Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us

” Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom; Lead thou me on!

The night is dark, and I am far from home; Lead thou me on!

Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene—one step enough for me.” (Saint John Henry Newman)

Father William Daly was young in years and in experience: he was 31 years old and had been an Oblate priest for only 4 years. Eugene had had no choice but to put him in charge of the first mission in the British Isles. His concern is obvious in this letter:

Your position, my dear Fr. Daly, is one of much responsibility and nothing less than the confidence I have in you can set my mind at rest. It is essential, my dear son, that you be well united to God because you constantly need to be guided by the light He will wish to grant you, when you lack time and opportunity to make consultations.

Eugene emphasizes repeated that Fr Daly was doing God’s work and needed to live closely united with God, so as to be guided by God’s will. Then he repeats the maxim that was to be at the heart of all missionary life and work: follow the Oblate Rule of Life. The Rule is not a collection of regulations but is a precious document that captures the spirit of the Founder and his charism – it is the particular focus through which the Mazenodian Family reads the Gospel.

Hence, my dear friend, you must follow your Rule in both letter and spirit, letting yourself do nothing other than what you would do under my eyes and immediate direction.

… Avoid with care, my very dear son, all that can hinder the interior life that should inspire you, otherwise you will risk losing the merit and reward of the fine ministry that you fulfil in the name of the family of which you are one of the cherished sons.

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

The questions posed to William Daly are posed to us today: how united to God am I each day so as to be guided by the light that God wishes to grant me?

“What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.” (Maya Angelou)

In his journal, Eugene wrote with a sense of humor:

Letter from Fr. Ricard, insistent about his missions. He is requesting permission to cover his head, lacking hair on the top. Nothing more justified. This will be the first wig of the society.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 19 February 1846, EO XXI

An entry that brings a smile to our faces! The only picture we have of Father Pascal Ricard shows him wigless but with an impressive set of sideburns!

We do not know about the adventures of the “First Wig”, but what we do know is that he was a zealous missionary who led the first Oblate foundation in the United States. He had been in poor health in France, and yet said “yes” generously when asked to cross the Atlantic to begin a new and difficult foreign mission.

Two years later, Eugene wrote about him:

Father Ricard was practically at death’s door when assigned to found the Oregon mission, and yet he put his whole trust in God and now he writes that he has never felt so well, and even without a hair on his head hasn’t caught a single cold, though on long journeys he has had to sleep on the ground and often in the mud.”

Letter to Father Viala, 29 July 1848, EO X n 982

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A person who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” (Mark Twain)

Eugene describes the death of the 33 year-old Father Antoine-Marie Gibelli, who had spent over eight years as a gifted mission preacher in Corsica.

I saw him again the same evening and I found him in the most holy frame of mind. The illness worsened all the time. One should have been able to record the edifying words he spoke during the last days of his illness. He made me cry every time that I visited him. This was because of the love for God, because of the thankfulness for having called him to the congregation which he had wished to serve well, but for which, he said, he had done nothing…

After his death, Eugene reflected:

There are souls, and his was certainly in their number, who crossed over purgatory to fly directly to heaven into the bosom of God whom they have always loved and served with a faithfulness under every trial.

I wanted to officiate pontifically at his funeral, and during the office this same thought prevailed. I offered the Holy Sacrifice for him, but I did not cease to commend myself to him as though I had seen on the catafalque the body of a saint displayed for the veneration of the faithful.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 18 November 1846, EO XXI

How many people have we known whom we can call saints in our eyes?

“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because God loves us.” (C.S. Lewis)

The four newly-professed Oblates had just completed their novitiate training. Now they had to continue their formation in order to become priests and become missionaries. Ongoing study and growth is essential for all of us in the way of discipleship, each according to their particular state of life. Oblates undergo a novitiate, Lay Associates participate in a program of formation before making a commitment to Mazenodian discipleship, all brnached of the Mazenodian Family have some form of initiation period. So, for all of us, that is not sufficient because ongoing formation is necessary to deepen our relationship with God and our discipleship and service to those most in need.

Eugene stressed this:

You have shown yourselves good, pious and edifying during the novitiate. That is what has made you fit to be admitted for profession. But, remember, my dear sons. that far from relaxing your efforts now that you are out of the novitiate, you are bound to strive towards a greater perfection. All that you have done hitherto is, so to say. only a preparation for the holy state you have embraced and which you possess now.

The novitiate was a period of trial to see if you are fit to fulfil the duties inherent in religious profession. Now the full weight of these duties rests on you, if it is at all proper to call the sweet and light yoke of the Lord a burden. It is nonetheless true that you are bound by your duty of state to walk in the way of the highest perfection…

All these things you must ponder and meditate during the entire period you will be in formation, so that when you are ordained priests and have acquired the necessary knowledge and are called to fulfil the tasks of the ministry proper to the sons of Mary Immaculate, you will be fit for the kind of service to which you will be assigned to produce in people the results they expect from you, to be a credit to your ministry, and a source of consolation to the Church and to the Congregation, your Mother, who has done so much to form you and who has every right to count on your cooperation.

These words apply to all of us as we fulfil our baptismal vocations.

Goodbye, my dear sons. I press you to my fatherly heart and bless you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Letter to “our very dear Brothers and sons in Jesus Christ, Brothers Bonnard, Martini, Cooke and Dunne”, 22 August, 1846, EO X n 910

“When you’re surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.” Howard Schultz

Four young men had completed their novitiate and had made their perpetual oblation, their lifetime commitment as Missionary Oblates. Eugene, the father of the family, wrote:

My dear sons, I combine in one and the same letter, the reply that each one of you has the right to expect from me. The sentiments I have to express to you are the same: gratitude to God for the benefits he has granted you, congratulations on the occasion of your religious profession by which you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord and have committed yourselves to the service of the Church in the Congregation whose principal end is the conversion of souls, especially of the most abandoned souls.

I must also tell you my personal satisfaction in accepting as my sons men who are so well disposed as you are, full of good will to respond to the grace of your sublime vocation.

Letter to “our very dear Brothers and sons in Jesus Christ, Brothers Bonnard, Martini, Cooke and Dunne”, 22 August, 1846, EO X n 910

Even though Eugene wrote these words more than 170 years ago, they still apply to us today as members of his charism family. Members of each group express their commitment to the ideals of Saint Eugene in a different way according to their state of life, but all focus on how to express their baptismal consecration in service to the Church and to the most abandoned souls.

Our saint continues to express his satisfaction with us as he intercedes for us in heaven.

“When you’re surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.” Howard Schultz

Four young men had completed their novitiate and had made their perpetual oblation, their lifetime commitment as Missionary Oblates. Eugene, the father of the family, wrote:

My dear sons, I combine in one and the same letter, the reply that each one of you has the right to expect from me. The sentiments I have to express to you are the same: gratitude to God for the benefits he has granted you, congratulations on the occasion of your religious profession by which you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord and have committed yourselves to the service of the Church in the Congregation whose principal end is the conversion of souls, especially of the most abandoned souls.

I must also tell you my personal satisfaction in accepting as my sons men who are so well disposed as you are, full of good will to respond to the grace of your sublime vocation.

Letter to “our very dear Brothers and sons in Jesus Christ, Brothers Bonnard, Martini, Cooke and Dunne”, 22 August, 1846, EO X n 910

Even though Eugene wrote these words more than 170 years ago, they still apply to us today as members of his charism family. Members of each group express their commitment to the ideals of Saint Eugene in a different way according to their state of life, but all focus on how to express their baptismal consecration in service to the Church and to the most abandoned souls.

Our saint continues to express his satisfaction with us as he intercedes for us in heaven.

“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” (Sydney J. Harris)

I have at last been able to realize a project which I have much to heart and which should have happy consequences for the Congregation. It is to send all our young Fathers back to study. To this end I have not recoiled from almost emptying all our houses. I have brought them all together at Parménie under the immediate direction of Father Vincens who is appointed to direct their studies and make them work. They have been at it since the beginning of the month. If vocations are rare, let us at least train satisfactory members.

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

This decision had been made at a meeting of Superior General, Eugene de Mazenod and his General Council.

The following is the text of the minutes of the council on April 4, 1846:

“For a long time now, the need has been felt in the Congregation not to leave to their own resources the newly ordained fathers who are sent to the various houses to begin the exercise of the holy ministry. It is indispensable for them to receive some guidance not only in the difficult cases that arise in the confessional and in the administration of the other sacraments, but also in preaching, that is to say, in the way they compose and deliver their sermons.”

The need for study, reflection and renewal in our busy lives is essential. Without this, the danger is that our horizon becomes a comfortable introspective mirror, instead of being a window open to the whole world.

“Education is the movement from darkness to light.”  (Allan Bloom)

On July 19, Eugene had written in his diary:

I do not at all want any smoking wicks in the Society, may they burn, may they burn, may they be rekindled, may they light the way or leave.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 19 July 1846, EO XXI

In order to rekindle the spiritual knowledge and missionary zeal of the young Oblates, the Founder took practical steps. Yvon Beaudoin explains:

Fr. Rey presents this text in this way: “The Founder did not lose sight of the formation of his missionaries. This year he instituted a course of high studies which he entrusted to the experience of Fr. Vincens. Several young Fathers were named to follow it for several months. Religious formation was not at all neglected. A superior, requesting indulgence in favor of a religious whose conduct left something to be desired, told the Founder that it was necessary not to extinguish the wick which still was smoking.” This superior was without doubt Fr. Vincens whom Bishop de Mazenod accused of being too condescending towards the less obedient and less fervent religious.

All of us, whatever our state of life, need ongoing formation in the way of discipleship. I am never too old to learn how to deepen my relationship with God. How much time and effort can I dedicate to this?

“Zeal is a volcano, the peak of which the grass of indecisiveness does not grow.” Khalil Gibran

Missionary zeal was the hallmark of Eugene’s personality and whole life. On his deathbed his final wish for the Oblates was for them to have undying zeal for the salvation of souls.

I do not at all want any smoking wicks in the society, may they burn, may they burn, may they be rekindled, may they light the way or leave.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 19 July 1846, EO XXI

Eugene spared no effort to rekindle the “smoldering wicks” in his missionary family. His letters are full of encouragement to those who needed to be rekindled so that they would become bright missionary lights. In the case when it became clear that the wick could not be saved from smoldering, it was time for the person to move on away from the Congregation and find a new direction in life.

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Francis of Assisi

“Léon de Saboulin was born in Aix-en-Provence on September 14, 1801… He made his secondary studies at the college of Aix and later on at the lyceum of Lyon. On May 29, 1814, he was admitted to the confraternity of the Youth of Aix which had been founded the year before by Abbé de Mazenod. Three of his brothers followed his example.

When he had finished his studies, Léon wanted to become a priest, but his fragile health and the assistance he had to provide for his mother prevented him from carrying out this project. He remained unmarried and, after the death of his brothers, took care of his mother until she died. He divided his time between study and charitable works.” Yvon Beaudoin ( https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/saboulin-leon-de/)

Eugene had kept in contact with this former member of his youth congregation, who now wanted to become a priest, but suffered poor health.

I have no hesitation in saying that if the health of Leon de Saboulin allows him to recite the Divine Office, he must not be turned away from becoming a priest, but we must allow him great latitude in doing his studies, so as not to exhaust him. He will be able to accomplish much good if only by saying Mass and giving an example of a holy priestly life.

Letter to Fr Hippolyte Courtès in Aix en Provence, 17 July 1846, EO X n 907

Léon de Saboulin “was to give the example of a holy priestly life” for twenty five years of Oblate ministry.