Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us

“God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, ‘I love you.” (Billy Graham)

From the earliest days of the Missionary Oblates, Eugene started the beautiful custom of handing on the Oblate Cross of a deceased Oblate to a new Oblate on the day of his life-commitment, the day of his perpetual oblation. It is an honor to receive the Cross of a missionary and to continue his dedicated service as a cooperator of the Savior.

Brother Pulicani is admitted to profession. Father Tempier will send to L’Osier the crucifix of our dear Father Moreau; it is to be given to this young Brother, so that it may be a powerful means leading him to every good undertaking.

Letter to Father Santoni, Master of Novices at N.-D. de L’Osier, 16 March 1846, EO X n 892

From our Constitutions and Rules: ” The Oblate cross which is received at perpetual profession is a constant reminder of the love of the Saviour who wishes to draw all hearts to himself and sends us out as his co-workers.” (C 63)

“God never said that the journey would be easy, but God did say that the arrival would be worthwhile” (Max Lucado)

Eugene’s charge to the Oblate novice master refers to the spirit of oblation, not only for the vowed Oblates, but for every lay person who embraces the spirituality given to us by Saint Eugene.

Do not fear these beginnings, even if they are a bit painful. What is essential is that they fully grasp the spirit of our Institute, which includes all that is needed for the formation of a religious man.

Keep repeating to the novices that by their consecration they give themselves to the Church without reservation, that they completely die to the world, to their families and to themselves;

Letter to Father Santoni, Master of Novices at N.-D. de L’Osier, 16 March 1846, EO X n 892

Our lay members of the Mazenodian Family obviously are not asked to ” die to the world, to their families” – but through the world and through their families to give themselves to the Savior, and his body, the Church. Dying to ourselves is the foundation of discipleship, so that we can say with John the Baptist: “He must increase and I must decrease” (John 3:30)

Today’s Oblate Constitutions and Rules put it this way:

Novitiate formation ends with a free and faith-filled commitment in the Oblate Congregation. The novice, having experienced the Father’s love in Jesus, dedicates his life to making that love visible. He entrusts his fidelity to the one whose Cross he shares, whose promises are his hope. (C59)

Many lay Oblates make “a free and faith-filled commitment” to God and the poor through the Mazenodian spirituality and way of life – “having experienced the Father’s love in Jesus, they dedicate their lives to making that love visible. They entrust their fidelity to the one whose Cross they share, whose promises are their hope.”

“Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.”  Neil Armstrong

Eugene de Mazenod’s advice to the Oblate Novice Master focused on what is essential in our formation process: imbibing the God-given spirit of the Family he formed.

Do not fear these beginnings, even if they are a bit painful. What is essential is that they fully grasp the spirit of our Institute, which includes all that is needed for the formation of a religious man.

Letter to Father Santoni, Master of Novices at N.-D. de L’Osier, 16 March 1846, EO X n 892

This applies to all who feel called to live by the Mazenodian spirit as the lay Oblates who participated in the recent General Chapter reported. Describing the Oblate Lay Associations Congress which had taken place 3 months before:

“From 27th- 29th May 2022, delegates from all the Oblate regions gathered in-person and on-line for the 2nd Oblate Lay Associations Congress. While participation was somewhat constrained by Covid and difficulties with Internet access, we estimate over 50 countries were involved… Preparatory work had been done within most units, gathering responses from over 3,000 laity about their experiences of these as well as their thoughts and hopes about future steps.

The Congress engendered communion and hope. The testimonies and experiences showed us that the charism that unites us is stronger than any cultural differences or practical way of applying evangelization to a specific territory. We were conscious of the communion already existing among us and the gift that we share: the spirit and charism of Saint Eugene de Mazenod. Our hope is to deepen the connections already forged, encounter the charism more profoundly, and live the mission more intently. We experienced the Spirit present among us and it is with the Spirit that we continue to be pilgrims of hope, in communion with one another and with the Oblates.”

(For more information see: https://omioikia.org)

“The fear of death follows fromt he fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” Mark Twain

Joseph Bernet had been Archbishop of Aix from 1836 to 1846. In 1846 he had been made a cardinal and returned to Aix on March 25 in a procession along the streets of Aix en Provence.

He died four months later and Eugene reflects in his diary on the thoughts that passed through his mind as he walked in the funeral procession.

During the procession, in the absence of singing, I said some rosaries for the deceased. My spirit was preoccupied with a thousand thoughts.

First that a state pretty much the same was reserved for me, that I will myself be carried as I was seeing this cardinal being carried, that his successor would perhaps come to render to me what I am doing today for him, by consequence, that the life of this world was a little thing, etc.

How not to reflect on the vanity of things of the world when one thinks that it is not more than one hundred days, barely one hundred days, that Bishop Bernet made his triumphal entry pretty much by the same streets where we were carrying him dead today. Thus, his red soutane was but a shroud for him.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 9 August 1846, EO XXI

” Grief is the price we pay for love.” Queen Elizabeth II

Continuing to reminisce about the death of Father Moreau in Corsica, Eugene expresses the warmth of his affection for him.

He was a deacon in 1816, when the Lord called him to us. Faithful, among so many recalcitrants, to the voice of God, he came to find me when we were giving the mission at Grans. I prepared him for ordination during the stopover he made with me in St-Laurent du Verdon where I had withdrawn to work on coordinating our holy rules. I accompanied him to Digne in order to present him to Bishop Miollis,  who ordained him priest at the ordination of September 1818. He made several missions with me, notably those of Barjois and of Lorgues.  He was, in the fullest sense of the term, my spiritual son and my pupil, always good, always zealous, always a fervent religious and also always very fond of me, whom he regarded as his father…

While mourning his loss, and the irreparable vacuum his passing left for the Congregation, Eugene’s faith turns to God and Mary in whom he has absolute trust.

He is in heaven; but we, while glorifying God for the glorification of his elect, how are we going to replace him on earth? His loss is heartrending for us. It is truly irreparable in the current state of the congregation. The Lord, to whom it belongs, and his saintly Mother, to whom it is consecrated, will soothe our grief in penetrating us with supernatural thoughts and considerations and will come to our assistance. We must live in this trust, without which there would be something about which to be disheartened.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 2 February 1846, EO XXI

May St Eugene inspire us to focus on God and Mary during our moments of darkness and loss.

“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” Albert Pike

In his Diary, Bishop Eugene grieves at the receipt of the shocking news of the death of one his most trusted Oblates, Father Noël Francois Moreau. He died suddenly in Corsica where he had been the Rector of the Major Seminary.

Returning to my place, a thunderbolt! A letter from Fr. Lagier gave me the harsh news of the death of our good and venerable Fr. Moreau. I must bow my face low to the ground and profoundly meditate on the word of Sunday prayer: Pater noster, fiat voluntas tua. This loss is irreparable. The sadness which I experience is at its peak. He was one of the pillars of the congregation.

His maturity of age (he was born on August 24, 1794), his experience, his application to study, independently of his great virtues, had made him a very distinguished subject. As well, the Bishop and the clergy of Ajaccio gave great importance to him…

He died as he had lived, a holy religious. During the night which had preceded his blessed passing, he wanted the portrait of our venerable Fr. Albini to be placed in front of him. He invoked him fervently, considered himself fortunate to have been his friend and recommended himself to his prayers. During the short delirium which preceded his death, he just prayed and readily repeated the names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, which were suggested to him from time to time.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 2 February 1846, EO XXI

Fr. Yvon Beaudoin’s article on Fr. Moreau’s life and missionary achievements in the Historical Dictionary is worth reading to experience something of Oblate life during the time of the Founder: https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/moreau-noel-francois/

“Mary was the first person to take the ‘way’ to enter the Kingdom of God that Christ opened, a way which is accessible to the humble, to all who trust in the ord of God and endeavor to put it into practice.”  (Pope Benedict XVI)

In 1819, the Oblates had discovered that the ministry of Marian sanctuaries as places of mission was an aspect of our God-given charism. Twenty seven years later, the shrine of Bon Secours joined the list as a missionary pilgrimage center, a place from which parish missions were to be preached and a juniorate established to provide Oblate vocations. Eugene entrusted this responsibility to Father Dassy.

The mission that I am giving you is one of trust. I chose you to be the founder of our new house because I know your attachment to our family, your zeal, and your capacity to bring the matter to term.

Letter to Fr. Toussaint Dassy, at Bon Secours , France, 24 February 1846, EO X n 890

Yvon Beaudoin quotes the minutes of the General Council meeting at which this decision was made:

” Bishop Guibert was very attached to his own religious family and thus he decided to ask the Oblates to serve the shrine and to preach missions in a sector of his diocese. The General Council readily acceded to this request, for it corresponded so well with the ends of the Congregation. In the minutes of the January 14, 1845 Council meeting we read: “This is a shrine to Mary, our holy Mother and Patroness, which needs to be developed and our Congregation is called to do the same in other pilgrimage places that have been entrusted to us… By its location on the borders of the dioceses of Viviers, Nïmes and Mende, this house presents us with a vast field that is worthy of the zeal of those among us who will be its personnel…” (https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/notre-dame-de-bon-secours-1845-1994/)

” I must in a word consume myself for it, be ready to sacrifice my leisure, my desire, rest, life itself for it.” (Bishop Eugene de Mazenod)

In July, the Archbishop of Aix en Provence had died and some rumors were circulating that perhaps Bishop Eugene would be his successor. He had no such ambition as he was totally given to his Diocese of Marseilles.

Well, someone has told me that certain priests of Aix, afraid that I might be named Archbishop, got together to write a pamphlet against me and thus prevent such a misfortune. These poor folks could easily have spared themselves the trouble of this crime if they had known how far such a change, as any other, is from my mind…

The assessment that he gives of his own diocese was no idle and swollen-headed boast – it was clear that these things had been achieved in the second -largest city of France.

Let them be reassured: there is no archbishopric in the whole world which tempts me and which I might prefer to my present diocese to which everything ties me, since I am the one who organized it, who has taken out all the weeds, who has nurtured it, who has made it what it is, as everybody knows.

Letter to Fr Hippolyte Courtès in Aix en Provence, 27 July 1846, EO X n 908

Nine years before he had made this resolution:

I must attach myself to this people as a father to his children.

My existence, my life, all my being must be consecrated to it, I must have no thought but for its good, no fears other than I have not done enough for its welfare and sanctification, no other concern than that which must include all its spiritual interests and even in a certain way its temporal welfare.

I must in a word consume myself for it, be ready to sacrifice my leisure, my desire, rest, life itself for it.

Retreat preparatory to taking possession of the episcopal see of Marseilles, May 1837, EO XV n 185

Eugene’s total oblation for his people was unmistakably bearing fruit.

“And I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Jeremiah 3:15.

Bishop Eugene had also instituted the practice of regular preached parish missions in the parishes of his diocese. He always aimed to be present at the concluding ceremonies to celebrate the various sacraments. Here he describes one of these in his diary.

March 22: [Conclusion of the mission at St-Antoine.] The conclusions of missions are most wonderful days for a bishop! May I not at all be known as ever inclined to refuse being present at them.

To see a parish reconciled with God, to receive from the hands of its pastor the body of Jesus Christ, to address some edifying words to this part of my flock, to fulfil in this way the great duty of preaching imposed on bishops, to give Confirmation to men who would not receive it without this, it’s a consolation which recompenses for every fatigue. I would believe myself to be committing a mortal sin if, being able to so easily give the Holy Spirit and to make perfect Christians, I refrained for frivolous reasons from bowing to the desires of the souls who have been entrusted to me.

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

“When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host, you understand how much Jesus loves you now.” (St Teresa of Calcutta)

Bishop Eugene expresses his personal Eucharistic devotion during adoration in one of his churches.

While reciting the psalms and canticles with the greatest fervor possible, I gave myself over to a type of filial trust for imploring this good Master to not permit me ever to be separated from Him in eternity. It seemed to me impossible that, having the signal good fortune of seeing him, of contemplating him so closely, of placing him upon my breast, of adoring him while rendering him this duty, it seemed to me impossible, I say, that he would not grant me to follow him and to possess him eternally.

The thought of my sins could frighten me, but, during these precious moments, it seems to me that the mercy of my Savior absorbs every fear and every terror and that there is place in my heart only for trust and for love. This is the feeling that I experience every time that I carry the Blessed Sacrament.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 15 March 1846, EO XXI