Throughout the missionary history of the Oblates we invariably find religious Sisters somewhere in the picture, rendering selfless missionary service according to their charism: catechists, school teachers, nurses and generous cooperators in whatever was necessary for the success of the missions.
Eugene gratefully acknowledged the importance of the various congregations of Sisters throughout his life. Here we find one example as he acknowledged the service of the Sisters to the Canadian Oblates in ministry, but especially in caring for the men who had fallen ill as a result of the typhus epidemic. He gave them a full share in the spiritual benefits of the Oblate Family – which today we refer to as “Honorary Oblates” (HOMI)
Although the laws of Christian charity make it a duty for us to pray to God on behalf of all, we nevertheless believe ourselves more strictly obliged to do so in regard to the persons to whom we are indebted for spiritual and temporal services rendered to the members of our Congregation. Wherefore, Sisters, on learning of the charity and indefatigable zeal that you have exercised towards the Oblates of Mary Immaculate established in Canada, we wish to give you a solemn and lasting witness of our gratitude. So, confiding ourselves to divine mercy and to the powerful intercession of the Most Holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary, our patroness, by the authority which God has given us, in spite of our unworthiness, we grant you for ever a full and entire communion in all the holy Masses, prayers, penances and of all works of piety and zeal which by the grace of God are performed and will be performed in future in the various houses of our Institute as much in America as in other parts of the world, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
We beg that it be the will of Our Lord Jesus Christ to ratify in Heaven this promise and engagement in order that, He, compensating for our unworthiness from the inexhaustible treasure of His merits, may heap upon you, Sisters, every grace and heavenly blessing in this life and reward you hereafter with the crown of a glorious eternity.
Given at Marseilles under our sign, the seal of our arms and the countersign of the secretary of the Congregation, the 24th of May, 1848.
+ C. J. Eugene, bishop of Marseilles, S.G.
To the Religious Sisters of the Hotel-Dieu of Montreal known as the Sisters of Saint Joseph, EO I n. 98
It was often said that Eugene’s heart was as big as the world. His vision extended beyond the borders of France and even beyond his missionaries in several continents so as to be in unity with the universal Church. As Bishop of Marseilles he invited his people to respond to the needs of suffering Catholics in various troubled parts of the world. The typhus epidemic in Canada was one of these occasions, as he wrote to the Bishop of Montreal who had ” been plunged by the frightful sickness which has decimated your clergy and has brought you yourself within inches of death.“
Alone of all the Catholic bishops of the world, I take to heart your deplorable situation. Seeing you overwhelmed by the weight of adversity, it is not enough for me to express my pleas to the Lord in private. Too great is the evil in my eyes not to apply a more powerful remedy. I raise then my voice in the midst of the Church, I want it to resound throughout the whole of France in the hope of inducing by my example other bishops to do as much.
I order public prayers in the whole of my diocese. At each Mass is to be said a Collect, Secret and Postcommunion apt to arouse fervour in the most tepid soul, should such be found among my priests; the people are to be united by such prayers and of their charity they are to be moved also to implore relief from your sufferings each time the Blessed Sacrament is taken from the tabernacle to bless the multitude. My people respond to my thoughts and unite their intentions to mine, they pray with so much fervour that they obtain, I am confident, what we ask for with ardour and perseverance, at least it has been noted that not another priest of yours has died since the name of the Lord has been invoked on their behalf.
Letter to Bishop Bourget of Montreal, 12 February 1848, EO I n 93
REFLECTION
“If we can cultivate a concern for others, keeping in mind the oneness of humanity, we can build a more compassionate world.” (Dalai Lama)
Fr. Jean-Pierre Bernard (24 years old) had been ordained a priest by Bishop de Mazenod in September 1847, and within days had left for Canada. On the same day Fr. Augustin Gaudet had been ordained and the two had travelled together to Canada. Eugene wrote to Gaudet:
The good Father Bernard who had so well endured the ocean crossing, being so strong and well constituted, I saw him at death’s door; what grief I felt! But I never lost hope. I had unlimited confidence in the goodness of God and in the protection of the Holy Virgin
Letter to Fr. Gaudet in Montreal, 29 April 1848, EO I n 94
REFLECTION
God heard these prayers and Jean-Pierre was restored to health and was to be a zealous missionary in Canada, USA, and France for the next 37 years.
The circumstances we ask God to CHANGE are often the circumstances God is using to CHANGE US. (Mark Batterson)
Continuing his heartfelt reflections on the young Oblate, Jean-Pierre Bernard who had just arrived in Canada and was dying of typhus, Eugene confided in his diary:
Since his ordination to the sub-diaconate, this dear son had done no other than grow rapidly in virtue. His generosity was unfailing. Passing through Paris, he kissed the relic of the martyr Perboyre and wrote to me, “You understand why?” He was so happy to sacrifice himself for the salvation of those who did not believe! […]
The holy Bishop of Montreal has ordered a novena for him, and we’re still hoping for his recovery […] All I fear is that the Lord has found him ripe for heaven and will take this good worker away from us before he can carry out all that his good will inspired him to do. It’s a great sacrifice that the good Lord requires of me. I do everything as if it wasn’t meant to be and I pray with confidence. Who knows if God, in anticipation of these prayers which come from the depths of my heart and which my trust in his mercy inspires, will not have granted me the preservation of this precious child? This thought sustains me as I await the first letter from America.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 6 March 1848, EO XXI
REFLECTION
“Prayer is an act of love; words are not needed. Even if sickness distracts from thoughts, all that is needed is the will to love.” (Saint Teresa of Avila)
Fr. Jean-Pierre Bernard (24 years old) had been ordained a priest by Bishop de Mazenod in September 1847 and within days had left for Canada. Within day s of his arrival in Canada, Eugene received the news that
our very good, very fervent Fr. Bernard is so ill that he received, that very day, the last sacraments. I am truly devastated by this news. Could we not permit ourselves some dedication to God and to the salvation of souls by this fervent missionary, with his good hand, his wonderful voice, his robust health! My God, what a new trial!
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 6 March 1848, EO XXI
The typhus epidemic in Canada:
In 1847-1848 there was an outbreak of deadly typhus in eastern Canada caused by a large emigration as a result of the Great famine in Ireland. Crowded ships carrying around 90,000 migrants became sources of infection and were referred to as “coffin ships.” Sheds were erected to quarantine all who had been infected, and these became places of great suffering and death. Between 3500 and 6000 typhus deaths were recorded in Montreal and over 4000 in Ontario. Religious responded with the Grey Nuns, the Sisters of Providence and the Oblates among others, with many becoming infected and several dying. Bishop Bourget of Montreal appealed to the Catholics of Quebec to come forward and help their fellow-Catholics. Many adopted children who had been orphaned as a result of the epidemic.
REFLECTION
“The pandemic has been such an awful time for so many people around the world, but it has also been a reminder for us about the things that really matter – the people in our lives and the love we have for them.” (Ananya Birla)
Eugene invites all the Oblates to be inspired by the extreme personal sacrifices being made by the first four members of their religious family to go to western North America to teach people “the love of Jesus Christ.”
I have just received a letter from Father Ricard. It is dated August, and they had another 200 leagues to travel before reaching their destination. Our three missionaries, as well as the brother catechist, are well; but what a trip they have just made.
Let none among us complain anymore of anything. for we have so generous an advanced contingent that makes conquests for Jesus Christ by so many sacrifices, and what merits do they not acquire in the eyes of the Lord and of the Church.
Dear Brothers, how admirable they are! Let us pray much for them and let us be proud to be one with such apostles of the Lord.
Letter to Fr Toussaint Dassy, 12 February 1848, EO X n 966
REFLECTION
In his stirring visionary writing at the beginning of the Oblates, the Preface, Eugene had described the spirit of Oblate missionaries:
” free from inordinate attachment to the world or to family, men filled with zeal, ready to sacrifice goods, talents, ease, self, even their life, for the love of Jesus Christ, the service of the Church, and the sanctification of their brethren. And thus, filled with unbounded confidence in God, they are ready to enter the combat, to fight, even unto death, for the greater glory of his most holy and sublime Name.“
The west coast of North America was opening up to Oblate evangelization with the arrival of four missionaries. (See the entry and the ones that follow in: THE FIRST OBLATE MISSION IN THE UNITED STATES – https://www.eugenedemazenod.net/?p=5355)
These four missionaries had sailed from France in February 1847 and after 54 days at sea arrived in New York. Five months later they finally reached in Oregon.
I have just received a letter from Father Ricard. It is dated August, and they had another 200 leagues to travel before reaching their destination. Our three missionaries, as well as the brother catechist, are well; but what a journey they have just made.
Letter to Fr Toussaint Dassy, 12 February 1848, EO X n 966
(Note that at the time of the Founder the word “missionary” denoted priests, which is why he observes the distinction between missionaries and catechist brother. Since then the understanding of the word “missionary” has changed to include all Oblates and members of the charismatic family who are involved in this ministry)
REFLECTION
With our high-speed travel today it is difficult for us to imagine this missionary journey. Let us pause and think of the physical hardships involved and the courage and perseverance involved. Then let us go deeper and reflect on the psychological challenges: Fr. Ricard was 41 years old and had suffered poor health in France. The three others were in their twenties, two being scholastics who had not yet completed their studies. As they left France and loved ones, they knew that in all probability they would never see them and their country of origin ever again.
Such was the price of their love for God and their missionary zeal for the salvation of people who did not know Jesus Christ. It certainly invites us to reflect and challenges us to look at ourselves and our response to God in our fast-moving instant-gratification world…
Eugene de Mazenod was a busy person! Superior General of many Oblates in France and elsewhere, Bishop of a large and demanding diocese, and also the power behind the Oblates breaking new ground in the foreign missions. Going through his writings chronologically can be confusing because they deal with all three of these areas at the same time. For the sake of clarity over these past months, I have been reflecting on the writings regarding France and the diocese of Marseilles. A lot was happening in the Oblate world outside of France at the same time, so this will be our focus now.
In 1818, Eugene had expressed his vision of the missionary congregation:
What more sublime purpose than that of their Institute?
Their founder is Jesus Christ, the very Son of God;
their first fathers are the Apostles.
They are called to be the Saviour’s co-workers, the co-redeemers of mankind;
and even though, because of their present small number and
the more urgent needs of the people around them, they have to limit the scope of their zeal, for the time being, to the poor of our countryside and others,
their ambition should, in its holy aspirations, embrace the vast expanse of the whole earth.
1818 Rule
REFLECTION
In 1818 the missionaries were few and focused on Provence but with a founder’s intuition, Eugene saw beyond his corner of the world. Thirty years later, in 1848, that prophetic vision was being fulfilled. The Oblates were in Corsica, England, Canada, the United States and Ceylon.
“True missionaries, who never cease to be disciples, know that Jesus walks with them, speaks to them, breathes with them, works with them.” – Pope Francis
Celebrating the Incarnation of Jesus Christ and rejoicing in his presence, Eugene sends Christmas greetings:
This is all I can say to you on this holy day spent entirely in church. I officiated yesterday at First Vespers, then during the night, and today both in the morning and in the evening. Thanks be to God, this is never too long for me. That is the only place we can abstract from the world and be occupied solely with Heaven. That is my time of rest.
Goodbye. dear son. I wish you a good remainder of the feast and a Happy New Year.
Letter to Fr Hippolyte Courtès in Aix, 25 December 1848, EO X n 993.
Writing about this in his personal diary:
Pontifical office yesterday at Vespers on account of Sunday, the night and all day of Christmas. I still do not at all feel the weight of the years so as to deprive myself of this great consolation. I have rest only therein; also, the time that I pass in the church these days of the great solemnity always seems short to me.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 25 December 1848, EO XXI
REFLECTION
As a young man in his twenties, Eugene had experienced the saving love of God as Savior and had committed himself to “act in everything and for everything only for God, to love him above all else”. A few years later he resolved: ” I wish to live only for you, I wish to love you alone and all else in you and through you… My God, my love and my all.”
Forty years later, at the age of 66, we can see that he continued to live by those resolutions and to find his happiness and his rest in the presence of God. What an example for us to learn to follow!
Election day for the President of the Republic. I went to vote. The entire staff stood up to receive my vote. This act of respect for the character with which I am invested edified me.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 10 December 1848, EO XXI
REFLECTION
Eugene was convinced that a bishop shared in the responsibility given by Jesus Christ to the apostles and received the Holy Spirit to become the chief pastor of the diocese. In his personal diary he uses the word “character” (as opposed to “position”) in the theological sense of a man being transformed through the sacrament of Orders and given the power to celebrate the sacraments.
It was in this sense that he wanted people to recognize the bishop and not the person, and to acknowledge the office and character of the role he was invested in.
“You must all follow the lead of the bishop, as Jesus Christ followed that of the Father; follow the presbytery as you would the Apostles; reverence the deacons as you would God’s commandment. Let no one do anything touching the Church, apart from the bishop. Let that celebration of the Eucharist be considered valid which is held under the bishop or anyone to whom he has committed it. Where the bishop appears, there let the people be, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” (Saint Ignatius, Martyr and Bishop of Antioch, Letter to the Smyrnaeans, 8.)
