Eugene’s petition to the Pope included a summary of the work and achievements of the Oblates since their foundation ten years before:
They have devoted themselves mainly to the missions, which is the principal end of their Institute and this preferably in the most abandoned areas, preaching there in the vernacular, that is in the dialect, the daily language of the people who do not understand French well in these remote places. They have offered their assistance to the Clergy in view of a moral reform by means of retreats and a good priestly training in seminaries. They have dedicated themselves to the care of the youth whom they gather in Christian groups in order to withdraw them from the world’s corruption. They have also been engaged in serving poor prisoners whom they instruct, to whom they administer the Sacraments and those who are condemned to death they accompany even to the gallows…
The Missionary Oblates of Saint Charles thus constituted have four houses and a hostel at the present. They are serving in six large dioceses. They are entrusted with the hospitals of Aix, the prisons of Marseilles, the prisons of Aix, and the shrine of Notre-Dame du Laus. Bishops are calling them to assume the direction of their seminaries. They have, furthermore, the consolation of enjoying the affection and esteem of their Superiors and fellow citizens.
Petition to His Holiness Pope Leo XII, 8 December 1825, EO XIII n. 48
In his petition to Pope Leo XII for approbation, Eugene continued by marveling at the results of their ministry. It was ony possible for God to work through the Oblates if they themselves lived on the presence of the God they wished to communicate. In order to do this effectively a Rule of Life was needed as a spiritual companion and guide.
They themselves have been struck by the wonders that grace has achieved through their ministry. They feel that to become worthy of their vocation, they must walk in the footsteps of the Saints; that the members of their Society must have the possibility of working at their perfection and at the same time, they would provide the people with the means of salvation by preaching conversion to them.
They have resolved to embrace the evangelical counsels and to devote themselves totally to whatever would promote the greatest glory of God, the salvation of the most abandoned souls, and the service of the Church.
The Rules and Constitutions of the Society of the Missionary Oblates of Saint Charles (which is the name they had taken), commonly known as the Missionaries of Provence, have been drawn up in this spirit.
Petition to His Holiness Pope Leo XII, 8 December 1825, EO XIII n. 48
During the day, I was busy preparing the petition to present to the Pope on the day he grants me an audience.
Eugene’s Roman Diary, 8 December 1825, EO XVII
As this document gives a good description of the state of the Oblates in 1825, it is worthwhile to spend some time with it.
Most Holy Father,
The Abbé de Mazenod, Vicar General of Marseilles, prostrate at the feet of Your Holiness, has the honour of informing you that since 1815, after the Sovereign Pontiff Pius VII had manifested his desire that Missions be preached in France to the people who are demoralized by the Revolution, he saw it as a duty to dedicate himself, with several chosen companions, to this holy ministry in the Diocese of Aix en Provence.
The extraordinary blessings that God deigned to shower on the efforts of their zeal sparked the desire in neighbouring Bishops to procure the same benefits for their flocks. They repeatedly requested the Abbé de Mazenod to have him and his companions evangelize the people of their dioceses. The Abbé de Mazenod considered himself fortunate to be able to second the pastoral concern of these venerable Prelates, and was delighted to be able thus to further knowledge of Jesus Christ and to [assure] the return of a greater number of lost sheep to good principles.
Having set out the reason for the establishment of the Oblates, Eugene continued by establishing why a Rue of Life was necessary:
Now the Missionaries thought quite rightly that, since they were to expand into various dioceses, it was necessary to set common rules which would be like the bond of their new-born Society.
Petition to His Holiness Pope Leo XII, 8 December 1825, EO XIII n. 48
Preparing the way to present his request for approbation of the OMI Rule to the Pope involved requests to various persons.
Visit to Bishop Caprano, secretary of the Propaganda, to alert him of the favours I must ask and dispose him not to refuse them. This prelate received me very well and promised me his assistance.
Roman Diary 7 December 1825, EO XVII
Some days later Eugene found out that the person responsible for making appointments with the Pope had forgotten all about him:
Before leaving the Vatican, I went up to the apartments of the Pope to learn if Bishop Barberini had asked for an audience for me; he had indeed forgotten. The occasion would have been splendid if I had only wished to see the Pope and kiss his feet; there was no one waiting to go in; I could have had myself presented, but I took care not to because, other than not foreseeing that I might go up to the papal apartments, I had not brought my petition, I did not presume that Cardinal de Gregorio would have seen him since he had promised to speak to him of me. So I preferred to wait, knowing how first impressions influence matters. For the rest, I do my best to leave it to God.
I have resolved to say holy Mass every day of the octave of the Holy Virgin for the intention of the grace that we seek. I do not neglect on the other hand the human means that must be used. If after that I do not succeed, I will have nothing to reproach myself with.
Eugene’s letter to Henri Tempier in Marseilles, 9 December 1825, EO VII n. 211
During his time as a seminarian in Paris, Napoleon had imprisoned the Pope and had brought all the Cardinals to Paris. As Eugene was fluent in Italian, and the Cardinals did not know French, he served them as an interpreter and did errands for them at great personal risk to himself. Now, some 15 years later, he met several of them in Rome. Some of them made his task easier.
Cardinal De Gregorio treated me with exceptional kindness and cordiality. He recalled having seen me often at Paris during the time of the exile of the Roman prelates. I had actually seen him although he was not one of those to whom I rendered service, as were Cardinals Mattei, Ruffo, Archbishop of Naples, Gabrielli, Brancardoro, Canon Muzzarelli and others.
Roman Diary 6 December 1825, EO XVII
A few days later he wrote:
The Cardinal Dean, Secretary of State, sent to inform me that he would receive me at nine o’clock. I was there at the Vatican on time and had the honour of offering him my respects. His Eminence received me very kindly with amiable politeness, but he had completely forgotten me and all that I had done for the cardinals at Paris during their exile. I had to remind him that I had often gone to his house, had sometimes even taken meals there, that I had presented him with the Vie de la vénérable Agnes (bound at my expense).
At that time we were catechists at the Major Catechetical Program of Saint Sulpice. I served him when he came to say Mass at the German chapel. I was designated to find out from him, Cardinal Della Somaglia, the needs of the cardinals at the fatal moment of their disgrace. I recalled to him that he had replied that he would need nothing for two years but had pointed out those who would have need of help.
So many things have happened since then that a person could easily have forgotten past events. The Cardinal was no less polite; but, on my part, I reflected that it would be very foolish to do good in order to gain a good reputation among men. God alone knows how to reward what we have done for him. So, we must do everything to please him.
Roman Diary 10 December 1825, EO XVII
Eugene describes his joy at finding the tomb of his former Venetian teacher and mentor, Father Bartolo Zinelli.
And have I not found the memory, the bust and even the body interred in the church of this holy priest, of whom you have heard me speak so often, of this great servant of God, Father Bartolo Zinelli, who was my teacher at Venice, who died in the odour of sanctity under this very roof which shelters me? The cause of his beatification would have been launched long ago if the Society of which he was a member had not been dissolved, because of the misconduct of its head, the famous Paccanari, who finished so badly after having made a good beginning.
But my dear teacher, this good friend who could only console himself at my departure, so he wrote me, by going up to the altar to pray for me, he only had virtues, and the Bishop of the place where he preached his last mission wished to proceed to authenticate by act a prophecy which be made in his diocese and which came true.
… It is a consolation for me to breathe the same air, to offer the holy sacrifice on the same altars, to be able to pray at his tomb.
Letter to Fr Hippolyte Courtès in Aix, 6 December 1825, EO VI n 210
All is holy here for him who comes as a true Christian pilgrim. As for me, I only see the apostles, the martyrs, the holy confessors of all ages. There is not a corner of Rome which is not a monument of faith or piety.
The house in which I dwell, for example, where I came by chance, has been the shrine where for twenty-five or thirty years the blessed Cardinal Tommasi practiced so many virtues which have raised him to the rank of the blessed. He has sanctified it by his presence; his room still exists…
It is the same everywhere. Here are found all the saints since Saint Peter down to the blessed Benoit Labre and others still more modern. Here I must cease or be carried away too much. I wish only to tell you once more that I bear within me our whole family in all these holy places that I visit every day.
Letter to Fr Hippolyte Courtès in Aix, 6 December 1825, EO VI n 210
Eugene was constantly amazed and edified by the reminders in Rome of the martyrs. Perhaps his arithmetic is a bit exaggerated when he speaks of their numbers, but his awe is not. He describes how the Christian slaves had to build the Roman edifices, which today are in ruins, while the memory of the martyrs continues.
And what food for devotion is provided at the sight of so many monuments which attest the victory of the martyrs who have drowned idolatry in their blood. Their bodies still exist and their memory, so to say, is still fresh after eighteen and nineteen centuries which have destroyed both their persecutors and their works which seemed established for all eternity; the ruins which are trod underfoot still stagger the imagination, so vast they are in conception and in their details.
The baths, for instance, as vast as a great city, were the work under Diocletian of forty thousand Christians who received as salary martyrdom in frightful torments. These baths were adorned with statues, porticoes, colonnades; there were fountains, shady groves, and even lakes which had been artistically designed within their enclosure. The works of architecture of the best masters, the priceless tableaux, the marbles that are only to be seen here, porphyry, alabaster and even exquisite libraries; nothing was spared.
There no longer exists anything but the site and the broken masonry, while the poor slaves, the vile Christians as they were looked upon by their sacrilegious tyrants, are still the object of veneration of peoples, and their remains are preciously kept in the neighbouring catacombs where one kisses the ground and tears flow.
Letter to Fr Hippolyte Courtès in Aix, 6 December 1825, EO VI n 210
Eugene visited many churches in Rome and each one left him with a sense of wonder and admiration.
I am not resisting the desire to write to you and to date my epistle from the capital of the Christian world. This title is due to this beautiful city of Rome, not only because she is the seat of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, visible head of the Church, but also because she is, as it were, a Compendium of Christianity. It is only here, I believe, that they have understood how a dwelling should be built for God on earth. One has no idea of the magnificence of the churches found at every step. There are as many as five or six in the same place, each more beautiful, more rich, more imposing than the others.
One truly conceives how in heaven one shall never tire of praising God and of loving him while contemplating his infinite perfections, when one feels, at the sight of this beauty, work of feeble creatures, the sentiment of admiration grow without ceasing instead of becoming exhausted, when one would think one has reached one’s limit.
Letter to Fr Hippolyte Courtès in Aix, 6 December 1825, EO VI n 210
