{"id":2878,"date":"2015-09-30T05:00:29","date_gmt":"2015-09-30T03:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=2878"},"modified":"2015-09-29T15:59:22","modified_gmt":"2015-09-29T13:59:22","slug":"a-search-for-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=2878","title":{"rendered":"A SEARCH FOR ANSWERS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since his return to Aix, Eugene was in continual contact with his mother\u2019s cousin, Fran\u00e7ois Joseph Roze (Joannis), to whom she was very attached and whom Eugene always referred to as \u201cmy uncle.\u201d Roze was an educated man with a doctor\u2019s degree in law and in medicine, but<\/p>\n

\n
you know that my dear uncle is, worse luck for him, the most obstinate jansenist in christendom. I only hope that the austere life he leads and his generosity to all kinds of poor people will merit him the grace of entering the sheepfold which he and his confreres claim they have never left.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Letter to his father, 26 December 1805, EO XIV n 14<\/em><\/p>\n

Eugene\u2019s change of attitude and search for meaning in his life and his renewed interest in his faith made him engage with his uncle\u2019s faith vision and to redirect his time and energy to make a study of the deviation of Jansenism.<\/p>\n

\n
I must add that, attached as I am by bonds of blood and friendship to one of the most enlightened of Jansenists and one who is at the same time one of the most obstinate of them, I often engage in conversation with him about these matters, and it can well be imagined that he spares no pains in presenting his sect\u2019s doctrine to me in the best light possible in an effort to get me to join, knowing how inflexible my character is in the matter of duty as to which I do not tolerate any kind of tampering. So I am in a better position than anyone to know if anyone is attributing to them opinions they do not hold; for I can guarantee that their doctrine is the same as that we read in their books with the difference that in talking with them you force them to admit certain consequences that they take great pains to conceal in most of their works, but which are not difficult to deduce from their principles which are set out in all the publications with which they have inundated the public<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The depth of his reading and study is reflected:<\/p>\n

\n
Much more again would emerge if, penetrating deeper into their system, I set out for you their errors concerning the sacrament of penance, the Eucharist and orders, on the Church\u2019s discipline, etc. Does one need more to demonstrate the incredible outrages of the Jansenists? Will you ever again let yourself be taken in by the fine words that are ever on their lips? My patience is at an end and I cannot continue my exposition of their blasphemies.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Notes on Jansenism, 1806, EO XIV n 16<\/em><\/p>\n

Quite a radical change of focus from the young man\u2019s previous vanity and passion for the Aix social scene and the pursuit of money!<\/p>\n

\"200\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing religious means asking passionately the question of the meaning of our existence and being willing to receive answers, even if the answers hurt.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Tillich<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since his return to Aix, Eugene was in continual contact with his mother\u2019s cousin, Fran\u00e7ois Joseph Roze (Joannis), to whom she was very attached and whom Eugene always referred to as \u201cmy uncle.\u201d Roze was an educated man with a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[141],"class_list":["post-2878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-letters","tag-spirituality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2878\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}