“In the prolonged silent prayer we make each day, we let ourselves be molded by the Lord, and find in him the inspiration of our conduct” (OMI Rule of Life, 33).
The practice of Oraison was an important part of St. Eugene’s daily prayer during which he entered into communion with the members of his missionary family. While they were all in France it was easy for them to gather in prayer at approximately the same time. When Oblate missionaries started to be sent to different continents it was no longer possible to pray at the same time, yet each day there was a time when they stopped and prayed in union with one another – even though not at the same time.
This is a practice that Eugene wanted the members of his religious family to maintain. We are inviting you to practice this prayer time on Sunday December 15. (See: https://www.omiusa.org/index.php/2019/12/02/31322/ )
Just choose a time for personal prayer wherever you like, and consciously unite yourself with all the members of the Mazenodian Family in praying for one another
ORAISON: COMMUNION WITH OUR LOVED ONES IN PRAYER
“Because God predestined me to be the father of a large family in his Church, he gave me a heart of such a quality that it is capable of enfolding all my children, of giving to each one that degree of affection and true love which is his due. But I would need a hundred hands were I to correspond as I would like with all who give me a testimony of their attachment. I find myself reduced to concerning myself with them copiously before the Lord, either by daily offering the holy Sacrifice for them or by praying for them each day during my oraison before the Blessed Sacrament. I give them all a kind of rendezvous in the adorable Heart of our divine Saviour. Giving thanks and asking new blessings for them is an obligatory concern in my humble and grateful conversation with our Lord in this holy exercise.”
To Father Charles Baret, January 4, 1856.
“You could not believe how much I think in the presence of God of our dear Red River missionaries. I have only one way of drawing near to them, and that is in front of the Blessed Sacrament, where I seem to see you and to touch you. And you for your part must often be in His presence. It is thus that we meet each other in that living centre which serves as our means of communication.”
To Fr. Lacombe, March 6, 1857.
“You know that you are always present in my thoughts, in the morning at the sacrifice of the Mass and in the evening at the audience that our divine Master gives us when we come to pay him our respects at oraison which is made in his presence before his holy tabernacle. I recall it to your mind, my dear child, so that you meet with me at this rendezvous. This is the only way of reducing distances, to be at the same moment in our Lord’s presence, it is so to speak like being side by side. We do not see each other, but we sense each other’s presence, hear each other, lose ourselves in one and the same central point.”
To Fr. de l’Hermite, January 10, 1852.
“It is a great consolation to have a common center where we meet every day. What a delicious rendezvous is that altar on which the holy victim is offered, and that tabernacle to which one comes every day to adore Jesus Christ and speak with him of everything that concerns us. I speak to him of you in the outpouring of my heart; I speak to him of all the other children his goodness has given me…”
To Fr. Végreville March 25, 1857.