Thomas Jefferson said that he liked the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. Yet, for Eugene, our history and its human instruments helped us to understand God\u2019s plan for us for the future. We have already seen these historical events above, but for the sake of publishing this important letter in its complete version, we are invited to read the chronology and its interpretation again:<\/p>\n
\nIn such circumstances, the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars in charge of the examination of the Code of our Rules had to be acquainted with the desire of the Holy Father. He himself chose for this task some cardinals, to whose memory our lively gratitude will always remain attached.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
God permits that it was His Eminence Cardinal Pacca, Prefect of this Congregation, a man highly recommended for his zeal to help the Church in her misfortunes and for his unshakeable fidelity to the Sovereign Pontiff, in spite of outrages, persecutions and moreover even in captivity and prison he remained an intrepid confessor of the Catholic Faith;<\/strong><\/h5>\n
then the holy Cardinal Pedicini who assumed the task of ponent<\/em> of our cause and in the course of the very attentive and, certainly for us, very honourable discussion of our Constitutions, applied himself tirelessly to all stages of the work; finally,<\/strong><\/h5>\n
to these two was joined Cardinal Pallotta, of dynamic talent and remarkable learning.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
These Prelates, after having weighed everything with the greatest attention, have declared, on February 15, 1826, that a petition should be addressed to the Holy Father in view of expediting Apostolic Letters in the form of a brief, His Holiness sanctioned this decision and added thereto his confirmation; He approved our Institute and its Constitutions and Rules and gave the order to expedite the Letters in the form of a brief on February 17, 1826.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to all the Oblates, 25 March 1826, EO VII n 232<\/em><\/p>\n
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\u201cHistory is a vision of God’s creation on the move.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Arnold J. Toynbee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thomas Jefferson said that he liked the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. Yet, for Eugene, our history and its human instruments helped us to understand God\u2019s plan for us for the future. We have … Continue reading