Tag Archives: Eugene’s personality

The last entry from Eugene’s self-description spoke about the strength of his character. Today’s extract continues with the other side of this coin: his extreme sensitivity. This side of his character was increased by his being Provencal – a southern … Continue reading →

Eugene recalls his childhood and sees there the origin of the strong character that was characteristic of him all the days of his life. Without this, would he have achieved what he did for the Church, the Oblates and the … Continue reading →

This short paragraph from Eugene’s self-description provides a key for understanding why he was not sidetracked from living his ideals by the negative reactions of others. The harsh events of his 26 years of life had taught him to observe … Continue reading →

I continue to reflect on Eugene’s self-evaluation for his spiritual director on entering the seminary. Today I find more revealing than the text that he presented, the lines scratched out in his rough copy of the document (underlined here): I … Continue reading →

More character insights from Eugene’s 1808 self-evaluation at the age of 26: If I am in the wrong and someone tells me off with a superior or triumphalistic kind of attitude, I will not accept it, and come up with … Continue reading →

On entering the seminary, the 26 year-old Eugene wrote a “self-evaluation” for his spiritual director. Reading it from the vantage point of what we know about his life, it is interesting to see how he refers to the struggles within … Continue reading →