Before accepting the Canada mission, Eugene had consulted every member of the Oblate congregation. The majority of members had indicated their desire to be sent there, so it was difficult to make a choice. Here is a letter to one of them who was accepted.
My dear Father Lucien, bless the good God. He has granted your wish. I have definitely chosen you to be a member of the community which will go and plant the standard of the Congregation, which is that of the Cross itself, in another part of the world.
I have the greatest confidence that you and your companions will be worthy of your vocation, that you will do much good and that you will honour the Congregation by your devotedness, your zeal and your regularity.
These were the first Oblate missionaries to arrive in a new country. First impressions count, and all future missionary invitations would depend on this.
On the impression you give will depend the growth of the family not only in all of Canada but in other mission countries ready to be evangelized and to which are lacking only the workers to announce to them the good news of salvation. You will be the first to open the way; others will follow you.
I shall have difficulty to console several who hoped to be included in the first contingent.
Adieu, I have only time to embrace and bless you,
Letter to Fr. Lucien Lagier, 28 August1841, EO I n 5
“No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5: 15-16)
For further details see: https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/lagier-lucien-antoine/
I know that when the Oblates gave missions in the Provence area of France – they erected mission crosses in each of the towns and villages that they went out to. It became a visible reminder to all who lived in those places of the missions that they had taken part in. It was perhaps for some like a beacon helping them to refocus. I think of the large cross erected in Marseilles – the last thing to be seen as boats and ships set out to the ocean and one of the first things they would identify on their return to their port.
Fr. Albert Lacombe OMI, who our Province here in Canada is named after, wore his cross and it was the only thing he needed to wear to identify himself. It was the only adornment he wore even when he travelled to Europe and was in the presence of Emperors and the Pope.
One of the Blackfeet chiefs asked him to create some kind of a banner, a flag that would identify him when he approached their camps during the night or during war parties with different tribes. Which he did; unlike these people who had become like part of his family he did not have eagle feathers tied to his walking-stick but rather a small square of white cloth and in the centre was a painted red cross. This was his identifier.
Like many Oblate Associates I was given a small Oblate cross when I made my Commitment. I have chosen to wear it at all times because it is my banner, my identifier, my standard… I waited most of my life to receive my cross – literally and figuratively.
God shows God’s light in so many ways through each of us. Sometimes when people see my cross they comment how beautiful it is. Over the years the gold colour has worn off in the places which I touch most often. Perhaps they are seeing the glory of God – that is what makes it so very beautiful.