Today, the anniversary of the death of our good Father Mie, I learn of that of Fr. Frederic Michel. He was one of our best men, filled with virtues, but virtues quite uncommon, talented and learned to the full, a well formed man he was. He left the seminary of Grenoble for the novitiate the very day of his ordination, not wishing even to visit his parents. He was the 200th of our Oblates and had made his profession only a few months previous; it is a great loss.
Letter to Fr. Telmon, 10 March 1849, EO I n 113
Fr. Frederic Michel died suddenly just after preaching his first parish mission, as Eugene noted in his diary:
Disturbing news of the death of Fr. Michel. He had just finished the mission in Saint Bonnet where he had given proof of his great zeal and generosity. Fr. Lavigne who gave this mission with him, wrote to tell me that he had acted like a saint. I fear that Fr. Lavigne was not able to moderate his zeal or to require that he take more care of himself personally. I am very much afraid that what Fr. Lavigne calls a cold was an irritating cough and perhaps the beginnings of a chest infection which the poor man who died was unwilling to care for. God will reward him, but the death of a good subject is a great loss for the Congregation.
Eugene’s diary, 10 March 1849, EO XXII
REFLECTION
“By dying young, a man stays young forever in people’s memory. If he burns brightly before he dies, his light shines for all time.” (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)
Young fathers Charles Gondrand and Charles Baret were in the Oblate community in Limoges and had written a much-appreciated letter to Eugene. Inundated with work, he had delayed in responding.
If, through the instigation of the spirit, my dear sons Gondrand and Baret, you may have judged your father badly, what regret should you not feel when you see these few lines, a witness of my remembrance and tender affection for you…
Do you not see your letter on my desk, buried under a pile of other papers? Not a day goes by that it does not several times pass through my hands when I am rummaging and re-rummaging to find out what is the most urgent matter to be taken care of. Well, each time that I touch it or that my eyes focus on it, the sight of it prompts in my soul an affectionate sentiment that I express even exteriorly with love. Dear children, I tell myself, you wait for my answer. At another time: there is that letter again! If they only knew how much I love them! Is there really need to tell them? And again: why can I not talk with them instead of writing to them and how I would hold them to my heart! What would I say to you? It is a continual monologue, or rather a dialogue, for you are always present to me, so much so are you personified in my heart.
Letter to Fathers Charles Gondrand and Baret, 25 February 1849, EO X n 998
REFLECTION
“Letter writing can be seen as a gift because someone has taken his/her time to write and think and express love.” (S. Coffelt)
The father of the Oblate family’s concern for his children:
Daylight is fading and so is time to prolong this good conversation with you. I hasten to embrace you and bless you, as well as the whole family confided to you. I have no need to recommend myself to the prayers of all my children, but tell them that every day at Holy Mass they are present in my thoughts and also in the evenings when I am before the Blessed Sacrament. That happens quite often at half past ten or eleven o’clock. I am forced to do this by my daily occupations, but it is also a consolation for me to keep watch before the Lord’s tabernacle while all my children are resting in quiet sleep.
Letter to Fr. Louis Dassy in Nancy, 13 February 1849, EO X n 997
REFLECTION
This practice of oraison, of prayer in communion before the Blessed Sacrament, is one of St Eugene’s gifts to us. As the founder and father he daily made present all the people he loved when he communed with them in the presence of Jesus. As a saint he continues to do this for us, but also encourages us to do likewise with the people we love.
From the beginning of our existence, the aim of Oblate preaching was to catechize: to teach people who the Savior is and to educate them in the contents of our faith. Fr Hippolyte Courtès had started a course of teaching catechism in Aix. Eugene encouraged him:
I see no difficulty in the course you have taken. It would have been difficult to refuse such a proposal which, besides, fits rather well into the objectives of our Congregation. In practice, you will have to oversee this teaching by laypeople which can be rather imperfect and insufficient. You will have to know how to make this catechism interesting, for it must be something more than an ordinary catechism. For that you will need to draw up a plan of instructions, which will certainly be based on what is elementary, but which will go a little more deeply into the science of religion. Our great plague is ignorance. We must do all we can to counteract it.
Letter to Fr. Hippolyte Courtès in Aix, 10 January 1849, EO X n 995.
REFLECTION
“Being a catechist is not a title; it is an attitude of abiding with him, and it lasts a lifetime! It means abiding in the Lord’s presence and letting ourselves be led by him.” (Pope Francis)
Newly-ordained Fr Francois-Xavier Michelier had been sent to Nancy to have been trained as a preacher and to be community treasurer. The superior, Louis Dassy, had complained to Eugene: ” does not seem the least bit decided to write out sermons at all. He is reading all sorts of writings, but he himself has no inclination to write.” Eugene responded:
Can this young man be so blind concerning his duties? He must surely know that I sent him to Nancy to get ready for preaching and that it is precisely this work that he is refusing to do? This is hardly believable.
On the other hand, Fr Dassy was known to be very demanding in his dealings with people, so Eugene advised him:
Take heed lest you have discouraged him. You do go a bit too fast at times, my dear friend. You do not always take human misery into consideration. There are so many feelings to consider, especially in young men! So do not give up so easily. You now see that you are much more satisfied with the work of Father Depetro, it will be the same with Father (Michelier), but I implore you, do not give up in despair, and especially do not frighten these poor beginners. Insist that they work, but encourage their efforts, show yourself to be happy with the little they do, things will go much better later.
Letter to Fr Louis Dassy at Nancy, 7 January 1849, EO X n 994
REFLECTION
“A word of encouragement from a teacher to a child can change a life. A word of encouragement from a spouse can save a marriage. A word of encouragement from a leader can inspire a person to reach her/his potential.” (John C. Maxwell)
We now leave the foreign missions to focus on what was happening in France in 1849.
In France it is customary for people to send each other good wishes for the new year. Eugene responds to Fr Dassy:
I thank you, my dear son, for the effect your affection for me inspired you to make on the passage from Baruch [ed. “May your days be like days in Heaven upon earth.” Baruch 1. 12]; I called down the same blessings on you and your community, from the first day of this new year, which, after all, is no more than a confirmation of what I ask every day of Heaven for the family God gave me and which gives me so many consolations in the midst of tribulations which weigh upon us as upon the whole Church.
Letter to Fr Louis Dassy at Nancy, 7 January 1849, EO X n 994
REFLECTION
Eugene’s reference to the tribulations refer to the 1848 political revolutions that shook France and the whole of Europe, with consequences for the Church as witnessed to by the Pope’s exile away from Rome in Gaeta.
“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)
The Oblate mission in Oregon was difficult and challenging. To complicate matters, the local Bishop was not very encouraging nor understanding of the Oblate way of mission. For this reason, Eugene wrote to the Vatican with this request:
Please bear with me if I come back to the Oregon mission. I was not able to hold back my tears as I read the latest letters from these missions. Rest assured that the Jesuits and the Oblates are doing everything, but theirs is a life of privations, heroic mortification, fatigue and danger, with no consolation at all from the bishops. On the contrary, they are afflicted by all kinds of disheartening episodes and constraints. Therefore, I feel it to be of the utmost importance to appoint the provincial superior of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Fr. Pascal Ricard, as bishop of Nesqually. He already lives in that town and will be ready with his men to serve the indigenous peoples in that region as well as the Europeans and Americans who live in various settlements. The independence thus gained will enhance the good of these Missions which need a fixed site in order to avoid losing all courage.
Eugene was writing with a bishop’s understanding in making this request.
Please believe me, dear Monseigneur, I am a bishop and believe that I understand the great responsibilities of my sacred character. I would sacrifice my life a thousand times over for the glory of God and the salvation of souls and I would rather see my hand wither than to write even a single syllable contrary to that end, the sole object of my every thought.
To Bishop Barnabo, Secretary of the S. Congregation of Propaganda Fide, 8 October 1849, EO V n 11
REFLECTION
“The purpose of our Institute is the exact same one that the Son of God had in mind when he came down on earth: the glory of his heavenly Father and the salvation of souls.” (Eugene de Mazenod)
I have spent eleven consecutive hours at my desk writing to all our Fathers in Oregon and drawing up instructions both for them and for Fr. d’Herbomez who, together with two Brothers, is going to join them by way of California… I have spoken of Fr. d’Herbomez and Brothers Surel and Janin who are setting sail today on the interminable journey to Oregon, passing by Cape Horn. Ah, how admirable are these courageous children! They are leaving for that mission, which is so unattractive, humanly speaking, with a holy joy and an astonishing zeal. Everybody is very edified and the eighty passengers have proclaimed their great joy at having them, especially the priest, as travelling companions. I hope that it will be useful for their souls during this long journey which lasts no less than six or seven or even eight months.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 19 November 1849, EO XXII
REFLECTION
It is hard for us to imagine these young men leaving on a journey by sea and overland that would take 6 to 8 months. They were aware that hardships awaited them in Oregon, and that they would probably never see France again. Yet they set out with joy to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people who had never heard it. All three missionaries spent the rest of their lives in Canada, with Louis D’Herbomez becoming Vicar Apostolic of British Columbia in 1863.
Today our Oblate Rule of Life continues to hold out this ideal: “we give ourselves to the Father in obedience even unto death and dedicate ourselves to God’s people in unselfish love. Our apostolic zeal is sustained by the unreserved gift we make of ourselves in our oblation, an offering constantly renewed by the challenges of our mission.” Constitution 2
If you could read the letters I receive from Oregon, you would have shed tears with me over the sufferings and the privations that our dear Fathers are enduring in that mission. Their hands are calloused by the work they are obliged to do, to clear land they must cultivate to grow, not grain for bread which is lacking, but for potatoes to have something to live on. They would need two thousand francs to hire a helper, and they do not even have enough to pay the costs of the letters we send them. They are forced to cut down with their own hands trees that are hundreds of years old; they live among the tribes, always exposed to all kinds of dangers and even loss of life, I pity them, or rather I do not pity but admire them; in spirit I prostrate myself at their feet; I bless the Lord for having chosen them as instruments of his glory and mercies.
Letter to Fr Ambroise Vincens at N. D. de L’Osier, 12 October 1849, EO X n 1024
REFLECTION
With Eugene, we too, bow in admiration at all that our Savior has done and continues to do through the cooperators he has called to His mission.
“Among our own people also the church sorely needs ministers in close touch with the ordinary life of the laity, living the life of ordinary people, sharing their difficulties and understanding their trials by close personal experience.” (Roland Allen)
Oblate missions were opening up in several parts of Canada, and it is hard to keep up from Eugene’s correspondence. So I am grouping together the various letters referring to one area. Our recent reflections have concerned Eastern and Central Canada. Now we focus on Oregon, a foundation that would later move north to open up the area of Vancouver.
Next Sunday I am going to ordain Brother d’Herbomez. He will leave immediately for the difficult mission of Oregon. He is all filled with joy at the thought of the privations he will have to undergo. That is what he has been asking of the Lord for a long time. These are truly generous souls and not like these lazy ones who refuse to go to a mission like England. When one has these dispositions, one is as ready for one mission as for another.
Letter to Fr Ambroise Vincens at N. D. de L’Osier, 12 October 1849, EO X n 1024
REFLECTION
“Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual beliefs, nor out of theological arguments, but out of love. If I do not love a person I am not moved to help him by proofs that he is in need; if I do love him, I wait for no proof of a special need to urge me to help him.” (Roland Allen)
