The Oblate tradition

1. THE TEACHING OF THE SUPERIORS GENERAL AND GENERAL CHAPTERS

After the Founder's death, the Oblate tradition had a tendency to formulate the distinction between missionary activity and the life of perfection in an academic and abstract way. The basis for this distinction is found in the first two parts of the Rule: the end of the Institute and religious life. Certain Oblate values are grouped around the theme of mission and others around religious life. Issues of holiness are often placed in the context of religious life.

For example, we can read concise phrases such as the following: "As religious, it is our duty to strive for holiness; this was clearly established by our Founder. We are religious to become saints" [50]. Or yet again statements that are deliberately couched in very strong language: "In the name of God, of his Vicar on earth and of our venerated Founder, we declare that in our Congregation we are religious before being missionaries; we are religious in order to be supernatural missionaries, religious to persevere unto death in the labors of the apostolate". [51]

In this counter positioning, the link between holiness and mission remains stable with a clear subordination: to be an authentic missionary one has to be a saint and one is a saint in the measure that one lives in harmony with one's religious vocation. The sequence is quite clear: religious life - holiness - mission.

It was Father Joseph Fabre, Bishop de Mazenod's immediate successor, in particular who established this vision of things, a vision which predominated until the second half of this century. In his second circular letter, he wrote: "To what are we called, my dear brothers? To become saints, to be able to work effectively for the sanctification of the souls of the most abandoned. There lies our vocation. [...] We must work energetically, generously for our own sanctification, that is, we must meditate every day in the most serious, profound manner on our duties of state to acquire an ever deeper knowledge of the virtues that God expects of our souls in order that, through an ever more religious conduct it may attain to the practice of our holy obligations. [...] To work at sanctifying others through the exercise of the ministry in the world is a very fine mission, but it is only one part of our holy vocation. It presupposes the first part as its principle and the source of its fruitfulness. Indeed, can we collaborate effectively and in a supernatural manner with the grace of ministry to souls if we have not already achieved a clear understanding, a profound grasp of the need of our own sanctification?" [52] For the Oblate, any laxity in striving for sanctity causes his ministry to suffer: "Our negligence in cutting ourselves off from fervor and holiness would deny these souls the fruit and reward due this fervor and holiness". [53]

In his reflection, Father Fabre quoted here articles 288 and 289 which divide the Oblate's life into two portions: one devoted to prayer and silence and spent within the community and the other dedicated to preaching and other activities of the apostolate. It is especially during this first phase, that of silence and interior recollection, that the individual works at this sanctification. In the second phase, the phase of evangelization, one makes use of the holiness one has acquired living in the religious house. "Tireless apostle during that period of time devoted to evangelical labors, the Oblate of Mary worthy of this name returns to his cell happy to live there as a perfect religious and to contribute according to his strengths and talents and continue to uphold in his community the life of perfection which is its distinctive character". [54]

He also quotes another text which is fundamental in the Oblate's journey to holiness, article 426 of the Rule: "The whole life of the members of our Society ought to be a life of continual recollection". He combines this with the following articles on the style of life to be maintained in a religious house. In this part of the Rule entitled: Of silence, recollection, prayer and other religious exercises; also of penances and community conferences there resurface all the means recommended as means of sanctification for the Oblate: silence, interior recollection, exercises of piety, the practice of mortification, penance... The judgment that Father Fabre makes of the Congregation based on these article reveals the importance which he attributes to this part of the Rule: "[The Oblates] were fervent as long as they loved solitude, their cells and silence; laxity became evident the day they found solitude too demanding, their cell too boring and silence too hard to endure, [...] Let us have a love of silence and of our cells [...]". [55]

The Oblate tradition followed faithfully the teachings of Father Fabre. The means of sanctification indicated above are often referred to in the circular letters of the Superiors General as fundamental traits of the striving for perfection. In his report presented at the beginning of each General Chapter, one part was devoted to the state of the interior life of the Congregation and the way of measuring this is how effectively these means were used. In like manner, when a call is made for a more intense spiritual life, it is to these means that one appeals above all. Stress is also put upon exercise of the presence of God and ejaculatory prayers, Eucharistic worship, the rosary, examination of conscience, confession, the chapter of faults, retreats, Scripture reading, spiritual reading, solitude, silence, etc. [56]

Commenting on the Preface, Father Fabre stressed, in addition, the virtues characteristic of the Oblate life of holiness. Generosity, self-denial, mortification, humility, obedience, poverty, purity, zeal... All essential virtues for the missionary: "We are sent to convert and sanctify souls: above all, let us offer them a living example of the virtues we have preached to them. [...] Happy the missionary who leaves in his wake the perfume of his virtues, the moving memory of his holiness!" [57] Among the virtues, fraternal charity and love for souls hold pride of place. Charity is "the virtue which should be characteristic of the Oblate of Mary Immaculate [...]: that is our special virtue". [58]

To corroborate the close relationship which tradition sees between holiness and mission and, as a result, the absolute necessity of striving for holiness according to our specific vocation, one need only quote from an important General Chapter, that of 1926. One hundred years after the approbation of the Rule, it deliberately chose to make its main focus the holiness of its members and their fidelity to the ministry of evangelization. In the chapter acts, the readers are reminded that the Founder put holiness in the very first place in the program laid out in the Preface of the Rule. He stressed "Zeal was something he favored without a doubt. He knows that he is training missionaries, apostles. And the apostle's virtue is zeal. But he also knows that there exist two kinds of zeal. First of all, the one which has nothing in common with zeal except the name, which is only a natural urge, a need for activity and movement. This zeal is not good. Genuine, effective zeal, zeal that reaches souls, touches them, converts them, that is the zeal that flows from holiness: it is a result; it is a consequence of holiness. As a foundation of our spiritual structure, our Founder laid the cornerstone of holiness [...] And as its crowning feature, as a consequence, as a fruit of holiness, zeal [...]" [59]

One of the Superiors General who, following the example of Father Fabre, has written the most on Oblate spirituality and indicated definite paths to follow in our journeying toward holiness, was Father Leo Deschâtelets. Among his many writings, his circular letter of August 15, 1951 on the subject remains one of the most developed texts in Oblate literature. The document's teaching contains nothing original, but it makes an excellent synthesis of the entire Oblate tradition. His presentation of "the Oblate style of the spiritual life" is based explicitly on his reading of the Rule where Father Deschâtelets finds everything required to lead one to holiness. [60]

He summarizes Oblate identity in four words: priest, religious, missionary, Oblate. To these, he adds four characteristics. [61] What is noteworthy as well is the fact that he exploits in depth the content of these four Oblate characteristics. He shows how the Oblate is called to live "even more", we could say, each of these aspects. Concerning the priesthood for example, he says that "we cannot be satisfied with an ordinary priesthood" [62]. One characteristic of the Oblate priesthood is "his fervor, his zeal for the conversion of all souls". "The Oblate cannot be like other priests; he must be a model for others" [63]. We are likewise called "to be better religious than all others, since, according to the Founder's bold way of thinking, we are a kind of quintessential perfection of all the Orders and Institutes for whose absence he would like to compensate" [64]. As for our missionary life: "Let there be no limit to our zeal either" [65]. In the final analysis, our oblation consists in "a kind of superior degree of our commitment to the service of God and of souls, a reckless gift of ourselves to the service of God, to his glory to his love and his infinite mercy; [...] an unconditional oblation of ourselves which brings it about that we cannot define ourselves other than by stating: 'These men are Oblates par excellence'. Every religious Institute, no doubt, has the same desire to attain perfection in the gift of self. Nonetheless, in the measure that a sustained striving for perfection in all areas and with every fiber of our being, heart and soul, constitutes a special vocation, that is our vocation" [66]. He sees that bound up with the spirit of oblation there is intrinsically a whole series of elements which make up the ascetical aspect of our spiritual life: the life of oraison, recollection and silence, abnegation of self, mortification, perfect obedience, poverty, humility, simplicity, purity of intention, heartfelt charity". [67]

Father Deschâtelets also returns to treat the Mazenodian theme of conformity to Christ by developing it in such a way as to highlight the contemplative dimension of our vocation - something that has happened only rarely in Oblate history. "Our ideal is a totally unreserved and enthusiastic commitment, a complete availability to God and to souls for God, derived from contemplation, in internal union with God [...]. The Oblate who lives his Rule [...] will experience all the graces and gifts of the mystical life [...]. Come on, fathers and brothers, "usque ad apicem perfectionis", to the very summit of charity". [68]

The main topic treated in this circular letter is the Marian aspect. Here, it returns to the traditional axiom which it takes to the limit. For the Oblate, the way to holiness passes through Mary. As the Immaculate One, she is the model of every virtue, the model of holiness. She was "redeemed in all perfection" [69], and she is the "perfect model after which God intends to mold each one of us" [70]. However, she is not a model that one contemplates from the outside. The grace of our vocation leads us to re-create it in ourselves: "We are Oblates of Mary Immaculate. This is not merely a label. [...] It is a case of some kind of identification with Mary Immaculate; it is a case of a gift of ourselves to God through her and like her, a gift which plumbs the depths of our Christian, religious, missionary and priestly life" [71]. Once we have identified with her, we will be able to live her virginal holiness, her self-effacement as humble servant, her hidden life of poverty, the sacrificing of herself with her Son and her love that is as much like Christ's as is possible". [72]

In his teaching, Father Deschâtelets constantly reaffirmed this ideal of holiness. "How can we claim to be dispensatores mysteriorum Dei", he wrote in 1959, "if we have not learned from personal experience who the Trinity is for us, how he dwells in souls, who Christ and the Blessed Virgin are?" [73] Again, at the end of his term as Superior General, in the wake of the Council, he said: "We must be more spiritual, more then ever men of the interior life! [...] To take on the work of the ministry, apostolate among the masses, especially among the poorest of the poor, among all those classes of people, we must first of all be filled with God; we must first and foremost live God [...]." [74]

2. OBLATE LITERATURE

With the advent of the review Etudes oblates, the study of spirituality took on more intensity and became more systematic. A perusal of the articles published from 1940 to 1960 gives the impression that a unifying element is becoming evident: the centrality of Christ in our spiritual life. The program outlined for holiness ends up being that set forth by the Founder. Less dominated by the preoccupation of stating concrete norms of life, of curbing abuses, of urging observance of the Rule than was the case for the Superiors General, these authors focused directly on the essence of the road of perfection followed by Eugene de Mazenod. One of the review's first collaborators, Henri Gratton, put his finger on the essential trait of Oblate spirituality: "To live Christ crucified, redeemer, savior, in his oblation for the glory of God, for the salvation of the most abandoned souls and the benefit of the Church, there you have the characteristic ideal which makes our Founder stand out among many saints, his confreres" [75]. And shortly after that, Father Germain Lesage wrote: "The imitation of our divine Savior, in my opinion, constitutes the essential quality of a life ostensibly oriented toward so many varied goals, so disposed as to illustrate the key idea of the works and the spirit of the missionary of the poor". [76]

The imitation of Christ always orients itself toward the mystery of Christ, the Savior; that is why the path of holiness as identification with Christ never stands separated from apostolic action. We are called to relive Christ in our work of evangelization. By following Christ, the Oblate finds himself, like Christ, immersed in humankind, ready to offer his life for those to whom he is sent. "[...] The modern Oblate sees himself officially enrolled in the school of the Incarnate Word, the Word seen in his specific role of Savior. [...] Friend of the poor, the outcasts, apostle of the masses, preceding the Oblate by a long way and by right of an infinitely superior claim, the Redeemer realized it in every fiber of his being. The missionary of the poor need only follow in his footsteps in order to realize it in turn". [77]

In this sense, oblation, the characteristic element of our vocation takes on a purely apostolic coloring. Through it, we offer ourselves to God in order to be offered entirely with Christ to humanity, dedicated unconditionally to the salvation of souls: "We are men of action. It follows that we must sanctify ourselves in and through action. We must have a spirituality that leads to action. Now, "the dominant feature of the spirituality of oblation is to be eminently dynamic, active, practical; it is a wonderful springboard for action" [78]. Consequently, the path to holiness leads through service to the Church, especially in the domain of evangelization of the poor and the most abandoned.

Throughout the years, a good deal of emphasis has been placed on another element of Oblate spirituality, the Marian character of Oblate life. Literature in this area has abounded, especially during the 1950's. In the survey on Oblate spirituality conducted in 1950 by Etudes oblates, "the majority of responses were in consensus with regard to expressing the unity of our spiritual life through this motto: "To Christ Redeemer through Mary Immaculate, Co-Redemptrix", or more succinctly: "Ad Jesum per Mariam Immaculatam", or simply: "To lead souls to the Mother of Mercy", or finally: "To reproduce the image of Christ in his oblation to the Father and to souls through Mary Immaculate" [79]. Mary emerges as the model of holiness that the Oblate is called to follow through his total oblation to God the Son's work of redemption. With him and in him, the Oblate can achieve the full living of his own specific vocation. [80]

With the Second Vatican Council, a new breath of the Spirit was felt throughout the Congregation. The most obvious manifestation of this was the 1966 Constitutions and Rules. Not only does this text concentrate on the apostolic man and apostolic community, but more especially - and to me that seems to be a new phenomenon in our spirituality - it is acknowledged that "[...] the apostolate is not an obstacle to prayer but rather a nourishment for prayer and interior life [...]". [81] This would be an answer to a great need. Already in 1950, for example, Father Maurice Dugal was asking the question as to whether the Oblate's journey should not lead through the apostolate rather than through silence, recollection and the cell. He wrote: "The apostolic man must learn how his work can be for him a genuine source of sanctification and recollection". In his reading of article 246 of the Rule, he pointed out how the emphasis is not on "continual recollection of spirit", but rather on "the whole life of the members". "Continual recollection" embraces both the times of solitude within the community as well as the time of working at preaching missions outside the community. Father Dugal's conclusion seems to be that the path to holiness leads through the life of prayer as well as through the apostolate. In fact, the case is that of one and the same life lived by the same person. [82]

From 1966 on, the review Etudes oblates which in 1973 changed its title to Vie Oblate Life, would continue to reflect the thinking going on within the Congregation. [83]

3. CANONIZED HOLINESS

"Holy priests, this is our wealth!" [84] These words of Eugene de Mazenod give recognition to the fact that in the Oblate congregation holiness is not simply an ideal or a topic for spiritual writings. Thank God, holiness is a lived reality for many of its members. In the Founder's way of thinking, it was a normal thing to consider that in our society "all members work to become saints in the exercise of the same ministry and the exact practice of the same Rule" [85]. The holy death of Oblates was for him a confirmation that his life ideal could be truly lived. On the occasion of the death of Father Victor Arnoux in 1828, writing with reference to four of the original Oblates who had, in his words, left for "our mother house", he stated: "Their holy death is, in my opinion, a great sanctioning of our Rules; they have received thereby a new seal of divine approbation. The gate of Heaven is at the end of the path along which we walk" [86]. On other occasions, a reflective consideration of his Oblates led him to write: "I feel fortunate amongst my brothers, amongst my children, because in the absence of virtues which are proper and personal to me, I am proud of their works and their holiness". [87]

The same observations surface in the writings of other Superiors General. For example, we read in one of Father Cassian Augier's circular letters: "It is a pleasure for us to become aware of the fact that among our ranks we find some model religious. They love and practice the Rule with a fidelity that is all-embracing and constant. Concerned above all for their personal sanctification, they delight in poverty, humility, mortification, obedience. Their life exudes the very perfume of the life of Our Lord and as they pass by, people hail their presence with one acclaim: "There goes a saint!" [88] The beatification of Father Joseph Gerard, the already large number of those acclaimed as venerable and servants of God, and the countless number of Oblates, some well known, some not, who "at the end of the path we tread" have found "the gate of Heaven" confirms us in this conviction. The example of these Oblates maintains throughout the Congregation the desire for holiness and the enthusiasm to attain it. On the occasion of the Congregation's first centenary, Bishop Augustine Dontenwill wrote: "Noblesse oblige, as sons and brothers of saints, we must work at becoming saints ourselves". [89]

As a result, we realize the importance of maintaining, keeping alive and developing the memory of the Congregation's history. From this point on, the study of the many Oblate biographies we have will be of enormous help in achieving an understanding of how to live the Oblate charism and how to become saints. [90]

Among this multitude of saints, Saint Eugene de Mazenod holds a most special place. If "our spiritual life keeps his flame burning among us", it is, as Father Deschâtelets wrote, because of the fact that "we lit our torch at the flaming heart of Bishop de Mazenod" [91]. Not only did the Spirit mediate a charism through him to the Oblates and the Church, it also led him to live this charism to the full, making of him a model of holiness. After having taken note of the fact that "the Founder left no stone unturned, tried every means to lead us to become saints and apostles in season and out of season", we should make our own the words of Father Deschâtelets: "let us put our trust in him, believe in him, take him as our guide; let us be eager to garner the tiniest ones of his words, teachings and instructions distilled into our holy Rule". [92]

In the letter which he wrote on the occasion of the canonization of the Founder, Father Marcello Zago stated the following: "Every Oblate derives from the Founder the spirit that gives him life, finds in him a model for life. [...] That is why I invite all of you to fix your gaze upon the Founder, considering him as a saint to be imitated, a founder to be followed, a master to be heeded, a father to be loved, an intercessor we can call upon. In his wake and under his guidance we will be able to renew ourselves in the charism that the Spirit has mediated to the Church through him". [93]

[50] DESCHATELETS, Leo, circular letter no. 222, January 25, 1966 in Circ. adm., VII, p. (33) 257.
[51] DONTENWILL, Augustine, circular letter no. 113, December 25, 1915 in Circ. adm., III, p. 277.
[52] Circular letter no. 11, March 21, 1862 in Circ. adm., I, p. 2-3 (70-71).
[53] Ibidem, p. 5 (73).
[54] Circular letter no. 15, March 19, 1865 in Circ. adm., I, p. (11) 141.
[55] Circular letter no. 13, November 21, 1863 in Circ. adm., I, p. 97.
[56] It would be sufficient to point to the eloquent example of circular letter no. 128, April 13, 1921 in Circ. adm., III, p. 407.
[57] Circular letter no. 13, November 21, 1863 in Circ. adm., I, p. 89.
[58] Ibidem, p. 95.
[59] Circular letter no. 137, March 19, 1927 in Circ. adm., IV, p. 90.
[60] Circular letter no. 191, August 15, 1951 in Circ. adm., V, p. 302.
[61] See ibidem, p. 302-303.
[62] Ibidem, p. 304.
[63] Ibidem, p. 308.
[64] Ibidem, p. 316.
[65] Ibidem, p. 320.
[66] Ibidem, p. 322.
[67] Ibidem, p. 330-347.
[68] Ibidem, p. 332.
[69] Ibidem, p. 368.
[70] Ibidem, p. 369.
[71] Ibidem, p. 347-348.
[72] See Ibidem, p. 373.
[73] Circular letter no. 208, September 1, 1959 in Circ. adm., VI, p. (64) 283.
[74] Circular letter no. 225, March 23, 1966 in Circ. adm., VII, p. 334.
[75] "La dévotion salvatorienne du Fondateur aux premières années de son sacerdoce", in Etudes oblates, 1 (1942) p. 159.
[76] "Thèmes fondamentaux de notre spiritualité", in Etudes oblates, 4 (1945), p. 8.
[77] BELANGER, Marcel, "Vocation oblate", in Etudes oblates, 3 (1944), p. 95.
[78] XXX, "Pour une spiritualité oblate", in Etudes oblates, 10 (1951) p. 101. The various articles on the subject give a broad view of oblation. See GILBERT, Maurice, "Our oblation and the Oblation of Christ the Priest", in Etudes oblates, 14 (1955), p. 148-153; LAMIRANDE, Emilien, "Esprit d'oblation. Approche historique", in Etude oblates, 15 (1956), p. 323-355; SIMON, Joseph Mary, "Essai d'une spiritualité oblate", in Etudes oblates, 15 (1956), p. 221-259; LAMIRANDE, Emilien, "La vocation oblate, d'après le frère scolastique F. M. Camper (1835-1856)", in Etudes oblates 17 (1958), p. 270-279; FORTIN, Gerard, "Les Idées-Force de la deuxième partie des Constitutions", in Etudes oblates, 23 (1964), p. 92-93.
[79] "Pour une spiritualité oblate", in Etudes oblates, 10 (1951), p. 96.
[80] As I have already stated, studies on this subject are many. I will limit myself to treating the most important ones: GRATTON, Henry, "Marie dans la Règle", in Etudes oblates, 4, (1945), p. 229-242; JETTE, Fernand, "Essai sur le caractère marial de notre spiritualité", in Etudes oblates, 7 (1948), p. 13-45, 169-195; BELANGER, Marcel, "The Immaculate Conception and our Oblate Vocation", in Etudes oblates, 9 (1950), p. 166-174; TOURIGNY, Irenée, "Notre dévotion mariale oblate", in Etudes oblates, 10 (1951), p. 22-37; GILBERT, Maurice, "Notre consécration à Marie Immaculée", in Etudes oblates, 12 (1953), p. 183-205; MORABITO, Joseph, "L'Immaculée dans la spiritualité du Fondateur", in Etudes oblates, 14 (1955), p. 87-104; TOURIGNY, Irenée, "Marie Immaculée dans la vie apostolique de l'Oblat", in Etudes oblates, 14 (1955), p. 105-132; BELANGER, Marcel, "Regina Congregationis nostrae. Réflexions sur notre vocation et notre esprit marial", in Etudes oblates, 16 (1957), p. 97-135; 19 (1960) p. 219-241.
[81] The Congregation Renewed: A Reading Guide for the Constitutions and Rules, The General House, Rome, 1968, p. 92.
[82] "Our Oblate Life of Recollection", in Etudes oblates, 9 (1950), p. 99-114.
[83] For example, see DROUART, Jean, "Notre propre forme de consécration à Dieu pour le service de l'Eglise", in Etudes oblates, 27 (1968), p. 3-40; JETTE, Fernand, "La sequela Christi dans la vie oblate", in Etudes oblates, 28 (1969), p. 3-13; JETTE, Fernand, "Ressourcement spirituel", in Etudes oblates, 31 (1972), p. 81-92; GILBERT, Maurice, "Vision de foi et visée missionnaire", in Etudes oblates, 31 (1972), p. 253-258; ZAGO, Marcello, "Notre identité religieuse et la mission", in Vie Oblate Life, 33 (1974), p. 241-251; COOPER, Austin, "Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament", in Vie Oblate Life, 37 (1978), p. 251-259; MOTTE, René, "Notre vie de prière, regard sur la situation actuelle", in Vie Oblate Life, 38 (1979), p. 233-248; DEEGAN, James, "Oblate Spirituality and Prayer", in Vie Oblate Life, 43 (1984), p. 159-170.
[84] Letter to Father Jean-Baptiste Honorat, August 18, 1925, Oblate Writings I, vol. 6, no. 194, p. 183.
[85] Letter to Father Courtès, March 13, 1830 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 7, no. 344, p. 196.
[86] Letter to Father Courtès, July 22, 1828 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 7, no. 307, p. 164.
[87] Letter to Father Courtès, March 3, 1822 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 6, no. 80, p. 89.
[88] Circular letter no. 84, July 2, 1905 in Circ. adm., III, p. (27-28) 74-75.
[89] Circular letter no. 113, December 25, 1915 in Circ. adm., III, p. 286.
[90] See GILBERT, Maurice, "La tradition oblate comme source de notre spiritualité", in Etudes oblates, 19 (1960), p. 97-107; MITRI, Angelo, "The Message of Our Blessed Founder and of the Other Oblates, Venerables and Servants of God", in Vie Oblate Life, 38 (1979), p. 121-128.
[91] Circular letter no. 222, January 25, 1966 in Circ. adm., VII, p. 54.
[92] Circular letter no. 201, May 1, 1953 in Circ. adm., VI, p. 45-46.
[93] "Renewing ourselves in the Oblate charism while keeping our eyes on Eugene de Mazenod, our Founder", in Documentation OMI, no. 202, February 1995, p. 3-4.