I took my oath standing, the minister of worship read the short formula. The king said very courteous things about it; he made me sit beside him.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Eugene de Mazenod\u2019s Diary, 30 November 1837, EO XVIII<\/em><\/p>\n A few days later he met with the King again. Together with the Queen, whom Eugene had known when he was a young man in exile in Sicily some thirty years earlier. He made good use of this opportunity.<\/p>\n In that same audience, I spoke to the king about our need of a cathedral at Marseilles, proportionate to the grandeur and importance of the city. The king agreed and was not at all startled by my proposal that he provide us with a million francs over a period of ten years; I intend to ask the Chambers for triple that amount, but of that I said nothing.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Eugene de Mazenod\u2019s Diary, 8 December 1837, EO XVIII<\/em><\/p>\n Marseilles was the second largest city of France, and had a tiny cathedral, so Bishop Eugene wanted to ensure having an appropriate building to honor the presence of God in his city. It took several decades to build, and Eugene never lived to see the completion of his project.<\/p>\n For Eugene even more important than a building were the words of Paul: \u00a0“Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”<\/em> (1 Corinthians 3:6)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Once Eugene had been named as Bishop of Marseilles it was necessary to conclude a number of lengthy formalities with the Vatican and with the Franch Government before being formally installed. The last of these to go to Paris to … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Solomon.png\")
<\/a>Solomon\u2019s prayer at the dedication of the Jerusalem Temple: \u00a0\u201cIs God indeed to dwell on earth? If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this house which I have built!\u201d<\/em> (I Kings 8:27)<\/p>\n