Nine months after the diary entry we reflected on yesterday, Eugene wrote about the success of the penitentiary for juvenile delinquents. The Brothers of St Peter in Chains cared for these abandoned youth between the ages of 10 and 18.
I went to administer the sacrament of confirmation to a young person who was dying in the house for juvenile prisoners. There are already 45 children in this house between the ages of 10 and 18. It is painful to see this early degradation; we expect much from the painstaking care that Igive these poor youth through Fr. Fissiaux and Fr. Margaillan, his assistant. Already some of these children are showing the good effects of the religious instruction they receive.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 9 February 1840, EO XX
Eugene felt personally responsible for their welfare and supported those who dedicated themselves to their care.
Once Eugene gave his heart to anyone and everyone; he did not ever pull that love back. Eugene, recognized that he could not do it all by himself and rather than joining himself to a group (I’m thinking of Forbin Janson’s Missionaries of France) he gathered around him like-minded men with whom he could share his spirit so that they would be able to love even more greatly than was possible on their own.
My thoughts move to St. Paul who loved many in the communities in Corinth, Rome, Ephesus and further. He could not be with them at the same time and so he set up others to help guide them – just as Jesus himself did with his apostles and disciples. Paul like Jesus did not stop loving any of them.
This morning we find Eugene with his founding community as they continue to grow; we find him loving more and founding other groups to help them – like the Brothers of St. Peter in Chains. I recognize that this is how parents love as they turn their children over to teachers and guardians; and when their children have spouses and children of their own, the hearts of the parents simply grow larger so as to accommodate the new additions. It is the nature of love to grow in this way.
I think of how Jesus turned his mother over to his companions and his companions over to his mother – this from the cross and the greatest act of love for all of mankind.
Eugene is still sharing his magnificent heart, with his sons and daughters throughout the world, guiding us to love greatly. Eugene becomes our model and so as we love we will be able to see “the good effects” of the many whom we love…