Father Jean Viala had been part of the community preaching a parish mission in Greasque, France. Eugene was overjoyed by the news he was receiving of its success. One of the tangible signs of the success of any mission was measured by the numbers of people who came to confession.

I congratulate you for the good which, by the grace of God, you have already achieved and for that which you still have to do. I recommend that you insist a good deal on the instruction and on the state of mind necessary for the sacrament of Penance. This is the really important point. If one simply goes through the motions of confession without being penetrated by the feelings of contrition which must be present if the salutary effect of absolution is to be obtained, one has done nothing.

This is always my fear when I hear our missionaries say that they have confessed a phenomenal number of penitents. I have never managed, by a long way, to achieve the numbers quoted by our Fathers. Regret and firm purpose of amendment.

Letter to Fr. Jean Viala, 17 January 1849, EO IV n4

REFLECTION

The Oblate Missionaries laid much importance to the ministry of reconciliation as the first Oblate Rule of 1818 stated:

“The work begun in the pulpit has to be completed in the tribunal of penance. If grace has touched a soul by the strength of the Word of God, ordinarily it is in the tribunal of penance that grace moulds and justifies it.

Preaching, indeed, has no other end than to lead sinners to the pool of salvation…

It is beyond all doubt that the hearing of confessions is to be preferred to preaching, when there is room for choice, because the private direction and admonition given in the tribunal of penance may in a measure supply the place of instruction and preaching, whereas preaching can never take the place of the sacrament of penance, which was instituted by Christ our Lord for restoring men to the friendship of God.” (1818 Rule, Chapter 3, §2)

Realizing that the Bishop had misinformed them about the true situation, Fr. Telmon and his companions lost heart. Eugene consoled them with the bigger picture:

In founding the house of Pittsburgh in the United States, you are laying the foundations of a new province but you must act with moderation, without prejudice, without passion, not yielding unhesitatingly to optimism but neither assuming a pessimistic attitude, a detestable disposition with which one can in no way be enterprising and can achieve no good.

Letter to Fr. Adrien Telmon in Pittsburgh, 5 November 1848, EO I n 105

Fr Telmon was unable to act with moderation and without passion leading Eugene to write in his diary:

Letter from Fr. Telmon. Ever unpleasant in complaints and discontent. Nevertheless, it’s a wonderful mission which was just entrusted to him in Pittsburgh. It is true that the two companions whom the bishop of Bytown gave to him are not good for very much. As well, Telmon is obliged to do everything, but why show so much horror? The establishment of Pittsburgh might become very interesting. Patience in everything is necessary

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 10 December 1848, EO XXI

Fr. Telmon did not heed this advice and was to make a decision on his own accord that would have wide-ranging consequences for the Church in the USA. But more of this later…

REFLECTION

“I have seen many storms in my life. Most storms have caught me by surprise, so I had to learn very quickly to look further and understand that I am not capable of controlling the weather, to exercise the art of patience and to respect the fury of nature.”   Paulo Coelho

“Fathers Adrien Telmon, Augustin Gaudet and the scholastic Eugène Cauvin were appointed to staff the major seminary and they left on September 15, taking over the seminary on October 3. They found that there were only six students, lodged in a poor little house which was then under repair and was destined to be an orphanage. They were there for only a few weeks, because on January 3, 1849, Father Telmon wrote to Mother Bruyère in Bytown saying that the seminary was now in another house which was also undergoing repair and he added: “So, what else have I done since my last letter? Alas! only the same as I have done since my arrival here. I build, I do carpentry, I clean, I wash, I get covered in dust, I ruin myself, I wear myself out…” Father Telmon sent news to the Sisters in Bytown and Longueuil but he wrote very little to the Founder.” (https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/pittsburgh-pennsylvania-united-states-1848-1849/). Eugene reproached him for not communicating that the Bishop had not been transparent about the real situation in the seminary – and that Telmon’s own lack of transparency had been wrong.

I beg you all to put order into your correspondence with me. You should have kept me up to date with all your activities. Never in any Congregation or Religious Order can it be maintained that local superiors might insist on not corresponding directly with their Superior General (especially when he has reminded them several times of this duty) in order to keep him informed of the state of their community, of the activities of their ministry, of the financial condition of their house, etc.

Letter to Fr. Adrien Telmon in Pittsburgh, 5 November 1848, EO I n 105

REFLECTION

“The single most important ingredient in the recipe for success is transparency because transparency builds trust.” D. Morrison

“Bishop Michael O’Connor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was passing through Marseilles at the end of 1843 and he asked Bishop de Mazenod for some Oblates for the major seminary in Pittsburgh. The Founder’s reply was negative because of lack of personnel. Bishop O’Connor renewed his request for priests and, on June 7, 1848, he met with Father Guigues in Longueuil to arrange details for an establishment of the Congregation in Pittsburgh. Fathers Adrien Telmon, Augustin Gaudet and the scholastic Eugène Cauvin were appointed to staff the major seminary.” Y. Beaudoin https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/pittsburgh-pennsylvania-united-states-1848-1849/)

Eugene wrote about this to Bp Guigues:

If we succeed at Pittsburgh, we will soon have other establishments in the United States. Already proposed is the seminary of Detroit. When we have a third establishment we will form a new Province; this is all the more desirable since already our Fathers in the United States have difficulty in receiving directions from Canada.

The training of clergy in seminaries was one of the important missions of the Oblates, which explains why Pittsburgh was accepted as an Oblate mission. This first foothold in the eastern United States was so important that they were prepared to make an exception by taking on a parish as well.

It appears that the Bishop of Pittsburgh insists that our Fathers serve a church in the central part of the city where he wishes them to be placed. Let us not be particular and since Providence has permitted us to expand, let us take care of each mission which God confides to us.

Letter to Bp. Bruno Guigues, 15 September 1848, EO I n 102.

REFLECTION

“If you are seeking what God wants you to do with your time He will reveal it to you. Just don’t be surprised if it is the last thing you ever thought you would do.” S. Stephens.

I take occasion in speaking of this to recommend that you greatly insist on our Canadian Fathers, correcting their accent and taking as a model the pronunciation of the English with whom they live. They are young enough to succeed in this if they willingly pay attention to this matter. How many of our people from the provinces have corrected their accent while living at Paris.

Letter to Bp. Bruno Guigues, 15 September 1848, EO I n 102.

The zeal of the Missionary Oblates knew no limits. Yet it was not sufficient to dive headlong into a missionary situation – one had to be prepared and the learning of the language of the people was essential. Here Eugene adds the important element that is was not sufficient to know the grammar and vocabulary of a language, but that the missionaries had to learn the pronunciation of the language as it was used by the local population.

REFLECTION

We Oblates pride ourselves on “being close to the people.” In these days of international multi-cultural communities we prove that we have a genuine love and concern for the people we minister to when we take the trouble to immerse ourselves in their cultural expressions to the best of our abilities. People judge us according to our goodwill when we show that we are trying our best.

The Oblate missionaries in Oregon were doing first evangelization and thus had no income and infrastrucure. They relied on grants from the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, to whom Eugene wrote:

These missionaries do not appeal to your aid, they say, to construct beautiful churches as in the United States, but to construct huts where they can shelter themselves from the inclemency of the seasons and to purchase the poor food to support their efforts and not die of hunger. They had already penetrated among the tribes and reached the point of gathering the latter around them when the tragic war of the Americans came to dash their hopes. When they wrote to me it was their intention to push deeper into the hinterland, beyond the reach of the combatants, to exercise their most worthy ministry with fewer obstacles. May God protect them from other sorts of dangers.

Letter to the Members of the Central Council of the Propagation of the Faith, 24 October 1848, EO V n 115

REFLECTION

“Without the assurance of food, clothing and shelter, unless you’re prepared to die, there’s no other way but to work.” (Tatsuhiko Takimoto)

Saint Eugene will take a pause in writing new reflections until August 12. In the meantime there are 3115 daily reflections you can access from the home page (www.eugenedemazenod.net )

So St Eugene still speaks!

Instead of deterring young Oblates from volunteering for the foreign missions, the narratives of the Oblates, and all their hardships and challenges in making Jesus the Savior known, spurred them on to desire to be courageous missionaries themselves.

Nothing is comparable to the joy your letters afford me. One quivers on receiving them, reading and rereading them again and again ever with renewed pleasure, then one has them read to others until everyone is ecstatic. For do not believe that the description you make of your weariness and privation frighten those who long for the missions to the indigenous peoples. On the contrary, they are envious of your lot and beg me with even greater insistence that they may go and share it with you. You can be quite certain that I do not think of deterring them from so holy a vocation or of dulling their zeal. Far from that.

Letter to Fr. Pascal Ricard in Oregon, August 1848, EO I n 100

REFLECTION

When we listen to our elderly Oblates narrating the adventures of their missionary lives, we are inspired to want to emulate them and apply their spirit to today’s challenges. When we listen to our elderly Christians narrating the story of their lives as followers of Jesus, we are inspired to want to live by the same spirit today. How blest we are to have our elders!

What can I say of our men in Oregon and on the shores of the Red River? For food they have a little bacon, they have no bed but the bare ground, and with that they are content and happy as men who are doing the will of God. Fr. Ricard who was dying when he left has regained his health and the last time he wrote to me he said that he had not even had a day’s cold although he was sleeping at night under the stars and often lying in mud.

Those who are moving towards Hudson’s Bay, with cold weather registering 30 degrees, dragged by dogs across the ice, forced to make a hole in the snow in order to pass the night with the snow as their bed, delight one with the story of their adventures.

Letter to Fr. Étienne Semeria, 17 August 1848, EO IV (Ceylon) n 4

REFLECTION

When one is enthralled by the power of the Cross, everything is possible to endure!

Eugene encourages his Oblates in Oregon in their disappointment at being so coldly received by the bishop. He invites them to focus on what is the unchanging ideal of their vocation: oblation for the salvation of souls as is expressed in their Rule of Life.

Establish from the beginning the invariable ideal of your Institute and a rule of wise conduct, exact and uniform, to which each must conform. In your missions more than everywhere else obedience to the superior and fidelity to the Rules must be observed.

Your letter speaks of a trial, that is to say, of the behaviour of your Bishop, so ungrateful for the alacrity with which we have sent him personnel… For the rest, I see in this mission the finger of Providence and am not disturbed by this annoyance.

You belong too much to God, my dear children, not to offer Him this sorrow, with so many other sacrifices. You fulfil your great mission independently of the satisfaction which could have been afforded to you by greater cordiality on the part of the one who should alleviate your solitude. I have seen on the map the area you have to evangelize, with what interest I follow you in your apostolic journeys.

Letter to Fr. Pascal Ricard in Oregon, August 1848, EO I n 100

REFLECTION

To see situations through the eyes of the Crucified Savior is the Mazenodian way of reading situations. In this way we recognize the finger of Providence in all that we experience – and the strength to be able to persevere.