Eugene de Mazenod: "a person passionately committed to Jesus Christ"; his spirituality: an "essentially Christocentric" spirituality; that is how the spirituality of the Founder has been described. [1] In the present article, we will study the place occupied by Christ in Eugene de Mazenod's life and in the Constitutions and Rules published in 1982.

IN THE LIFE OF EUGENE DE MAZENOD

Three theses have been presented at the Gregorian University on the spirituality of Eugene de Mazenod. [2] A few articles in the review, Etudes oblates, later known as Vie Oblate Life, [3] also treated of Christ in the life of our Founder. In the light of these studies, and in a special way in the light of the series Oblate Writings, [4] we will consider the place Jesus Christ held in the life of Eugene de Mazenod.

A clear demarcation of this area, and especially a doctrinal synthesis of this subject matter is difficult to establish. Adherence to Jesus Christ was a distinguishing feature of Eugene's whole life. It was an experiential encounter with a person, the person of Jesus Christ, and the living relationship established between the two expressed in an ongoing fashion. This friendship showed itself through the events and grew through the pains and joys of life.

Knowing and loving Christ lie at the heart of his life, but they do not exist there in isolation. They are united to the love of the Father and the Holy Spirit. They find their expression in striving to attain the glory of God, in faithful loyalty to his will, in the love of the Church and the poor. For Eugene de Mazenod, Church and Christ were one and the same thing: "to love the Church is to love Jesus Christ and vice versa". [5] This knowledge and love are evident in his devotion to the Sacred Heart, his attachment to the priesthood, his love of the Eucharist.

To love Jesus Christ, to be faithful to him, permeate all aspects of the Founder's personal life, all aspects of his relations with the Oblates and all aspects of his pastoral responsibility as priest and bishop.

To get a better grasp of the place Christ held in Eugene de Mazenod's life, we will pursue it through the stages of his life. The first stage is that of the inception and development of this relationship until his ordination to the priesthood; the second, that of the direction he took as Founder and Father of the Oblates; the third, that of his apostolic development with regard to the people of his diocese.

1. ITS INCEPTION AND DEVELOPMENT TO THE PRIESTHOOD

Eugene de Mazenod was born into a Christian family in Aix-en-Provence on August 1, 1782. During his childhood, he was initiated into the realities of the faith. He would later write: "God placed in me, I would almost say, a kind of instinct to love him. My reason was not yet formed when I loved to dwell in his presence, to raise my feeble hands to him, listen to his word in silence as if I understood it. By nature lively and irrepressible, it was enough to bring me before the altar to make me gentle and utterly tranquil, so ravished was I by my God's perfections, as if by instinct I would say, for at that age I did not understand them." [6] His mother and his maternal grandmother Joannis taught him to kneel, make the sign of the cross and pray.

In 1791 at eight years of age, Eugene was exiled to Italy with his family because of the French Revolution. In 1792 at Turin, he would make his First Holy Communion and receive confirmation. But it was in Venice especially (1794-1797), thanks to the efforts of a young priest and good educator, Don Bartolo Zinelli, that his Christian spirit would develop along with the first signs of his devotion to Jesus Christ. Eugene was in his adolescent years and he began to consider a vocation to the priesthood.

Don Bartolo set up a well defined rule. After rising in the morning and reciting morning prayers, "I will unite my puny acts of adoration to those of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, [...] I will slowly pray an Our Father with great respect for this prayer which issued forth from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ himself [...] [I will offer to God] my exercises of piety, my studies, my work, my most insignificant actions, [...] in union with the sentiments of his adorable heart. [...] You, O Mary [...] you, my Guardian Angel, my holy patrons [...] be my intercessors before God and the heart of Jesus. [...] Before leaving my room, I will turn toward the church and pray on bended knee for Jesus to bless me, saying: Jesu, fili David, non dimittam te, nisi benedixeris mihi. [...] I will then take some holy water, kissing respectfully the wounds and heart of my crucifix [...]." And the rule ends with these words: "If I remain faithful to this rule, my life will be worthy of the name I bear and Jesus Christ will be my reward in heaven, my strength and consolation throughout my life and at my death". [7] In October 1795, when Eugene accompanied his mother to Livorno on her way back to France, he hung a large crucifix around his neck and under his jacket; the crucifix was large enough to be noticed from the outside [8]

Father Pielorz makes the observation: "By guiding his disciple especially to a love of God adapted to his age and temperament, that is, a love which was vivid, sensitive, tender and demonstrative, given concrete form in a personal devotion to Our Lord, to the Blessed Virgin and the saints, Don Bartolo gave him the tools to overcome his personal demons". [9]

The following period (1797-1805) was a period of crisis. Eugene experienced lukewarmness, flaunted his self-conceit, committed sin and became "slave of the devil". [10] In 1797, he left Venice in the company of his father and his uncle. He traveled to Naples where he spent a year of suffering and boredom; then, again in their company, he proceeded to Palermo (1799-1802). In 1799, he was seventeen. In Palermo, a family would come to his assistance; it was the family of the Duke of Cannizzaro. Especially helpful was the Duchess, a holy person. May 12, 1798, Don Bartolo had written him: "Always keep in mind your devotion to the adorable heart of Jesus [...] be faithful to all your Christian duties". [11] But no, even if he remained a good enough Christian, it was worldliness and lukewarmness that were gaining the upper hand in his life.

In 1802, Eugene returned to Aix-en-Provence to live with his mother. His spiritual condition had not changed. At twenty years of age, he wanted his own place in the world; he felt no attraction for marriage. In vain, he sought to return to return to Sicily. For some time he devoted himself to working for the prison population in Aix. Grace was certainly at work in him. One fine day, on a Good Friday, it revealed its presence in a much more intense manner. It would change his life. In 1814, he recalled: "I looked for happiness outside of God and for too long with resulting unhappiness. How often in my past life had my wounded, tormented heart taken wings for God from whom it had turned away! Can I forget the bitter tears that the sight of the cross brought streaming from my eyes one Good Friday? Indeed they welled up from the heart, there was no checking them, they were too abundant for me to be able to hide them from those who like myself were assisting at that moving ceremony. I was in a state of mortal sin and it was precisely this that made me grieve. I could then, and also on some other instance, perceive the difference. Never was my soul more satisfied, never did it feel such happiness; for in the midst of this flood of tears, despite my grief, or rather through my grief, my soul took wings for its last end, towards God its only good whose loss it felt so keenly. Why say more? Could I ever express what I experienced then?" [12]

This was his "conversion". Several things strike us here: Eugene realizes that he is in the state of mortal sin; the sight of the Cross opens his eyes; he weeps copiously and he takes wings towards God his only good. This grace would leave its imprint on his whole life: He experiences the mystery of Christ; he turns heart and soul to God, Father of mercy; he is washed in the blood of Christ. This was a day he would never forget, as he would never forget the person of Jesus crucified who saved him.

At this stage, he felt an ever more pressing need to become a priest. In October of 1808, he entered the major seminary of Saint Sulpice. Two things are noteworthy during his time at the seminary: His ever more profound devotion to Jesus Christ which shows up in his letters and other writings, and the impact the French school of spirituality has on him.

Volumes 14 and 15 of Oblate Writings offers us a lot with regard to his letters. Eugene learned that his uncle Fortuné would not accept being named a bishop. He wrote to his father: "Is that the difficulty that puts my uncle off? My goodness, when one wears the livery of Jesus Christ, ought one to fear anything, and should one not place one's hope in him who strengthens us? Let us thoroughly go over the duties that our character as Christian and priest impose upon us." [13] That was in 1815. That same year, he sent some Scripture texts to his friend Emmanuel Gaultier de Claubry who had shared with him his difficulties as a Christian because he "publicly professed faith in Jesus Christ". And he added: "So it is by no means Eugene, it is Jesus Christ, it is Peter, Paul, John, etc., who send you this wholesome food which when received with that spirit of faith of which you are capable will certainly not be without effect". [14] In a letter to the same individual, December 23, 1807, he expressed his congratulations because "you carried the standard of the Cross rising above all human respect, braving the sarcasm and slights that your fidelity to this God, unknown today even amongst Christians, drew down on you". [15] He wept over it, he said, "But these tears of compassion and grief were soon changed into transports of joy when I saw that, as you recalled to mind who he was, this Lord you serve, you behaved in a way worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ [...] and this victory comes to you from God, for it is a grace that he worked for you, not only because of your faith in Jesus Christ but also because you suffer on his account. Sweet effects of charity amongst Christians, by which all the members of the mystical body of which Jesus Christ is head, caput, feel and take part in the sufferings as well as the victory that each member suffers or wins. If this marvelous communion is not sufficiently felt, it is because one does not reflect on its excellence, for it takes its origin in the very bosom of the divinity." [16]

Letters to his mother and his sister are numerous. His mother showed little enthusiasm for his inclination to the priesthood. In writing to her, he continually sought to offer compelling reasons for his choice; his way of doing this was to reaffirm his relationship with Jesus Christ. In writing to his sister who was preparing to marry, he reminded her of her Christian duties and obligation of fidelity to Christ. Here are a few examples.

He reassures his mother of his deep bond with Jesus Christ and asks how he could say "no", to Jesus Christ who loved him so much and has invited him to follow him in the priesthood. Christmas Day of 1808, he wrote her: "Ah! my very dear mother, did you think that I was not with you this night. Indeed, yes, darling mother, we spent the night together at the foot of the altar, which for me represented the crib in Bethlehem; together we offered our gifts to our Saviour and asked him to come to be born in our hearts and strengthen all that is weak in us. [...] So let us offer God all these travails; let us consider that Jesus Christ left the bosom of his Father to clothe himself in our flesh [...] Let us often look for one another in the heart of our adorable Master, but above all let us share often in his adorable Body; it is the best way to bring us together, for by identifying ourselves with Jesus Christ, we become one with him, and through him and in him we become united with one another. Last night my thought was that you would have wanted to honour the coming of this blessed Child, born for us, by laying him down in your heart. As I had the same happiness at practically the same hour, I united myself to you with all my soul. Do you not wonder at the greatness of our soul? How many things it takes in at the same time! What an immense expanse it covers in a flash! It is ravishing. I was adoring Jesus Christ in my heart, I adored him in yours, I adored him on the altar and in the crib, I adored him in the heights of heaven." [17]

In February of 1809, he told his mother what a happiness it was "sharing in the divine mission of the Son of God", and how for a long time, "I should rather have been at war with it [the world], enemy as it is to Jesus Christ [...]" "Am I to resist his voice and pine away in an alien land? [...]" "We are Christians [...]" "What royal family would not feel itself honoured to become extinct in the person of a priest, invested with all the powers of Jesus Christ [...]?" [18]

A man such as he, "strongly moved by God's spirit to imitate Jesus Christ in his active life", could he "sit back with arms folded" and do nothing? [19] At the time of receiving minor orders and the sub-diaconate, he came back to the same theme: "If only you could have been there, dear mamma. How fervently you would have beseeched the Lord to grant me the grace of making a worthy response to so many favours [...] I must confess that I feel a sense of confidence that astounds me [..]" [20] And upon receiving the sub-diaconate: "So do not grudge, dear mamma, do not grudge this poor Church, so terribly abandoned, scorned, trampled under foot but which even so was the one who gave birth to us all in Jesus Christ, the homage that two or three individuals [...] wish to pay her. [...] And what reason could you possibly have for wanting me to delay any longer from committing myself, and from devoting to the Spouse of Jesus Christ, which this divine Master formed by the shedding of all his blood, every moment of a life I received only to use for God's greater glory." [21] Finally, on the day of his priestly ordination, December 21, 1811, in a letter bearing the abbreviation, L.J.C. (Praised by Jesus Christ) which he had been using for a few months already, Eugene wrote his mother: "Dear, darling mother, the miracle has been wrought: your Eugene is a priest of Jesus Christ". [22]

In these texts, we can see many references to Christ already present, that will resurface in Oblate spirituality, namely, Christian identity, spirit of faith, persecution endured for Christ's sake, suffering for Christ's sake, the cross of Jesus as standard, the mutual presence of individuals in the Mystical Body, the birth of Christ in us, our common union in the reception of the Body of Christ, sharing in the divine mission of Christ the Savior, war waged against the world, enemy of Jesus Christ, the Church abandoned and despised, the blood of Christ shed for us, confidence, loyalty to the divine will...

In writing to his sister, Eugenie, Eugene would remind her of her Christian identity, her obligations: a life of prayer, the cross of Christ, Eucharistic observances. He would make allusions to his own "conversion" and to his past life. He prayed for her before her marriage. [23] When she was married, he proved to be strict with her, in keeping with the spirit of the times and his own temperament, with regard to her attendance at the theater and dancing: "But you have too clear an idea of the sanctity of our vocation, the purity of the law of Jesus Christ, not to be aware that the cowardly abandonment of a single point of that heavenly teaching [..] is to set oneself apart, turn one's back on Jesus Christ [...] Heart of mine, you understand very well that in imagining such things, I am far from supposing that they will happen; I have every expectation of seeing you resist courageously all the world's allures, honouring the virtue which you have always professed, and setting an example of Christian perfection in the midst of the host of the enemy of Jesus Christ. To live in this perfection, you will have several things to observe: as your brother and a cleric, I have a two-fold title to spell them out for you. [...] By your change of state, of necessity you are thrust into the world and obliged to live in the midst of that corrupter, you therefore need to embrace the cross of Jesus Christ even closer than you did in your hidden life, you must go and draw even more often from the graces of the Saviour in the perennial well-spring of his adorable sacraments. I have often said to you and I repeat it with even more reason today, you do not go often enough to holy communion." [24]

January 21, 1809, in a letter to his mother, he says: "Let her go into the world, she is cut out for that, but once there let her be Christian and very much the Christian. People must realize that the reason she does not go to the theater is that she is a disciple of Jesus Christ, that she does not go dancing because she is a disciple of Jesus Christ, that she does not eat meat at suppers given on days of abstinence because she is a disciple of Jesus Christ. In other words, she must give witness that Our Lord has his chosen ones in all classes of society, who are faithful to him in all life's circumstances. Above all, I pray she will not give up the practice of frequenting the sacraments; that is where she will find strength." [25] And February 9, 1811, after congratulating his sister on the care she lavished on her daughter, Natalie, he said again: "Carnival time is back again [...] Let us take a look now and again at our crucifix; we will find in our divine Model's wounds the answer to all our miserable excuses. It is in this faithful mirror that we will discern what he will tolerate and what he forbids. Let us open our hearts to his, listen to his voice, let's not stupefy ourselves and then we'll see if all the petty reasonings of the world's followers don't collapse and dissolve before a single one of the rays of light that emanate from Our Lord when we have recourse to him in silence and meditation. [...] He wanted you to serve as an example for all the persons in whom he would inspire thereafter the holy desire to work out their salvation in the world. [...] When you are obliged to be present at a ball, or in other rowdy gatherings, bring often to mind God's presence, a precious practice you cannot be too familiar with; and make use too of the other practices I gave you last year: death, the moment of the point of death, judgment, hell; according to what time it is, take yourself off in spirit and keep company with saintly people praising and blessing the holy Name of God, the Carmelites [...] the Religious [...] the Trappists [...] When one has faith and even a tiny modicum of love of God, it is easy to find ways of not losing sight for too long of one's well-beloved. [...] But the infallible way [...] is going often to the sacraments." [26]

Already previously Eugene had complained that his family were not receiving communion frequently enough. In a letter to his mother, he wrote: "I will not be happy until I see a change on this matter. It is the only quarrel I have with my darling family: Our Lord Jesus Christ is not being honoured in it in the way he wants: mother, grandmother and sister - all give me cause for sorrow on this matter." [27] To conclude, we quote one last letter, a letter to his sister, Eugenie. This passage summarizes the whole matter: "Let us love the good God with all our heart, let us use this world as if we did not use it, that is without becoming fond of its vanities and lies. I do not know if you ever put into practice a suggestion I think I gave you, namely never to let pass a single day without meditating on some saving truth. [...] Alas! What a subject for regret it is for me as I speak to you; I know better than anyone how I have abused the Saviour's graces, and I know what it costs to have kicked against the goad, and it is to save others some tardy and almost irremediable regrets that I do not cease to cry out: children of men, how long will your hearts be closed? [...] Pending my return when we will be able to fix together what is the most expedient thing for you, continue to frequent the sacraments [...] Are you not a married lady, a mother, a nursing mother because it is God's will? So in fulfilling the duties of a woman, a mother, a nursing mother you are doing what is pleasing to God, and how could one maintain that in fulfilling the duties that God has imposed on us, be they what they may, we are not fit to respond to the sweet invitations he makes to all his own to come to him, to draw from his Sacrament strength and life [...]" [28]

In these letters, we see what a deep impression Jesus Christ had made on Eugene and how the life of Christ was a source of inspiration for his correspondence. If we now examine Eugene's attitude during his seminary days, we find the same bent with, in addition, the influences of the spirituality of the Sulpicians and of the French school. His prayers, his meditation, his exercises of piety, his apostolate are a reflection of this inspiration. What comes to my mind is his morning prayer to the Trinity and the prayer, Jesu vivens in Maria, which has become a part of the Oblate prayer tradition. I think of his spiritual life firmly focused on Christ. Concerning this, Father Taché wrote: "Jesus is constantly the point of reference for him. [Eugene] turns to him as to the perfect priest, the model of those who are bound to render to God the worship that is his due. Consequently, devotion to Jesus is par excellence that of the priest totally faithful to his vocation. As one who contemplated Jesus in all his mysteries, he would examine himself with regard to the perfection demanded of each action to make it similar to that of Jesus and would demand of himself an unwavering love. United to Jesus in this way, he would have only one desire, that of having others love Him." [29]

Eugene was ordained to the priesthood December 21, 1811. In a letter to his mother, he expressed the fullness of his joy. [30] He wrote to his spiritual director, M. Duclaux, describing his emotions: "Very dear and beloved Father, I am writing this on my knees, prostrate, overwhelmed, stunned, to share with you what the Lord, in his immense, incomprehensible mercy, has just accomplished in me. I am a priest of Jesus Christ. [...] O my dear Father, there is only love in my heart. I am writing at a time when my heart overflows, to use an expression the Apostle must have used in a moment like the one I am experiencing. If the underlying sorrow for my sins, that is always with me, still persists, it is also true that love has changed its nature. [...] I am a priest! You have to be one to understand what it means. Just to think of it sends me into transports of love and gratitude, and if the thought of my sinfulness recurs, love abounds all the more. Jam non dico vos servos, [John 15:15] etc. Dirupisti vincula mea. Tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis [Psalm 115:16-17] etc. Quid retribuam Domino [Psalm 115:12] etc., are like so many arrows that pierce this heart that has been so cold until this day. [...] Starting with the days preceding ordination and especially after ordination, I think I know Our Lord Jesus Christ better. What would it be like to know him as he is!" [31]

These same reactions are the ones that predominate in his Mass intentions and his general resolution. "First mass, Christmas Eve: for myself. To obtain forgiveness of my sins, love of God above all things, and perfect love of neighbour. [...] The Spirit of Jesus Christ. Final perseverance, and even martyrdom [...] Love of the cross of Jesus Christ, suffering and humiliation. [...] General resolution to be wholly God's and for all, to flee the world and all it may offer as pleasures, etc., to seek only the cross of Jesus Christ and the penance due to my sins [...] Do we resemble Jesus Christ? Do we imitate Jesus Christ with all our strength; do we live the life of Jesus Christ? Then we shall infallibly be saved." [32]

2. AS FATHER AND FOUNDER OF THE OBLATES

Toward the end of 1812, Eugene left Paris to return to Aix. In 1813, he gave sermons in Provençal in the church of the Madeleine among which was his talk to the poor of Jesus Christ. "The Gospel must be taught to all, and in a way in which it can be understood. The poor, that precious portion of the Christian family, cannot be left in their ignorance. So important did our divine Saviour consider them that he took it upon himself to instruct them; and he gave as proof that his mission was divine, the fact that the poor were being instructed: Pauperes evangelizantur. [...] It is a matter of learning what the Lord asks fo you in order to give you eternal happiness. [...] Come now and learn from us what you are in the eyes of faith. You, the poor of Jesus Christ [...] my brethren, my dear brethren, my dear respectable brethren, listen to me. You are the children of God, the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, the co-heirs of his eternal Kingdom [...] There is within you an immortal soul [...] a soul redeemed at the cost of the blood of Jesus Christ [...] O Christians, recognize your dignity [...]" [33]

In Aix, Eugene also founded the Congregation for Youth. "The endeavor is a difficult one, I have no illusions on this point; it is even dangerous [...] But I fear nothing because I put all my confidence in God and because I am seeking only the glory of God and the salvation of the souls he redeemed through his Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ [...]" [34] And in the act of consecration for his young people: "Once again, through this official document, we boldly declare that we acknowledge Our Lord Jesus Christ as our God and Savior, sovereign Lord and Master, whose faithful disciples we wish to be for our entire life". [35]

In December of 1814, Eugene made an eight-day retreat. It was based on a Jesuit author, Father Francis Nepveu, in his work, Retraite selon l'esprit et la méthode de saint Ignace pour les ecclésiastiques, 1749 edition. It would prove to be very helpful to him and would bring increased flexibility to his spiritual life, perhaps too dependent on his Sulpician education where the priest was first and foremost "God's monk". [36] In this context, the priest would primarily be the apostolic man, the man of Jesus Christ's Kingdom. The Founder's twenty-one meditations need to be reread. [37] We find there: "Humility is visible in particular in the incarnation, poverty in his birth, mortification in the circumcision, abandonment to his Father's will in the flight into Egypt, obedience in the dependence he had on Mary and Joseph during the 30 years of his hidden life. These are the five virtues opposed to the five principal obstacles that impede the re-establishment of God's glory and his Reign in man's heart [...]" [38] And further on, with the "two standards" and the "three degrees of humility", we find "the obligation of declaring oneself boldly for Jesus Christ and imitating him in his public life". [39] And in conclusion, "All metaphor aside, I have been a sinner, a great sinner, and I am a priest. With the exception of having defiled my body with women, a wretchedness from which the goodness of God has preserved me as by a miracle, I have followed every maxim of a corrupted world. The evil has been done, good alas still remains to be done. What I have done up to now is not worth mentioning. People are deceived, I am falling far short of my obligations. I must pay double and when I compare my way of acting with that of my model, my God! How far I still am from it! Pride, anger, seeking of self, etc. How indeed can I say: Vivo ego iam non ego vivit enim in me Christus [Galatians 2:20] There are no half-measures, if I want to be like Jesus Christ in glory, I must first resemble him in his humiliations and sufferings, like Jesus crucified; let me try therefore to conform in all I do to this divine model so as to be able to address to the faithful these words of St. Paul: Imitatores mei estote sicut et ego Christi [I Corinthians 4:16] If these words cannot be applied to me, I must renounce reigning with Jesus Christ in his glory." [40] "Yes, my King, I seem to burn with desire to distinguish myself by some striking feat of arms, my every desire is to wash away in my blood the shame of my past defections and to prove to you, if need be, in fighting for you that your magnanimity has found the way to triumph over an ingrate and his treachery." [41]

In 1815-1816, Eugene founded the Mission of Provence which would become the Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. In July of 1816, he clearly explained to the Missionaries of Aix that for them, Christ is Christ the Savior: "P.S. I wish you to change the end of our litanies; instead of saying Jesus sacerdos, we must say Christe salvator. That is the aspect under which we ought to contemplate our divine Master. Our particular vocation is such that we are associated in a special manner with the redemption of men; Blessed Liguori has likewise put his Congregation under the protection of the Saviour. Would that we, by the sacrifice of our entire being, endeavour not to render his redemption useless, both in regard to ourselves and in regard to those whom we are called upon to evangelize." [42]

In 1818, Eugene wrote the first Constitutions and Rules. A number of these elements are present in the Constitutions and Rules of 1982. Here are the main texts from the 1818 Constitutions which deal with Jesus Christ. "In a word, use the same means as those used by our Savior when he wished to convert the world; you will achieve the same results. What did Our Lord Jesus Christ do? [...] What must we do, in turn, to succeed in re-conquering for Jesus Christ so many souls who have shaken off his yoke? [...] It is urgent, therefore, [...] to teach these degenerated Christians who Jesus Christ is [...] and to extend the empire of the Saviour [...]" [43] And the definition the Oblates: "[...] to form a group of diocesan priests who will live together and who will strive to imitate the virtues and examples of Jesus Christ, mainly by dedicating themselves to preaching the word of God to the poor". [44] Their founder is Jesus Christ, the very Son of God; their first fathers are the Apostles. They are called to be the Saviour's co-workers, the co-redeemers of mankind. [...] The Church, that glorious inheritance purchased by Christ the Saviour at the cost of his own blood, has in our days been cruelly ravaged." [45] What is asked is that they "preach, in a word, like the Apostle, Jesus Christ and him crucified, non in sublimitate sermonis, sed in ostensione spiritus, that is, showing that they are imbued with what they are teaching and they have already started to put it into practice themselves before teaching it to others." [46] "In a word, [the missionaries] will strive to become other Jesus Christs, scattering abroad in every direction the good odor of his wonderful virtues." [47] "The priests will live in such a way that they will be able to celebrate worthily each day the Holy Sacrifice [of the Mass]" [48] "Their only distinctive sign will be that which is proper to their ministry, that is, a crucifix which they will always wear about their neck [...] They will often fix their eyes on this Crucifix, take it in their hands, and address aspirations to Him of whom it reminds them. They will kiss it in the morning when they hang it round their neck, and at night when they place it near their pillow; also before putting on, and after taking off the priestly vestments and on every occasion they judge appropriate to offer it to someone to kiss." [49] "Mental prayer will be made in common [...] in the evening before the altar as a kind of visit to the Blessed Sacrament for one half hour. They ought especially to meditate on the theological virtues, and the life and virtues of Our Lord Jesus Christ which the members of our Society must profoundly reproduce in themselves." [50] "The ministers of the Gospel will hold Christian mortification in highest esteem. [...] Mainly, they will apply themselves to interior mortification, subduing their passions, overruling their self-will at every turn, striving, in imitation of the Apostles, to glory in the sufferings, rejection and humiliations of Jesus Christ." [51] To be accepted among our ranks, "one must have a great desire for one's own perfection, a great love for Jesus Christ and his Church, a great zeal for the salvation of souls". [52] "The novices ought to make it their aim to honour in a special manner the hidden life of our Lord Jesus Christ [...] Ambitious to walk in the footsteps of this Divine Model, their sole endeavor will be to imitate him in his private life. [...] They will show the most profound respect for all priests, honouring in them the person of the Son of God whom they represent on earth." [53] It is "the spirit of charity that binds them all together in Jesus Christ". [54]

February 17, 1826, Leo XII granted the Congregation his approval under the title of Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. It was a grand celebration, but the years that followed proved painful for Father de Mazenod: misunderstandings, problems in Marseilles, bereavement, sickness. [55]

These trials proved to be a very painful for Eugene, but the Lord helped him through them all. To Father Tempier, he expressed his confidence in Jesus Christ and told of the consolations he received from him. "Although I expect each day more bad news, when they arrive it is impossible to ward off a profound impression of sadness, especially when domestic sorrows come and pile themselves on top of the burden already too heavy to bear. I will say to you however that I am not discouraged and that I am afflicted without being laid low. It seems to me that Our Lord will help us by his grace to endure all our sorrows."

"This morning, before communion, I dared to speak to this good Master with the same freedom that I would have had if I had had the happiness to live when he walked on earth, and if I had found myself in the same predicament. I said Mass in a private chapel, I was not impeded by anyone's presence. I exposed to him our needs, asked his light and his assistance, and then I surrendered myself entirely to him, wishing absolutely nothing else than his holy will. I took communion in this frame of mind. As soon as I had taken the precious blood, it was impossible for me to withstand such an abundance of interior consolations that it was necessary, in spite of my efforts not to reveal before the brother server what was going on in my soul, to utter sighs and shed such a quantity of tears that the corporal and the altar cloth were saturated. No painful thought provoked this explosion, on the contrary, I was well, I was happy and if I was not so miserable, I would believe I was loving, that I was grateful. This state lasted quite a long time; it was prolonged during my thanksgiving, which I only shortened for a reason." "I concluded from this that our good Saviour had wished to give me proof that he accepted the sentiments that I had just expressed to him in the simplicity of my heart. I share this happening with you with the same simplicity, for your own consolation and for your encouragement. Do not bring it up again to me, and continue to pray for me." [56]

If we examine the correspondence of the Founder with his Oblates, references concerning Jesus Christ come back constantly. The Oblates "announce Jesus Christ from one sea to the other"; [57] they make "redolent the good aroma of the name of Jesus Christ"; [58] they "spend their lives in extending the kingdom of Jesus Christ"; [59] they see "the souls redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ"; [60] they "would suffer such an affront for the love of Jesus Christ"; [61] they are "real apostles of Jesus Christ"; [62] they are united together in Jesus Christ: "Dear Courtès, let us be united in the love of Jesus Christ, in our common perfection, let us love each other as we have done up to now, let us, in a word, be one [...]" [63] "Every day they must be careful to celebrate the

Holy Sacrifice of the Mass [...] And whence will you draw the strength, but from the Holy Altar, and from Jesus Christ your Head?" [64] They direct their prayers for the mission to Jesus Christ and Mary: "We must look to her for the prayer of Jesus Christ to be extended to those too (now so many) he said he would not pray for. Non pro mundo rogo. (John 17:9) This thought is one I often dwell on, I pass it on to you, with my blessing and a brotherly embrace." [65] When faced with the death of his Oblates, the Founder suffered like Jesus suffered when confronted with the death of Lazarus. [66] He sees them in Heaven "close to our Lord Jesus Christ whom they have followed on earth"; [67] when dealing with Oblates who were leaving the Institute, he recalls their relationship with Jesus Christ: "[...] I am affected to the point of saying like Our Lord: Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem. (Mt 26:38). [...] And while I see Turks die rather than not live up to their word, when in doing so they invoke the name of God, priests will falsify promises of quite another kind, made knowingly and willingly to Jesus Christ, taking him as witness and under his own eyes! It is frightful." [68]

In this correspondence, it was truly the spirit of Jesus Christ who was inspiring Father de Mazenod. To M. Viguier, a priest who wanted to join the Oblates, the Founder sent this clear synthesis: "The missionary, being specifically called to the apostolic ministry, should aim at perfection. The Lord destines him to show forth anew, amongst those of his own time, the marvelous things that were done of old by the first preachers of the Gospel. [...] What we have found most apt to help us attain thereto is to come as close as we can to the evangelical counsels, faithfully observed by all those who have been employed by Jesus Christ in the great work of the redemption of souls. [...] We live in a community. [...] The spirit of charity and of the most perfect brotherhood reigns amongst us. Our ambition is to gain souls for Jesus Christ. All the wealth of the earth cannot satisfy our avarice, we must have heaven or nothing or, to say it better still, we wish to assure ourselves of heaven while earning nothing on earth but to be persecuted by men. If this prospect does not frighten you and if you are firmly resolved to persevere all your life in our holy Society, come running - our arms and our hearts are open to you and we promise you the same happiness that the Lord deigns to let us enjoy." [69]

3. AS BISHOP OF MARSEILLES

October 14, 1832 in Rome, Eugene de Mazenod was ordained titular bishop of Icosia. The French government was not informed of this. The result was a period of humiliation and deep suffering for the new bishop, but three years later, in 1835, the affair was settled. December 24, 1837, Eugene would take possession of the see of Marseilles as bishop.

Faced with the prospect of becoming a bishop, Father de Mazenod experienced a genuine joy: "I am called suddenly to receive the plenitude of the priesthood [...]" [70] to become fully "successor of the Apostles". [71] At the same time, he is mulling over his past and his former sins; he renews his confidence in the goodness of God: "[...] I acknowledge myself to be without virtues and merits, and notwithstanding that I do not despair of my God's goodness, and I count always on his mercy, and I hope that I will finish by becoming better, that is, by dint of supernatural helps and habitual assistance of grace, I will acquit myself better of my duties and cooperate with the plans of the heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ, my most lovable Saviour, and the Holy Spirit who hovers over my soul prior to invading it again in a few days time." [72] Before his episcopal ordination, he "entertained the hope of carrying there [to Icosia, in Algeria] myself and in the person of our missionaries the cross of Jesus Christ". [73] The same held for Marseilles: "I must attach myself to this people as a father to his children", [74] become "pastor and father invested with the very authority of Jesus Christ whom I must represent in the midst of that portion of his flock that will become thus my own flock [...]". [75] The letters of Saint Paul to Timothy and Titus would be a constant source of inspiration for him. [76]

In his pastoral letters as bishop, the importance of Jesus Christ for the sanctification of the faithful becomes obvious. [77] They are "Christians"; they must contemplate Jesus Christ; they must nourish themselves from his body; they must live with him through the liturgical seasons; they must cooperate with him in the work of salvation. Often these pastoral letters were written for the season of Lent; they made it possible to give a more complete synthesis of the role Jesus Christ played in the Christian life. I quote some examples.

February 28, 1838, Bishop de Mazenod reminds the people of his diocese of their obligation to practice penance: "Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who came into the world to save mankind, Jesus Christ who willed to take upon himself all the sins of the world to expiate them by the shedding of his blood and his death, excludes no one from this obligation. On the contrary, he proclaims to all those who wish to benefit from his Redemption that they must apply to themselves the infinite value of his merits through personal penance which they will impose upon themselves [...] Indeed, Jesus Christ had clearly manifested his intentions to the Jews when, in response to their questions, he answered that a day would come when his disciples would fast when he would no longer be with them. [...] The Apostles so thoroughly integrated the knowledge of their Master's will that from the time when he was taken up, they always fasted in preparation for important endeavors in their holy ministry [...]" [78]

"For the Christian, Lent is a time of renewal in faith and piety [...]" [79] "A knowledge of catechism teachings communicates to the already baptized child, the very object of faith. [...] He knows what he believes and professes. [...] The teachings of Jesus become his own teaching. He is truly a Christian by belief, and as Saint Paul says, Jesus Christ is formed more and more in him to the extent that he grows in knowledge of this holy truth." [80] "The world did not learn to know Jesus Christ (John 1:10) because it was unable to receive this Spirit of truth. If it had been able to receive this Spirit of truth (John 14:17) and if it had been obedient to its inspirations, it would have acknowledged that Jesus Christ himself is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6) and that salvation is found in none other than he (Acts 4:12). [...] Even more, united to Jesus Christ, going through him to God as its end, being illumined by his light and living with his life, already clothed in Jesus Christ himself (Galatians 3:27), according to the vigorous expression used by the Apostle, it would work to achieve an ever higher level through interior growth beyond the powers of its own nature to the form of the perfect man and the full stature of the fullness of Jesus Christ." [81]

"The Church has brought you to birth in Jesus Christ [...]" [82] "You are Catholics, children of this holy Church that Jesus Christ has acquired at the price of his own blood (Acts 20:28). It is a public society of which you are the members [...] It has a supreme head who in your regard represents its invisible head, Jesus Christ, the pastor and bishop of your souls. (2 Peter 2:25)" [83] Pastors, missionaries, religious bodies work to bring this task to completion. "Yes, justifiably, we rely upon the secondary pastors since they are already sufficiently identified with us that from now on our thinking is their thinking, our sentiments, their sentiments, our words, their words, or rather that their thoughts sentiments and words along with ours are identified to those of Jesus Christ [...]" [84] "No, we have no need of some recent experience to know what good results always come from the missions. Assuredly, who could doubt it, when we know that they are nothing else than the exercise of the power to teach Jesus Christ bestowed on his Church; when we know that the priests who conduct these missions do not become involved in this work of zeal and of charity on their own initiative, but they are sent by the bishops who, in turn, are sent by Jesus Christ [...] [85] "The religious orders, ever engaged in hand to hand combat with errors and wayward human passions, always dedicated to forming Jesus Christ in souls, to reestablishing or extending his reign, always opposed to evil and powerful for good, live only for the life, happiness and future of the Church." [86]

Bishop de Mazenod put a lot of emphasis on the reception of the sacraments, the Sacrament of Penance in particular, and as he had done with his family, the reception of the Eucharist: "This is not the way that the Lord, rich in endless mercy, acts toward men. He invites them, he urges them to come to conversion, to come sit at this table, to eat his flesh and drink his blood, at every moment, he opens to them the treasures of his love [...]" [87] "The intention of this holy Mother [the Church] is not for you to limit yourself to a mere annual fulfillment of the obligation of receiving the Eucharistic Bread; she would like to see her children properly prepared to receive the Bread of Life at least on the occasion of every solemn feast. On these days, she calls them, she invites them to come to the sacred banquet. It is especially by this means that she wishes to have them share in her celebrations. These are divine nuptials she is celebrating in a holy union with her heavenly Spouse and she feels a keen desire to see all her own people share in the happiness of this union, that no words can express, by taking their place in the banquet hall after having donned the wedding garment. As we have already said, united to Jesus Christ we enter into a blessed solidarity with him, a solidarity upon which our salvation exclusively depends. The Christian life itself is nothing other than a never-ending communion with Jesus Christ. It is therefore incumbent upon us in loyal gratitude to take advantage of the Church's invitation in order to bond ourselves in ever stricter union with our Savior who constantly desires with an ardent desire to eat the Passover with us (Luke 22:15)." [88]

Later on, in 1859, he returns to the theme of union with God and union with Jesus Christ: "This happiness of the elect consists in the intuitive vision of God and in possession of him whom we attain by possessing Jesus Christ whose very person is the prize that we must win, as the Apostle's vigorous language expresses it: Ut Christum lucrifaciam (Philippians 3:8). Now, it is not in God's plan for us to enjoy that intuitive vision in this earthly life; in this life, we know God through faith, but as for possessing him, we attain this shrouded by the veil of mystery in holy communion. A most strict union between Jesus Christ and ourselves is then established; it is so close that it can be said: The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. (John 6:57) And just as Jesus Christ's divinity is inseparable from his humanity, the Father and the Holy Spirit are also inseparable from the person of the Divine Word and take up their abode with Him in the one in whom Jesus Christ lives and who lives in Him. Thus the union between the Creator and the creature, in communion, is the most perfect that one could possibly think of. [...] Our prerogatives as children of God and brother's of Jesus Christ could not have a higher expression. [...] Moreover, it is incomprehensible that a Christian could refuse to share in this union of infinite worth [...] By uniting himself to Jesus Christ in this way, the Christian is partaking in the most perfect manner in the sacrifice of the cross and according to his good dispositions shares in the infinite merits of this sacrifice. He becomes one with the adorable Victim who sacrificed his life for him and the work of his Redemption is made secure and brought to perfection. Does he want to be saved? Does he seek his own greatness? It lies present there [...]" [89]

At the same time, this Eucharist establishes the closest bond between Christians and ensures resurrection to eternal life. "Indeed, the Church being but one body of which Jesus Christ is the head, those who do not receive life from this head are dead members of the body; they no longer adhere to the body with divine bonds; the blood of Jesus Christ, so to speak, no longer flows in their veins and in their brothers, with whom this noble blood is shared in all its power in holy communion, are hardly their brothers any longer; they no longer share the same blood. That is why the one who does not take his place at the divine banquet in some way breaks off the union with those who form one exclusive mystical whole with their Redeemer. They can no longer recognize him as one of their own; just like the disciples of Emmaüs who recognized their Master at the breaking of the bread, they cannot recognize a fellow Christian, that is, another Jesus Christ, in the person of the one who does not eat the divine bread and does not drink from the chalice of the Savior." [90] "Supernatural life is communicated to the soul who receives the Son of God and death is the punishment meted out to the one who does not share in the communion of his body and his blood. And in addition, after the death of the body, resurrection to true life will be the reward of this communion. It is the promise of blessed immortality." [91]

A final example is found in the liturgy. The February 8, 1846 pastoral letter is outstanding in this regard. Participation in the liturgical mystery, the mystery of Jesus' birth as well as that of his Passover can transform our lives. "The ancient practice of the Church has always been to prepare by a time of fasting and abstinence the celebration of its main feasts. [...] The four weeks of Advent [...] were distinguished by the same practices of mortification and same intensification of fervor as the vigils and they have the same objective in that they are a preparatory stage for the celebration of Our Lord Jesus Christ. [...] The same holds true for the holy time of Lent. Its goal is especially to prepare souls to share in the great mystery of the Resurrection of the Man-God by leading them via the path of penance and suffering He himself traced by leading them up Calvary Hill with him and to descend spiritually with him into the tomb to be born again with him to new life which he acquired by his victory over hell, sin and death." [92]

"Since he chose to walk with us in the likeness of sinful flesh and to be a victim for sin, we must walk with him according to the Spirit in order that the justice of faith might be achieved in us (Romans 8:3-4). Through the Spirit, we must be unceasingly with him [...] By this means, his own merits and the rights to a heavenly reward that he has acquired for us will be communicated to us; by this means we will be another He himself, living, suffering and dying with him in the course of the passing time of suffering and humiliation, resurrecting, triumphing and reigning with him on the day of eternal glory. Now, my very dear brothers, it is to practice this union of spirit and heart with Jesus Christ that the Church invites us to live the holy Forty Days before reaching Easter. During that time, we withdraw with him to the desert, we pray, we fast, we resist temptation with him, we soon engage ourselves in following him to bear in spirit the labors, the fatigue and setbacks of his public life. In the night, we find ourselves together on the mountain to reap the fruit of his prayers, and during the day, witnesses of his miracles, [...] moved by his inexhaustible charity, by his infinite tenderness for men, recollected in spirit, we listen to his divine word, and like Mary, his holy Mother, we mull them over in our hearts (Luke 2:19); we steep ourselves in the sentiments of our Redeemer; we allow ourselves to be caught up by the inspirations of his love; we refashion our soul according to the image of his soul until he is so formed in us (Galatians 3:19) that we live his life of humility, labor and penance to such an extent that we become so conformed to his image constantly presented to us, that he should be in our regard the first born of a multitude of brethren and after having been called, we were justified and after having been justified, we were glorified (Romans 13:29-30)." [93] Eugene de Mazenod would write in his will: "I implore God's mercy, by the merits of our divine Savior Jesus Christ in whom I place all my trust, to obtain pardon for my sins and the grace of my soul being received into holy Paradise". [94]

At the beginning of this article, we presented Eugene de Mazenod's friendship with Jesus Christ as "an experiential encounter with a person" and a "living relationship established between the two expressed in an ongoing fashion." A study of the texts and of Eugene's conduct only make this attitude stand out in bolder relief.

Eugene de Mazenod considered Jesus Christ, Son of God, as Savior: the one who saved him from his sins and the one who saved the world; he considered him as the Spouse of the Church, the one who is indivisibly united to her and who continues to suffer through her; he considered him a Friend without peer, a friend with whom he chose to cooperate fully in the work of salvation; he considered him the Model and Master of life, the one who incorporates us into himself, who introduces us into his mystery by his birth, his work of redemption, the one who asks us to suffer with him, to bear his trials with him, to resurrect with him in the glory of the Father.

Christ is his Mediator, the first object of his devotion; Christ feeds him every day with his bread and his presence; he stands by him in time of failure and difficulties; he inspires him in his ministry, helps him to hold up when faced with opposition. Christ is the one who bonds him to people, to his family, to all his Oblate brothers with whom he is linked throughout the world. The Eucharist is at the centre of his life; Eugene spends hours before the Blessed Sacrament; he disseminates worship of the Blessed Eucharist everywhere he can; in it, he finds his strength and meets all those he loves. One day while he was in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the church of Saint Theodore, he wrote: "I admit that I was the one who obtained for Jesus Christ the glory offered up to him for already six years in the church of Saint Theodore. [...] With a hidden joy [...] I was offering him everything he received in terms of honor, praise, thanksgiving, everything that had been offered him in terms of love of reparation. [...] I offered it to him with joy as if it came from myself in expiation for my own irreverences, my minimal response to the great illuminations and inspirations that God graciously gave me in the course of so many years with regard to the wonderful sacrament of our altars, in reparation for the paltry fruit that I harvested from the extraordinary experiences the person of the divine Savior frequently obtained for me, and which should have made of me a saint while as I have remained a wretched sinner. [...] I feel that God in his goodness is excessively good in making me understand these things, and in addition, in bestowing upon me the consolation I enjoy in overflowing measure during days such as this one and still others." [95]

In conclusion, at least three things are to be retained from this study of the Founder. First of all, the ongoing character of his devotion to Jesus Christ from his infancy, but especially from the time of his "conversion" on a certain Good Friday and until his death. It held first place among his devotions. In October of 1857, he wrote: "It is a beneficial, praiseworthy and holy thing to pray to the angels and saints, [...] but our principal devotion must always be to Jesus Christ [...] the only sovereign mediator through the infinite merits of whom we may see our requests granted and attain eternal life". [96] Secondly, fidelity. The points, the particular aspects he stressed in his youth such as the cross, suffering with Jesus Christ, the Eucharist, zeal, participation in different mysteries.... are always the same. He studied them in depth, lived them, they became more a part of him, but they remained unchanged. Thirdly, the practical dimension of his love of Christ. It is a concrete love, which is rooted in the encounter with a person, which grows into an everyday friendship and develops from day to day through the experiences of life and the responsibilities in ministry. Saint Paul comes to mind: He pursues his chosen course to grasp Christ, having himself been grasped by Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:12).

To put the finishing touches on this presentation, we can read a very fine text, not one composed by Eugene de Mazenod, but approved by him about 1836 and treating of the novices' devotion to Our Lord Jesus Christ. It speaks of Jesus' hidden life. The text reflects the Founder's attitude and shows how, at the beginning of the Institute, Jesus Christ was at the very heart of Oblate life: "Since the primary end of our Society is to imitate Our Lord Jesus Christ as perfectly as possible, it is easy to understand that the novices' devotion should especially deal with the holy person of our adorable Savior. All they should propose to do during this trial period is to set up the reign of Jesus Christ in their hearts and to arrive at the point that they no longer live except with his divine life and that they can say with Saint Paul: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me: vivo ego, jam non ego, etc. The Divine Savior must continue in some way in each one of them the life that he himself led on earth, a life of innocence and purity, of mortification and humility, in a word, a life embracing all the virtues [...]" [97]

[1] See Paul VI, October 19, 1975 Homily, and VILLENEUVE, J.-M. Rodrigue, o.m.i., Etudes analytico-synthétique de nos Saintes Règles, Deschâtelets Archives, 1929; 1912 French commentary on the Preface.
[2] PIELORZ, Józef, La Vie spirituelle de Mgr de Mazenod, 1782-1812, Ottawa, Oblate Studies Edition, 1956; TACHÉ, Alexander, La Vie spirituelle d'Eugene de Mazenod, 1812-1818, Rome, 1960; MOOSBRUGGER, Robert, The Spirituality of Blessed Eugene de Mazenod, 1818-1837, Rome, 1980.
[3] For example, GRATTON, Henry, "La dévotion salvatorienne du Fondateur", in Etudes oblates, I (1942), p. 158-171; D'ADDIO, Angelo, "Eugène de Mazenod et le Christ", in Vie Oblate Life, 38 (1979), p. 169-200; LAMIRANDE, Emilien, "Le Sang du Sauveur. Un thème central de la doctrine spirituelle de Mgr de Mazenod", in Etudes oblates, 18 (1959), p. 363-381; Oblate team from Frascati, "La relation personnelle avec Jésus eucharistique selon le bienheureux de Mazenod", in Vie Oblate Life, 37 (1978), p. 237-250; CIARDI, Fabio, "L'Eucharistie dans l'action pastorale du Bx de Mazenod", in Vie Oblate Life, 38 (1979), p. 39-50; Idem, "The Eucharist in the Life and Thoughts of Eugene de Mazenod", ibidem, p. 201-231.
[4] A collection of the writings of Eugene de Mazenod edited by Father Yvon Beaudoin, volumes 1 to 16, Rome, 1977-1995.
[5] Pastoral letter of February 16, 1860, in CHARBONNEAU, Herménégilde, Mon nom est Eugène de Mazenod, Montreal, 1975, p. 174.
[6] Retreat at Amiens, December 1811, in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 95. p. 215-216.
[7] REY I, p. 25-27.
[8] See PIELORZ, Józef, The Spiritual Life of Bishop de Mazenod, 1782-1812, in the manu English translation, p. 89.
[9] Ibidem, p. 90.
[10] Ibidem, p. 156.
[11] Ibidem, p. 107.
[12] Retreat at the seminary in Aix, December 1814, in Oblate Writings I, vol. 15, no. 130, p. 81.
[13] Letter to his father August 16, 1805 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 10, p. 20.
[14] Letter to Emmanuel Gaultier de Claubry, November 1805 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 13, p. 25.
[15] Letter to the same person, December 23, 1807 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 22, p. 41.
[16] Ibidem, p. 41-42.
[17] Letter to his mother, December 25, 1808 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 37, p. 84 & 85.
[18] Letter to his mother, February 28, 1809 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 46, p. 102-103.
[19] Letter to his mother, April 4, 1809 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 50, p. 117.
[20] Letter to his mother, May 29, 1809 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 55, p. 126.
[21] Letter to his mother, October 11, 1809 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 61, p. 139.
[22] Letter to his mother, December 21, 1811 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 97, p. 227.
[23] See letter to his mother, November 19, 1809 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 32, p. 73.
[24] Letter to Madame de Boisgelin, December 4, 1809 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 35, p. 78-79.
[25] Letter to his mother, January 21, 1809 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 43, p. 94.
[26] Letter to Madame de Boisgelin, February 9, 1811 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 78, p. 176-177.
[27] Letter to his mother, November 11-14, 1809 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 63, p. 144,
[28] Letter to Madame de Boisgelin, August 12, 1811 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 90, p. 198-199.
[29] TACHÉ, Alexander, La Vie spirituelle d'Eugene de Mazenod, 1812-1818, p. 87. See also PIELORZ, Józef, op. cit., p. 242 in the English manu translation.
[30] See December 21, 1811 letter in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 97, p. 227.
[31] Letter to M. Duclaux, December 21, 1811 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 98, p. 228-229.
[32] My Mass Intentions, December 25-27, 1811 and General Resolution, end of December 1811 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 14, no. 100 & 101, p. 230-232.
[33] Quoted in CHARBONNEAU, Hermengild, op. cit., p. 42-47; Selected Texts, no. 37, p. 58-59; 61-62.
[34] Ibidem, p. 50.
[35] Ibidem, p. 51.
[36] See PIELORZ, Józef, op. cit., p. 243; TACHÉ, Alexander, op. cit., p. 48.
[37] Retreat at the seminary in Aix, December 1814, in Oblate Writings I, vol. 15, no. 130, p. 77-108.
[38] Ibidem, p. 97 & 98.
[39] Ibidem, p. 104 & 105.
[40] Ibidem, p. 97.
[41] Ibidem, p. 97.
[42] Letter "To my dear brothers, the missionaries at Aix", July 1816 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 6, no. 12, p. 20.
[43] "Constitutions and Rules of the Society of the Missionaries of Provence", 1818, First Part, Chapter One, "End of the institute", par. 3, Nota bene in Missions, 78 (1951), p. 17-19.
[44] Ibidem, par. 1, article 1, p. 13.
[45] Ibidem, par. 3, Nota bene, p. 15-16; Selected Texts, no. 8, p. 30, no. 18. p. 70.
[46] Ibidem, Chapter Three, "Of other exercises, par. 1, Concerning preaching", p. 36.
[47] Ibidem, Second Part, Chapter One, par. 4 "Of other principal observances", p. 55.
[48] Ibidem, p. 57.
[49] Ibidem, p. 57-58.
[50] Ibidem, par. 5, "Concerning prayer and exercises of piety", p. 61.
[51] Ibidem, Second Part, Chapter Two, par. 2, "Concerning mortification and bodily penances", p. 64.
[52] Ibidem, Third Part, Chapter Two, par. 1, "The qualities required to be accepted", p. 85.
[53] Ibidem, par. 2, "The Novitiate", p. 87.
[54] Ibidem, p. 90.
[55] See Oblate Writings I, vol. 7, p. XVII-XXVIII and MOOSBRUGGER, Robert, The Spirituality of Blessed Eugene de Mazenod, 1818-1837, p. 53-67.
[56] Letter to Father Henry Tempier, August 23, 1830 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 7, no. 359, p. 211-212.
[57] Letter to Father Jean-Marie Fleury Baudrand, January 21, 1847 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 1, no. 77, p. 154. See also vol. 1, no. 81, p. 164, vol. 2, no. 234, p. 146, vol. 4, no. 43, p. 136, vol. 5, no. 87, p. 177-178, vol. 13, no. 49, p. 68-69, no. 167, p. 197, no. 178, p. 208.
[58] Letter to Father Baudrand, January 11 & 25, 1850 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 1, no. 126, p. 233. See also, vol. 4, no. 33, p. 223, vol. 8, no. 485, p. 124.
[59] Letter to the Oblates of Saint Boniface, May 26, 1854 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 2, no. 193, p. 75, no. 211, p. 103. See also vol. 3, Appendix, no. 4, p. 187, 190, vol. 4, no. 2, p. 6, vol. 5, no. 79, p. 165, vol. 11, no. 1037, p. 6, vol. 13, no. 145, p. 168.
[60] Pastoral letter of December 21, 1845 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 3, Appendix, no. 1, p. 163. See also vol. 4, no. 31, p. 220, vol. 7, no. 259, p. 122.
[61] Letter to Father Étienne Semeria, June 3, 1851 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 4, no. 19, p. 69. See also vol. 2, no. 234, p. 146, vol. 3, Appendix no. 3, p. 182-183, vol. 6, no. 37, p. 140, vol. 7, no. 303, p. 158, vol. 8, no. 387, p. 17, vol. 10, no. 812, p. 29.
[62] Letter to Bishop Jean-François Allard, June 11, 1855 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 4, no. 23, p. 199. See also vol. 2, no. 273, p. 228, vol. 10, no. 990, p. 237.
[63] Letter to Father Hippolyte Courtès, March 3, 1822 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 6, no. 80, p. 89. See also vol. 3, Appendix, no. 2, p. 178, vol. 7, no. 350, p. 202, no. 371, p. 224, vol. 8, no. 403, p. 36 & 37, no. 406, p. 39, no. 511, p. 153-154, vol. 10, no. 811, p. 27, vol. 12, no. 1340, p. 44; also LAMIRANDE, Emilien, "Aspects du coeur de Mgr de Mazenod" in Etudes oblates, 13 (1954) p. 272-274.
[64] Act of Visitation of the Province of England, July 22, 1850 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 3, Appendix, no. 4, p. 189-190. See also, vol. 2, p. 176, vol. 3, no. 79, p. 128, vol. 7, no. 219, p. 15 & 16, no. 239, p. 93 & 94, vol. 9, no. 752, p. 199.
[65] Letter to Father Vincent Mille, July 24, 1831 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 8, no. 397, p. 32. See also vol. 11, no. 1234, p. 229.
[66] See letter to Bishop Toussaint Casanelli d'Istria, January 5, 1859 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 13. no. 177, p. 207.
[67] Letter to Father Courtès, July 22, 1828 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 7, no. 307, p. 164.
[68] Letter to Father P. N. Mye, October 31, 1823 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 6, no. 118, p. 126-127. See also vol. 6, no. 109, p. 118-119, vol. 7, no. 332, p. 184, vol. 8, no. 411, p. 47 & 48, no. 553, p. 203-204, no. 575, p. 234-235, no. 594, p. 259, vol. 9, no. 714, p. 151.
[69] Letter to M. Viguier, priest, January 6, 1819 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 6, no. 38, p. 55-56. See also vol. 5, no. 62, p. 125.
[70] Retreat for the episcopate, October 7-14, 1832 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 15, no. 166, p. 201.
[71] Retreat preparatory to taking possession of the episcopal see of Marseilles, May 1837 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 15, no. 185, p. 235.
[72] Retreat for the episcopate, October 7-14, 1832 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 15, no. 166, p. 202.
[73] Ibidem, p. 205.
[74] Retreat preparatory to taking possession of the episcopal see of Marseilles, May 1837 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 15, no. 185, p.235.
[75] Ibidem, p. 238.
[76] See retreat for the episcopate, October 7-14, 1832 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 15, no. 166, p 208-209.
[77] See the article on Eugene de Mazenod. His experience and his spiritual teaching. The volume of Bishop de Mazenod 's pastoral letters has yet to be printed. We used the copy kept in the Deschâtelets Archives in Ottawa. Our references give only the date and sometimes the theme of the pastoral letter since the pagination of the text is inadequate.
[78] February 28, 1838.
[79] February 28, 1848.
[80] October 21, 1849. For the new catechism of the diocese of Marseilles.
[81] February 2, 1850.
[82] February 2, 1842.
[83] March 12, 1849. The expression "acquired at the cost of his blood" or equivalents thereof appear over twenty times in the pastoral letters.
[84] December 25, 1837.
[85] February 2, 1839.
[86] January 19, 1845.
[87] February 14, 1844.
[88] February 8, 1846.
[89] February 20, 1859.
[90] Ibidem. The idea of the communion of the saints or of the Mystical Body in Jesus Christ is often present in the pastoral letters.
[91] Ibidem.
[92] February 8, 1846.
[93] Ibidem.
[94] Excerpt from his will of August 1, 1854 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 15, no. 191, p. 248.
[95] Diary of the Founder, March 17, 1839, quoted in Vie Oblate Life, 38 (1979), p. 46-47.
[96] October 14, 1857, Summary of Christian Doctrine.
[97] "Des dévotions propres aux members de la Société", in Etudes oblates, 16 (1957), p. 267. See the complete text p. 267-274.