Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us

When ordained as Bishop of Icosia, the political climate had made Eugene cautious not to draw too much attention to his being an Oblate of Mary Immaculate. Now, as bishop of a diocese he had to design a coat of arms – and one quarter would be the Oblate crest.

I was deterred for the same reasons from asserting this title which is so dear to me in this sense that it expresses my title of being a member even more than being head of a holy family approved and constituted in God’s Church, at the time of my election to the title of Bishop of Icosia.

As a consolation for this reticence, forced on me in the circumstances, I will have my coat of arms quartered with those adopted by the Congregation, and this must always be the practice in the Congregation when someone is called canonically to shoulder so heavy a burden.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 18 May 1837, EO XVIII

He wished that every Oblate, appointed bishop, would do the same.

As Eugene meditates on his responsibilities, his concern for the salvation of those entrusted to his care is a reflection of the attitude he had instilled into his Missionaries.

As my obligations cannot be limited to the gaining of the most sublime virtues, I must attentively consider what is imposed in relation to the flock the Sovereign Pastor is to confide to me. I must achieve my salvation through them, I must save myself with them, at least I must be able to bear witness to having done everything that depended on me for their instruction, to exhort them, turn them away from evil, motivate  them to the practice of virtue, be an example to them in all kinds of good works, finally to procure for them all the means in my power to assure their salvation and lead them thus from the terrestrial fold, where God places them under my crook, to heaven where we must be reunited in God’s bosom…

The whole thing is to act only with a view to pleasing God and to acquit oneself worthily of the charge he has imposed on me.

Retreat preparatory to taking possession of the episcopal see of Marseilles, May 1837, EO XV n 185

This pastoral approach applies equally to all members of the Mazenodian Family in whatever we do for the welfare of others.

Eugene’s retreat reflection continued on the meaning of the bishop as the representative of the Good Shepherd in his diocese:

I give you thanks, O Lord, for having made shine forth this light from the sacred deposit of your Holy Scriptures. As you show me the way I should follow, and give me the desire to follow it, you will also give me the powerful help of your grace so I may tread it with a firm step, and with perseverance. I expect no less of your usual goodness, that mercy that my infidelities have never wearied and which inspires me even in this moment with so much trust. I shall without delay put out my hand to the work, for time is pressing.

From the first day I can be canonically instituted, that is to say, placed by Jesus Christ to watch over the fold, charged to instruct it, feed it, edify it… to become pastor and father, invested with the very authority of Jesus Christ whom I must represent in the midst of that portion of his flock that will become thus my own flock for which I shall have to render an account to the Sovereign Pastor of our souls who will have given them to me to save them in sacrificing myself for them.

Retreat preparatory to taking possession of the episcopal see of Marseilles, May 1837, EO XV n 185

“In the prolonged silent prayer we make each day, we let ourselves be molded by the Lord, and find in him the inspiration of our conduct” (OMI Rule of Life, 33).

The practice of Oraison was an important part of St. Eugene’s daily prayer during which he entered into communion with the members of his missionary family. While they were all in France it was easy for them to gather in prayer at approximately the same time. When Oblate missionaries started to be sent to different continents it was no longer possible to pray at the same time, yet each day there was a time when they stopped and prayed in union with one another – even though not at the same time.

This is a practice that Eugene wanted the members of his religious family to maintain. This is why you are invited to take part in this practice of Oraison on Sunday, February 16, 2020, as we remember the anniversary of the approval of the Oblate Constitutions and Rules.

The papal approbation of February 17^th, 1826 was an act of discernment of the Church, recognizing that the inspiration that Eugene had received had indeed come from God. For ten years this small group of missionaries had survived by their founding vision, surviving hardships, persecution, defections and near-extermination, and yet never giving up. They believed that their vocation came from God, that their ideal was God-inspired and that their mission to the most-abandoned was God-given. The discernment of the Church confirmed this and injected new life and vigor into them. It is an injection of divine life that continues to propel the Mazenodian Family.

(Photograph taken in Baja California, Mexico where the Mazenodian Family continues the mission of St. Eugene. The picture reminds us of the Oblate missionaries who crossed the seas to bring the Gospel to those in need.)

“As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth. I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” John 17:18-21

Some years later Eugene reflected on the meaning of that day on which it has always been customary for Oblates to renew their vows:

Anniversary of the approval of the institute by the Holy See… The second renewal prescribed by the Chapter was carried out immediately afterwards, in my presence, by all the priests and oblates [ed. Eugene always referred ot the scholastics as “oblates”]. The novices were present at the ceremony…. Once one has made one’s renewal kneeling down before the exposed Blessed Sacrament with candle in hand, one remains standing in a circle around the altar.

What was special and I could not help remarking on it in the few words I usually deliver on days like this, was that it was from the foot of the altar that they were going out for fresh conquests, those same men who had come to lay there their acts of thanksgiving for the wonderful successes of the missions they had just accomplished. What blessings in fact had they gathered in the missions, which have just finished in Fontvieille and Entraigues! The Lord will accompany his envoys to Maussane and Mane, and he will bless their labors as he has always blessed all those we have undertaken in his name.   (Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 17 February 1837, EO XVIII)

We too are invited each day to bring our daily successes to the Savior and to renew our trust in his presence to accompany us in our difficult moments.

Eugene was to be the instrument of God’s love for his people by making sure that he was filled with it himself.

How is one to proceed if one is to hope to arrive at this? Above all I must profoundly humble myself before God at finding myself so different from what I was once by his grace.

 … it is a question for me of answering the Master’s call, “Here I am”, I ought to be able to say: “Here I am, here I am, send me.”. But if my strength is diminished, if the salt has lost its flavour, if the lamp no longer gives light, how may I answer with confidence the Master’s call? Lord, come to my aid; come yourself to help me: “Oh God, come to my assistance, Lord make haste to help me.” To you alone it belongs to give strength to my soul; you alone can renew in my depths the sacred fire of your love which must first enkindle fire in my heart, and then pour itself out by my ministry in the souls whom you want to confide in me.

Retreat preparatory to taking possession of the episcopal see of Marseilles, May 1837, EO XV n 185

In the Preface he had written in 1818: “Take great care about what you do and what you teach,” was Paul’s charge to Timothy, “Always do this, and thus you will save both yourself and those who listen to you” (1 Tim 4: 16)

However, one must proceed, it is what God is imposing on me, let me be brave and count on his grace. For that above all it is necessary to work seriously at becoming a saint. This new phase of my life must be a time of complete renewal…

He recalls the moments in his life when he had experienced God’s closeness in a particular way

Now or never is the time for me to carry myself back to the times when I was so fruitful in good thoughts, generous sentiments, to go back to my consecration, my priestly ordination. Then there were holy inspirations, even some lights to understand them, a certain fidelity to correspond to them, but how short it was!

Instability! Temptation! Dissipation! Weakness! Work, contradictions, disgust, a certain disapproval of the human race have almost destroyed the zeal I burned with once upon a time. I really need to reinvigorate my soul. God provides me with the opportunity since he imposes on me a weighty duty that I will be able to fulfil properly only by following in the footsteps of the saints. It is already a signal grace to understand this much; now I must correspond with it and obtain the rest.

Retreat preparatory to taking possession of the episcopal see of Marseilles, May 1837, EO XV n 185y

An echo of the life and missionary program he had set for himself and his missionary family in the Preface of 1818: “We must lead people to think rationally, then as Christians, then help them to become saints.”

Eugene’s retreat reflections continue to invite him to an even greater trust in God

All that would cost me nothing, I think, if penetrated as I am with a sense of my obligations, I could count on being understood in a century when people do not have the least idea what a Catholic bishop is in the eyes of faith and as instituted by our divine Saviour…

Today a bishop is relegated to the inner refuge of his office, to give out dispensations or attend to his correspondence. And if he makes an appearance on occasion in a parish it is to administer confirmation that can only be received from him. But for that there would be no seeing him…

He proceeded to reflect on the difficulties he had experienced with the clergy of Marseilles in his role as Vicar General for over ten years and concluded:

Dear God, when one looks at things with the eyes of faith and with a strong conviction about one’s duties, when one sees the difficulties which conspire against their fulfilment, there is every reason to be discouraged and deterred. However, one must proceed, it is what God is imposing on me, let me be brave and count on his grace.

Retreat preparatory to taking possession of the episcopal see of Marseilles, May 1837, EO XV n 185

These beautiful words sum up all that Eugene would be for the next 24 years as Bishop of Marseilles:

Here I am in fact pastor and chief pastor of a diocese which, whatever one says of it, is not inhabited by saints.

It was given me, I would not have chosen it. However, I must attach myself to this people as a father to his children.

My existence, my life, all my being must be consecrated to it, I must have no thought but for its good, no fears other than I have not done enough for its welfare and sanctification, no other concern than that which must include all its spiritual interests and even in a certain way its temporal welfare.

I must in a word consume myself for it, be ready to sacrifice my leisure, my desire, rest, life itself for it.

Retreat preparatory to taking possession of the episcopal see of Marseilles, May 1837, EO XV n 185

This is a magnificent expression of the full meaning of oblation. Begun at the foot of the cross one Good Friday, and lived and deepened for thirty years throughout an eventful and rich missionary life.

During these days of retreat Eugene reflected on the meaning of his new calling and the attitude with which he would approach the task.

Since the die is cast and in spite of all my efforts up to the present to avoid the burden of the responsibility of a diocese, my calculations and hopes have come to nothing in face of all the various skilful and certainly well-intentioned schemes of my uncle, I must resign myself to it and make the most I can of my new and in my eyes rather sad position.

He had been a bishop since 1832, but with no fixed responsibility to a diocese – he had been free to serve where he discerned best.

I was already a bishop, it is true, but it was as it were only on my own account. I owed nothing to anybody. No one had the right to demand the service of my ministry; all I was in a position to do was inspired in me only by charity. I was free, in a word.

Now it is different! So the episcopate that I have been able up to now to consider as but the fullness of the priesthood with which I had been blessed, and as complementing all the graces the Lord has deigned to grant my soul throughout the whole course of my life, appears to me today as it is in the Church’s constitution under its pastoral aspect, namely, as the heaviest burden that could be imposed on a feeble mortal.

Retreat preparatory to taking possession of the episcopal see of Marseilles, May 1837, EO XV n 185

God’s grace had accompanied him this far, and it was here that he put his trust, no matter how heavy the burden.

Having been given the heavy burden of being appointed Bishop of Marseilles. Eugene’s health suffered.

Everyone, relatives, friends and doctor, having got together to insist on my going out of town to enable me to recover from the state of ill-health I have fallen into following a series of heavy blows experienced over some six or seven months, I agreed to exile myself in the country and spend a fortnight in the most absolute solitude.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 2 May 1837, EO XVIII

The following day:

Here I am at St. Joseph’s since yesterday evening. I will try to profit from my solitude in soul and body… My door will be closed to all and sundry, and my diary idle, so long as no business gets in over the walls.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 3 May 1837, EO XVIII

Here, in solitude, he prayerfully prepared himself to assume his new responsibilities later in the year.

An invitation to us to spend time in silent prayer before attempting challenging tasks.