Fr. Mille, who was from Marseilles, had expressed concern about the Oblates and his family to Eugene. This gave him the opportunity to describe the heroic actions of the Oblates during the misery caused by the epidemic.<\/p>\n
\nMy dear Father Mille, I understand your concern for us and your family. We are, in fact, under the most terrible onslaught of cholera. It has attacked cruelly this time. A few hours are enough to dispatch even the strongest person struck without any warning. The number who survive are so rare that it may be said that to be struck is the same as dying.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Of all those whom our Fathers of Calvaire have assisted, and they get up every night to come to the aid of someone, there is not one who did not die; I think it is no exaggeration to say that out of a hundred more than ninety die\u2026<\/strong><\/h5>\n
We had two days of respite, so much so that in the two much-populated parishes of La Major and St-Laurent. which together number more than twenty-five thousand souls, there was not even one case, but two days later the sickness resumed with full force, and in both of these parishes, Holy Viaticum had to be taken five times in one afternoon alone. Even the poorer people are leaving in great numbers, I shall find out today if your mother has left, but before that I want to ease your anxiety by assuring you that none of the people close to you has been affected.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to Jean Baptiste Mille, 26 August 1837, EO IX n 637<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fr. Mille, who was from Marseilles, had expressed concern about the Oblates and his family to Eugene. This gave him the opportunity to describe the heroic actions of the Oblates during the misery caused by the epidemic. My dear Father … Continue reading