THE SIGN OF A FORTHCOMING REVOLUTION IN OUR HABITS!

Posted on January 15, 2024 by franksantucci

The excitement of the arrival of the first-ever steam locomotives in Provence, continued the day after the blessing. Six hundred people were invited to ride in the new train from Marseilles to Arles and back for a similar ceremony.

Bishop Eugene was not amused to have had to participate:

I would have preferred to attend the pontifical High Mass in the Cathedral rather than going to make the station stop at Arles with the new railway wagons. The trip took place promptly and safely. In Arles there was a superb luncheon and especially some well-heated stoves, because a person could freeze to death in this glacial atmosphere, the snow was falling in large flakes. The plentiful assemblage was to return at four thirty.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 9 January 1848, EO XXI

The newspaper was enthusiastic, however:

“Two and a half hours to go from Marseille to Arles, isn’t that the sign of a forthcoming revolution in our habits, in the conditions of existence of populations for whom distances are thus erased, and whose relationships will multiply ad infinitum?”.

And the journalist concluded:

“This day of January 9, 1848, despite the inclemency of the skies, is one of the most beautiful that Marseille has ever recorded in its annals”.

REFLECTION

The distance from Marseilles to Arles was 85 kilometers so the locomotive marvels were speeding at around 35 kilometers per hour (around 20 miles per hour). Presumably the Bishop was not in the carriage drawn by “Lucifer”!

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” (Lao Tzu)

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One Response to THE SIGN OF A FORTHCOMING REVOLUTION IN OUR HABITS!

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate says:
    January 15, 2024 at 12:24

    I find myself focusing on the phrase “a forthcoming revolution in our habits” while at the same time noticing how the one event was with two different slants (biases).

    Some years ago a friend and I attended a retreat that was focussed on Vatican II. I was asked to describe my reaction/response to Vatican II and had to admit that I knew very little about it only because I was away from the Church during that time of revolution. Returning to the Church I learned about some of the changes and rejoiced: new language and the practice of the priest facing the people. All so different from the judgement and condemnation that I experienced as a little girl. Following me an Oblate priest shared his experience of the changes brought about by Vatican II. The habits of young priest being told that he would have to change his habits that he was used to such as speaking English rather than Latin and to face the people as he led them through the “celebration” of the Mass. What if he made a small mistake with regard to the rubrics laid out in the order of the Mass?

    The same Eucharistic Celebration requiring change from each and all of us. Both the priest and those of us in the pews being asked to move slowly forward, one single step at a time – together. A revolution of our habits – with us having to let go of some of our ways of thinking, while others seemed to rush forward without thought of how the many changes might be affecting others with some level of anxiety and fear.
    Returning from the Synodal gathering in Rome in 2023 – not everyone experienced the same kind of joy as their brothers and sisters. We have all witnessed the struggle with some refusing to allow change (perhaps because of fear, tiredness and not knowing how to take a step forward or any number of reasons) even as others rejoiced in some of the changes that we might be called to practice in our own lives.

    Needing time and space to realise and slowly put one foot in front of the other…

    Pilgrims of hope in communion…

    Reply

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