Eugene was adamant that
We must spare no effort to extend the Saviour’s empire
1825 Rule, Preface
We Oblates love using this phrase to describe our mission, (and the older ones enjoy showing off their Latin and quote it as “nil liquendum inausum”). Our Constitutions and Rules continue to stress this today:
We will spare no effort to awaken or re-awaken the faith in the people to whom we are sent, and we will help them to discover “who Christ is.”
Constitution 7
“Sparing no effort”, the parish missions from 1816 onwards used a multi-pronged approach to reach their goal:
- Personal contact between the missionaries and the people of the village, which facilitated the reception of the message;
- The instructions of each day, which educated the people to understand what their dignity as Christians was and who God was for them;
- The various instruments and activities used to reinforce the message, like processions, paraliturgies and symbolic gestures;
- The encounter with Christ the Saviour in confession and the spiritual direction that they received in this context;
- A commitment to Christ the Saviour through Communion;
- Establishing structures to maintain the effects after the mission.