Tag Archives: Good Friday

IN THIS SIGN YOU WILL CONQUER

The sight of the cross… one Good Friday Retreat Journal, December 1814, O.W. XV n.130 The Emperor Constantine, who had a devotion to the Roman goddess of Victory, changed his focus before an important battle when he had a vision … Continue reading

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GOOD FRIDAY: THAT MOMENT WHEN HIS EYES MET MINE, THE MOMENT WHEN HE MADE ME REALIZE THAT HE LOVED ME

Can I forget the bitter tears that the sight of the cross brought streaming from my eyes one Good Friday? “Can I forget … the sight of the cross?” asks Eugene, and the peace that flowed into his life as … Continue reading

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CAN I FORGET THE SIGHT OF THE CROSS?

  Can I forget the bitter tears that the sight of the cross brought streaming from my eyes one Good Friday? Retreat Journal, December 1814, O.W. XV n.130 “Can I forget … the sight of the cross?” asks Eugene? Every … Continue reading

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ONE GOOD FRIDAY OF SORROW, JOY AND GRATITUDE

Eugene then narrates the moment when all the strands of his conversion journey came together in a peak moment of illumination. From this moment everything in his life would be interpreted through the lens of this experience. Here is the whole … Continue reading

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AN INSTANTANEOUS GOOD FRIDAY CONVERSION – MYTH OR REALITY?

For most of us, the religious experience of a significant awareness of God’s presence that leads to personal conversion is a long and slow process – usually we are not even fully aware of the meaning of what has been … Continue reading

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THE SOURCE OF ENERGY THAT POWERS MAZENODIAN SPIRITUALITY

When I speak of the central focus of a spirituality and refer to a defining experience or understanding of God, some respond by saying that they have never had an experience of God. By ‘experience’ I do not mean a … Continue reading

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POINTING TO JESUS CHRIST THROUGH HIS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Marius Suzanne describes Eugene’s preaching on Good Friday of 1820 during the Aix mission. He who had been captivated as a young man by Jesus the Saviour on that Good Friday more than twenty years before, truly showed himself to … Continue reading

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HUG AS YOU HAVE BEEN HUGGED

Eugene’s own conversion experience had been the awareness of God’s boundless love and mercy: Blessed, a thousand times blessed, that he, this good Father, notwithstanding my unworthiness, lavished on me all the richness of his mercy Retreat Journal, December 1814, … Continue reading

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THE FOUNDATION OF ALL RELATIONS

Continuing to teach his young charges how to grow strong in the midst of negative influences, Eugene refers to the scandal-filled and destructive atmosphere of some sections of Aix “society”: When unavoidably in this environment, particularly if they find themselves … Continue reading

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WHAT MORE GLORIOUS OCCUPATION THAN TO ACT IN EVERYTHING AND FOR EVERYTHING ONLY FOR GOD

The heart of Eugene’s conversion experience is his definitive decision to live “only for God.” Looking at the rest if his life, one sees that this did in effect become the central focus of his life. His canonisation in 1995 … Continue reading

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