Category Archives: RULE

PREACHING: THE TEST OF A SUCCESSFUL SERMON

We should see to it that, when our sermons are over, they, instead of presuming to bestow foolish admiration on what they have not understood, will rather return to their homes instructed and well disposed, instructed, and able to repeat … Continue reading

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PREACHING: CHEW THE BREAD OF THE WORD

The Missionaries, who spent a large part of their ministry in preaching the Gospel, needed to be clear about their priorities: we must seek only to instruct the people, to be attentive to the needs of the majority of the … Continue reading

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PREACHING: NOISY GONGS AND CLANGING CYMBALS

As an outstanding preacher himself, Eugene had no patience with the flowery preachers who had style and played with words but had no solid content. His diary entries spare them no criticism, and in his Rule he wanted to ensure … Continue reading

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PREACHING: WHO YOU ARE SPEAKS SO LOUDLY I CAN’T HEAR WHAT YOU’RE SAYING

In our exploration of the 1818 Rule , we have seen how Eugene set out the goals of the Missionaries: preach the Gospel to the most abandoned, make up for the loss of the Orders and to correct the ravages caused by … Continue reading

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NOTA BENE: OBLATION AS A NEW HEART, A NEW SPIRIT, A NEW MISSION

Having enthused about the lofty ideals of the Missionaries and having drawn up the plan of action to achieve them, Eugene now returns to reality. The Nota Bene was written in response to the havoc being caused in the Church … Continue reading

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NOTA BENE: HUMAN, CHRISTIAN, SAINT

How to make this ideal a reality in the lives of the people the Missionaries were serving? Their methodology had three steps: to make men reasonable then Christians and finally to help them become saints. 1818 Rule, Part One, Chapter … Continue reading

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NOTA BENE: A HOSPITAL FOR SINNERS

The Rule was written in 1818 as an attempt to review the experiences that the Missionaries had lived for nearly three years and to draw out basic principles for the future. The Nota Bene continues Eugene’s description of the post-revolution … Continue reading

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NOTA BENE: THE LITMUS TEST OF OBLATION

Why have a demanding program of personal and spiritual growth? The answer is provided in a threefold goal, which occurs hundreds of times in Eugene’s writings because he insists that it must be kept in mind constantly: “the glory of … Continue reading

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NOTA BENE: DRESSING HIS MISSIONARIES FROM HEAD TO TOE

“It is only after having dressed his missionaries from head to foot in this solid armor of virtue that Bishop de Mazenod allows himself to say to them: then, full of confidence ….” YENVEUX, A. Les saintes Règles de la … Continue reading

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NOTA BENE: THE SCHOOL OF JESUS

In his Rule, Eugene shares his enthusiastic vision that embraces the whole world. The way to “become” this ideal is to do what Jesus did: In a word, put into practice the same means our Savior employed when he wanted … Continue reading

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