YOU OWE IT TO YOUR FAMILY WHICH REQUIRES THIS FROM YOUR TENDER LOVE FOR IT

Eugene wrote to his mother asking her to leave Aix and the danger of infection immediately.

I don’t doubt, dear mother, that you have obeyed Tempier’s urgent request without hesitation: he tells me that he had urged you to go and join Eugenie at St-Martin, and to take Louis and Césarie with you. That is only reasonable; you must do this immediately. The cities are evidently infected; up to now, the country places, especially those far from the cities, are exempt from being infected. Don’t give in to anyone’s reasoning, no matter who it is. You must leave without the slightest delay. Good air is the best doctor, and in the cities it is infectious. Experience speaks louder than all resistance. There is too much danger in facing an evil that snuffs you out without warning. Leave immediately then, if you haven’t already done so. You owe it to your family which requires this from your tender love for it.

Letter to his mother, 20 July 1835, EO XIII n 85

He understood the importance of the love of a mother in a family – and from her and his father he had learnt his parental love for the Oblates and all those entrusted to his care.

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1 Response to YOU OWE IT TO YOUR FAMILY WHICH REQUIRES THIS FROM YOUR TENDER LOVE FOR IT

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    Dear Eugene I write this in response to your letter to your mother.

    While I have no experience of such epidemics in my small corner of the world, I am reminded of Fr. Albert Lacombe OMI who along with many of the other early Oblates here in Canada dealt with epidemics of Cholera and Smallpox. I think of his loving concern for his brothers who were ministering in the affected areas hit by the epidemics as well as those who were targeted by them.

    My mind keeps straying to borders of countries around the world. I wonder what it would have been like for your mother to travel over 600 km to get to St Martin only to find large impassible walls around the city. I am quite unable to erase from my mind the image of peoples, families, parents, children, babies who are trying to find a place where they will be able to not only survive but to live The world itself seems filled with epidemics of hatred and violence, of peoples looking only for what they can get out of others, rather than how they can work and live together and still have enough with lots left over.

    You know how grateful I am for how you inspire me, guide me and invite me to sit in discomfort (at the foot of my crucifix) as I look around me, seeing not only how it looked in France 200 years ago but what it looks like today. And it is not just you but all who are members of our greater Mazenodian Family; I am grateful for how we care tenderly for each other even as we look outward during our own times of hardship. Daily you speak to me, you inspire me, teach and guide me to more than just love; but rather to love with tenderness – for that is what I have learned from you.

    Thank you for your constancy, your tender embraces and your care for me. I go now to try and share that with all who have been entrusted to my care…

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