THE RESIDENTS OF EACH FLOOR PUT A LIGHT ON THEIR DOORSTEP FOR THESE OCCASIONS

Eugene, as Missionary Oblate and as bishop, was never happier than when he was bringing the consolation of the Savior to those who were the most abandoned. He wnoted in his diary:

October 17: Among the other duties of today, Confirmation to a young child in danger of death. I had to climb to the fifth floor; but how a bishop feels compensated in his spiritual paternity when he is surrounded by a crowd of these good people who belong to the poorer classes and who are edified to see their pastor come close to them to console the most abandoned of his flock in their suffering.

In the days before electricity and elevators, the poorer people of the city of Marseilles lived on the top floors of buildings. Hence the following detail as Eugene climbed up dark staircases:

The residents of each floor put a light on their doorstep for these occasions and they kneel to receive my blessing.
The room of the sick child was decorated like an Altar of Repose on Holy Thursday and was filled with charitable neighbours who had come to be present at the ceremony. On this occasion the child was very well disposed. He sighed a moment after my arrival and his joy at seeing me was very moving. He received the sacrament of Confirmation with admirable sentiments.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 17 October 1838, EO XIX

Each day Jesus comes to my home in prayer, in Scripture and through the lives of others: how do I “decorate” my life to receive Him?

“Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love.” (Luke 7: 44-47)

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1 Response to THE RESIDENTS OF EACH FLOOR PUT A LIGHT ON THEIR DOORSTEP FOR THESE OCCASIONS

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    How do I “decorate” my life to receive Him? I find myself smiling with delight as I sit here asking that question? It is a new way of thinking and a new way of being – especially in light of the pandemic that has entered into our lives and invited us to find new ways to love.

    I think of Eugene going up those stairs and being welcomed by the tenants of the building – rich or poor it did not matter. The image of the small lanterns or candles in each of the door ways. The Lord coming to each of them in and through St. Eugene. I am reminded of a popular song from 1977 titled “You Light Up My Life”Debbie Boone. I think of the woman who anointed the feet of Jesus and how in some ways they were light to each other.

    Before COVID-19 became a part of everyday language and way of living, some of the children had been preparing to make their First Communion – in the midst of the parishioners and families in our parish. But that changed with the lockdown and distancing; now the children receiving their First Communion will celebrate this with their immediate family members to one of the weekday Masses – the numbers are small.

    I remember my First Communion – with joy, with happiness that can at times bring me to the verge of tears. And so I try to go to all of the daily Masses that have children receiving their First Communion. Today is one of those days. I will go up to the child, whether it be a little boy or a little girl, and welcome them and thank them for allowing me to be there as they receive their First Communion. I will tell them how I remember my own First Communion more than 60 years ago. I will celebrate them as they are decorated in the light of God’s Love in a most particular manner.

    A small way to decorate my own self in the light of God.

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