From the very beginning, Eugene\u2019s expansive spirit saw beyond his present frontiers towards other areas of missionary outreach to the \u201cmost abandoned.\u201d In 1818 he had written in the first Rule of Life:<\/p>\n
\nEven though, because of their present small number and the more urgent needs of the people around them,<\/strong><\/h5>\n
they have to limit the scope of their zeal, for the time being, to the poor of our countryside and others,<\/strong><\/h5>\n
their ambition should, in its holy aspirations, embrace the vast expanse of the whole earth<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
1818 Rule, Part One, Chapter One. The ends of the Institute, \u00a73. Nota Bene,
\nMissions, 78 (1951) p. 15<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0Now, six years later, we have been seeing how he heard and wanted to respond to the call of the abandoned across the French frontier in the Diocese of Nice.<\/p>\n
\nHave prayers said every day that the good God remove the opposition that the demon must have aroused against the proposed foundation, which ought to be so advantageous to our Society and so detrimental to hell, for you cannot believe how much this region needs us.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to Hippolyte Court\u00e8s, 24 July 1824, EO VI n 147<\/em><\/p>\n
Unfortunately the Sardinian government was suspicious of foreign missionaries working in their territory, and so the project of a mission center in Nice never materialized.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Doubt begins only at the last frontiers of what is possible.” Ambrose Bierce<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From the very beginning, Eugene\u2019s expansive spirit saw beyond his present frontiers towards other areas of missionary outreach to the \u201cmost abandoned.\u201d In 1818 he had written in the first Rule of Life: Even though, because of their present small … Continue reading