After five years of existence we find the Missionaries gradually increasing in number and having to make decisions and adjust to new situations. Henri Tempier was at ND du Laus and finding life tough. He had written to Eugene to ask for an assistant:<\/p>\n
\nJudge for yourself, I am superior over spiritual and temporal matters for a large community, rector of a parish, chaplain of a shrine and alternately professor of theology and philosophy<\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter of Henri Tempier to Eugene de Mazenod in Missions O.M.I., 1897, p. 179.<\/em><\/p>\n
Eugene\u2019s reply was not very comforting:<\/p>\n
\nThe idea of having two professors for two students is not to my liking especially in a Society where each ought to do the work of four.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to Henri Tempier, 4 February 1821, E.O. VI n. 61<\/p>\n
He had caught Eugene at a bad moment because there was the possibility of having to send men to Marseille for the foundation of a new community \u2013 and he was trying to work out how to fulfil all these commitments. In fact he was concerned and generously did send help. Yvon Beaudoin notes that the community of Laus had 24 members at the end of the year 1821, amongst whom there were a few fathers (Tempier, Touche, Court\u00e8s) and some coadjutor brothers.(Footnote 2 in E.O. VI n. 61<\/em>) and several students.<\/p>\n
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“Phrases like ‘overworked and underpaid’ perpetuate that feeling.\u201d<\/em> Lena Bottos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After five years of existence we find the Missionaries gradually increasing in number and having to make decisions and adjust to new situations. Henri Tempier was at ND du Laus and finding life tough. He had written to Eugene to … Continue reading