Letter of the Superior General for February 17, 2011

Dear Brother Oblates,

I would like to bless each of you on this feast which takes us back to 1826 when Fr. Eugene de Mazenod received papal approbation for the Missionary Oblates of the Most Holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary. As brother Oblates we are “…committed principally to evangelizing the poor” (C 1). In a special way today, we are united with St. Eugene, with the Church and with the poor. Brother Oblates, thank you for your missionary generosity, your lives of prayer, your untiring service to the poor and the gift you make of yourselves as you live our vowed life in apostolic community.

On this day, February 17^th, we celebrate the fruit of many years of labor, the struggles, the indomitable energy, the many disappointments and the joys of Fr. De Mazenod. He expended himself to see his missionary group approved by the Holy Father and it was with persevering faith that he succeeded. I would like to write about our vow of perseverance which I believe to be a real source of grace for us.

We know the historical context of this vow in post-revolutionary France. With the dispersal of religious, the vow was meant to keep the Oblates faithful to one another and to the mission. In our present-day situation, the vow of perseverance holds a rich potential for our life and mission. As we live and grow old as Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, to persevere in the following of Jesus is a commitment over our lifetime to live more deeply and with increased vigor the “Yes” of our oblation. Perseverance guides us more deeply in imitating the example of Jesus who, “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1).

I recall St. Eugene’s words in the Preface: “We must lead men to act like human beings, first of all, and then like Christians and, finally, we must help them to become saints.” (Preface, CC&RR). It is good for us, the preachers, to look into our own lives to see if we are growing toward saintliness. I believe the vow of perseverance commits us to this journey, growing as human persons, as Christians and as saints. This movement, never quite finished in this life, is really the same as the call to conversion highlighted in our recent Chapter. Conversion is much more than simply “a theme” to be dealt with at a General Chapter, formulated in a document and then to be put away on a bookshelf. By the vow of perseverance, we embrace conversion, the call of the Gospel itself, as our way of life.

If psychology helps us understand human development toward maturity and integration, our life as vowed men should be marked even more so by spiritual growth and development through the years. Our vow of perseverance is a continual call to live more fully what we have promised the Lord. Through our openness to grace, we grow in our religious consecration so that we become free to give away more and more of ourselves to others and to God; we become more deeply human, compassionate, loving; we have more energy for mission; we have the audacity to take risks; we dream new dreams and have new visions (Joel 3:1); we grow in holiness.

This February 17^th, would you take your Oblate Cross in your hands and spend some time in prayer to the Crucified Christ? Please reflect on the quality of your life of perseverance over the years:

• Am I more deeply in love with the Lord Jesus, more centered on listening to the Word and on the Eucharist? Have I given more of myself as Jesus did?
• Have I become a ‘poorer’ Oblate in terms of evangelical poverty? Do I have greater trust in the congregation by having everything in common with my brother Oblates?
• Am I living a chaste celibate life with greater integrity, greater passion for God and for the poor?
• Have I grown in giving myself more fully to community life and in nourishing the community with my gifts?
• Am I more readily available to serve the needs of the mission to preach the Gospel to the abandoned as discerned by the Congregation and less centered on my own needs?
• Has my life become more alive and filled with the Gifts of the Spirit (Gal 5:22ss)?

These I believe are signs of religious life animated by the vow of perseverance. What a great gift and a source of grace Saint Eugene left us in this vow!

On this day we are also very specially united to Our Lady for it was on this day that we became Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Mary is the model and guardian of our consecrated life (C 13). She, who gave her fiat to God’s invitation, helps us to give ourselves fully to God for the sake of the mission to which we are sent. I ask Mary to help us grow in perseverance as religious men in love with God and with his people. Mary will help us live in such a way that the more we give the more we will be blessed and renewed in the generosity of our oblation.

My brother Oblates, I send you my prayer and my love on this special day!

Your brother Oblate in Jesus Christ and Mary Immaculate,

Louis Lougen, OMI
Superior General

General Administration

Anniversaries - March 2011

1946.03.19	08613	Bro. Luc Fortin	Notre-Dame-du-Cap
1946.03.19	08612	Bro. Claude Langlois	Lesotho
1946.03.25	08615	Bro. William Kelly	Anglo-Irish
1946.03.25	08124	Fr. Jean-Paul Vantroys	Lacombe

65 Years of priesthood

1946.03.10

06869

Fr. Olegario Domínguez

Paraguay

60 Years of religious life

1951.03.16	08982	Fr. Austin Cooper	Australia
1951.03.25	09652	Bro. Gaston Cousineau	Notre-Dame-du-Cap

60 Years of priesthood

1951.03.18	08319	Fr. Robert Guinchard	France
1951.03.24	08111	Fr. Francisco Martín	Spain
1951.03.24	07854	Fr. Alexandre Taché	Notre-Dame-du-Cap

50 Years of religious life

1961.03.07	11019	Fr. John O’Doherty	Australia
1961.03.19	11528	Bro. John Heysel	Lacombe
1961.03.19	11507	Bro. Bruno Torres	Philippines

50 Years of priesthood

1961.03.18	10108	Fr. Alejandro Villafañe	Argentina-Chile
1961.03.19	09943	Fr. Teodor Famula	Poland
1961.03.19	10033	Fr. Jerzy Kalinowski	Poland
1961.03.19	09946	Fr. Jozef Majewski	Poland
1961.03.19	10098	Fr. Rainer Rack	Central European Prov.
1961.03.19	09951	Fr. Stanislaw Skorczynski	Poland
1961.03.19	09948	Fr. Alojzy Sojka	Poland
1961.03.19	09895	Fr. Franz-Josef Stendebach	Central European Prov.
1961.03.19	09952	Fr. Stanislaw Toman	Poland
1961.03.24	09930	Fr. Fraccid A. Fernando	Colombo

25 Years of priesthood

1986.03.22

12578

Fr. Jakobus Bostander

Namibia

Suffrages for our Deceased

Name	Prov./Del.	Born	Died at	Date
Bro. Alphonse Nadeau	Notre-Dame-du-Cap	23/08/1919	Richelieu	21/01/2011
Fr. Shelton Perera	Colombo	07/04/1952	Colombo	22/01/2011
Fr. Gregorio Ramos	Mexico	19/12/1924	Mexico City	27/01/2011
Fr. Antonio Sgambato	Italy	11/02/1916	Santa Maria a Vico	28/01/2011
Bro. Philippe De Harveng	Belgium/Holland	27/10/1927	Barvaux	01/02/2011
Fr. Robert Luckhart	OMI Lacombe	03/12/1924	Kandy	04/02/2011
Fr. Roger Prieur	Notre-Dame-du-Cap	27/11/1923	Richelieu	04/02/2011
Fr. Louis Anthonypillai	Jaffna	10/07/1917	Colombuthurai	07/02/2011
Fr. Leo Mann	OMI Lacombe	30/12/1941	Battleford	07/02/2011

“They are before God, bearing the sign, the kind of character proper to our Institute, the vows common to all its members, the firm habit of the same virtues. We are linked to them by the bonds of a special charity. They are still our brothers and we are theirs. They now live in our mother-house, our main residence. The prayers and the love they retain for us will one day draw us to them and we shall live in our place of rest together with them.”
(Letter of Founder to Fr. Courtès, 22 July 1828)


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