FAITH, FAITH ALONE, AND THE HOPE OF MEETING YOU ONCE AGAIN IN THE BOSOM OF GOD CAN SWEETEN OUR SORROW

Nine years later, on the anniversary of the death of his niece, Nathalie, Eugene reflected on that event in his journal

November 14: A painful anniversary! The angelic Nathalie. If I was thinking of you during the holy sacrifice, it was only to thank God for the all the virtues with which he adorned your beautiful soul, and the glory which he has called you to share. I contemplated you in heaven where you reign since your creator called you there to take you away from the malice and corruption of this world where you appeared only briefly to make your passing regretted by all those who knew you.
But we who loved you so tenderly, we who looked forward to years of happiness in the sweet flowering of our common affection, how can we be consoled at your loss? This feeling is just as alive and as bitter as it was on that heart-rending day when you were taken from us. Faith, faith alone, and the hope of meeting you once again in the bosom of God can sweeten our sorrow.

Diary, 14 November 1838, EO XIX

 

“Let no one weep for me, or celebrate my funeral with mourning; for I still live, as I pass to and fro through the mouths of men.”   Quintus Ennius

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1 Response to FAITH, FAITH ALONE, AND THE HOPE OF MEETING YOU ONCE AGAIN IN THE BOSOM OF GOD CAN SWEETEN OUR SORROW

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    Again this morning the extraordinary found in the ordinary.

    As a very little girl I somehow believed that my body would die – but my spirit – my heart and my soul of who I was/am was not physical and so would still be around for I was much more than just my physical self. In a world that was violent and dark, where I was negated in many ways I knew that they could not kill who I really was. Of course I could not articulate that or dare to explain it – it was just there. And so I talked with a few who had already died (not like in the movie The Sixth Sense), St. Theresa of Lisieux .

    Those who have loved me, who I have loved and who have died – I do talk with them, not long conversations but when they come to mind in my heart I greet them, speak with them, pray with them. I have this practice that when I pass a graveyard I say hello to any in there that I know. In particular when I go to an “Oblate” cemetery for the first time and I go and introduce myself to all there and sit there awhile with all of them. On leaving I say goodbye and remind them that yes they keep praying for me.
    I hope and imagine that my death, my home-coming will be like a grand convocation where I will greet all who I have loved and who have loved me. Where we will all ‘be’ together.

    Even as I write these words I give a small half smile. St. Eugene who I speak with daily and have come to know so dearly – I’ll get to meet him in person (so to speak) and to meet those who have been important in the lives of all who I have loved – endless and mind-blowing.

    Hard to put into words but what a wonderful way to start this Monday morning. Takes the excitement of a new day to a whole new level.

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