Category Archives: WRITINGS

I have had three Bishops here one after the other, and you can understand that with such guests it is not easy to have time to oneself. One of these prelates was Bishop Timon, the Bishop of Buffalo in the … Continue reading →

Visit of Bishop Timon, Bishop of Buffalo. This prelate inspires me so much that I shall not refuse his request. Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 26 December 1849, EO XXII Bishop John Timon was a Vincentian religious who had been a … Continue reading →

HOPE: THE GIFT OF THE CRUCIFIED SAVIOR ONE GOOD FRIDAY   A moment of encounter one Good Friday turned an unsettled 25 year-old into a man with a purpose: a man with new meaning and hope. Eugene became totally enthralled … Continue reading →

Bob Wright continues the story of the foundation of the Texas mission: Since Brownsville was a new town on the north bank of the Rio Grande, the river that had just become the international boundary between the United States and … Continue reading →

As we have no writings of Eugene on this period in Texas, I think it important to tell the story of this mission. Fr. Bob Wright takes up the narrative: The Oblates selected by Father Telmon parted paths in New … Continue reading →

On November 20 the five Oblates, destined for Texas, reached New Orleans, where they remained for a few days. All the correspondence between the Oblates in Texas and Eugene have been lost, so we are lacking in details. A priest, … Continue reading →

Eugene’s diary was a personal document in which he noted some of the happenings of the day and often expressed his sentiments in a way that he could not in public. On this day he had received two letters, each … Continue reading →

I couldn’t resist sharing this snippet from Eugene’s letter to the novice master in England. Keep firm control lest the abuse of tobacco be introduced into your novitiate. Be quite sure that it is only a mania. The human species … Continue reading →

An insight into the daily life of Bishop de Mazenod, Bishop of the second-largest diocese in France, Superior General of a missionary Congregation in four continents. He writes to Fr Casimir Aubert, who had been his secretary for Oblate affairs … Continue reading →

We are busy preparing for the departure of Fr. d’Herbomez, Bro. Surel and Bro. Gaspard for Oregon. What a mission that is! You would not believe what our dear Fathers suffer there, as cheerfully as anybody in the world. The … Continue reading →