Ordered to stay away from Marseilles, Eugene confides his anxiety for the Oblates to his friend and confidante, Father Tempier, and the only response possible for him.<\/p>\n
\nMy dear Friend, normal life is impossible at this unhappy juncture. My heart and mind are in an emotional state that breeds anxiety\u00a0 that makes it impossible to rest in peace. Prayer is the only course open to me, any other activity is impossible. Apart from that, my imagination plagues me with unhappy and gloomy thoughts; as a result I sometimes even have nervous spasms. I mean I start involuntarily at the thought of the evil that I fear may befall the people who are dear to me, or of their death. For two days I had no letters from you. It was all that was needed to torture me with the idea that perhaps you were dead.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
At the time of the first epidemic, when I was there on the spot, sharing the same dangers, I experienced hardly any anxiety for others any more than myself. It seemed as if we were all invulnerable; now that for my sins I am in a place of safety, the most acute suffering is never absent from me. Even so I really think that the Lord is watching over you, since up to the present not one has been taken ill in the course of the ministry, perilous as it is, that our Fathers have so heroically embraced.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to Henri Tempier, 7 August 1835, EO VIII n 531<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ordered to stay away from Marseilles, Eugene confides his anxiety for the Oblates to his friend and confidante, Father Tempier, and the only response possible for him. My dear Friend, normal life is impossible at this unhappy juncture. My heart … Continue reading