{"id":5748,"date":"2024-04-09T01:00:32","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T23:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=5748"},"modified":"2024-04-08T01:46:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-07T23:46:05","slug":"one-of-our-purposes-is-to-provide-special-means-of-salvation-to-clergy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=5748","title":{"rendered":"ONE OF OUR PURPOSES IS TO PROVIDE SPECIAL MEANS OF SALVATION TO CLERGY"},"content":{"rendered":"

Father Vincens had just finished preaching the annual retreat for the diocesan priests of Marseilles.<\/h3>\n

The pastoral retreat has been given by our Fr. Vincens who worked wonders. It has been among the most edifying. The priests said that they had never had an equal to it. The week passed like a day for us. The closing sermon was magnificent. I concluded from it that Fr. Vincens could be put to use very advantageously in giving these exercises to the clergy. I will give him this mission, which he will carry out to everyone’s satisfaction.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 16 September 1848, EO XXI<\/em><\/h3>\n

The formation and personal renewal of priests has been an integral part of Oblate ministry since the beginning when the house of Aix en Provence, and later all Oblate houses, were available to welcome diocesan priests for retreats and times of personal renewal.\u00a0 Evangelization of people could only be effective when there was a competent local clergy to maintain it. Eugene and the first community had expressed this ministry in the first Rule:<\/h3>\n

See to it that you have zealous, altruistic and solidly virtuous priests and soon you will bring back to the fold the people who have wandered away from their duties.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

1818 Rule, Part One, Chapter One. The ends of the Institute, \u00a73. Nota Bene.<\/em>
\nMissions, 78 (1951) p. 15<\/em><\/h3>\n

The period of the French Revolution and its aftermath had made Eugene aware of the damage caused by priests who were not faithful to their vocation and responsibilities. Tragically, what he wrote then is still true today and this aspect of our charism remains vital:<\/h3>\n

All are aware of the many evils that have resulted from the deplorable disaster of recent years, namely, the evils that were occasioned by the apostasy of a multitude of priests who, despite the glorious example of so many of their brothers, have fallen from the fervor of their state, and have brought ruin on themselves and many others. It is because of this situation that our Society, with equal zeal and perseverance, also makes it one of its purposes to provide special means of salvation to such priests.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Rule of 1826, Chapter One, \u00a71, Art. 6<\/em><\/h3>\n

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

“As priests uphold their people in prayer, so their people are to uphold them with prayer and love, for he cannot work without his people.” (Arthur Middleton)<\/h3>\n

As a Mazenodian Family let us be agents of support and renewal for our priests.<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Father Vincens had just finished preaching the annual retreat for the diocesan priests of Marseilles. The pastoral retreat has been given by our Fr. Vincens who worked wonders. It has been among the most edifying. The priests said that they … 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-5748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5748","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=5748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}