Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us

“Let us all remember this: one cannot proclaim the Gospel of Jesus without the tangible witness of one’s life.” (Pope Francis)

As Superior General, Eugene was obliged to make decisions regarding the welfare of the Oblates outside of France, but he needed information to be able to do this. In the 19th century, letters between Canada and France took several months to arrive and Eugene found this frustrating. For this reason he insisted that all local superiors write to him every three months, and the others write once a year as a minimum. From the Superior of the whole Canadian mission, Fr Guigues, Eugene expected a more frequent and detailed communication, as he indicated in this letter:

Please greet for me affectionately Father Allard whose letter I at last received. It will give me pleasure if, in one of your first letters, you give me a personal account of all your members in the mission of America. Speak to me of the progress they are making in virtue, of the efforts they make to remove from their characters whatever may be defective, of their regularity and obedience, of their unity, of their capacity for different ministries, etc. This account should reach me at least once a year. So much for persons of whom not one is to be excepted.

You will do the same for the state of each house and each mission. Should this second report be too much for you to write, you can dictate it to Father Allard. Exactitude, precision, absence of exaggeration, confidence, simplicity, such I expect from you for my guidance.

Letter to Fr Eugene Guigues in Canada, 14 May 1846, EO I n 62.

What is of interest here is that Eugene’s main concern was not what the Oblates were doing as missionaries, but the quality of their lives: their being in order to do. He was convinced that they achieved more through witness than words.

“Challenges exist to be overcome! Let us be realists, but without losing our joy, our boldness and our hope-filled commitment. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of missionary vigour!” (Pope Francis)

Eugene had imagined that Fathers Aubert and the newly-ordained Taché would be living in community and ministering from there. Eugene was alarmed to learn that this would not be the case:

What Father Allard tells me about the Red River leaves me no choice but to be alarmed. Our two Fathers, he tells me, are going to be separated for a year. But it is not my intention that this be so. I cannot consent that our Fathers go alone into any kind of mission. Any kind of good (envisaged) should be dependent on that (policy). Explain this, I beg you, to their Lordships the Bishops and take this to be the rule of your own administration.

Letter to Eugene Guigues in Canada, 30 July 1846, EO I n 67

The missionary challenges of thousands of people who had not been evangelized made this impossible, as Yvon Beaudoin narrates.

Father Taché spent part of the winter in Saint-Boniface and the rest in Baie-Saint-Paul where he studied the rudiments of the Saulteaux language. On July 8, 1846, he left in the company of the diocesan priest, Father Laflèche, to found a mission at Île-à-la-Crosse. They spent the winter in the Hudson Bay Company station and studied Cree. Then Father Laflèche worked among the Indians near the trading post and Father Taché, throughout the summers of 1847, 1848, 1849 and 1850, made long journeys to Lake Caribou and Lake Athabaska. On March 25, 1847, Bishop de Mazenod wrote to Father Guigues: “I sigh to think of such a young priest, having just left novitiate and being separated by such a great distance from our confreres.” (https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/tache-bishop-alexandre/)

Eugene’s alarm was to be multiplied and constantly repeated for the rest of his life: apostolic community and missionary zeal were two essential aspects of his charism – but how to maintain a balance in these essentials when the need for evangelization of people was so pressing?

“Every Christian must be convinced of his fundamental and vital duty of bearing witness to the truth in which he believes and the grace that has transformed him.” (St. Pope John XXIII)

In France, Eugene knew all the Oblates and they had no doubt about his affection for them as the father of a missionary family. He had never met the Canadian Alexandre Taché but wished to assure him that he was a loved member of the family, even though they had never met.

Reverting to the subject of Brother Taché whom I have not yet come to know, I await from him a little letter showing me his handwriting for in lieu of the person, it is something to see some lines traced by the hand of one we cannot see, but whom we already love by virtue of the admirable union of charity which makes all of us but one heart and one soul. I enjoin you earnestly, my dear son, to express to him all the sentiments which you know me to have for the children the good God has given me.

As members of the Missionary Oblate family, Fathers Aubert and Taché, had a particular lifestyle to live.

As of now, you only form quite a small community. No matter. Conform yourselves to the Rule as much as you possibly can. Although you are only two, nothing prevents you from doing several things in common: your morning and evening meditations, your office, your examen. You will thereby accomplish a duty and those who live in the house of the Bishop will be edified. Remember that wherever you are, you must always be what you are.

Letter To Fr Pierre Aubert, St Boniface Canada, 21 February 1846, EO I n 61

“God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.” (Hudson Taylor)

The Canadian Oblate, Alexandre Taché, was a 22 year-old scholastic when Eugene sent him to St Boniface.  Writing to Fr Pierre Aubert about him, Eugene said:

I did not wait for your letter to decide that an associate priest be sent to you. You had gone when my orders arrived at Longueuil. I wrote again that they send you a priest as one of the two who were to join you. I presume however that the dear companion who went with you to found the house of Red River has been raised to the priesthood and also that he has had to place his profession in your hands as I had authorized. It is good to make one’s vows on the battlefield in the face of the enemy one has come so far to fight.

Such thoughts were on my mind on the 17th of this month and indeed I spoke of them at the fine reunion we had of all our Fathers and Brothers who renewed before me and in the presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ the consecration they had made of themselves to the Lord in years more or less remote.

Letter to Fr Pierre Aubert, St Boniface Canada, 21 February 1846, EO I n 61

The two missionaries, Father Aubert and Scholastic Taché and two Grey Nuns left on June 25, aboard a boat belonging to the Hudson Bay Company and they arrived in Saint-Boniface on August 25 after sixty-two days travel. Taken aback at seeing the young missionary, Bishop Provencher is supposed to have said: “We need men and they are sending me children.(”https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/tache-bishop-alexandre/)

Bishop Provencher ordained this “child” to the diaconate as soon as he arrived, and to the priesthood in October 1845, and on the following day Father Aubert witnessed his perpetual oblation in St Boniface. Five years later Alexandre Taché became a Bishop and was to be a major force in the establishment and growth of the Church in Western Canada.

“There are glances which have a marked influence on one’s whole existence. The look which I laid upon Fathers Honorat and Telmon contributed in no small measure to the whole direction of my life.” (Alexandre Taché OMI)

Bishop Joseph Norbert Provencher of the Red River Colony (Manitoba), who needed priests to develop the works of his diocese, approached the Superior of the Canadian Oblate, Father Guigues, for help from the Oblates. Guigues hesitated because he did not have any missionaries to spare from their current commitments. Eugene acted swiftly and appointed Fr. Pierre Aubert and a young Canadian, Alexandre Taché to be the first two Oblates in Saint Boniface.

Yvon Beaudoin:

” When he had completed his classical studies he entered the major seminary in Montreal on September 1, 1841. On his way to the cathedral on December 3, the feast of Saint Francis Xavier, he saw the first six Oblates who had arrived in the city the day before. Later when he wrote about this event, he said his eyes fixed themselves with particular attention on their persons and on their Oblate crosses. “There are glances which have a marked influence on one’s whole existence. The look which I laid upon Fathers Honorat and Telmon contributed in no small measure to the whole direction of my life.”

He had hardly finished his theology when Bishop Ignace Bourget appointed him regent in Chambly College (1842-1843) and then, in January 1844, professor of mathematics in the seminary of Saint-Hyacinthe. On October 5, 1844, Alexandre began his novitiate in Longueuil. The novice master, Father Jean-François Allard, gave a very favourable judgement about him. He wrote to Bishop de Mazenod: “Brother A. Taché, from one of the most distinguished families in the country, everywhere enjoys a reputation for his talents: good memory, right minded, sound judgement, unusually sharp intellect, facility in speaking. All of these qualities are enhanced by his wisdom, an excellent education, and a refined politeness, which makes him stand out in all kinds of society. Besides, he is humble and prudent and his utterances are always to the point.” (https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/tache-bishop-alexandre/)

“Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual beliefs, nor out of theological arguments, but out of love. If I do not love a person I am not moved to help him by proofs that he is in need; if I do love him, I wait for no proof of a special need to urge me to help him.” (Roland Allen)

Father Pierre Aubert had been in Canada for two years. in 1846 the Superior General appointed him superior and founder of the first Oblate mission in the west in Saint-Boniface.

I have only a few moments, my dear, my very dear Father Aubert, to write to you and yet I would wish to converse with you for a whole day. …

 Oh yes, my very dear friend, I love you also as a son and I consider you as an apostle, as the representative of our whole family, the vanguard of the army which must drive the demon from his last entrenchments and raise the sign of salvation, the Cross of the Saviour Jesus, in those regions where the true God never was known.

You are increasingly present to my mind and well to the fore in my heart. How would you think I could forget you whom I have chosen out of so many others for this great mission. I feel your needs, they weigh upon me also.

Letter to Father Pierre Aubert in St Boniface, Canada, 21 February 1846, EO I n 61

Gaston Carriere gives us more details:

“Father Aubert was then appointed parish priest of St. Boniface Cathedral and Vicar General, positions he would hold for five years. He immediately began studying the Ojibwa language… Father Aubert left the West in 1850 and, until 1857, resided at the bishop’s house in Bytown (Ottawa), where he was Vicar General from 1851 to 1856, Superior of the bishop’s house from 1854 to 1857 and Chaplain of the Grey Nuns of the Cross (today the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa) from 1855 to 1857. It was in this last capacity that he worked on the constitution of the community. Appointed Superior of the House of St. Peter the Apostle of Montreal in 1857, Father Aubert acted as the theologian of the Most Reverend Ignace Bourget, Bishop of Montreal, at the Third Provincial Council, held in Quebec City in 1863…. He became ill and returned to France in 1865 where he became superior of the sanctuary of Notre-Dame de Lumières. Elected assistant to the Superior General two years later, he remained in Paris until his death. As an assistant, Father Aubert was a prudent advisor and intermediary between the Superior General and the Canadian authorities. No major decisions were made without consulting him. He was particularly interested in the works of the Oblates in Canada… In 1870, Father Aubert accompanied Bishop Guigues to the Vatican Council as a theologian.” (Gaston Carriere: https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/aubert-joseph-pierre-blaise/)

“Trust has to be earned, and should come only after the passage of time.” (Arthur Ashe)

The Oblate presence in England started suddenly on an insecure foundation with the arrival of the just-ordained and inexperienced Father Daly. It was difficult for Eugene to find Oblates capable of learning and speaking English at such short notice. As the numbers grew, so was it necessary to ensure the presence of a mature Oblate to solidify the foundation. The person chosen was Father Casimir Aubert who could not be spared from his commitments in France, but who would visit England for long periods of time. Eugene wrote to Mr Phillipps:

Reverend Father Aubert, to whom I have given powers of Visitor, will have the honor of seeing you and discussing everything concerning the good of religion in your region. He is my alter-ego whose merits you already know.

Letter to M. Ambrose Lisle March Phillipps, Grâce-Dieu Manor, 2 July 1846, EO XIII n 107

“Alter ego” is a Latin expression used by Eugene translated as “another me.” It meant that the Oblate had understood fully the spirit and way of governing of the Founder and was empowered to make decisions accordingly where Eugene was not present to be consulted. He considered all those whom he chose to be the founders of new missions, or appointed as official visitators, in countries outside of France as “alter ego.” Casimir Aubert was highly respected by Eugene.

Fr Michael Hughes fills in some details regarding this new Oblate venture in England.

“Ambrose Phillipps sought to establish himself in Grace Dieu Manor as the patron of a Mass-centre from which priests would go out to convert the locality…

On 5 September 1845 the community took possession of The Warren, a house placed at their disposal by Phillipps, some distance from the Manor House. It afforded the Fathers the privacy needed for their community life but was too far from the villages they served, and Ambrose agreed to build a new residence adjoining the Holy Cross chapel in Whitwick…

The first members of the community were Fr. Perron, superior, Fr. Naughten, Br. Bayeul, and a secular priest from Marseilles the Abbé Coussinier. Frs. Cooke and Tamburini, with John Noble not yet ordained priest, joining the community in July 1846.” (https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/grace-dieu-england-1845-1848/)

With small beginnings, the Anglo Irish province was to become one of the main providers of Oblate missionaries in all the English-speaking countries of the world.

“Good is never accomplished except at the cost of those who do it, truth never breaks through except through the sacrifice of those who spread it.” (St. John Henry Newman)

Eugene noted in his diary:

July 1st:  Fr. Cooke, an Irish priest of our congregation whom I ordained the other day, came to take his leave of me. He will be leaving to go to England. He is an excellent religious, a capable man who will do much good in the mission. He made a first endeavor in his apostolate among the English who work at St-Henri.  He made a good number of them return to the bosom of the Church.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 1 July 1846, EO XXI

Then in a letter to Mr Ambrose Phillipps, a patron of the Oblates in England, Eugene wrote:

Today, I am pleased, dear Sir, to give you new proof of the interest I take in your mission. I am putting two excellent religious of the Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate on their way to Grâce-Dieu. One is French, the other is Irish. Both are of great worth. Without speaking of the former, I will tell you that Father Cooke is a man distinguished for his learning and piety. He has just tested his zeal here among a colony of English people who came to work for the railways. This good Father Cook[e] succeeded in winning over those people, and had several of them return to the Church’s bosom. You will be pleased with his modest and edifying bearing, his conversation, good judgment; in a word I am giving you a veritable gift, and have great hope in him for the good of the mission…

I will not close without thanking you for all the kindness that you always show to our Fathers.  They are grateful for it as I am on my part. God willing, I hope to be able to go and thank you personally by word of mouth in paying you a short visit next year at Grâce-Dieu.

Letter to M. Ambrose Lisle March Phillipps, Grâce-Dieu Manor, 2 July 1846, EO XIII n 107

“Here below to live is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often.” (St. John Henry Newman)

Eugene’s diary entry refers to a meeting in England between Oblate Father Frédèric Perron and John Henry Newman (1801-1890), the English theologian, who entered the Catholic Church in 1845, was made a cardinal in 1878 and canonized in 2019.

Michael Hughes writes: “Eugene de Mazenod had the highest regard for Newman, whom he met on his first visit to Britain in 1850. A man of universal influence, Newman’s life touched that of the Oblates at a number of points, most profoundly in the part he played in inspiring the ‘Second Spring’ of English Catholicism which was a chief factor motivating the Founder to open an English mission.”

In England conversions are increasing in an astonishing progression. In the month of December, fifty Anglican ministers abjured. Fr. Perron dined at Mr. Phillipps with Doctor Newman and five other converted ministers. He himself received several abjurations and prepared others of them.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 22 January 1846, EO XXI

Hughes continues: “Meanwhile in 1849, to Eugene’s confessed astonishment, the Oblates had succeeded Newman’s Oratorians and taken possession of Maryvale as their house of formation in England. Cooke relates how in 1851 Newman received into the Catholic Church in Leeds a group of Anglican clergy and laity that included two future Oblates: George Lloyd Crawley and John Atkinson.” (https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/newman-john-henry1801-1890-cardinal-deacon-st-george-velabro-venerable/)

“All life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish, and insensitive to the real values of life. The very striving and hard work that we so constantly try to avoid is the major building block in the person we are today.” (Pope St. Paul VI)

Keeping a watchful eye on the young and inexperienced Father Daly, Eugene gives him some practical advice, especially in his dealings with a difficult diocesan priest with whom he was forced to work.

I have been told that you treat Rev. Power with too much severity. You know how much we need him. Moreover, one obtains more by being pleasant than by excessive sternness.

The situation in England was delicate as the presence of the Oblates was minimal and fragile until more English-speaking men would become Oblates and boost the mission. So, Fr Daly had to remain focused on being God’s instrument.

…. For the rest, I do not speak thus by way of reproach but as an observation in order that you may be more on your guard in the delicate position in which you find yourself… How thankful we should be to God for the blessings He showers upon our works. But let us render ourselves worthy of them by a great fidelity to our duty. You know that one preaches more by example than by words…

Letter to Father William Daly in Penzance, England, 6 December 1845, EO III n 12

In times of difficulty, let us aim to focus on God’s blessings as Eugene did and recommended.