Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Then Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”
And the angel said to him in reply, “I am Gabriel, who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news.
But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”
Lk 1:18-20
These are truly disciples who honor their Master.
Let good Father Vincens rejoice and turn his thoughts on them when he encounters some difficulty. The Lord, our divine model had considerable grief from his well-loved apostles, who were so often intolerable and bothersome.
Letter to Father Bruno Guigues, 18 August 1843, EO X n 812
Friday of the Third Week of Advent
John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light.
But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.”
Jn 5:35-36
The more I study the heart of Jesus Christ, the more I meditate on the actions of his precious life, … the more I thank the Lord for giving me this light, and a soul capable of understanding and appreciating these things.
Eugene de Mazenod, Diary September 2, 1837
Thursday of the Third Week of Advent
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
he will prepare your way before you.
Lk 7:29
Put your confidence in Him in whose name you are sent and be persuaded that He will bless your obedience and pour most abundant graces upon the work of your ministry…
Letter to Father Frédéric Perron at Grace Dieu, England, 25 August 1845
Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
And Jesus said to them in reply,
“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.”
Lk 7: 22-23
However the Gospel must be taught to all and it must be taught in such a way as to be understood.
The poor, a precious portion of the Christian family, cannot be abandoned to their ignorance.
Our divine Saviour attached such importance to this that he took on himself the responsibility of instructing them and he cited as proof of the divinity of his mission the fact that the poor were being evangelized, pauperes evangelizantur
Homily instructions in Provencal, given at the church of the Madeleine in 1813.
Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
“Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you.
Mt 21, 28-32
We are the ministers of his mercy, and so let us always have the tenderness of a father towards all… The father of the prodigal son was not content with putting the best robe on him and having a ring put on his finger, he had the fatted calf killed as well.
Eugene de Mazenod to Fr. Bruno Guigues, 20 February 1837, EO IX n 605
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
Luke 2: 30-31
... and what a Mother! She who gave us the One who is the life and salvation of the world, she who gave birth to all of us spiritually at the foot of the cross in the sufferings of the passion and death of the God-Man, the blessed fruit of her womb; she who is rightly called the new Eve and the co-Redemptrix of the human race
Bishop Eugene de Mazenod, Pastoral Letter 1849
Friday of the Second Week of Advent
Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’
Mt 11:16-17
“The people are caught up in thoughtless ignorance of all that pertains to their salvation…Thus, it is supremely important, it is urgently imperative, that we lead the multitude of lost sheep back to the fold, that we teach these degenerate Christians who Jesus Christ is, that we rescue them from Satan’s power and show them the way to eternal life.”
Eugene de Mazenod, Preface to the Rule, 1826
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Lk 1: 38
To this end, I invoke the intercession of the Most Holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, daring to remind her in all humility, but with consolation, of the filial devotion of my whole life, and of the desire I have always had to make her known and loved, and to spread her devotion everywhere
Eugene de Mazenod’s will, 1 August 1854, E.O. XV n. 191
Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent
Jesus said to the crowds:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Mt 11:28
There is no need of regrets when one has done one’s best. God makes use even of human mistakes to achieve his purpose. I do not know what he expects of me; all I know is that he governs with his wisdom those whose sole purpose is to work for his glory.
…We who call upon the Lord must find our consolation above all in the thought that we are guided all unseen by his Providence.
Letter to Henri Tempier, 24 October 1833, EO VIII n 469
Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.”
Mt 18:12-13
“The care we owe you, by constantly occupying our thoughts with the pain caused by the loss of so many souls who have fallen from the paths of salvation, is often rewarded with the most comforting consolations.
When we see grace acting powerfully among you and spreading both light in people’ s minds and charity in their hearts, when the infinite mercy of the Lord is manifested with brilliance in the midst of our flock, and when the lost sheep that we thought was lost is brought back to the fold and restored to our love, then our rejoicing is great, we can say, like St. Paul, that we “overflow with joy” (2 Cor 7:4), for our soul joins in the happy emotions that make heaven rejoice for sinners who are converted.”
Bishop Eugene de Mazenod, Pastoral Letter on the Missions, 1844
