THE OBLATE CHURCH IN AIX – CENTRE OF INSTRUCTION AND PRAYER

Leflon’s description of the early days of the church of the mission gives a good idea of the foundations laid by Eugene and his first companions in 1816:

In fact, the public also attended Mass there; their number soon became large enough to warrant hastening the renovation of the church, and on Palm Sunday, April 7, it was ready for public worship. More than likely, the interior decorating, not to mention the furnishings, left much to be desired, but at least the people enjoyed the use of that magnificent structure with its oval-shaped dome; the church had been built in the seventeenth century according to a design sketched by Puget. The Holy Week ceremonies were carried out there, with the missionaries participating. More and more, the mission church became a hub of intense spirituality for the city and, due to the Sacred Heart League which the Founder established there, it was also the center of a devotion that was very dear to the heart of Father de Mazenod.
As soon as the Mission Church—as the faithful soon referred to it—was opened for worship, Father de Mazenod made it the center of the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart which he had previously founded. Each First Friday of the month, the associates assisted at Mass and communion, which were preceded by a meditation read aloud, and returned in the evening for a special instruction. As relays during the year for daily reception of the Eucharist and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, each one pledged three additional communions and a holy hour. “In 1817, the Confraternity had become so numerous” that it “represented the entire city”; the vicars-general, therefore, decided to institute, for June 17, the feast of the Sacred Heart, a procession in honor of the Blessed Sacrament to which the clergy and parishioners of Aix were invited. (Cf. Rambert, I, 185; Rey, I, 206.)

J. Leflon, Eugene de Mazenod… Volume II p. 42-43

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