Newly-ordained Fr Francois-Xavier Michelier had been sent to Nancy to have been trained as a preacher and to be community treasurer. The superior, Louis Dassy, had complained to Eugene: ” does not seem the least bit decided to write out sermons at all. He is reading all sorts of writings, but he himself has no inclination to write.” Eugene responded:
Can this young man be so blind concerning his duties? He must surely know that I sent him to Nancy to get ready for preaching and that it is precisely this work that he is refusing to do? This is hardly believable.
On the other hand, Fr Dassy was known to be very demanding in his dealings with people, so Eugene advised him:
Take heed lest you have discouraged him. You do go a bit too fast at times, my dear friend. You do not always take human misery into consideration. There are so many feelings to consider, especially in young men! So do not give up so easily. You now see that you are much more satisfied with the work of Father Depetro, it will be the same with Father (Michelier), but I implore you, do not give up in despair, and especially do not frighten these poor beginners. Insist that they work, but encourage their efforts, show yourself to be happy with the little they do, things will go much better later.
Letter to Fr Louis Dassy at Nancy, 7 January 1849, EO X n 994
REFLECTION
“A word of encouragement from a teacher to a child can change a life. A word of encouragement from a spouse can save a marriage. A word of encouragement from a leader can inspire a person to reach her/his potential.” (John C. Maxwell)
We now leave the foreign missions to focus on what was happening in France in 1849.
In France it is customary for people to send each other good wishes for the new year. Eugene responds to Fr Dassy:
I thank you, my dear son, for the effect your affection for me inspired you to make on the passage from Baruch [ed. “May your days be like days in Heaven upon earth.” Baruch 1. 12]; I called down the same blessings on you and your community, from the first day of this new year, which, after all, is no more than a confirmation of what I ask every day of Heaven for the family God gave me and which gives me so many consolations in the midst of tribulations which weigh upon us as upon the whole Church.
Letter to Fr Louis Dassy at Nancy, 7 January 1849, EO X n 994
REFLECTION
Eugene’s reference to the tribulations refer to the 1848 political revolutions that shook France and the whole of Europe, with consequences for the Church as witnessed to by the Pope’s exile away from Rome in Gaeta.
“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)
The Oblate mission in Oregon was difficult and challenging. To complicate matters, the local Bishop was not very encouraging nor understanding of the Oblate way of mission. For this reason, Eugene wrote to the Vatican with this request:
Please bear with me if I come back to the Oregon mission. I was not able to hold back my tears as I read the latest letters from these missions. Rest assured that the Jesuits and the Oblates are doing everything, but theirs is a life of privations, heroic mortification, fatigue and danger, with no consolation at all from the bishops. On the contrary, they are afflicted by all kinds of disheartening episodes and constraints. Therefore, I feel it to be of the utmost importance to appoint the provincial superior of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Fr. Pascal Ricard, as bishop of Nesqually. He already lives in that town and will be ready with his men to serve the indigenous peoples in that region as well as the Europeans and Americans who live in various settlements. The independence thus gained will enhance the good of these Missions which need a fixed site in order to avoid losing all courage.
Eugene was writing with a bishop’s understanding in making this request.
Please believe me, dear Monseigneur, I am a bishop and believe that I understand the great responsibilities of my sacred character. I would sacrifice my life a thousand times over for the glory of God and the salvation of souls and I would rather see my hand wither than to write even a single syllable contrary to that end, the sole object of my every thought.
To Bishop Barnabo, Secretary of the S. Congregation of Propaganda Fide, 8 October 1849, EO V n 11
REFLECTION
“The purpose of our Institute is the exact same one that the Son of God had in mind when he came down on earth: the glory of his heavenly Father and the salvation of souls.” (Eugene de Mazenod)
I have spent eleven consecutive hours at my desk writing to all our Fathers in Oregon and drawing up instructions both for them and for Fr. d’Herbomez who, together with two Brothers, is going to join them by way of California… I have spoken of Fr. d’Herbomez and Brothers Surel and Janin who are setting sail today on the interminable journey to Oregon, passing by Cape Horn. Ah, how admirable are these courageous children! They are leaving for that mission, which is so unattractive, humanly speaking, with a holy joy and an astonishing zeal. Everybody is very edified and the eighty passengers have proclaimed their great joy at having them, especially the priest, as travelling companions. I hope that it will be useful for their souls during this long journey which lasts no less than six or seven or even eight months.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 19 November 1849, EO XXII
REFLECTION
It is hard for us to imagine these young men leaving on a journey by sea and overland that would take 6 to 8 months. They were aware that hardships awaited them in Oregon, and that they would probably never see France again. Yet they set out with joy to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people who had never heard it. All three missionaries spent the rest of their lives in Canada, with Louis D’Herbomez becoming Vicar Apostolic of British Columbia in 1863.
Today our Oblate Rule of Life continues to hold out this ideal: “we give ourselves to the Father in obedience even unto death and dedicate ourselves to God’s people in unselfish love. Our apostolic zeal is sustained by the unreserved gift we make of ourselves in our oblation, an offering constantly renewed by the challenges of our mission.” Constitution 2
If you could read the letters I receive from Oregon, you would have shed tears with me over the sufferings and the privations that our dear Fathers are enduring in that mission. Their hands are calloused by the work they are obliged to do, to clear land they must cultivate to grow, not grain for bread which is lacking, but for potatoes to have something to live on. They would need two thousand francs to hire a helper, and they do not even have enough to pay the costs of the letters we send them. They are forced to cut down with their own hands trees that are hundreds of years old; they live among the tribes, always exposed to all kinds of dangers and even loss of life, I pity them, or rather I do not pity but admire them; in spirit I prostrate myself at their feet; I bless the Lord for having chosen them as instruments of his glory and mercies.
Letter to Fr Ambroise Vincens at N. D. de L’Osier, 12 October 1849, EO X n 1024
REFLECTION
With Eugene, we too, bow in admiration at all that our Savior has done and continues to do through the cooperators he has called to His mission.
“Among our own people also the church sorely needs ministers in close touch with the ordinary life of the laity, living the life of ordinary people, sharing their difficulties and understanding their trials by close personal experience.” (Roland Allen)
Oblate missions were opening up in several parts of Canada, and it is hard to keep up from Eugene’s correspondence. So I am grouping together the various letters referring to one area. Our recent reflections have concerned Eastern and Central Canada. Now we focus on Oregon, a foundation that would later move north to open up the area of Vancouver.
Next Sunday I am going to ordain Brother d’Herbomez. He will leave immediately for the difficult mission of Oregon. He is all filled with joy at the thought of the privations he will have to undergo. That is what he has been asking of the Lord for a long time. These are truly generous souls and not like these lazy ones who refuse to go to a mission like England. When one has these dispositions, one is as ready for one mission as for another.
Letter to Fr Ambroise Vincens at N. D. de L’Osier, 12 October 1849, EO X n 1024
REFLECTION
“Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual beliefs, nor out of theological arguments, but out of love. If I do not love a person I am not moved to help him by proofs that he is in need; if I do love him, I wait for no proof of a special need to urge me to help him.” (Roland Allen)
Eugene wrote in his Diary:
Among the numerous letters which arrive from everywhere, I have received one today from Fr. Laverlochere, dated from Moose Factory. It contains some interesting details from those difficult missions on the shores of the icy sea, in Hudson Bay. I am happy to see how he praises little Fr. Arnaud who has been raised to the priesthood in Canada. This is what Fr. Laverlochere has to say about him: “The Bishop of Bytown will give as my companion the likeable and virtuous little Fr. Arnaud. It would be impossible for me to tell you all that this little child of Mary Immaculate possesses by way of qualities. The beauty of his soul and his goodness of heart are so clearly imprinted on his angelic face that all who see him are impressed at first sight. Protestants as well as Catholics have mentioned this to me more than once. He has only one fault, I am told, that he is too young. I tell them that this is a fault that he is correcting day by day. In fact his angelic face appears so young that, in many instances, I have had difficulty persuading the Hudson Bay officers that he is a priest like myself. A soul so candid and so pure cannot even suspect the awful evil which is rife in the world. Indeed he fails to combine the prudence of the serpent with the simplicity of the dove, a virtue which he possesses to the highest degree. I praise God every day for having such a companion. Without saying a word, he often makes me blush at my own laziness and I must admit this to you, very reverend Father.”
What is one to think of such an admission coming from the mouth of this heroic missionary who is doing such wonders of dedication with so much success in the missions he has founded and bringing to perfection all the others which he visits every year? Indeed the good Fr. Laverlochère is as humble as he is powerful in good works.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 26 October 1849, EO XXII
REFLECTION
Eugene’s pride in the achievements of his missionary family is evident. We are also invited to enjoy the achievements of the Oblate Charismatic family today. Every day our official website publishes news from our missionaries throughout the world: https://www.omiworld.org
Look at them and enjoy them!
As Bishop of Marseilles, Eugene used his authority to arrange help for the cholera victims where the secular leaders were not always being successful. Responding to the concern expressed by the Vatican, Eugene wrote to Bishop Barnabo:
Your latest and most kind letter reached Marseilles when I was away from the diocese. I hastened back due to the cholera outbreak and I had so much to do that I hardly had time to breathe. The plague still weighs heavily upon my poor Marseilles and even though more than 80,000 persons have left the city, 30 to 40 people still fall victim to the horrible disease each day.
Since the all-male aid teams, who assist the cholera-stricken through zeal or for other reasons, gave me cause for concern when they went to care for those of the opposite sex, I myself set up all-female groups from now on solely responsible for charitable assistance to women afflicted by the disease. Oh, how happy I am to have taken that step. Charity alone moves these beautiful souls inspired by religion and sent forth by their Pastor, while before that, the philanthropic endeavors organized by secular authorities were not able to suppress the most impudent vice hidden beneath that cloak.
To Bishop Barnabo, Secretary of the S. Congregation of Propaganda Fide, 8 October 1849, EO V n 11.
REFLECTION
“The greatest need of the world is the need for people who will not be bought or sold; persons who in their inmost souls are true and honest; persons who do not fear to call sin by its right name; persons whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole; persons who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.” (Ellen G. White)
I departed in great haste without finishing my visit with you in order to be back amongst my flock ravaged by the cholera. It continues to inflict much harm but, thanks to God, has not attacked up to now anyone of us. Yet we are not without anxiety for our good Father Mounier who is at grips with a high typhoid fever. The sacraments had to be administered to him today. This would be a very great loss for us to bear. It is he who is responsible for the spiritual direction of our numerous Oblates [ed. Eugene always used the word “Oblates” when referring to the scholastics and “missionaries” when referring to the ordained Oblates].
Letter to Father Jean Baudrand in Canada, 30 September 1849, EO I n 124
REFLECTION
There were five cholera epidemics during the time that Eugene was Bishop of Marseilles. Each time, he and his priests cared for and ministered courageously to the victims. Twenty-seven year old Fr Jean Francois Mounier died as soon as Eugene finished writing this letter.
“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” (Theodore Roosevelt)
Father Baudrand was the superior of a community of three Oblates and Eugene was delighted that they got on well with each other. It weas always his wish that an Oblate community be united in the charity expressed in unity of heart and mind.
I am happy to learn that you are united as one in your house in Longueuil with Fathers Chevalier and Lagier. I wish to God that we had always understood that this union of minds and hearts is a duty from which we should never deviate, but also that the happiness of life depends on its fulfilment.
Letter to Father Jean Baudrand in Canada, 30 September 1849, EO I n 124
REFLECTION
“Unity is strength… when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.” (M. Stepanek)
