The theme of Mary’s being united with Jesus, and thus being a model for his own unity with Jesus, returns often throughout the years that Eugene was at the seminary. On Christmas morning he wrote to his mother:
Dearest Mother, do you really think that I was not beside you last night? How could I fail, meditating as I was on the holy Mother of God, who had just been filled with consolation on giving the world its Saviour, and at the same time had to experience so vividly the poverty, weakness and misery to which she saw her Divine Master reduced for love of men, how could these tender sentiments fail to draw me close to you? Indeed yes, darling mother, we spent the night together at the foot of the altar, which for me represented the crib in Bethlehem; together we offered our gifts to our Savior and asked him to come to birth in our hearts and strengthen us in all that is weak, etc.
You know my heart all too well, since it was formed from your own, so you will have a very clear understanding that it is as active and goes through the same feelings as your own.
Letter to his mother, 25 December 1809, EO XIV n 37
“Mary became the Christian people’s teacher of prayer, of encounter with God, a central and indispensable element, so that the work of the Pastors and the faithful would always have its beginning and its inner motivation in the Lord.” Pope John Paul II
This morning I am once again ‘blown away’ by the incredible love that fills Eugene, at the tenderness he has for his mother and the credit he gives to his mother as he says “You know my heart all too well, since it was formed from your own, so you will have a very clear understanding that it is as active and goes through the same feelings as your own.” To see, to witness this kind of love, it leaves me almost speechless. There is a tiny moment of sadness that this has never been my experience, but that fades quickly in the light of Eugene’s heart.
I first saw this, heard this when I read Eugene’s letter to Henri Tempier. It was witnessing this love, catching a glimpse of his heart that first attracted me to Eugene, actually it stopped me in my tracks. Never before had I heard such words of tenderness, of such intense passion. My whole being responded back then, as it has this morning, and it is as if there is a deep hidden part of my very own heart that somehow recognizes this awesome love, and whispers yes, this is what I want, this is where there is life.
“..the holy Mother of God, who had just been filled with consolation on giving the world its Saviour, and at the same time had to experience so vividly the poverty, weakness and misery to which she saw her Divine Master reduced for love of men…” The depth to which Eugene knows and experiences the love that is Mary, there is identification there. Perhaps something that I can ask to learn, something that I can pray for.
“…together we offered our gifts to our Savior and asked him to come to birth in our hearts and strengthen us in all that is weak…” The joining of his mother to Our Lady with him, I am awed at how Eugene takes his mother with him into prayer. There is a joining, a being together, a connectedness. “Oraison” comes to mind, with even that taking on new depth and reality.
Many years ago I asked Jesus to introduce me to his mother. I think today I want to ask him for the grace, for the gift to know Mary a little better.