On Eugene’s spiritual formation, Lubowicki writes:
Jean-Jacques Olier, the founder of the seminary, developed a spirituality in which he stressed the fact that the priest is an alter Christus [ed. anotherChrist},and therefore someone who follows Christ in everything, including his relation to Mary. One of the main driving forces that led Fr. Olier to a Marian devotion was “the desire of adopting the same sentiments as our Lord with regard to his Blessed Mother”.That is why the Sulpicians were vigilant to see that every priest whom they trained could say: “I live now not with my own life but with the life of Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Mary was given to them as a model of this attitude since Christ lived in her in the fullest sense of the word. As a result, in the seminary spirituality, “to honor Mary” meant to contemplate in her the life of Jesus and to see to it that Jesus lived in us like he lived in Mary. The best expression of this Christocentric Marian spirituality seems to be the prayer O Jesu vivens in Maria [ed. O Jesus, living in Mary] which was recited after meditation. We can say that the ideas which it contains constitute the essence of Sulpician Marian spirituality and this was the spirituality in which Eugene was formed.
Casimir Lubowicki, “Mary” in the Dictionary of Oblate Values, http://www.omiworld.org/dictionary.asp?v=9&ID=1056&let=M&pag=4
Eugene wanted this prayer to be prayed each day by the Oblates, and it has become a part of our spiritual tradition:
O Jesus, living in Mary,
come and live in your servants,
in the spirit of your holiness,
in the fullness of your power,
in the perfection of your ways,
in the truth of your virtues,
in the communion of your mysteries.
Overcome every hostile power in your Spirit,
for the glory of the Father. Amen
“Jesus, living in Mary, come live in me” – what a wonderful invitation to begin the day with. It is a invitation to simply sit back, close my eyes for a few minutes and experience an embrace of infinite tenderness.
What a richness there seems to be in life this morning. I read St. Paul’s “I live now not with my own life but with the life of Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20) and find myself wanting to repeat it over and over until it becomes a reality. It cannot be just a glib statement made, that sounds good, but rather something that deepens and becomes a lived and intimate reality. It is not something that I can do myself, of myself, it’s not like buying a new style of wardrobe, dressing up and saying this is who I am. No I can only ask for it.
When Frank first mentioned Casimir’s article on Mary a couple of weeks ago I actually went and looked up the translated version of O Jesu vivens in Maria because I had never heard of it and because I do not read or understand Latin. I wrote the translation of it in the margins of the printed article by Casimir Lubowicki, and there it remained. I thin that now I would like to make it a daily practice, one that it becomes a part of me and my daily ritual. I begin and end each day, in my waking moments with the Our Father and the Hail Mary. I will need to get up and put on my glasses, but surely if I read it as my day begins it will slowly over time become a part of me. Sort of like trying it on to see if it fits. What seems like a life-time ago I did just that with AA, and it fit so well it became like a second skin. I think I would like this to become a part of that which fills my skin.
I thank you God, for this day and the opportunity to live it fully, with you and in you.
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