In the previous entry we reflected on the letter that Eugene had rediscovered from his former spiritual director at the seminary, and the encouragement it gave him to be God’s instrument in the Church. He continued to quote the letter:
I assure you that I do not cease to think about you and to thank the good God for the courage which he gives you. I hope that you will do much, because you sincerely love the good God and the Church. I embrace you with all my heart and am with all my heart entirely yours.
Duclaux, October 2, 1815.
Eugene then commented in his diary:
Reverend Duclaux was my director, all the time that I spent at the seminary. Reverend Duclaux was not only a great theologian (he had been the first with his degree), but he was the man who spoke the best about spiritual matters. He delighted everyone, in his daily explanations, which at the seminary he made the spiritual reading, and this flowed from its source. Whatever was the book being read, he added, from his own, reflections which made still more of an impression; it was a gift that no one possessed like him. The fact is, this holy man was filled with the spirit of God to the supreme degree.
This reminds me of the reflection with which he always began the decisions which someone solicited from him; if by any chance the matter was important, he requested time to reflect on it before God.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 30 July 1843, EO XXI
As I read this entry I am filled with gratitude for the people God has placed in my life who have been guides and sources of encouragement and inspiration. Let’s make some time today to recall with gratitude all those who have done this for us.
Rummaging through his old papers, Eugene came across a letter from Father Duclaux, his former spiritual director in the seminary in Paris. It had been written nearly 30 years earlier, in 1815, when Eugene was discerning whether God was calling him to bring together a group of priests to respond to the spiritual needs of the most abandoned in Provence. He wrote in his diary:
Today, in paging through my old papers, in order to relegate a cartload to the fire, I found a precious letter from the saintly M. Duclaux, my director at Saint Sulpice, who died as Superior General of that congregation. It is entirely good, like everything that came from his wonderful soul; but, among other things, he wrote to me, in 1815:
“For me, I can only thank my good Master for all the pious sentiments that he inspires in you. Continue to work with all your strength for the restoration of religion; preach, instruct, enlighten the French about the cause of the evils that weigh them down; may your voice be heard in every region of Provence; the good God waits only for our conversion in order to shower us with his grace.”
It was the encouragement that Eugene needed to hear as he discerned God’s will and brought together the future Missionary Oblates.
Father Duclaux also stressed that it was not sufficient to bring the people to know Jesus Christ as Savior through parish missions and preaching: it was essential that there be good priests to shepherd the people on a permanent basis in their parishes.
But, above all, form an ecclesiastical spirit among the priests. You will not achieve any good, as long as you do not have excellent priests at the head of parishes. Therefore, urge all the ecclesiastics to be saints; may they read the lives of Saint Charles and of Saint Vincent de Paul; they will see if it is tolerable for a priest, for a pastor to be lukewarm and without zeal.
Duclaux, October 2, 1815.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 30 July 1843, EO XXI
Eugene never forgot this good advice and from the start of the Oblates, one of their works was retreats and times of renewal for diocesan priests. In time this led to the opening of seminaries in France and other parts of the world.
As Superior General, Eugene had a global vision of the communitarian and ministerial needs of the Oblates. It was not always easy to convince some of them of their need to focus beyond their immediate ministry and sacrifices themselves for the good of the whole Oblate family. This letter is one example of a person who allowed himself to cloud the sky of the overall vision. In exasperation, Eugene exclaims that there are far too many clouds in his atmosphere!
You must try to get Brother Nicolas disposed to obey me as he should, so that I can send him without meeting resistance to teach dogma at Ajaccio. That is the only way I have to relieve Father Bellon and at the same time to employ him according to our needs… In a word, use all your skills to bring him to a conscientious attitude not to put obstacles to my assignments, which are taken before the Lord for the good of the whole Congregation that is confided to me.
If men were only what they should be. I would not have to take so many precautions to ensure success in a matter which I judge important and even necessary for the common good.
Read my letter to Father Guigues, answer me as soon as possible; but I implore you to ease my way and don’t be one of those who can only cloud up the sky; there are already too many in the atmosphere in which I live.
Letter to Father Ambroise Vincens, at N.D. de L’Osier, 20 July 1843, EO X n 805
All of us, members of the Mazenodian Family, are invited to have a bigger picture of the needs of the world that it is our particular charism to respond to.
At the end of the General Chapter, Eugene met individually with each delegate. Each encounter became an experience of joyful gratitude for the gift of their missionary vocation and zeal.
I left the seminary only last evening in order to give time to meet with all the Fathers gathered together with me.
It is in these intimate communications that I have been able to recognize the good spirit that animates all of them. I have said to myself several times that we had nothing to envy in any other society. Let us thank God for having brought ours to the point where it is, and may each recognize that he has been placed on a way of perfection where it depends on him to advance with great strides.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 14 July 1843, EO XXI
As a result of God’s gifts, it is important for each of us to continue with zeal along the path of discipleship in our particular walk of life.
The first Oblate to be appointed bishop after Eugene was Hippolyte Guibert, who was present at the General Chapter. He was bishop of the diocese of Viviers. Eugene wrote about him:
The bishop of Viviers has edified everyone by the touching expression of truly apostolic sentiments which animate him. He appeared to everyone just as I knew him; no one could know how to describe the impression his words made when, in a short speech inspired by his heart, he protested before God and before me, who was the witness and the confidant of all his thoughts, that if it had been necessary for him to choose between the episcopacy, which had been imposed on him by obedience, and the congregation, which it had been necessary for him to leave, he would not have hesitated an instant for the latter, in the bosom of which he wanted to live and die.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 13 July 1843, EO XXI
Bishop Guibert remained a confidant of the Founder throughout his life.
Eugene was ecstatic about the experience of the gathering of Oblates at the General Chapter. In his diary he wrote:
I will describe nothing about all that has happened in this memorable chapter. The register in which these acts are consigned preserves the memory of what was most remarkable, but one will never know how to depict the spirit of charity, the proofs of attachment to the rules, to the Congregation, to the superior, the unity of views and thoughts, the dedication, the abnegation, the holy indifference for every work, in whatever part of the world it may be.
I admit that I have not been able to contain the feeling of satisfaction, in seeing gathered together men of such a great and genuine merit, who have done everything for the Church and who are eager to do still more for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 13 July 1843, EO XXI
One hundred and eighty years later, Eugene’s heart must continue to rejoice as he sees his charism alive and bearing fruit in the Mazenodian Family.
With these words, Eugene as Superior General, pointed to the situation of the Congregation:
“These are the wonders of Providence upon us and an ever more pressing reason to thank the Lord who has given us such a vocation and to accomplish even more faithfully the apostolic virtues that this vocation demands of us.”
Rey gives the details:
Fr. Telmon, the delegate from Canada, reported the admirable effects that the appearance of the members of the Congregation had produced in the New World; in temporal terms, the gift of a very fine establishment had provided them with the necessary premises for the community and for a novitiate which already numbered several subjects. From a spiritual point of view, fourteen missions, all crowned with success and the most abundant fruits, showed that God was with them. Several foundations were requested in neighboring dioceses and the evangelization of the indigenous was offered to the Oblates.
Fr Casimir Aubert, the delegate of the missions of England, dexcribed the foundation of a house in Penzance, a town in the southwestern part of the county of Cornwall. An Irish priest, Fr. Young, had built a church there, and offered to entrust it to the zeal of the Oblates. Father Daly came to settle there and open a novitiate. The bishops of Ireland were interested in our establishment and the great O’Connell wanted to contribute. He received the scapular of the Congregation and authorized Fr. Aubert to use his name in the prospectus to be launched to make the work known and to call for subscriptions.
All the other superiors took turns reporting on the material and spiritual state of their houses. From their various reports, it appears that during this year, the small Oblate Congregation preached 65 missions, not counting a certain number of retreats and other occasional preaching.
REY II p 161 – 162
Every six years the Missionary Oblates gather for an important meeting, called a General Chapter. Here, representatives from each province come together to review the state of the Congregation and to evaluate its responses to the needs of the world at that particular time. It is the highest decision-making Oblate gathering and ensures faithfulness to our God-given charism and spirit.
Rey, the Founder’s biographer, describes this gathering which took place in July 1843 in Marseilles.
In May he had already sent the official letter of convocation of the General Chapter for July 10. This was the seventh that the Congregation was to hold. On the 11th and 12th of the same month, he made the canonical visit to the Calvaire community as a kind of preparation for the general meeting of his children. He was fully satisfied and his desire increased to see the Superiors and delegates of all the houses assembled around him…
On July 10, the members of the Chapter met at the Major Seminary, 22 in number. After the Mass celebrated by the Superior General, they went to the chant of the “Come Holy Spirit” in the assembly hall, and there, taking his place at the stand prepared in the center of the auditorium, the Founder addressed his children.
But,” say the Acts of the Chapter, “no sooner had the Superior General said a few words to thank heaven for the memorable things accomplished since the last Chapter in the bosom of the congregation than he was suddenly overwhelmed by one of those tender and lively emotions that he could not hide. His spirit, he said, had descended into his heart. The emotion was shared by the whole assembly and each one tried to express the most filial and caring affection towards a beloved father. Guibert’s elevation to the episcopate and the founding of the missions in Canada and the British Isles, he exclaimed:
“These are the wonders of Providence upon us and an ever more pressing reason to thank the Lord who has given us such a vocation and to accomplish even more faithfully the apostolic virtues that this vocation demands of us.”
REY II p 161 – 162
Pertinent advice for all of us who are tempted not to read the signs that God sends us regarding the responsibility of self-care.
I have learned with extreme pleasure by your letter that you have recovered from your illness; but it is with some anxiety that I learn you are planning to give several retreats in a row. We must never wish to do more or otherwise than the good Lord indicates. In this matter, I would wish you to take the advice of your admonitor in all simplicity in order to avoid responsibility before God and the Congregation of unpleasant consequences which might result to your health, so precious to all of us.
Letter to Father Eugene Guigues (at at N.-D. de L’Osier, France). 6 July 1843
Continuing his letter to the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, Eugene boasts about the Oblate achievements in England and Wales and their hopes for the conversion of many to Catholicism. The vocabulary is of that time – bear in mind that in the 19th century Catholics held that outside of the Catholic Church there was no salvation, so it was imperative to focus on the conversion of people in a predominantly Anglican country.
This same Congregation has also opened a house in the county of Cornwall in England. This house begins with the founded hope of being a powerful means for the conversion of the Protestant population of the county. Everything already bodes for the best and a number of conversions have in a certain way inaugurated a work which from its very birth has encountered a nearly general sympathy in the country. The Church of the Missionaries constructed in Penzance is spacious but it has not been paid for entirely. In this sense, nothing can be requested from the Protestants who nonetheless enjoy coming to attend the services of the Catholic Church and listening to the instructions delivered by our men. This initial success has given rise to the upcoming establishment of a new foundation in Wales in keeping with the wishes of the Apostolic Vicar of that district. There are hopes for joyful fruits of salvation in England.
I also felt it necessary to consent to the opening of another house in Cork in Ireland. Besides the fact that our missionaries, who have already tested their mettle in that country, will be very useful assistants to the local clergy since their own spirit makes them particularly suitable for a ministry which furthers the action of the Irish clergy, it is necessary for our men to recruit workers from among this clergy for Upper Canada where English is spoken and for the English missions. Candidates for this will not be lacking and they will be able to fulfil their vocation perfectly if we receive them young enough to form them properly in the religious education of a good novitiate.
The activities abroad, however, are too vast for our Congregation to be able to suffice with its resources alone. The Congregation needs the assistance of the Missionary Society of the Propagation of the Faith, and I request that aid with all the more confidence since what we have done has assumed today sufficient importance and extent for us not to be disregarded in the distribution of funds destined for the foreign missions. I hope that as of this year you will be so obliging as to grant us the aid which will allow us to accomplish what the Lord has permitted us to begin with the visible effect of His blessing.
Letter to the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, 15 June 1843, EO V n 82
Then the personal touch was added here as well to arouse the generosity of the benefactors.:
There is another missionary of the same Congregation of the Oblates of the Immaculate Conception who will come to visit you. He too will have wonders to tell you about his mission in Ireland and in the county of Cornwall in England. … He is one of the most distinguished men who has already earned the esteem and trust of all the bishops of Ireland and England with whom he has been in contact. These bishops place upon him and his companions all their hopes for the conversion of the heretics in the county of Cornwall and the principality of Wales. His name is Fr. Aubert.
He has already opened a church in Penzance where for the last 300 years no one has ever seen a single external rite of our holy religion. Ten abjurations have been the prelude to what grace will bring about in these areas. However, he will need the assistance of your Council. I hope you will be good enough to promote the cause of these poor heretics who await only the moment of grace to return to the fold. Fr. Aubert’s community now consists of three priests and four novices. He is coming to France to ask me for more men whom he needs in order to include the provinces ready to receive him and thereby respond to the pressing requests from the bishops who have placed their hope in him. Fr. Aubert will be able to give you a better explanation of his position and the state of affairs. I think you will consider his a just case to benefit from the aid of the Missionary Society.
Letter to the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, 3 June 1843, EO V n 81
