Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us

The pandemic does not make it possible for some of us to participate physically in the Holy Week liturgies and the sacraments. What an experience of the Cross it is, and what an invitation to see things in a new light!

From the Cross, our Savior reminds us that he is present every time we read the Scriptures, and every time we consciously live this promise with someone else: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am present among them” (Matthew 18,20). The persons taking this promise seriously, DO have the presence of Jesus among them – even if separated by many miles and even continents. Jesus has promised always to be present in this way if we remember to allow him to. This is one way of living the Cross with those who suffer today.

Saint Eugene recalled:

Can I forget the bitter tears that the sight of the cross brought streaming from my eyes one Good Friday?

Eugene de Mazenod, Retreat Journal, December 1814, EO XV n.130

“How could we get deeper into this salvatorian spirituality of ours? Let me mention three ways.   First.  Someone inspired by St. Eugene will not be afraid of the cross. As true Oblates we will look openly into the face of the suffering and crucified Christ. This is done not so much by pictures and movies as by reading the Scriptures, experiencing Christ’s presence in the sacraments and looking into the face of the poorest of our brothers and sisters.

W. Steckling OMI, OMI Information n 462, Rome, February 2007.

“Sometimes we are tempted to be that kind of Christian who keeps the Lord’s wounds at arm’s length. Yet Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others. He hopes that we will stop looking for those personal or communal niches which shelter us from the maelstrom of human misfortune and instead enter into the reality of other people’s lives and know the power of tenderness. Whenever we do so, our lives become wonderfully complicated and we experience intensely what it is to be a people, to be part of a people.”

Pope Francis, The Joy of the Gospel, 270.

This reflection was prepared a while ago. As I reread it today, in the context of our current lockdown, the question comes to mind: “How can I proclaim this to those most in need today?”

Firstly, by spending time meditating on this reality myself and making it more alive in me as a life-giving focus in these times of fear and uncertainty.

Then it will overflow to those I reach out to, in my home, and through my use of social media to reach out to others.

St Eugene’s Good Friday experience of the Savior brought light and focus into his life:

What more glorious occupation than to act in everything and for everything only for God, to love him above all else, to love him all the more as one who has loved him too late

Eugene de Mazenod, Retreat Journal, December 1814, EO XV n.130

“The word ‘Oblates’ means people ready to give themselves for the love of God. God’s Spirit has granted St. Eugene and his sons and daughters the zeal to get caught up by the mystery of the saving cross and to proclaim it to those most in need. Our spirituality is therefore centered on the salvation given us by Christ; it can be called ‘salvatorian’. With such a spiritual orientation our Congregation was approved in 1826.

Our recognition by the Church, which we celebrate each February 17th calls us to delve deeper into the mystery of salvation, to make it even more the center of our lives, as it was the center around which Eugene’s life revolved.”

Steckling OMI, OMI Information n 462, Rome, February 2007.

Goodness always tends to spread. Every authentic experience of truth and goodness seeks by its very nature to grow within us, and any person who has experienced a profound liberation becomes more sensitive to the needs of others. As it expands, goodness takes root and develops. If we wish to lead a dignified and fulfilling life, we have to reach out to others and seek their good. In this regard, several sayings of Saint Paul will not surprise us: “The love of Christ urges us on” (2 Cor 5:14); “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16).   Pope Francis, The Joy of the Gospel, 9.

Former Superior General, Wilhelm Steckling OMI, wrote in 2007:

“It was probably in 1807, on Good Friday of that year, that Saint Eugene had a special encounter with the Crucified One that changed his life. It essentially made him an Oblate. What we can celebrate in 2007 is not an anniversary of the Congregation, but rather an anniversary of our charism, the spiritual gift that makes us live – an anniversary of our Oblate spirituality.

It was the cross displayed on Good Friday that made young Eugene – 24 at that time – aware of his life- style apart from God.

“I had looked for happiness outside of God and outside him I found but affliction and chagrin”, he writes a few years later (1814) during a retreat. In his emptiness he encounters someone who loves him without measure. His sins melt away amidst tears in the embrace of Christ, and this experience marks him for the rest of his life. “Can I forget the bitter tears that the sight of the cross brought streaming from my eyes one Good Friday?” “Blessed, a thousand times blessed, that he, this good Father, notwithstanding my unworthiness, lavished on me all the richness of his mercy.” The experience did not stay just inside of him. “Let me at least make up for lost time by redoubling my love for him.”

After a short time, St. Eugene wanted to share the mercy he experienced with others. Such zeal for souls finally led to the birth of the Oblates. The word “Oblates” means people ready to give themselves for the love of God.”

W. Steckling OMI, OMI Information n 462, Rome, February 2007

“Jesus on the cross feels the whole weight of the evil, and with the force of God’s love he conquers it; he defeats it with his resurrection. This is the good that Jesus does for us on the throne of the cross. Christ’s cross, embraced with love, never leads to sadness, but to joy, to the joy of having been saved and of doing a little of what he did on the day of his death.”   Pope Francis

Knowing the zeal and generosity of the first group of Oblate missionaries in Canada, Eugene encouraged them to maintain a balance.

Do not let yourselves be overwhelmed by the work which will soon surpass your strength. One must never want to do more than God permits. Plan all things wisely. Above all, always reserve time for study and for your personal sanctification in the interior of your house. That is indispensable.

Letter to Fr. Jean Baptiste Honorat, 26 March 1842, EO I n 10

Each one has to “BE” a person of God who prays and deepens their knowledge and relationship with God. That is indispensable for the success of the ministry, the “DO” of mission.

An invitation to pause in our frenetic world of multi-tasking to examine our own equilibrium

I hope, I am even confident that not one of our men is blind to the importance and grandeur of your mission. The future of the Congregation in the New World is in your hands.

Writing to Father Honorat, superior of the first community of Oblate missionaries outside of France, Eugene reminds them of the importance of their mission. If their ministry is successful in Canada, then their future is assured. If the first community turns out to be a failure, that would destroy all future missionary endeavours.  The eyes of the Canadian Church were focused on this community.

The secret to success was to be found in their spiritual and community life – in the way in which they lived their spirit of oblation.

Be what you should be, that is,

truly good religious,

disciplined in your whole behaviour,

perfectly united,

of one heart and mind,

moved by the same spirit under that ordered regularity which marks you in the eyes of all as men living up to the demands of their Rule, in obedience and charity, devoted to all works of zeal conformed to such obedience and not otherwise, never seeking their own interest but only what pertains to the glory of God and the service of the Church.

Letter to Fr. Jean Baptiste Honorat, 26 March 1842, EO I n 10

“Be what you should be” as members of the Mazenodian Family, living the spirit of oblation of Jesus the Savior in the everyday demands of our state of life. We are all disciples through our baptism – let us help each other to “be what you should be”

Eugene was in a reminiscing mood on the day of this diary entry.  For some reason he decided to make a list of all his anniversaries. As we read it, perhaps it could inspire each of us to do the same – and to celebrate with a prayer of gratitude for each of our milestones.

 Memorable days for me, whose anniversary I need to celebrate:

August 1, 1782, my birth;

August 2, 1782, my baptism.

I made my First Communion on Holy Thursday and I was confirmed by Cardinal Costa, Archbishop of Turin on the feast day of the Holy Trinity, but I am not sure whether this was in the year 1792 or even in 1793.

In the first supposition, Holy Thursday would correspond to April 5 and the Holy Trinity to June 3; in the second, this would be March 28 and May 26.

On November 4, 1808, I took the soutane,

on December 27, 1808, I was tonsured by Bishop Andre, former bishop of Quimper.

On May 27, 1809, I received minor orders from His Excellency Cardinal Fesch;

on December 23, 1809, I was made sub-deacon by Bishop André, former bishop of Quimper;

on June 16, 1810, I was made deacon by Cardinal Fesch;

on December 21, 1811, I was made priest in Amiens by Bishop Demandoix of Amiens. Cardinal Mattei, who should have ordained me, was in exile, and I not having wanted to receive the priesthood from the hands of Cardinal Maury, at the time administrator of the diocese of Paris. [ed. Jean Siffrein Maury (1746-1817), appointed by Pius VI bishop of Montefiascone and cardinal in 1799. Appointed archbishop of Paris by Napoléon in 1810; Pope Pius VII, in exile in France, refused to confirm the nomination.]

On November 1, 1818, I made my oblation in the congregation,

and, on October 14, 1832, I received episcopal consecration from the hands of His Eminence Cardinal Odescalchi  and from the archbishops of Chalcédoine and of Ravenna, thereafter Cardinals Frezza and Falconieri. 

I was transferred to the see of Marseille on October 2, 1837.

He concludes with a certain subtle sense of humor:

Yet to be known is the day of my death, the anniversary of which others will have to celebrate and for which I invoke in advance the mercy of God.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 14 March 1842, EO XXI

Let us also celebrate our milestones.

Eugene’s diary reveals his suffering with Jesus on the Cross.

March 25: Good Friday. For a long time, the desperate illness of my beloved Louis has nailed me to the cross, today I had to expire there with the Lamb of God who was sacrificed there for us. While I had left for a moment in order to go to administer the sacrament of confirmation to a dying person, Mister de Boisgelin entered the bishopric; his presence sufficed for me to learn the heartbreaking news, which we were expecting only too much. He was with his son yesterday when [the latter] rendered his beautiful soul to his creator. It was at the very hour when I was here, at the altar, offering the Holy Sacrifice for him, alas! not any more for the healing of his body, but for the greatest sanctification of his soul.

In this way, there is in heaven he who had been our consolation on earth. So many talents, so many virtues, such a good personality have been lost to us. One of the most beautiful jewels of our crown is fallen, a portion of our being has disappeared; for do we not live in the recipients of our tenderness?

Truce, my poor heart, with every whispered thought: God alone is the master of his creatures; he disposes of them according to his very just, very holy and adorable will. Ah! yes, may his holy will be done, were it even to cost our life.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 25 March 1842, EO XXI

Eugene describes his last visit to his dying nephew.

Not being able to prolong my stay in Avignon, I had to part from Louis, my heart distressed and without hope of seeing him return to health. This blessed infant wanted to converse a few moments in particular with me…

May the Lord deign to accept, in expiation for my sins, all the cruel pains which I endure on the occasion of all these worthy recipients of my tenderness. Who could tell what I was suffering in this discussion during which this blessed child maintained an angelic calm and serenity which did not leave him. As for myself, “I die each day “[ed. 1 Cor. 15: 31].; in all the power of these words, this is the exact truth.

I embraced him, perhaps for the last time; I blessed him and, doing an extreme violence to myself, I tore myself away from him, in all likelihood to never see him again. My sister did as much and with the same strength of spirit, concentrating in her heart all her grief so as to spare the sensitivity of her son, who, on his part, controlled his emotions, interiorly offered his sacrifice to God, just as we ourselves did, and did not manifest exteriorly anything of what was happening in his soul. Oh! Calvary of my God! Oh! Virgin Mary! And in three days Jesus Christ had to come back to life. Our grief must last as long as our pitiful life! “May your will be done!”

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 8 February 1842, EO XXI

For the text:  https://sites.google.com/view/mazenodianfamily/monthly-oraison/march-21-2021