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Recent Posts
- I COULD NOT HOLD BACK MY TEARS, SO TOUCHED WAS MY HEART BY THIS GOODNESS. IT IS SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY AND WE CAN ONLY BE DUMBFOUNDED BEFORE GOD AT THIS PROTECTION
- “THIS SOCIETY PLEASES ME; I KNOW THE GOOD IT DOES… MY INTENTION IS NOT MERELY THAT THESE RULES BE PRAISED BUT THAT THEY BE APPROVED” (POPE LEO XII)
- IT IS IN THIS STATE OF HOLY ABANDON THAT I WAITED
- EUGENE PLACED THE RULE AT THE TOMB OF PETER AND IMPLORED HIM AND SAINT PAUL AND THE OTHER HOLY POPES WHO ARE BURIED IN THE SAME PLACE, TO ACCEPT AND BLESS THEM.
- THE CUSTOM WAS TO ENCOURAGE, NOT TO APPROVE
Recent Comments
- Mildred March on A SUMMARY OF TEN YEARS OF OBLATE MINISTRY
- Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate on FAITH-FOCUSED INVESTMENT GROUPS: A PRESENCE WHERE DECISIONS AFFECTING THE FUTURE OF THE POOR ARE BEING MADE (Rule 9a)
- Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate on VIVAT: A PRESENCE WHERE DECISIONS AFFECTING THE FUTURE OF THE POOR ARE BEING MADE (Rule 9a)
- Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate on WE SHOW A VERY HUMAN FACE OF JESUS TO THE WORLD, ONE FULL OF COMPASSION AND SOLIDARITY (Rule 9a)
- Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate on JUSTICE, PEACE AND THE INTEGRITY OF CREATION AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF EVANGELIZATION (Rule 9a)
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Category Archives: LETTERS
EUGENE AS MISSION PREACHER: A SIMPLE STYLE OF COMMUNICATION
Eugene’s biographer, Rey, describes the 1826 jubilee preaching at the Calvaire in Marseilles, which lasted twenty one days (REY, Histoire I, p. 419-420). Eugene preached on the Our Father each morning in Provencal, and then later in the day in … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: AIMING AT CONVERSION BASED ON THE INSTRUCTION RECEIVED
It is not enough to assemble a lot of people in the church, one must instruct them, one must move them in a manner that they will be converted. Letter to Jean-Baptiste Honorat, 27 January 1824 in O.W. VI n. … Continue reading
MISSION PREACHING: AN INTENSE COURSE OF ADULT CATECHESIS
The instructions were generally held twice a day: in the morning and in the evening. In the morning they began with a prayer and were followed by Mass, and they were usually referred to as “conferences.” The morning topics were … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: INSIST ON MAKING JESUS CHRIST KNOWN AND LOVED
The instruction of the missionaries did not stop at giving people academic knowledge about the catechism and who Jesus was, but Eugene insisted that they were to teach them that Jesus was their Saviour and aimed at inviting them to … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: INSTRUCT, INSTRUCT, IGNORANCE IS THE PLAGUE OF OUR TIMES
Eugene’s constant insistence to his Oblates was: Instruct, instruct, ignorance is the plague of our times. Letter to Hippolyte Courtès, 19 January 1839, EO IX n. 683 Studies of the missions in France during the period of the Restoration emphasize … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: THE ANNOUNCEMENTS AS THE MEANS OF KEEPING THE MISSION ON TRACK
The avis, at the end of each sermon summarised the main points of the sermon and invited the people to apply them. The superior of the mission, who had the “feel” for the direction that the mission should be taking, … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: CLOSE TO THE PEOPLE BY GIVING CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTIONS, WHICH ARE MUCH MORE USEFUL TO THE IGNORANT THAN BEAUTIFUL DISCOURSES
Thus their closeness to the people made them favour the lowly at all times, but not to the exclusion of anyone else’s right to the benefits of salvation. For many of the early Oblates, this was not an issue since … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: CLOSE TO ALL PEOPLE, BUT PARTICULARLY TO THE POOR
Eugene’s reply to Honorat underlined the values behind their missions and what it meant to see people through the eyes of the Saviour. It was to the lowly that they were sent: I worry little about the infinitely small number … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: FOUR MISSIONARIES ENGAGED IN SUCH AN EXERCISE OF CHARITY PREACH BETTER STILL THAN IN THE PULPIT, AT LEAST THEY ARE BETTER UNDERSTOOD
The value of example speaking louder than words was stressed to Tempier when the missionaries had gone to help the inhabitants of a neighbouring village to put out a fire: If only I had been with you on the day … Continue reading
PARISH MISSIONS: WE CAN ONLY CONVERT IF WE ARE CONVERTED OURSELVES WITH WHAT WE TEACH
Listening to Eugene’s missionary heart speaking, makes me recall Pope Paul VI’s words “Contemporary man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, or if he listens to teachers, it is because they are witnesses” Discourse to members of the … Continue reading