Eugene de Mazenod speaks to us

The Letter of Superior General to the Congregation on the Anniversary of the Papal Approval of the Constitutions and Rules

Dear Brother Oblates, and all our Sisters and Brothers committed to living the Oblate Charism,

We commemorate this anniversary in the context of the ongoing pandemic which afflicts the world, especially the poor, and which is causing much anxiety, frustration and marginalization.  This situation demands flexibility to accept and adapt to changes in our lifestyle and ministries imposed by conditions beyond our control.  We witness increasing division in many societies and in the Church.  The abuse scandal in the Church continues to reverberate in the media.  Massive migration, fed by religious persecution, war, economic injustice and climate change plague the world.  In this context, we recognize the need to cultivate the capacity for patience, interiority, personal discipline, and creativity.  The crisis calls us to conversion, and challenges us to be firmly rooted in God and in community.

In this uncertain scenario, we are preparing for our 37th General Chapter which will, hopefully, take place here in Italy, in September… the theme of the Chapter is: PILGRIMS OF HOPE IN COMMUNION.  This is a bold statement, given the context in which we are living.  Each noun in this phrase opens up many significant images, biblical and ecclesial, as well as stories and wisdom from folk culture.  The theme will provide us with many points of departure for faith sharing and animation as we prepare for the Chapter.

Father Louis Lougen, OMI
Superior General

The Letter of Superior General to the Congregation on the Anniversary of the Papal Approval of the Constitutions and Rules

Dear Brother Oblates, and all our Sisters and Brothers committed to living the Oblate Charism,

We celebrate with great joy and gratitude the 196th anniversary of the papal approbation of our Constitutions and Rules as the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate!  May we share in the profound conviction of Eugene de Mazenod that this approval was the work of divine Providence.   We pray for one another, that we will be faithful in living this precious charism, a gift from the heart of St. Eugene who passionately loved Christ Jesus, the Church, and the poor.  I am sure the Blessed Virgin Mary smiles on us, assisting us in our conversion to live our missionary charism with greater integrity.  Happy feast day to all of you.

Father Louis Lougen, OMI
Superior General

A letter from Father Louis Lougen, Superior General and successor of St Eugene de Mazenod:

Dear Brother Oblates, and all our Sisters and Brothers committed to living the Oblate Charism,

We celebrate with great joy and gratitude the 196th anniversary of the papal approbation of our Constitutions and Rules as the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate!  May we share in the profound conviction of Eugene de Mazenod that this approval was the work of divine Providence.  St. Eugene insisted on this in a letter to the Oblates in France on February 18, 1826.  In the same letter, filled with the recognition of God’s intervention on our behalf, he recognized: “Somewhat puny as we are, being weak and few in number, we nonetheless have an existence in the Church no less than that of the most celebrated bodies, the most holy societies.” It was with eyes of deep faith, that Eugene saw and believed the Gospel paradox: God chose what appeared to be weak and insignificant for the vast mission of evangelizing the poor…

Despite all his efforts to revive the “smoldering wick” of this 24 year-old Oblate who had been a priest for one year, the Founder had to take drastic action when it became clear that no change in behavior was possible.

I will attend to the business of your expulsion from the Society. For that, I must assemble the council which must decide on this question.

 I do not think that the council will hesitate. Only after the decision am I able to give you the dispensation that you, in all likelihood, will not present to the Lord’s tribunal as a claim to his mercy. If I am to judge by the signing of your letter, I am led to think that you believe yourself freed from your commitments by the very fact of making your request. Your behaviour at Vico would confirm that opinion…

I finish this letter broken-hearted with sorrow. I measure beforehand the disastrous consequences to your poor soul of the course you have just undertaken. I knew that you were very imperfect; but I did not suppose you to be unfaithful to the point you have shown. The poison was hidden in the wound. With more frankness on your part, the evil could probably have been remedied; but once Satan is allowed to penetrate a soul, he soon carries a person far away. That is your sorrowful story.

I shall gather all your misleading letters, which I believed to be sincere, and burn them on the day that you are cut off from the family which had adopted you.

Letter to Father Leopold Carles, 22 July 1844, EO X n 848

A sad ending.

In the saga of the difficult Father Carles, Eugene reached the point where the young man had to be expelled. In the privacy of his personal diary, he described his concern and anguish.

Already this malicious rascal has apostatized. The fact is that no one was ever pleased with this subject, who did not need to distinguish himself from his family, dried up and compromised in honor as in tactfulness.

He is among those subjects who do not deceive you for long, but one finds himself committed, one hopes moreover for a change which he expects by the grace of God, by the good example of others and by remorse of conscience. But one deludes himself. It was not necessary to make this poor subject a priest. It was necessary to stop at the loathing that his bad dress inspired.

It would have been more worthwhile to break it off earlier, but a person is always fearful of extinguishing the wick that still smokes and a person prepares himself for late and very bitter regrets.

It has not been proven to me that this wretch had not consented to undergo, such as they were, the trials of the novitiate and of the oblation in order to reach the priesthood and then destroy courtesy towards us. His letter is inappropriate and it allows me all kinds of conjecture. I have written to him.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 22 July 1844, EO XXI

The Father of the Oblate Family always looked for the possibilities of restoring its members who were in difficulty to the fullness of life. As long as the candle wick still smouldered, there was the possibility of the flame relighting.

In handling the case of the difficult Father Carles, Eugene explains his way of dealing with his Oblates.

You know well that I am greatly attached to him. I had certainly given him ample proof of my confidence by sending him to a major seminary such as Ajaccio. He simply did not understand the attitude to be taken in such a delicate situation. Is it negligence, lack of judgment, a lack of virtue? I really don’t know. All that I wish is that he give some proof of the contrary in the community to which he belongs and which lives in such a good spirit, with little pretension, much simplicity, obedience and zeal.

I am fearful of telling him all these things in writing because I know him to be sensitive and touchy. If I had occasion to speak with him I would not have hesitated to speak with him frankly; but you know that in verbal communication it would have been easy for me to remain within the bounds of any reaction — I suppose the truth would be a shock to him, while in written communication it is rather difficult to modify one’s expression and explain one’s thoughts sufficiently in a manner that will make it completely understood that one is speaking only for the good of the individual and for his greater usefulness in the service that is expected of him.

I realize that a superior, and especially a father like myself, should not be reduced to such maneuvers and wariness; but should not my children show me that I may act toward them with more liberty and less precaution?

Letter to Father Etienne Semeria, 15 December 1843, EO X n 826

Despite the goodness, generosity and zeal of the majority of Oblates, there were a few who did not measure up to the demands of their vocation. One of these was the 24 year-old Father Leopold Carles, who had caused havoc in Corsica throughout his first year of priesthood. I quote from the correspondence because it gives us a glimpse of how Eugene handled difficulties within the Congregation.

Yvon Beaudoin writes about this young man:

Immediately after his ordination, he was sent to the major seminary of Ajaccio as professor of philosophy. Hardly had he set foot in the house when Father Moreau, the superior, sent him to Vico and wrote the Founder to inform him that this priest could not remain in the house, “that he be changed is a question of life or death for the students.” As a result, on October 5, the Founder wrote to Father Semeria at Vico:

Even though I am extremely put out over the solution we had to take in regard to Father Carles, for the time being I will leave him with you at Vico, it being understood that he will work better there than elsewhere at correcting his difficult character and will not in any way disturb the peace and tranquility that, thanks be to God, are the rule in your house. On that point, I recommend that you let him get by with nothing.

How could it happen that, just after ordination and having just arrived at the task assigned to him, how could he have shown himself so defective in character that his superior should fear damaging the reputation of the Congregation were the seminarians to see him just as he has shown himself to be.

I cannot tell you just how much pain this misfortune has caused me. This is an example of how defects in a member can negate all the arrangements made by the superiors and cause apprehension in all their plans.

Letter to Father Etienne Semeria, 5 October 1843, EO X n 818

It is important to bear in mind why the Founder sent Oblates to the British Isles. He had three motives: 1/ to cooperate with the Catholic revival in England by bringing back to the Catholic Church those who had abandoned her; 2/ to recruit English-speaking vocations to become Oblates; and 3/ to open up missionary activity in the extensive British colonies around the world.

As we continue to read the fund-raising letter of Eugene to the Council of the Propagation of the Faith, some of these goals are seen in the way in which he describes the missionary work of the Oblates in south-eastern England

In an earlier letter Fr. Daly told me:

“Things are going splendidly (at Penzance). It is truly consoling to see our beautiful church full of people every Sunday; almost never less than three of four hundred protestants from different sects come to hear us preach the truths of our Holy Religion. The protestant temples are practically abandoned and our church is always full even when the weather is inclement. Some people come out of curiosity, but they depart edified and satisfied, and return. At present there is an extraordinary tendency towards our Holy Religion. Minds are all astir and seeking the truth with inexpressible eagerness. Easter Sunday was truly a beautiful day for us” (After a detailed description of that day he added), “The Protestants were enchanted by everything they saw and heard and the church was filled with the most respectable persons 2 hours before the evening service. There were at least 500 people in the pews and 250 obliged to remain standing. In the midst of this crowd, almost all protestant, there was always the deepest silence without the slightest confusion. After the sermon and benediction, I baptized an entire family composed of 6 people. I am unable to depict, etc…”

Rereading Fr. Daly’s letter I see that he also speaks about the school they have begun to build. They already had 30 children at that time and counted on receiving a very large number, even Protestants; an additional reason to prompt the Council to grant to this special mission an even larger sum than what was granted last year.

Letter to the Council of the Propagation of the Faith, Lyon, 21 July 1844, EO V n 88.

As opposed to the letters regarding the first years in Canada, not much of the correspondence between the Founder and the Oblates in England and Ireland has survived. It is a pity because the Oblate missionaries were zealous and hard-working as we can see in the little documentation we have.

Father Daly was building a church in Penzance, in England, and needed funds to complete the project. Bishop Eugene wrote to the Propagation of the Faith Council asking for funds.

Gentlemen, I wish to take advantage of this occasion to remind you of the pressing, the most pressing needs of the mission of Penzance in Cornwall.

… Here is what Fr. Daly writes to me in his somewhat English style:

“I am very pleased to give you news about our mission which, thanks be to God, could not be more consoling. We have opened two new missions, one in a village called St. Just and the other in a village where one of our convert families lives; it is called Goldsithney. I opened the mission of St. Just on the 9th of this month. I went there on foot with Fr. Dowling and one of our poor Catholics. We were very well received by the good people of St. Just who all work in the mines. They are very simple people but their minds have been poisoned by the bad doctrines of their sects and therefore they are very prejudiced against our Holy Religion.

As soon as I entered a home I was surrounded by women and children. I was a real attraction for them because they had never seen a Catholic priest. The mistress of the house is the sister of one of our converts. She received me very well and is preparing herself for baptism. I spent the day in a most pleasant way and went from house to house visiting the inhabitants of the village. In general I was very well received.

It had been agreed that the sermon would take place at 6 in the evening and I returned to the house where I was to preach. At 5 o’clock the women began to ready the house. Chairs and benches were brought from all sides and the house was soon filled by the most important people of the village. Since the house could not hold everyone, it was necessary to remove the windows and I preached to more than one thousand people who were all very happy. Since then, many have come to tell me that they were Catholics in heart.

Next Sunday I will baptize 10 people, 2 entire families. I baptized an old woman who is 90 years old… since my last letter I have received 5 more persons… two made their first communion last Sunday: an 18 year old girl and a young man 21 years old. The young girl will become a saint. There are many other very interesting things with respect to the mission, but I do not have the time and will tell you about them in my next letter.”

Eugene concludes:

You see, Gentlemen, how important it is to support such joyful beginnings. The harvest will be most abundant throughout this land, abandoned until the present. All will be lost, however, if the missionaries do not honour their commitments. Please, therefore, I pray you, take the matter to heart. I place all my trust in your zeal. Please accept my thanks beforehand as well as the sentiments wherewith I remain,

Letter to the Council of the Propagation of the Faith,

Lyon, 21 July 1844, EO V n 88.