Category Archives: RULE

PARISH MISSIONS: PREACHING THAT AIMS ONLY AT INSTRUCTING

According to Eugene’s Rule of 1818, the missionaries had to seek “only to instruct the faithful” and not dazzle them with eloquent speech. They had to be content not only “to break the bread of the Word for them, but … Continue reading

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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

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PARISH MISSIONS: CLOSE TO THE PEOPLE BY BEING AVAILABLE IN THE CHURCH

They will spend the whole morning in the church, and – except in case of necessity – no one will leave without permission of the one presiding 1818 Rule Part 1, Chapter 2, §2 Each morning the missionaries were to … Continue reading

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PARISH MISSIONS: ALWAYS CLOSE TO THE PEOPLE

Through personal contact the people were invited to an encounter with the Saviour. In that spirit of closeness, the missionaries visited the people of the smaller villages in their homes on the first days to establish contact with them and … Continue reading

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PARISH MISSIONS: NOTHING MUST BE LEFT UNDARED

Eugene was adamant that We must spare no effort to extend the Saviour’s empire 1825 Rule, Preface We Oblates love using this phrase to describe our mission, (and the older ones enjoy showing off their Latin and quote it as … Continue reading

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PARISH MISSIONS: WE FULFIL OUR MISSION IN AND THROUGH THE COMMUNITY TO WHICH WE BELONG

 Community is an integral part of Oblate mission. The group of missionaries who went to a village always formed a community that was governed by the same regulations and spirit as the permanent community they formed a part of. During … Continue reading

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PARISH MISSIONS: IT IS THE SAVIOUR HIMSELF WHO MUST SPEAK THROUGH HIS CO-OPERATORS

Today the members of the Mazenodian family are urged that it: is as missionaries that we worship, in the various ways the Spirit suggests to us. We come before him bearing with us the daily pressures of our anxiety for … Continue reading

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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

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PARISH MISSIONS: AIM TO BRING BACK THOSE WHO HAD STRAYED

The Rule described the principal aim of their missions as to bring back to the Church those who had strayed: it is supremely important, it is urgently imperative, that we lead the multitude of lost sheep back to the fold, … Continue reading

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PARISH MISSIONS: THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE MISSIONARIES

Since the missions are one of the principal ends of the Institute, all will strive principally to fulfil this task well. 1818 Rule, Chapter Two, §1, Article 1. During Eugene’s lifetime the Oblates in France had animated some 3000 parish … Continue reading

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