Before beginning his venture with the young people of Aix, Eugene had written to his spiritual director, Father Duclaux, asking advice on his plans to gather young people on Sundays so as to instruct them. Duclaux\u2019s reply of 23 February 1813 was unconditionally encouraging:<\/p>\n
\nThis is still the work of works: give it all your efforts, deploy all your zeal to form them well. Give them guidelines.<\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
REY, Histoire I, p. 151-152<\/em><\/p>\n
Eugene followed this advice closely, and two months later he reported that on Sunday evenings he was giving the youth a<\/p>\n
\nsmall instruction, quite simple, in conversational vein, which God in his goodness sees to seasoning.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to C. Forbin-Janson, 9 April 1813, O.W. XV n. 116<\/em><\/p>\n
The first official coming together of the group took place on Sunday 25 April 1813 with seven participants.<\/p>\n
The Oblate researcher, Jozef Pielorz, descriobes the growth of this group:<\/p>\n
\nThanks to the strong personality of the Founder and his particular talent to attract young people, the Youth Association developed beyond all expectations:<\/strong><\/h5>\n
at the end of 1813 there were 23;
\n<\/strong>at the end of 1814 they got to 60;
\n<\/strong>at the end of 1815, to 120,
\n<\/strong>at the end of 1816, 200
\n<\/strong>to reach up to nearly 300 in 1817.<\/strong><\/h5>\nAt that\u00a0 time, it was therefore one of the most flourishing congregations of youth in France.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
PIELORZ, J., \u201cLes rapports du Fondateur avec les cur\u00e9s d\u2019Aix (1813-1826),\u201d
\nin \u00c9tudes Oblates<\/em> 19 (1960), p. 159.<\/p>\n\u201cYoung people need models, not critics\u201d (John Wooden)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before beginning his venture with the young people of Aix, Eugene had written to his spiritual director, Father Duclaux, asking advice on his plans to gather young people on Sundays so as to instruct them. Duclaux\u2019s reply of 23 February … Continue reading