{"id":5589,"date":"2023-11-06T01:00:54","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T00:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=5589"},"modified":"2023-11-01T09:14:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T08:14:00","slug":"this-consecration-of-human-labor-to-the-protection-of-him-to-whom-everything-must-be-related","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=5589","title":{"rendered":"THIS CONSECRATION OF HUMAN LABOR TO THE PROTECTION OF HIM TO WHOM EVERYTHING MUST BE RELATED"},"content":{"rendered":"

While we are focusing on Eugene’s writings to his Oblate missionaries, we need to keep in mind that he was also Bishop of the second largest city in France at the same time. In this position he was very involved in all that was happening in the city of Marseilles. His contemporary and biographer, Rey, described one of these moments (in the flowery language of that time)<\/h3>\n

“In the early days of July, a work of a very different kind received its religious crowning from the hands of the venerable bishop. He was invited by the municipality of Marseilles to bless the canal that was to bring the waters of the Durance River to the city’s surrounding area and to the city itself. Anyone who knew Marseilles and its suburbs before this inauguration can understand what wealth, fertility, freshness and beauty this canal made possible. The city was transformed. Mgr de Mazenod had been an enthusiastic supporter of the creation of this great work, had backed its execution with all his influence, and was happy to exercise his ministry for the benefit of all those who had taken part, but above all for the promotion of religion.<\/em><\/h3>\n

The inauguration was set for Thursday July 8. It was a day of solemn celebration, with magnificent weather and a huge turnout. All the civil, military and administrative authorities were present, in the village of La Gavotte, near Saint-Antoine, at the magnificent canal downstream from the Notre-Dame underground passage: the waters were to enter Marseille from this point. At around 7 o’clock in the evening, the waters began to appear. The Bishop took the podium and, in a powerful voice, delivered a speech that was followed by thunderous applause. We will quote only the beginning and the end of his speech:<\/em><\/h3>\n

“Gentlemen, it was worthy of the men called to represent the spirit of an eminently Christian city, to ask for the support of religion to solemnize one of the most memorable days in Marseille’s history. They have followed a happy and praiseworthy thought in wishing to invoke with us the name of the Lord on the magnificent work of their foresight and solicitude over so many years.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

This homage to heaven of a great project already almost entirely realized, this consecration of human labor to the protection of Him to whom everything must be related, gives to their beautiful undertaking the character of a religious homage, the noblest, the purest, the best sustained, the only one that is always well inspired.”<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Eugene de Mazenod quoted by Rey Volume 2 pages 255-256<\/em><\/h3>\n

REFLECTION<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Unless the Lord builds the house,
\nthose who build it labor in vain.
\nUnless the Lord guards the city,
\nthe guard keeps watch in vain.<\/h3>\n

Psalm 127:1<\/em><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While we are focusing on Eugene’s writings to his Oblate missionaries, we need to keep in mind that he was also Bishop of the second largest city in France at the same time. In this position he was very involved … 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-5589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5589","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=5589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5589\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}