Leflon tells the story<\/p>\n
The Founder’s influence over these “modern-day Goliaths” and over the people in the port districts enabled him to intervene effectively in preventing bloodshed when the assassination of the Duke de Berry became known; since the royalism of the common classes was intense and their passions violent, it was from them that one could expect the worst excesses against former revolutionaries and liberal bourgeois. The Founder’s father wrote that their first impulse was “to take revenge upon these two groups for the murder of the Prince whom we all mourn.” Bishop Jeancard likewise related:<\/em><\/p>\n In the bourgeois parishes, where people were less prone to acts of violence, the Missionaries of France made similar appeals\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Public opinion gave most of the credit for maintaining tranquility in these critical circumstances to the appeals and influence of the missionaries.<\/em><\/p>\n Leflon 2 p. 111-112<\/p>\n “It was only from an inner calm that man was able to discover and shape calm surroundings.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Gardiner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Leflon tells the story The Founder’s influence over these “modern-day Goliaths” and over the people in the port districts enabled him to intervene effectively in preventing bloodshed when the assassination of the Duke de Berry became known; since the royalism … Continue reading \n
Fortunately, the old districts where these reprisals were on the point of being carried out, were being evangelized at that moment by the Missionaries of Provence; religion was the only force powerful enough to restrain arms poised to strike, and it was stronger than ever in these districts. Consequently, by intervening and appealing to the people in the name of religion, Father de Mazenod warded off the danger. Although he abhorred the crime which plunged France into mourning, he spoke only the peaceful and gentle language of the Gospel when he spoke from the pulpit of Saint Laurent’s church, and he used the same language in the Carmes church. After the evening service he went out into the street and talked with the different groups which had formed there. Everyone listened to him with a pious respect and he succeeded thereby in allaying the violent passions which had been seething within the masses and which were about to erupt upon the city in all their fury. Some days later, the men of the two parishes said it was only because of him that they had held back.<\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n