Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us

Pope John Paul 2 concluded his homily at the canonization ceremony with these words:

Through patient work on himself, he was able to discipline a difficult character and govern his diocese with enlightened wisdom and firm goodness. Bishop de Mazenod led the faithful to welcome Christ in an ever more generous faith in order to live fully their vocation as children of God. His entire action was animated by a conviction which he expressed in these words: “To love the Church is to love Jesus Christ and vice versa.
Brothers and Sisters, Eugene de Mazenod invites us to follow him to present ourselves all together to the Savior who comes, the Child of Bethlehem, the Son of God made man…

Today the Church gives thanks to God for St. Eugene de Mazenod, apostle of his time, who, clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ, spent his life in service to the Gospel of God. We give thanks to God for the great transformation accomplished through the work of this Bishop. His influence is not limited to the time in which he lived, but continues to affect our time as well. Indeed, the good accomplished in virtue of the Holy Spirit does not perish, but lasts in every “hour” of history.
Thanks be to God!

Father Paolo Archiati, our Vicar General writes:

“The connection between St. Eugene, the Oblates, and the liturgical season of Advent does not stop there… Even Pope Francis, meeting the capitulars on 7 October 2016, in the sala clementina, took what was said years ago by his predecessor, inviting the Oblates of today to be “men of Advent” as well. It is an invitation that Pope Francis addressed not only to the members of the 36th General Chapter, but through them, to the whole Congregation, to each Oblate. Having said that St. Eugene was “obedient to the Holy Spirit in reading the signs of the times and assisting the work of God in the history of the Church”, the Pope addressed to us this invitation: “May you also be ‘men of Advent’, capable of grasping the signs of the new times and guiding our brothers and sisters in the ways that God opens in the Church and in the world”. It is a challenging invitation, especially if we consider what he said immediately after: “The Church is living, together with the whole world, an era of great transformations, in the most diverse fields. She needs men who carry in their hearts the same love for Jesus Christ that lived in the heart of the young Eugene de Mazenod, and the same unconditional love for her, which strives to be ever more open. It is important to work for a Church that is for everyone, a Church ready to welcome and accompany! The work to be done to accomplish all of this is vast; and you too have your specific contribution to offer”.

PRAYING WITH SAINT EUGENE DE MAZENOD

Loving Father, you blessed your Bishop Saint Eugene de Mazenod with the gift of hope.

From an early age, he experienced emotional pain and brokenness.  Amidst the many mysteries of life, you allowed him to know the uncertainty of a family broken by divorce, a nation disjoined by political revolution and a Church debilitated by religious persecution.

Through his intercession, help us now to do what he did: to draw close to your Son, Jesus the Savior.  Believing that we are saved by His death and resurrection, give us the courage and strength to face our own uncertainties and personal brokenness.

Guide us by the Spirit to decide and to live each day for your honor and glory.  By this prayer, may we receive our own healing, obtain a share of St. Eugene’s “missionary heart” to proclaim God’s Good News, and gain for ourselves and others a future filled with hope.  Come and bless us.  Amen.

Charles Banks OMI

See also

Jesús Hernández Serrano carrying a relic of St Eugene at the canonization ceremonyJesús Hernández Serrano carrying a relic of St Eugene at the canonization ceremony

Beginning in March, 1987, a Mexican citizen Jesús Hernández Serrano, a 55 year old married man from Mexico City, born in 1932, with two children, was under medical treatment. On May 4, 1987 he was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a malignant growth in the biliary duct system. These cancerous tumors of the bile ducts are usually quite advanced by the time they are found. Symptoms may include fever, loss of appetite, pain in the upper right abdomen, weight loss, yellowing of the skin. When possible, surgery to remove the tumor is the treatment of choice, and may result in a cure. At that time, when surgery to cure the cancer was not possible, life was limited to 3, and a maximum of 5, more years. By May, 1987, the patient had lost 30 kg of weight and developed into a more and more serious state. Since he was too weak, he was not able to undergo chemotherapy or surgery.  The doctors decided on treatment to reduce the pain.  On May 12 he left the hospital. On June 7, 1987, the family, living in an Oblate Parish, decided to pray the novena to blessed Eugene de Mazenod. The prayer was joined by the parish’s congregation. A prayer group visited the house of the sick morning and evening for the novena prayer. On June 15, the last day of the novena, the pain became more intense. During the night of June 16-17, the sick man fell into a terminal state. But, on June 17, the sick person was healed. He was able to get up and to wash himself. From that day on, he got better and better. After more than one week, the healed person was able to leave the house for the first time. By the end of the year he was back to work. Medical tests in 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991 and 1993 clearly indicated that the cancer was completely gone. Doctors described the cure as exceptional and scientifically inexplicable. In April/May of 1993, the diocesan inquiry of a possible miracle through the intercession of Blessed Eugene de Mazenod was held in the Archdiocese of Mexico City.  In March, 1994, the medical Congress of the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints confirmed the miraculous cure. The miracle led to the Canonization of Eugene de Mazenod in 1995.
https://www.omiworld.org/our-charism/our-saints/saint-eugene-de-mazenod/some-miracles-and-favours-received/

From the canonization homily:

 Eugene de Mazenod had, in fact, felt very deeply the universality of the Church’s mission. He knew that Christ wanted to unite the entire human race to himself. That is why he paid special attention throughout his life to the evangelization of the poor, wherever they were found.

Founded in Provence, in his native region, the Congregation was not slow in spreading “to the ends of the earth.”  Through preaching based on meditation on the Word of God, it put into practice the exhortations of Saint Paul: “How can one believe without having heard the Word of the Lord? How can one hear his Word if no one has proclaimed it?” Proclaiming Christ,  for Eugene de Mazenod, meant becoming that apostolic man whom every age needs, with the spiritual fervor and missionary zeal that gradually configured him to the Risen Christ.

Pope John Paul 2

From the homily of Pope John Paul 2 at the canonization ceremony of Eugene de Mazenod on the First Sunday of Advent, 3 December 1995:

PRAYER OF EUGENE DE MAZENOD

You, you alone will be the sole object to which will tend all my affections and my every action. To please you, act for your glory, will be my daily task, the task of every moment of my life. I wish to live only for you, I wish to love you alone and all else in you and through you. I despise riches, I trample honours under foot; you are my all, replacing all else. My God, my love and my all: Deus meus et omnia.

Notes made during the retreat in preparation for priestly ordination, December 1-21, E.O. XIV n.95

Between July and November 1936, 22 Oblates were martyred because of who they were and what they stood for. The youngest was 18, the next oldest was 19, and sixteeen others were in their twenties.

Prayer:

Almighty and eternal God
Who granted to Francisco Esteban and his martyred companions
the grace of giving their lives for Christ,
through a bloody oblation,
help us in our weakness,
so that through their intercession
and following their example,
we too might remain firm in our faith
and might be able to give our lives for others
through the “martyrdom of charity,”
according to the teaching of St. Eugene de Mazenod;
and in this way,
we might be able to give witness to the world
about who Jesus Christ is.
We ask this through the intercession of our Mother, Mary Immaculate,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.

Read more about them in “Eugene de Mazenod Speaks to us”:
https://www.eugenedemazenod.net/?p=1142;   https://www.eugenedemazenod.net/?p=1148;

THE FIRST GROUP OF MARTYRS

MARTYRDOM AS THE FULLNESS OF OBLATION

SPANISH MARTYRS – ALL FOR GOD

THE SPANISH MARTYRS: MODELS OF FAITH AND INTERCESSORS FOR US

In the name of God, let us be saints.

Eugene de Mazenod to his Oblate Family, 18 February 1826, EO VII, n. 226

On December 3 we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the day when the Church officially recognized the sanctity of Eugene de Mazenod, and held him up as a model from whom we can learn how to follow Jesus the Savior.

Our Postulator General in Rome, Father Diego Saez OMI, has published a booklet with various reflections that can be used for personal prayer, family reflection or a group meeting (Zoom works well to make this possible).

It can be downloaded at https://www.omiworld.org/2020/11/17/154787/

I highly recommend it to you.

In the name of God, let us be saints – following Eugene’s example as members of the Mazenodian Family!

Today on the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving. I was never familiar with this celebration until I became a member of the US Province of the Missionary Oblates eight years ago. I have learnt that it is a beautiful moment to stop, take stock and give thanks to God for the blessings of the previous year. Its historical origin was the end of the harvest and giving thanks to God for the fruits of the earth. I invite you, who are outside of the US, to join in the spirit of this Thanksgiving today.

2020 – what is there to be thankful for? A pandemic, illness, death, fear, confusion caused by political situations, economic uncertainty, hunger… Thanksgiving???

Yes, gratitude! In the midst of so much darkness I invite you to be grateful for St Eugene and his charism that has given birth to the Mazenodian Family. Let’s join him in the gratitude that he expressed at the end of his long and fruitful life. The Oblates were the first fruits of what was to become his universal charismatic family: 

Be sure to tell them that I die happy… that I die happy that God was so good as to choose me to found the Congregation of the Oblates in the Church.

(Quoted by J. Fabre, Circular letter 1861)

Through the example of his life and of his teaching, St Eugene shows us how to keep focused on God as the only unshakable foundation that will never disappear.

To keep focused on Jesus our Savior as our light, our pilot, our shepherd who never abandons us.

I am grateful that the spirit of Eugene continues to accompany us so that in the darkness of the pandemic we can focus on the power of the resurrection that no pandemic can eliminate:

If we bear in our body the death of Jesus, it is with the hope that the life of Jesus, too, may be seen in our body (cf. 2 Cor 4:10). Through the eyes of our crucified Saviour we see the world which he redeemed with his blood, desiring that those in whom he continues to suffer will know also the power of his resurrection (cf. Phil 3: 10).       

OMI Constitutions and Rules, Constitution 4

Today I am grateful for the Mazenodian Family and for the opportunity I have each day to reflect on the words of Eugene and to share this with you in our “St Eugene de Mazenod Speaks.” I am grateful for the technology that makes it possible and that keeps us connected.

2020 – what is there to be thankful for? Plenty! Today I give thanks in a special way for the gift of each one of you and our connection in this daily St Eugene reflection. Thanks to God, thanks to Eugene and thanks to YOU!

Eugene wrote in his Diary:

Answers from our various houses on the question I submitted to them. We should record all of them as they are so edifying…  
It will be a beautiful page in our history. The spirit of this little known Congregation and the dedication of its members will be visible. I defy the most regular Orders that enjoy the highest esteem in the Church to provide a better example.

Eugene continues, “let them read the letters of” and he lists the names of 13 Oblates: 

 and they will see that the spirit of God animates these souls, that they understand the duties of their holy state, that zeal for the salvation of others, devotion to the Church and love for the Congregation are the common prerogative of our dear family.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 24 July 1841, EO XX

 A few days later he enthusiastically exclaimed:

They will honor our small and humble Congregation, which unfurls its standard for the first time outside the confines of its birthplace, and they will bring down God’s blessing by their holiness and the efforts of their zeal not only upon the work they undertake but on the whole Congregation in the name of which they will fight.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 6 August 1841, EO XX

That small step was to be a giant leap for the Mazenodian Family! I hope Neil Armstrong doesn’t mind my paraphrasing his words, but this acceptance led to a major paradigm shift for us and for hundreds of thousands of people enriched by the Mazenodian missionaries.

Eugene reflected in a letter to Father Vincens about the providential call to the Missionary Oblate Congregation:

Here is a vast field that is opening up to her zeal. Canada is calling for her ministry, how do we respond to this appeal when there are no members.

Nevertheless I have consulted the whole Congregation to find out as to what I should reply to his Lordship the Bishop of Montreal who is asking me for four missionaries to evangelize his vast diocese and work for the conversion of the indigenous who have established contact with him.

Letter to Joseph Vincens, 17 July 1841, EO IX n 734

Eugene asked each Oblate two questions: 1/ should we accept this mission in Canada, and 2/ would you be willing to go there as a missionary?

Yvon Beaudoin writes about this in a footnote to this letter:

We still possess an enthusiastic reply of Father Dassy who was ready to leave with Father Vincens: “I don’t see… that we have to make great sacrifices for this mission: the trip, the climate, change of country, separation from the family, all these things are not great things in my view. Say one word and for me France will be Canada, my parents, brothers and friends will be in Canada; my heart will fly to Canada and this country which makes our hearts throb at this moment, this country, if necessary, will even be my only country until death…”