Eugene, writing in the third person, as the \u201cDirector\u201d, for the official Diary of the Youth Congregation spoke about the importance of his baptism anniversary on 2 August.<\/p>\n
\nThe Reverend Director reminded the congregants that the next day would be his birthday, but that this commemoration had no value in his eyes. What is infinitely more precious for him is the anniversary of his baptism which took place on August 2, 1782. He begged all the congregants to help him thank God for so great a grace, for which he declared he can never be grateful enough and asked them to join their prayers with his, which stand in need of this support if he is to summon up the hope of seeing them accepted by God.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Diary of the Aix Christian Youth Congregation, 31 July 1814, O.W. XVI,<\/em><\/p>\n
The next Diary entry refers to this event:<\/p>\n
\nA number of congregants thought they could find no better way of following the Director’s wishes than by coming and assisting and uniting themselves with the Holy\u00a0Mass he offered this morning in the chapel of the Congregation.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Diary of the Aix Christian Youth Congregation, 2 August 1814, O.W. XVI<\/em><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRituals, anthropologists will tell us, are about transformation. The rituals we use for marriage, baptism or inaugurating a president are as elaborate as they are because we associate the ritual with a major life passage, the crossing of a critical threshold, or in other words, with transformation.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Abraham Verghese<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Eugene, writing in the third person, as the \u201cDirector\u201d, for the official Diary of the Youth Congregation spoke about the importance of his baptism anniversary on 2 August. The Reverend Director reminded the congregants that the next day would be … Continue reading