First Vows of the Founder and Father Tempier

On Holy Thursday, April 11, 1816, before the Eucharistic repository in the church of the Mission in Aix-en-Provence, the Founder and Father Tempier privately consecrated themselves to God by vow, with the hope that their fellow missionaries would do the same publicly soon after. In his Memoirs, Bishop de Mazenod recalls this event: “…on the night of that holy day, we pronounced our vows with an indescribable joy. We were filled with the delight of our happiness throughout this wonderful night spent in the presence of our Lord; and we asked the divine Master, if it be his holy Will, to bless our undertaking and to lead our present companions and those who would be associated with us in the future to appreciate the full value of this oblation of one’s entire self to God, when one wanted to serve him unreservedly and to consecrate one’s life to the spread of his holy Gospel and the conversion of souls. Our petitions were answered.”

“They must work unremittingly to become… ready to sacrifice goods, talents, ease, self, even their life, for the love of Jesus Christ, the service of the Church and the sanctification of their brethren.” (Preface)

“We are men ‘set apart for the Gospel’ (Rom 1:1), men ready to leave everything to be disciples of Jesus… Our apostolic zeal is sustained by the unreserved gift we make of ourselves in our oblation…” (C. 2)

“Our mission requires that, in a radical way, we follow Jesus who was chaste and poor and who redeemed mankind by his obedience. That is why, through a gift of the Father, we choose the way of the evangelical counsels.” (C. 12)

The Congregation has no common formula for commemorating this anniversary. Because priestly and religious consecration are linked in the Founder’s spirituality as two means of uniting us to Jesus, who was consecrated to doing the Father’s Will for our salvation, the 17th chapter of St. John’s Gospel can provide food for personal and communal prayer on this feast.