Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us

Our mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to seek it before all else (cf. Mt 6: 33).

Constitution 11

One of the young Father de Mazenod’s main ministries after his ordination was the Youth Association. Some of its members became priests, and Eugene rejoiced that they persevered in extending the Kingdom of God despite the power of evil against them.

Letter from Gibelli…  May this dear child be blessed. His letter gives rest to my heart. Holy young man, keep up your work. Build eagerly since so many false brethren demolish the fine work of the Savior; save souls with zeal since so many dishonest ones poison them. All of you, my dear children of the youth association, who fight under the banner of Mary for the glory of Jesus, redouble your efforts, be blessed a thousand times for all the work you do in so many dioceses to extend the kingdom of God and destroy the empire of the devil.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 20 April 1839, EO XX.

This is the spirit of the Preface referring to the struggle that all members of the Oblate Family experience at times in the face of evil around them – being part of this Family is an encouragement for each one.

Our mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to seek it before all else (cf. Mt 6: 33). Constitution 11

Very often Eugene’s letters to his missionaries express this sentiment:

your wonderful mission of making Jesus Christ known and extending his kingdom as you walk in the footsteps of the Apostles.

Letter to Fr. Semeria in Ceylon, 25 January 1848, EO IV, n. 2.

He encourages his Oblate family in this mission:

One of my greatest joys is to receive your letters; the tiniest detail of what concerns you interests and touches me. How could I be insensitive to the sufferings that you are enduring to extend the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and to respond to your beautiful vocation, which has called you to the most meritorious mission that I know.

There is no doubt that you are buying souls at the price of your own blood, you, the first apostles of those souls whom God wishes to save by means of your ministry. If there had not been you to seek them as far as the ends of the earth, what would have become of them?

I can understand that the consolation of seeing so many creatures made in the image of God enter into the sheepfold of Jesus Christ as a result of your care for them is a great recompense for all your efforts, an unutterable consolation; it is this that sustains your courage, and, I can say to you, softens the pain that I feel in being separated from you.

Letter to Fr. Maisonneuve in Red River, 13 March 1857, EO II n. 230

Our mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to seek it before all else (cf. Mt 6: 33). (Constitution 11)

To seek and accept the Kingdom of God in one’s life requires an emptying of self in a spirit of poverty. The Savior did this to make it possible for us

Jesus began his first sermon on the Mount of Beatitudes with poverty: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” He said “is” not “will be” to show that it already belongs to them, having paid the price by the abandonment of everything, like the one who buying some merchandise pays for it while it remains with the seller.

Eugene’s “Notes on evangelical poverty,” 1818-1821, EO XV, n 150.

Our mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to seek it before all else (cf. Mt 6: 33).

(Constitution 11)

Seeking the Kingdom of God in all things was at the heart of Eugene’s actions and subsequent proclamation. An example is found in 1817, when he was instrumental in the nomination of his uncle as Bishop of Marseilles.

Thank God, I acted as a good priest should: “seek first the Kingdom of God” [Ed Luke 12: 31]. I had only God in mind and God has now worked what is almost a miracle in my favor: for, note well, my dear uncle, I am not thinking of the honor that may come to you from it, etc. Not at all! And that is what makes my reasoning invincible. I have in mind only the welfare of the Church, the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

Letter to his father and uncles, at Palermo, 28 August 1817, EO XIII n 11

This was his focus from the time of his conversion; may he intercede for us in our decision-making focus.

Our mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to seek it before all else (cf. Mt 6: 33).

Constitution 11

The urgency of this proclamation to extend the Savior’s empire was strongly expressed from the beginning of our existence in the Preface to our Rule:

How vast the field that lies before them! How worthy and holy the undertaking! The people are caught up in crass ignorance of all that pertains to their salvation. The consequence of their ignorance has been a weakening of the faith and a corruption of morals with all the license which that inevitably entails.

Thus, it is supremely important, it is urgently imperative, that we lead the multitude of lost sheep back to the fold, that we teach these degenerate Christians who Jesus Christ is, that we rescue them from Satan’s power and show them the way to eternal life.

We must spare no effort to extend the Saviour’s empire and to destroy the dominion of hell.

Eugene’s Preface to the CCRR

Our mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to seek it before all else (cf. Mt 6: 33).

Constitution 11

This Constitution is a direct reference to the words of Jesus:

“Set your hearts on God’s kingdom first, and on God’s saving justice, and all these other things will be given you as well” (Matthew 6:33)

It is a theme that appears constantly in the thought and writings of Eugene. As a seminarian we find this missionary preoccupation in wanting to evangelize the peasants of the countryside near his grandmother’s home:

I intended to visit Grandma in Saint-Julien and planned to teach these poor, neglected people a little; I was already delighted by the thought of the fruit that this teaching might bear. Poor Christians who have not the slightest idea of their dignity, for lack of having met anyone to break the bread of the Word with them; yet I am convinced that they are not far from the Kingdom of Heaven.

Eugene’s letter to his mother, 3 July 1810.

After his ordination to the priesthood, his first recorded sermon in the church of the Madeleine repeated the same sentiment:

You are God’s children, the brothers of Jesus Christ, heirs to his eternal kingdom, chosen portion of his inheritance; you are, in the words of St. Peter, a holy nation, you are kings, you are priests, you are in some way gods, You are gods, children of the Most High. So lift up your spirits, that your defeated souls may breathe, grovel no longer on the ground: You are gods, children of the Most High. (Ps. 81:6).”

Because they have:

a soul ransomed at the price of the blood of Jesus Christ, more precious in the eyes of God than all earth’s riches, than all the kingdoms of the earth, a soul of which he is more jealous than of the government of the entire universe.

Eugene de Mazenod’s sermon to the poor of Aix en Provence, 1813

Our mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to seek it before all else (cf. Mt 6: 33).

We fulfil this mission in community; and our communities are a sign that, in Jesus, God is everything for us.

Together we await Christ’s coming in the fullness of his justice so that God may be all in all (cf. 1 Cor 15: 28).

Growing in faith, hope and love, we commit ourselves to be a leaven of the Beatitudes at the heart of the world.

Constitution 11

Father Jetté (Superior General 1974-1986) wrote:

Article 11 of the Constitutions is very important. It is the link between our mission and our form of life. Its central element is the Kingdom of God: we have the mission of proclaiming this Kingdom and we ourselves are looking for this Kingdom before all else. In the preceding section we saw how the Oblate understands proclaiming God’s Kingdom; now we shall see how he strives to live its values.

These two aspects are inseparable: we are not credible if we do not live what we preach. As Paul VI asserted: “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses” (Evangelii nuntiandi, no. 41).

(O.M.I. The Apostolic Man, p. 121)

An invitation to give thanks for the gift of the witness of all the members of our Oblate Family and our invitation to be teachers through our commitment to the Kingdom

We have reached the end of our journey with St Eugene through the first 10 Constitutions of what the members of our Oblate Charismatic Family regard as our Book of Life. These articles are a summary of the charism that inspires each of us to live according to our various states of life. St Eugene’s advice to us:

So let us hold this precious Rule in high esteem, have it always before our eyes, and even more in the heart, let us continually nourish our souls with the principles it contains, let us do nothing, say nothing, think nothing that is not in conformity with its spirit. It is only in this way that we shall be what God wants us to be and make ourselves worthy of our sublime vocation.

Annual Retreat notes, October 1831, EO 15, n.163.

Constitutions 1-10 describe our vision and ideals – and as we now begin to explore Constitution 11 onwards we will see how we can put these ideals into practice.

The Mazenodian charism is contained in the Constitutions and Rules, in the Directories of the lay associates and the handbooks of various groups of our Oblate Family: we are invited to reflect on how they may be guides for us to live the Gospel

Wherever our ministry takes us, we will strive to instil genuine devotion to the Immaculate Virgin who prefigures God’s final victory over all evil.  (Constitution 10)

“They will always regard her as mother” Eugene had written when we officially became Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate after our papal approbation in 1826. He asked us to have a “tender and filial devotion.” Throughout his life he was accompanied by Mary to the point of his least breath as all were reciting the Salve Regina prayer.

Eugene died during the praying of the Salve Regina, at these words: “Turn then, most gracious Advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us, , show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus, O merciful, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!”

Father Fabre describes the scene:

We recited the entire Salve Regina, which our well-loved Father understood and followed fully. At the words: ”and after this our exile show us,” he opened his eyes slightly; at each invocation: “ O clement, o loving”, he made a slight movement; at the third: “O sweet Virgin Mary”,  he breathed his last. His beautiful soul was in the presence of God.

Circular Letter to the Congregation 26 May 1861

Because of his life-long closeness to Mary, she did indeed accompany him to the fruit of her womb: Jesus. May we learn to look on her as mother and as our faithful faith-companion on our Christian journey to be shown the fruit of her womb at its fulfilment in our own death.

Wherever our ministry takes us, we will strive to instil genuine devotion to the Immaculate Virgin who prefigures God’s final victory over all evil.  (Constitution 10)

On his 72^nd birthday, after a lifetime of being Mary’s son, he wrote in his will:

To this end, I invoke the intercession of the Most Holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, daring to remind her in all humility, but with consolation, of the filial devotion of my whole life, and of the desire I have always had to make her known and loved, and to spread her devotion everywhere through the ministry of those whom the Church has given to me as children, who have had the same desire as myself…

Eugene de Mazenod’s will, 1 August 1854, EO XV n. 191

Those whom the “Church has given to Eugene as children” – the Oblate Charismatic Family  today – continue to make Mary known and loved as the first Cooperator of the Savior.