{"id":5850,"date":"2024-09-19T01:00:52","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T23:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=5850"},"modified":"2024-09-17T02:49:13","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T00:49:13","slug":"the-woes-they-have-but-would-not-have-if-they-tried-to-understand-what-a-religious-should-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=5850","title":{"rendered":"THE WOES THEY HAVE BUT WOULD NOT HAVE IF THEY TRIED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT A RELIGIOUS SHOULD BE"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Oblates in Canada did not have an easy time. Externally, they met with opposition from the local clergy who felt threatened by this group of zealous French missionaries who were having much success in their missions and attracting people. Among themselves, however, the younger missionaries had not received a full formation in community living and the challenges of religious life. Eugene unburdened his heartache (with a large dose of emotional exaggeration because things were not quite as bad as he described) to Fr. Honorat. Eugene was only familiar with the French model of evangelization and initially did not understand that the needs and methods of Canada were different.<\/h3>\n

You well need that I be able to extend my visitation as far as Canada. It is there and not in France that they have lost the very notion of the religious spirit.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

It has reached the stage where I can no longer recognize my work. It was never my idea to make a gift to the Church of a society of insubordinate priests, without deference or respect for their superiors, detractors of each other, grumblers, void of the spirit of obedience, each reserving the right to judge according to his prejudices, his tastes or his repugnances, sparing no one, not only amongst themselves but even before strangers whom they carelessly take into their confidence about the woes they have but would not have if they tried to understand what a religious should be…<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

The wound must be quite deep and the illness quite chronic if all the recruits I send and who leave full of goodwill soon become as imperfect as the others. I am sickened to the depths of my soul. I hope nevertheless that by the mercy of God the means He inspires me to take will remedy the evil I deplore. I am going to send a Visitor extraordinary with full powers. I am nonetheless, my very dear, believe me, yours very affectionately…<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Letter to Fr Jean Baptiste Honorat in Saguenay, Canada, 12 July 1849, EO I n 121<\/em><\/h3>\n

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

“Like all best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements.”\u00a0 (Queen Elizabeth II)<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Oblates in Canada did not have an easy time. Externally, they met with opposition from the local clergy who felt threatened by this group of zealous French missionaries who were having much success in their missions and attracting people. … 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-5850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5850","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=5850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}