{"id":4940,"date":"2021-11-10T02:00:19","date_gmt":"2021-11-10T01:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=4940"},"modified":"2021-11-09T01:48:04","modified_gmt":"2021-11-09T00:48:04","slug":"i-no-longer-knew-if-i-was-in-heaven-or-on-earth-and-i-had-to-shed-tears-of-joy-and-appreciation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=4940","title":{"rendered":"I NO LONGER KNEW IF I WAS IN HEAVEN OR ON EARTH, AND I HAD TO SHED TEARS OF JOY AND APPRECIATION"},"content":{"rendered":"

The closure of the parish missions in Marseilles was one of the greatest consolations for Bishop Eugene as this journal entry testifies.<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s not for nothing that I did not want to permit a physician to be called; the doctor would have believed himself obliged to keep me in bed and I needed to arise in order to do the will of the heavenly Father. Today must take place the general Communion of the men in the parish of Saint-Cannat, fruit of the mission which Fr. Loewenbruck has been giving for five weeks. A certain number among them, and many women also, were waiting for me in order to receive the sacrament of Confirmation which they had neglected to receive. I would have needed to be in my death throes to stay away. What more consoling duty to fulfill! Who could have replaced me for this ministry? How, besides, to consent to depriving myself of the truly ineffable happiness experienced by a bishop to whom God gives the grace of sensing what is characteristic of the true pastor in regard to his flock in such a situation?<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Without thinking I was doing a heroic deed, I then wrapped myself in my ceremonial fur and got out of bed to go to the church, where so many renewed Christians found themselves gathered at the foot of the holy altar, in the expectation of the remainder of the graces which had been reserved for them after their reconciliation with God. What a delightful sight! I was counting on a great number of attendants, but when, placing my foot on the doorstep of the main door, I saw the nave filled with gathered men, all of whom knelt to receive my blessing, when, having arrived in the sanctuary, I prostrated myself to adore our Savior, to give him thanks for having arranged such a harvest in my ministry, and while a thousand men\u2019s voices were raised at the same time to sing the mercies of the Lord, to exalt the power of his arm and to witness to the happiness with which they were filled, I no longer knew if I was in heaven or on earth, and I had to shed tears of joy and appreciation.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Eugene de Mazenod\u2019s Diary, 21 January 1844, EO XXI<\/em><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The closure of the parish missions in Marseilles was one of the greatest consolations for Bishop Eugene as this journal entry testifies. It\u2019s not for nothing that I did not want to permit a physician to be called; the doctor … 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,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4940","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=4940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4940\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}