If, as I hope, you wish to be one of us, you will not find yourself in unfamiliar territory; you will have four companions.
If presently we are not more numerous, it means we wish to choose men who have the will and the courage to walk in the footsteps of the apostles. It is important to lay solid foundations.
Letter to Henri Tempier, 9 October 1815 O.W. VI n 4
In bringing the missionary group into existence, Eugene used the model of Jesus and the apostles.
The missionary vocation was to be apostolic. From the first Rule that he wrote, he expressed it this way:
What did Our Lord Jesus Christ do?
He chose a certain number of apostles and disciples whom He formed in piety and filled with His spirit;
and after having trained them in his school and the practice of all virtues, He sent them forth to conquer the world which they soon brought under the rule of his holy laws.
1818 Rule
The members of the Mazenodian family must expressly want to follow the model of the apostles, and have the courage to do so whatever the consequences.