Continuing to tell the story of our third Oblate foundation, we see that the number of people coming to the Calvaire increased rapidly. The Missionaries found themselves ministering to regular parish groups coming on pilgrimage over and above the regular pilgrims who came on a steady basis. Having established a committed group of laity in the two sodalities, it was necessary for the Missionaries to establish their own presence in a definitive way.
On certain feastdays, the enclosure, which could only contain several thousand, was more than filled with people who came especially from the populated city sections that surrounded Le Calvaire. Here the missionaries found themselves in their real element. Zealously they applied themselves to serving the needs of the pilgrim poor.
The Missionaries became aware that the ancient convent of the Accoules was on sale. The religious had been chased away by the Revolution when the church had been destroyed. With the help of their lay cooperators, they were able to buy the property.
Very soon there was an opportunity to acquire some property. The former cloister of the canons, consisting of nine houses, was put up for sale in May 1822. The Fathers purchased it for 12,000 francs. Two of these houses were empty and they took up residence there at the end of 1822. The tenants of the other houses all moved out more or less within one year. Even before he came to Marseilles as Vicar General in July 1823, Father de Mazenod had instructed Father Tempier to tear down these old houses and to built a vast convent of some 50 rooms and halls. This was the first of many construction projects undertaken by Father Tempier in Marseilles; it was already completed by the beginning of 1825.
Yvon Beaudoin, “Marseilles, Le Calvaire” in Oblate Historical Dictionary, Volume 1
Jeancard describes the condition of these buildings in 1822 when they moved in:
We lodged in these types of dilapidated shacks, of which we had become the owners – blackened by smoke and dirty and repulsive. For more than thirty years they had provided shelter for poor families whose position was very similar to that of the nomads or beggars. Taking their place was more an act of poverty than one of ownership.
Mélanges historiques, page 144
“It is not the glorious battlements, the painted windows, the crouching gargoyles that support a building, but the stones that lie unseen in or upon the earth. It is often those who are despised and trampled on that bear up the weight of a whole nation.” John Owen
I am struck by so many images this morning as I read and reflect on this. Having been to that part of France I can now almost imagine what it looked like. It does not make sense but I also picture Eugene and these early missionaries there with joy in their hearts. I am thinking of a couple I know who regularly go to an impoverished country to stay with the people there and work with them, with people they love. Conditions are incredibly hard and most certainly less that we would ever tolerate here in our cities but there is joy too. They talk about the people and their faces light up, with love and joy as they relive, relove their time with the people. I am reminded of St. Paul and his writing from prison. I find myself thinking of some of the people I met on my trip, not impoverished perhaps but not wealthy either and their joy in life and God.
“It is often those who are despised and trampled on that bear up the weight of a whole nation.” John Owen” The image from this is vivid. There is the joy but there is also struggle and pain, the death. I see immediately the cross when I read this. I think of Jesus, our king, our Saviour. Son of a carpenter, not wealthy by any means, moving from town to town, we never hear of him having a house or home of his own. He is hated, despised and put to death. Bearing the weight of all mankind. I think of the mothers in this world, who give their all for their children. I think about all of the hidden and unseen workers that make it possible for us to do our jobs, to have our homes and our leisure time. I think of Our Lady, who was most likely looked upon with harsh judgement by many as her pregnancy became visible. People counted, and she would have been shunned and judged harshly by many. The weight her heart bore. There was Mary saying yes to God, she an ordinary young woman, for sure hidden because we do not hear anything of her until the Annunciation story comes out and after that for the most part her life was in some ways pretty ordinary and out of sight. Again my heart sings, the Magnificat. It seems to be where I am dwelling these days. Isn’t it so very wonderful how God brings us to where we are in the church cycle? To prepare us, help us prepare so we might simply receive.
I immediately thought of 1 Peter 2:4-5
4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built[a] into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
– how, as living stones, we too may be “delapidated” in spirit – perhaps must be razed to the ground to begin afresh – and yet even as the imperfect stones that we are, make up the church – and / or set a groundwork for others looking on….
Sorry – rambling –