Tag Archives: religious life

RELIGIOUS BROTHERS EVANGELIZE THROUGH THEIR TALENTS

From the moment that the Oblates became a religious congregation in 1818, the membership was open to men who wished to be missionaries either as priests or as brothers. Initially there were very few who joined to be Brothers and … Continue reading

Posted in LETTERS | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

A RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY ON THE MOVE

Rey describes the 8-day public carriage voyage of Eugene from Genoa to Rome (500 kilometers) The journey of Fr. de Mazenod was made in the best conditions of piety and good company. He travelled in a carriage with a Jesuit, … Continue reading

Posted in WRITINGS | Tagged , | 1 Comment

MEN OF THE BISHOPS – AS MISSIONARY RELIGIOUS IN COMMUNITY

For the sake of peace, Eugene concludes his letter to the Bishop of Fréjus by accepting the fact of the men who have left the Misisonaries to return to the diocese. For, when all is said and done, since those … Continue reading

Posted in LETTERS | Tagged , | 1 Comment

NON-CLERICAL CLOTHING

Writing to Henri Tempier, who was the one responsible for the formation of the novices at Laus, Eugene speaks about the dress of the Missionaries. The gesture of receiving the cassock (soutane) marked the official beginning of the novitiate period. … Continue reading

Posted in LETTERS | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

FATHER OF A LIVING COMMUNITY OF CONSECRATED PERSONS

In the centuries after Saint Paul, the spiritual concept of a ‘father’ was used for those who had administered baptism to the new Christians. With the rise of monasticism, and from the time of St Jerome onwards, the commitment to … Continue reading

Posted in LETTERS | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

OBLATION DAY: VOWING TO MAKING GOD’S LOVE VISIBLE

All Saints’ Day has arrived: from three in the morning, those who made up the Chapter are awake; before four o’clock they are all in the chapel praying in front of the altar, preparing themselves for the most beautiful, the … Continue reading

Posted in WRITINGS | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

PRIESTS AND BROTHERS, UNITED TO GOD BY THE VOWS OF RELIGION

The future of the Missionaries hung in the balance. Eugene was convinced that the direction for the growth of the Society could only be via the route of religious life and professing the evangelical counsels by making vows. Four of … Continue reading

Posted in WRITINGS | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A QUANTUM LEAP

Two and a half years after the foundation of the Missionaries, this seemingly insignificant letter signalled an explosion in their life and a new direction. The letter was written in response to an invitation from the Vicar General of the … Continue reading

Posted in LETTERS | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE AND BRING LIFE IN A WOUNDED CHURCH AND WORLD

The life experience of Eugene had led him to come into direct contact with the wounds inflicted on the Church by the French Revolution, and with the void left by the destruction of the ancient religious orders. In exile in … Continue reading

Posted in LETTERS | Tagged , | 1 Comment

OBLATION: CREATING A BOND OF COMMUNION BETWEEN PERSONS ON THE SAME JOURNEY TO GOD

My consistent thought has always been that our little family should consecrate itself to God and to the service of the Church through the vows of religion. The difficulty was to get my first companions to appreciate something of this … Continue reading

Posted in DIARY | Tagged , , | Leave a comment