THE PRESENCE OF MARY IN THE LIFE OF EUGENE AS SEMINARIAN

Within days of arriving at the seminary to begin his studies for the priesthood, Eugene wrote to his grandmother:

Up to now I can only speak of the life we are leading during the retreat, which is now unfortunately coming to an end. We are finishing tomorrow with a feast which fills the seminary with its fragrance and is proper to it. It is the feast of the Interior Life of the Holy Virgin, that is to say of all the virtues and the greatest marvels of the Almighty. What a lovely feast! And how fully I am going to celebrate with the most holy Virgin all the great things God did in her! 

Oh, what an advocate at God’s side! Let us be dedicated to her; she is the glory of women. 

Letter to his grandmother, 18 October 1810, EO XIV n 29

REFLECTION

His devotion to Mary was never divorced from Jesus. She was the marvelous instrument who testified to the wonders God worked in her and in humankind through the incarnation. With her example and intercession, she constantly focused him on Jesus.

“Woman, behold your son.”(John 19,25-27) “The words uttered by Jesus signify that the motherhood of her who bore Christ finds a ‘new’ continuation in the Church and through the Church, symbolized and represented by John. ”    Pope John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, 24