Eugene de Mazenod did not have two vocations: one to the priesthood and the other to the religious life - he had one vocation exclusively, that of becoming fully an apostolic man. The priesthood and the religious life were contained within that vocation. Priesthood: to be a priest who teaches, who proclaims the Word of God, who administers God's pardon, who celebrates the Eucharist, and who gathers the Christian community around Christ. Religious life: to be a consecrated apostolic man who gives all, who refuses nothing to God, who is interiorly free, a man who is detached, zealous for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, in a word, inclined to follow and practice the evangelical counsels.
Eugene de Mazenod used to say: "If we wish to achieve the same results as the Apostles and the first followers of the Gospel we must use the same means as they and, this all the more because we do not have the power to perform miracles and so we must bring back those who have gone astray by the splendor of our virtues". [1] That is why he felt it was so important to have Abbé Henry Tempier as a member of his group. "Be sure that I regard it as most important for God's work that you be one of us. I count on you more than on myself for the regularity of a house which, in my mind and my hopes, must reproduce the perfection of the first disciples of the apostles. I base my hopes on that much more than on eloquent discourses. Have they ever converted anyone? Oh! how well will you do what must be done!" [2]
We can say that, after his "conversion" during the years 1805-1807 and in spite of his faults, [3] the will to make a total gift of himself to God was always present in his heart. Once he had experienced Christ's love for him, and how Christ offered his blood to save him, Eugene de Mazenod wanted to live only for him and for the salvation of all.
In this article, we will explicitate what religious life is for the Oblates: its birth with Eugene de Mazenod, and more briefly, its evolution and present state. Some studies do exist on this subject; they can be found especially in Etudes oblates (Vie Oblate Life) [4]and in some recent works. [5]
[1] Letter to Mr. Arbaud, January 1, 1819 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 13, no. 22, p. 30.
[2] Letter to Abbé Henry Tempier, November 15, 1815 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 6, no. 6, p. 11.
[3] See BEAUDOIN, Yvon, "Le retour d'exil des Mazenod en 1818" in Vie Oblate Life, 45 (1986), p. 423-425.
[4] See for example, the following articles: THIEL, Joseph, "Relations du Fondateur avec le P. Lanteri" in Etudes oblates, 5 (1946), p. 129-142; COSENTINO, Georges, "Existence juridique de notre Congrégation pendant ses dix premières années (1816-1826)", ibidem, 12 (1953), p. 3-24; idem, "L'introduction des voeux dans notre Congrégation", ibidem, 13 (1954), p. 287-308; CIANCIULLI, F.-X., "Aspirations au cloître dans l'âme du Fondateur", ibidem, 13 (1954) p. 228-231; GILBERT, Maurice, "Sur les traces de Apôtres", ibidem, 16 (1957), p. 293-301; LAMIRANDE, Emilien, "Les Oblats et la suppléance des anciens ordres d'après Mgr de Mazenod", in Etudes oblates, 19, (1960), p. 185-195; idem , "Les deux parts dans la vie de l'homme apostolique d'après Mgr de Mazenod", ibidem, 25 (1966), p. 177-204; VERKIN, Henri, "Mgr de Mazenod et la vie religieuse", ibidem, 26 (1967), p. 343-382; DROUART, Jean, "The Oblate Apostolic Life", ibidem, 31 (1972), p. 29-46; idem, "From an Apostolic Community to a Religious Congregation", ibidem, 31 (1972), p. 205-224; Idem, "Notre propre forme de consécration à Dieu pour le service de l'Eglise", ibidem, 27 (1968), p. 3-40; ZAGO, Marcello, "Notre identité religieuse et la mission", in Vie Oblate Life, 33 (1974), p. 241-251.
[5] For example, JETTÉ, Fernand, The Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate, General House, Rome, 1985, p. 72-96; idem, O.M.I., The Apostolic Man: A Commentary on the 1982 edition of the Oblate Constitutions and Rules, General House, Rome, 1992; co-author of The Congregation Renewed: A Reading Guide for the Constitutions and Rules [1966]. Introduction and commentary, General House, Rome, 1968.
