My chief occupation will be to love him, my chief concern to make him loved. To this I will bend all my efforts, time, strength, and when after much toil I have succeeded in winning but a single act of love towards so good a Master, I will rightly consider myself very well paid.
Retreat notes, December 1812, O.W. XV n. 109
Eugene certainly drew the crowds through his style of preaching. Marius Suzanne, who was a novice in 1820 during the mission in Aix, described Eugene’s technique of communicating the Saviour, and the reaction of his listeners:
The following Tuesday I attended the morning sermon at the Metropolitan Church of St. Sauveur. If I was astonished by the extraordinary crowd of people of all ages, both men and women, who had gathered since four thirty, I was even more so by the discourse that Fr. de Mazenod gave us.
You cannot imagine, my dear friend, the soft and flowing eloquence of this man of God. He does not seek to shock, to make sinners tremble and to terrify them. He works his way into the soul without effort, and awakens the most tender feelings there. Something pure and soft that flows from his heart fills you and refreshes you with that heavenly dew that the Prophet speaks about. You forget him entirely.
He was explaining in Provençal the first words of the Lord’s Prayer. He developed them with such facility, he expressed himself with a wealth of feelings so natural and so touching that we were moved to tears. They indeed flowed from all eyes, softly and quietly.
A great number of sinners were converted. Three courtesans [ed: prostitutes who attract wealthy clients], among others, made their confession that same evening.
SUZANNE M., Quelques lettres sur la mission d’Aix,
Chez Pontier, Imprimeur-libraire, Aix, 1820, p. 6-7.
Eugene was free to share with all his incredible love of God, and God’s love for him, for each andall of us. Eugene first spoke to me when I was given a copy of the letter that he wrote to Henri Tempier inviting him to come and join him. His love for God reached out and grabbed my heart. He did not preach, he just invited Henri to join him in living out this great love. It is his honesty in sharing that love that touches us, that allows us to listen and be touched by him. As Marius Suzanne wrote: “He works his way into the soul without effort, and awakens the most tender feelings there. Something pure and soft that flows from his heart fills you and refreshes you with that heavenly dew that the Prophet speaks about. You forget him entirely.” This is how we are invited to love and to live. And like Eugene – if we do this then we have suceeded!