Eugene spent 13 days at St Laurent, compiling a Rule of 55 hand-written pages. His early biographer, Jeancard, described him poetically as being like Moses “going up to Mount Sinai to receive the Commandments of God.”
This was not quite the case – although the process of writing was certainly done in a spirit of prayer and discernment of the will of God. This is why he was able to say with conviction to the Oblates near the end of his life:
For my part, my very dear Sons, I will be content to sum up my advice in this single recommendation: read and meditate upon your Holy Rule. In the Rule you will find the secret of your perfection; it contains all that is necessary to lead you to God.
Circular Letter 1, 2 August 1853, EO XII
I think for a moment back to childhood and having to memorize the 10 Commandments – if I did that I would be fine – good enough to get to heaven; seen in the same light as studying just hard enough to get the ‘passing’ grade. Later on being introduced to the 12 Steps of AA; not enough to just read them – I would have to actually live them – they were not an end in themselves – but they would allow me to live.
Meeting Jesus – a rebirth – a new world, a new universe. The immense and wondrous life of ‘being called’ by God and saying ‘yes’; of surrendering and offering yourself to God and so to all others. No longer content to hear and live ‘thou shalt not’ but finding the freedom of new ways of being.
Surrender and Oblation – not ways of ‘being’ that are actively promoted or sought-after according to some of our world leaders – not great business models and yet these are the very ways that my heart wants to grow and live in. Meeting and getting to know Eugene de Mazenod – his invitation to stand at the foot of my crucifix as he began to share his experience of God, his spirit with me. ‘Communicating his spirit’ through his Rule of Life.
A passing grade is not enough, and I will not settle for anything less than everything. Constitutions and Rules – these words are like an ‘acquired taste’, but once the heart open’s it’s door – they quietly enter and become – well foundational within us – treasures of immense value and grace. It was from Eugene that I learned how I might walk and be as called by God, as a member of the Mazenodian Family who invited me to ‘be’ and do with all of them. And Eugene’s insistence that we will find everything we need in the Rule of Life: ““In the Rule you will find the secret of your perfection; it contains all that is necessary to lead you to God.”