cooking, etc). When the killings ended there were only women and children left. The woman had to learn to console and help each other; create shelters for themselves, build homes, care for each other, and in many cases build a new society. They had to learn to feed themselves, grow crops, work, build, etc.

    This morning I see similarities between the people of Rwanda who were left alive following the genocide and the decimated Church that was left following the French Revolution. Like the women of Rwanda who needed to learn a new way of caring for themselves, their children and their society and how they moved from tears to hope; so to the Church and her members in France – not just the buildings and a few new clergy were needed – a new way would be the vehicle in order to move from tears to hope – the clergy would need to learn how to work for their own salvation so as to help rebuild and lead others.

    I think of Eugene and his many writings and efforts speaking of how their salvation would come with the salvation of others. Healing and nourishment; education and guidelines needed to be set up with communities who were of one mind and practice.

    One of the lessons that was my nourishment during my first couple of years in AA was that I could not help others until I first became healthy. My continued health would rely on my then turning around and sharing that with others. None was better than another and we worked together to learn and live sobriety.

    From tears to hope.

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