Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us

Father Frederic Perron was 35 when he died of typhus, and had spent three years in England. He had worked in Penzance and then as superior of Grace Dieu in Leicestershire, and then was appointed superior of the community in Everingham, Yorkshire. He was an Oblate on whom Eugene had placed his confidence, and whose death was a cruel blow.

Yet Eugene was able to trust in God: “May the Lord be blessed in all things.”

Father Cooke writes me that our late Father Perron regained consciousness a few days ago, and that he never stopped talking about heavenly things right up to his last breath. This is another cruel loss, especially as we need ten more workers in England. May the Lord be blessed in all things. One more of the chosen of our family is in heaven; the assurance that our departed give us of their eternal happiness is truly remarkable. We can rightly apply to ourselves the words of Saint Alphonsus de Liguori who promised heaven to all who die in his Congregation. We have the same reason for confidence because it is perseverance in faithfulness to the commitment made with God, and the saintly death of all our members whom the Lord has called to himself confirming us in this reassurance.

Letter to Fr Ambroise Vincens at N.-D. de L’Osier, France, 27 February 1848, EO X n 969

REFLECTION

The Book of Leviticus 19:1 states, “Be holy as I am holy,” and shows that the way to ensure this is through observance of the God’s Word. Eugene was convinced that every Oblate who lived by the Rule (which is our particular way of living the Word of God) and had been faithful to his oblation would join the Oblate community in heaven.

Religious life is a way of living our baptism as are all ways of life. All who “have been claimed for Christ our Savior” at baptism can have the same confidence: if we are faithful in life, God will be faithful at the time of our death.

Zeal to respond to the cry of the poor and most abandoned by preaching the Gospel needed Missionaries. In England, the sudden death of the 35 year-old Fr Perron led to a gap that had to be filled urgently.

Alas! I hasten to ordain dear Brother Grey because I must immediately send him to England where the death of good Father Perron – which I knew to be imminent but the news of which has reached me since I took up my pen to write you – has made a void which must be filled as soon as possible.

Letter to Fr Ambroise Vincens at N.-D. de L’Osier, France, 27 February 1848, EO X n 969

25 year-old Irish scholastic, John Grey, was ordained to the priesthood two weeks later and received his obedience for Everingham in Yorkshire. Later he was to work in Manchester.

REFLECTION

Responding to the need to evangelize the most abandoned with adequate personnel was a constant challenge for Eugene – as it continues to be today. In recent decades God has led us to understand that it is not only the priests and religious who are the evangelizers, but all the People of God. Each of us is a Gospel-bearer in our everyday life – each is invited to respond quietly and generously in our daily interactions and activities.

“But how are they to call on One in whom they have not believed?[ And how are they to believe in One of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim Him? And how are they to proclaim Him unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news’!”

Romans 10: 14-15

Fr. Jean-Pierre Bernard, 26 years old, had been ordained in 1847 and left for Canada. Within months of his arrival he succumbed to an epidemic of typhus. Eugene received the news and wrote in his diary:

Our very good, very fervent Fr. Bernard is so ill that he received, that very day, the 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! This dear child, since his ordination to the sub-diaconate,  did nothing but grow in virtue. His generosity met every test… He was so happy to sacrifice himself for the salvation of unbelievers!

Eugene’s pain was evident, as was his faith in submitting to God’s will

… All that I fear is that the Lord has found him ripened for heaven and that he is taking this good worker even before he would have been able to carry out everything that his good will was inspiring him to do. This is a major sacrifice which our good God is requiring of me. I am doing everything as though this does not need to be and I am praying with confidence. Who knows if God, in anticipation of these prayers which issue from the bottom of my heart and which my trust in his mercy inspire in me, will not have granted the safeguarding of this precious child? This thought sustains me as I await the first mail from America.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 6 March 1848, EO XXI

REFLECTION

Everyone’s prayers were answered and he was restored to health and would spend nearly 40 years as a Missionary Oblate in North America, with a 5 year stint in France.

One can imagine the conflicting emotions in Eugene! The missions to the most abandoned in Canada desperately needed good men, and here was the possibility of a talented young man being cut short just when about to begin his ministry. In the midst of his tears Eugene bows to what may be God’s plan while at the same time issuing heart-rending prayers for his healing. I imagine that these were also Mary’s sentiments as she stood at the foot of the Cross.

“To trust God in the light is nothing, but trust him in the dark – that is faith.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)

Hubenig concludes his narrative of the 1830 Revolution and riots:

With the quelling of the workers riots, the press was muzzled and liberties were curtailed. As a result, there was no national outcry when 11,000 workers were transported to Algeria, condemned to a life of hard labour in the fierce North African sun. In the face of such oppression, the Church remained silent – even liberal Catholics like Lacordaire and Mont Lambert. Victor Hugo cried out in anguish: “But you – Catholics, priests, bishops, men of religion, you who sit in this assembly and whom I see in the midst of us – why do you not rise up? It is your duty! What are you doing sitting there on those benches? Go up to the podium with the authority of your holy traditions; go up there and say to those who inspire cruel measures and to those who ap­ plaud barbarous laws and to those who push the majority onto a disastrous path – go up there and say to them that what they are doing is bad, that what they are doing is detestable, that what they are doing is impious. Why do you just sit there and say nothing?” (Living in the Spirit’s Fire, p. 166)

The institutional French Church may have remained silent, but some of the Oblates wanted to respond to the abandoned prisoners as Eugene had done and taught in previous years.  Father Dassy wrote to Eugene on June 30:

 “To accompany these poor wretches on a long-lasting journey, to establish a settlement with them in the Islands where they will be gathered in order to work to renew them through Christianity…

What a work worthy of you and perfectly in harmony with our vocation. Until this point in time, the newspapers have told us nothing about the negotiations already undertaken by other Congregations with the competent authorities. This being what it is, Bishop, if you believe you should ask for this mission for his children, here are two of us, two able bodied volunteers, very willing, on fire to sacrifice ourselves to the point of martyrdom in order to fulfill such noble and such difficult endeavours. Just speak the word and we will be on our way, Father Mouchel and I. Most gladly we will offer ourselves for this task, especially myself, for good and all through a genuinely arduous life to atone for all the sins of my life. This is not a case of human fancy; I am being inspired by faith alone.” (https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/dassy-louis-toussaint/)

REFLECTION

“Pilgrims of hope in communion was indeed the theme of our General Chapter. The Oblates feel challenged by many of the cries that resound in our world, the voices of the poor and the abandoned reach out to God who is looking at us and calling us to a response. The Church asks us to leave our comfort zones and go to the peripheries. The contribution of our lay associates helped us to see that we are not alone in our missionary field and in living the charism. We are on the way together.” (Message of the 37th OMI General Chapter)

The 1848 Revolution had not only had political consequences, but had affected the Missionary Oblates. Eugene wrote to Fr. Faraud in Canada:

You will have learned that an unexpected revolution has saddled us with a republic which up to now has done us no good and much harm already if only in terms of stagnation instead of prosperity. We were making wonderful progress, our houses were multiplying and the number of vocations increased each day. But now that financial resources are failing, we have to stop this growth for lack of the ability to feed and lodge so many people. It is really a shame!

For the same reason I find myself forced to postpone the sending of new missionaries to the beautiful island of Ceylon where Fr. Semeria is stationed with Frs. Keating and Ciamin, as well as a lay brother. We could do marvels in that country for the conversion of 1,100,000 infidels and the instruction of 150,000 Christians but it takes not less than 2000 francs per person for the voyage and the Propagation of the Faith suffers from the great upheaval which has ruined all the industries, restricted all sources of capital and in consequence diminished all revenues.

Letter to Fr Henri Faraud, in Canada, 10 May 1848, EO I n 95

REFLECTION

A very clear illustration of how the Oblate charism lived out in the mission was always in relation to the prevailing political and social situation. This is why every 6 years, in a rapidly changing world, the Congregation has a General Chapter to ask the question: “Which are the new faces of the poor today” and how can we respond realistically with the means at our disposal.

“The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts.” (Vatican II Gaudium et Spes 1)

The good Lord has preserved us in the midst of a real danger, and many of our Fathers have nobly accomplished the duty of charity that circumstances imposed on them: they offered their ministry to the wounded of whom most unfortunately have died. Today we had a solemn service for all the National Guardsmen who were victims of this ambush.

Letter to Fr Vincens at l’Osier, 1 July 1848, EO X n 981

Bishop Eugene wrote in his diary:

The ceremony was very imposing. 

He had been dissuaded from acting as mediator in the riots in Marseilles, but his friend Archbishop Denis Affre (nephew of one of Eugene’s former teachers at St Sulpice) had tried to mediate in Paris

Alas! my spirit was so very preoccupied. The death of the archbishop of Paris, concerning which we received the definite news this morning, filled my soul with grief at the same time that I was deploring the loss of these good people fallen under the blows of the rioters.

I consider the death of the archbishop of Paris as a great misfortune for the Church in the current situation.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 1 July 1848, EO XXI

Hubenig explains:

Cardinal Denis Auguste Affre, the Archbishop of Paris, tried to make peace between the army and the workers behind the barricades in the Faubourg St-Antoine and fell victim himself to the carnage. If anyone among the hierarchy of France understood the emerging social order, if anyone saw that the problem was unjustifiable destitution and not simply destitution, it was Affre. While still just a priest he had already written prophetic articles about justice that made clear distinctions about the root causes of poverty. As the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, he, more than any of his episcopal colleagues, could verify that his perspectives were true.

(Living in the Spirit’s Fire  page 166).

REFLECTION

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:3)

An invitation to go out of our way to meet the needs of others – to give up something of ourselves, our resources and talents to respond to those in need.

On June 22, the Feast of Corpus Christi, Eugene wrote:

During the service, someone came to bring me several very alarming warnings. The rebellious workers had constructed barricades, the main army and the national guard were under arms, etc. I wanted to complete the office of this important day. Upon return to my residence, I learned successively about the disasters of the day. It was only very late that the barricades were removed with the loss of several men.

Our Fathers of le Calvaire and of the Seminary went to the environs of the place of battle in order to give absolution and Extreme Unction to the wounded in danger of death.

I had been tempted to present myself as a mediator, but I was deterred from this by assurances that the rioters would fire upon me. I thus settled for praying to God for everyone.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 23 April 1848, EO XXI

Hubenig narrates:

The closing of the ateliers on June 22 sparked massive riots. Known as the June Days, they raged for three days in Paris and spread to many other parts of the country. The army suffered a thousand fatalities, while several thousand workers died in the clashes. In Marseille, where the riots flared fiercely, Bishop de Mazenod cancelled the Corpus Christi procession, stating, “French blood which ran in the streets of our city has covered it with a funeral veil.”

Living in the Spirit’s Fire  page 166

REFLECTION

“How do we stop violence, looting, and riots? The way that we stop that is by making sure that people have the things that they need to thrive.”  (Alicia Garza)

A revolution is always a sorrowful thing. We accept all things from the hand of God. He will give us the strength to support the trials which are in store for us. Double your prayers for us that we who are going to be in the thick of it may be benefitted by your peaceful serenity in serving God well and the Church.

Letter to Fr Augustin Gaudet in Montreal, Canada, 29 April 1848, EO I n 94

Hubenig continues to give us the background to the events of 1848 in France.

“In Marseille, Émile Olivier set up a government arbitration board to settle workers’ complaints, the first of its kind in France. Perhaps the most daring measure of the new government, however, were the subsidized ateliers nationaux – socialized national workshops meant to allay the hunger of the poor in Paris. The brainchild of socialist Louis Blanc, the idea was meant to give work to some fifty or sixty thousand unemployed men and women in a wide range of worker-run industries, all at two francs daily. Unfortunately, lack of preparation, planning and technical know-how, combined with outright bourgeois sabotage, damned the project to failure almost from the beginning.

By the end of May the workers had grown increasingly frustrated. They had given the government three months during which they were prepared to tighten their belts more, but they wanted to see results. When their lot became even worse because of panic in the economic and industrial sectors, the mood became ugly.”

Living in the Spirit’s Fire excerpts from pages 165 – 166.

REFLECTION

“When the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century brought a rapid increase in wealth, the demand of workers for a fair share of the wealth they were creating was conceded only after riots and strikes.” (J. Orr)

The violence of the day before having been suppressed, Bishop Eugene led a thanksgiving service. The city and its inhabitants were under the protection of “la Bonne Mère” (the Good Mother) whose sanctuary was on the highest hill of Marseilles.

I went up to the sanctuary of N.-D. de la Garde to say a Mass of thanksgiving for having been preserved, along with our whole city, placed under the protection of this Good Mother, from the catastrophe that the villains had prepared for us.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 29 April 1848, EO XXI

REFLECTION

“Let us entrust to her intercession the daily prayer for peace, especially in places where the senseless logic of violence is most ferocious; so that all people may be convinced that in this world we must help each other, as brothers and sisters, to build the civilization of love.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

In 1826 Eugene went to the Pope with the Rule which the Oblates had been living for nearly 10 years to ask for approbation.

At that moment, the Church was not approving new congregations, but as Eugene was kneeling next to the Pope and talking enthusiastically about what the Missionaries were doing in France, the Pope, at a certain moment, closed his eyes in prayer. Reopening them he said “I want you to go to the Cardinals with this Rule”
The next day the Pope told the Cardinal “This society pleases me, I know the good it does and I wish to favor it.” In prayer he had discerned the work of God in the Oblates.

Saint Eugene writing immediately to the Oblates in France, with the joyful news of our recognition by the Church, wrote these words about the Rule.

They are not an unimportant detail, they are no longer simple regulations, merely pious directions; they are Rules approved by the Church after most minute examination.

Thus it was on the 17th of February that the Church officially recognized that it was the Spirit of God that inspired these Rules, and that the work of Eugene de Mazenod and the Oblates was not a human creation. It was a group that had been brought about by God. It was a recognized charism in the Church.

They have been judged holy and eminently suited to lead those who have embraced them to their goal.

The Rule is the way we live the Gospel: in the light of our charism of evangelizing the poor and most abandoned.

They have become the property of the Church that has adopted them. The Pope, by approving them, has become their guarantor.

Our charism does not belong to us, but to the Church. The Constitutions and Rules are our expression of the charism and they belong to the Church and not to us.

He whom God has used to draw them up disappears; it is certain today that he was merely the mechanical instrument which the Spirit of God put into play in order to show the path he wanted to be followed by those whom he had predestined and preordained for the work of his mercy, in calling them to form and maintain our poor, little and modest Society.

Eugene realized that he has been an instrument of God in bringing the Oblates and our Rule to birth.

While it is the Rule of the Missionary Oblates, it captures the spirit of St Eugene and is thus the foundation of the spirit and mission of our Mazenodian Family, who are an integral part of the charism.

Happy Feastday to each of you!