1824
To Brother J. H. Guibert at Aix.[1]
123:VI in Oblate Writings
News of his brother Fortuné, student at the minor seminary of Marseilles.
Guibert
[Marseilles,
1823-1824[2]].
I have finally discovered Fortuné, my dear good friend. He has been since Thursday at the minor seminary where he seems to be already settled. He came to see me this morning. I have had him promise to write you a little letter which he will send through me. You can thus engage in a correspondence whereby you can encourage him in the accomplishment of his duties. I shall see him from time to time and, between us, we will put him on the right road.
To Father Tempier at Marseilles.[3]
124:VI in Oblate Writings
Mission of Ventabren
Tempier
[Aix]
January 10, 1824.
The proposal that I take on at Ventabren anything else but the mission is an idle thought. Have you forgotten what a mission is?
To J. H. Guibert at Aix.[4]
125:VI in Oblate Writings
Is sending books. Father de Mazenod would willingly remain al Aix. Brother Guibert is just as the Founder wishes him to be.
Guibert
[Marseilles[5]]
January 19, 1824.
I am sending you, my very dear Guibert, the two volumes of Cardinal Gerdil that I had promised you. I would have wished to bring them to you myself, so happy do I feel when in our holy house where everything pleases and edifies me, also I always think of myself as in a state of duress when taken away from it and it needs nothing less than being persuaded that the good God demands this enormous sacrifice of me in view of a greater good, to resolve myself to submit thereto without murmuring though that is a word I do not use for the frequent complaints which escape from me and which are quite justified being the kind which Our Lord uttered on the cross or in the garden of Olives.
I do not know if you shared my happiness but I must tell you that you afforded me, you particularly, great gladness in the moments that we spent together; I found you just as I wish you to be and my heart was at ease and nothing impeded the tender affection that the good God has given me for yourself, because it seemed to me that this sentiment was shared. It is thus that the Lord disposes those of his creatures whom he brings together to procure his glory in oneness of will.
To Father Honorat at Ventabren.[6]
126:VI in Oblate Writings
Usefulness of the mission Advice on the manner of preaching. He is to send news about his health
Honorat
[Marseilles]
January 24, 1824.
The man who brought me your letter says that when you are in the pulpit, you put yourself in a mood of despair, that’s the word for it; but why utter such cries? If it is a natural failing which makes you shout all the time.... I have nothing to say except to deplore it but if you can do otherwise and yet shout, thinking you obtain better results thereby, you are greatly in error and quite at fault, for you are missing your aim and rendering yourself useless; in that case, it is a disorder. Get it firmly into your head that they lose half of what you say when you shout in that manner, and this is very annoying when it is an instruction that everybody should grasp. That is not the way to act, on the contrary, one should indulge somewhat rarely in outcries. That is the way to give them some effect. The man added that you have spit blood; I did not believe it because you have said nothing to me about this, nor have our two other brothers, but if so, I order you to cease immediately to preach and very expressly to let me know so that I may leave everything here and go to finish the instructions that remain to be made.
Adieu, I embrace you all with the best of my heart.
To Father Honorat at Ventabren.[7]
127:VI in Oblate Writings
Father Suzanne will go and help the missionaries. Do not demand a participation impossible for country people.
Honorat
[Marseilles]
January 27, 1824.
As things are at present, it is imperatively necessary that I or Father Suzanne go to your help. It is not enough to assemble a lot of people in the church, one must instruct them, one must move them in a manner that they will be converted. You are far from the objective if you only have half the men and I am worried as the final result.
How could you think of having Brother Bernard give catechism three times a day? That is impossible; besides it must not be presumed that country people may leave their work in order to be there; we have always been considerate of the daily welfare of these poor people and it would not be right to force them to die of hunger or not be admitted to the sacrament of confirmation if they have not received it. All things considered and given the state of your health, I will decide to send Fr. Suzanne to Ventabren. The mission that I give him is to instruct the inhabitants of this region.
... I cannot insist too much in counselling mildness, graciousness, to your neighbour.
To Father Marcou at Ventabren.[8]
128:VI in Oblate Writings
Joy at learning of the zeal of Father Marcou.Enjoins humility.
Marcou
[Marseilles]
January 27, 1824.
My good Marchetto[9], I embrace you very tenderly and rejoice to see you performing so zealously your holy ministry. It seems to me, in telling you that, that you are present and that I press you against my heart. Be humble and you will do much good; you know that it is to the humble that Lord dat gratiam[10]. The cleverest amongst us and amongst all men is nothing by himself but a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal, it is the good God who does all and to whom alone all should be attributed; of that we must all be persuaded.
To Father Courtès at Aix.[11]
129:VI in Oblate Writings
Permission to prepare sermons for elite audiences.
Courtès
[Marseilles]
January 28, 1824.
As I usually decide on the basis of some good reason, this is a case which pains me because you deviate from what our Rules prescribe regarding how we instruct the people. If I have authorized you to preach in the style that you have adopted, and prepare sermons for elite audiences, it is because I do not wish to put obstacles in the way of your genius and that I count on your leaving some records of what it produces, so that after you others can use your compositions. That means you must write and correct with care your sermons before or after giving them. If you deceive my expectations and do not write your sermons, I will no longer have sufficient reason to permit an exception which involves disadvantages which ought necessarily to be compensated. It is in fact a great inconvenience not to be understood by half or three quarters of your listeners.
I ask you to busy yourself with the work I have confided to you. It is a composition which ought to be printed. It suffices that there be enough for a good quarter of an hour of reading.
To Father Honorat at Aix.[12]
130:VI in Oblate Writings
One must, between two missions, spend several days in a regular community.
Honorat
[Marseilles]
February 9, 1824.
I have just embraced Father Marcou... Father Courtès has not observed the need to wait for word from me before letting him leave. After a mission, it is good to spend several days in a regular community. I did not expect to call him to Marseilles for another eight or ten days. But since he is here, he will be welcome.
On the first safe occasion, send me my new shoes; here I am walking on my uppers. Long live poverty!
To Father Courtès at Aix.[13]
131:VI in Oblate Writings
Fathers Courtès and Sumien can eat their fill during Lent
Courtès
[Marseilles]
March I, 1824.
Adieu, I order you very expressly to ask permission to eat your fill this Lent and to consult Mr. d’Astros so that he can decide that you cannot fast. If there is anyone else in the house, as for example Father Sumien, who also can no longer fast, you will have them eat at a different table. Adieu.
The elections prevent me from being at Aix for the first Friday of the month[14].
To Brother Guibert at Aix.[15]
132:VI in Oblate Writings
The visit of the Founder to Aix is put off until after Easter.
Guibert
[Marseilles]
April[16] 1824.
Worry no more about my arm, my good dear friend, it is completely cured; my journey will therefore be put off until after Easter for only necessity could have forced me to leave my chains at this moment. I thank you very much for the concern you have had for my temporary indisposition. I would have been consoled even if not delivered from it by the pleasure that I would have experienced in being obliged to spend several days in a row with you.
To Brother Bernard at Aix.[17]
133:VI in Oblate Writings
Congratulations and advice after have received the diaconate.
Bernard
[Marseilles]
April 8, 1824.
With allmy heart, I congratulate you, my dear child, for the great grace which the good God has just granted you and I am consoled to see that you know how to appreciate it. I need not recall to you the virtues that you ought to strive to practice more; they must all become familiar to you, you have been raised to a great dignity in the Church, you can only bear the honour by working to become more like a saint every day. You have entered the hierarchy and your august functions call you every day to the door of the tabernacle, bring you closer to the Lamb without stain, on whom you can lovingly gaze, whom it is your privilege to bear in your hands, almost to touch. Let your heart respond in these happy moments, let it be ardent, let it be purified. Zeal is the distinctive characteristic of the deacon for he has received the spirit of strength, for himself first, his own sanctification and perfection of soul, then to combat the enemies of God and to repulse the demon with that supernatural strength that comes from on high.
Reread sometimes the admonitions of the Pontifical, both in regard to the Order that you have just received and for that you have previously received. Invoke every day the great saints who sanctified themselves in the diaconate and ask God through their intercession all that you still need to resemble them. Pray also for me. I never forget you before God and especially on the day of ordination I accomplished this duty during the holy sacrifice that I offered for my dear ordinands. Adieu, I embrace you with all my heart.
Eugene, p[riest], m[issionary].
To Brother Vachon at Aix.[18]
134:VI in Oblate Writings
Good wishes on the occasion of his ordination to the subdiaconate; for coming ordination also.
Vachon
[Marseilles]
April 9, 1824.
Although you did not announce to me, my dear friend, your nuptials with the Church, I shall not neglect to compliment you. Now you are a subdeacon, consecrated to God henceforth in a special manner; it is a great step that you have made: ad majora still; I am quite vexed at not being able to attend the ceremony of this first consecration, I would have embraced you heartily but I have nonetheless not forgotten you for I did not fail to offer the holy sacrifice for our ordinands and you have had a good share for alas! there were only two of you. I hope to call you to the Trinity for the diaconate and in September for the priesthood; arrange matters in consequence with the good God; become more and more virtuous and holy and do not forget me in your prayers to which I commend myself while embracing you with all my heart. Adieu.
Eugene, p[riest] m[issionary].
To Father Marcou at Aix.[19]
135:VI in Oblate Writings
Let him be recollected at Aix and give agood example.
Marcou
[Marseilles]
April 12, 1824.
You must not remain long in that place and must say in advance, very mildly but in a manner as to be understood, that on coming from a mission as tiring as the one that you have just preached, you need rest and recollection... After one and especially two missions, you must feel the need to be recollected and to think a little of yourself
Adieu, my dear Father Marcou, I embrace you tenderly and recommend that you give the example of all the virtues to all those who have the happiness to dwell in that house (for which my heart longs, towards which my desires never cease to draw me). Do not forget me in your prayers during this beautiful week.
Eugene, p[riest] m[issionary].
Retreat made in May 1824, in our Aix house.[20]
156:XV in Oblate Writings
Joy at finding a time of solitude in the midst of a “whirlwind of business.”Prayer to know himself better and to detest his sins.Meditation on the holiness of the priest, the gravity of his sins, etc. Influence of Blessed Leonard of Port Maurice on Father de Mazenod’s choice of the missionary life. Opposition to the reform of the diocese of Marseilles.Love of the Congregation. Resolution: follow the Rule, even when not living in a house of the Institute.
Retreat made in May 1824
Aix
May 1824 [Beginning of][21]
God be praised, blessed, and thanked. I have finally managed to extract myself from the yoke that weighs me down, to sever the chains that oppress me and to which even so I must touch with a kiss; I am allowed to get away for eight days to our dear Aix house[22]4 and busy myself solely with the matter of my salvation. Please God I may profit from this sweet leisure time that divine Providence affords me to enter into myself, sound the depths of my heart, seek out in my soul and make note of all the damage and ravage the dissipation produced by business matters that multiply and ceaselessly demand attention, has wrought within it. Great God, created only to possess you, having no other real task than to achieve our salvation, why must so many various objects come at every moment and every day to distract us from the application we should bring to it. How often have I not been tempted to abandon everything and busy myself only with my soul. But no: I am told I must save it by continuing to busy myself with others.
If men but knew how weak I am, how imperfect, the depth of corruption and sin inside me, could they expose me to so much danger, lay on me any other duties than to work at my own sanctification? I need solitude, I need regularity, I need good example. Without these I become lukewarm and my insipid spirit is no longer good for anything unto life eternal. May God grant even so that the state in which I am cast by this whirlwind of business matters which preoccupy, agitate, absorb me, be not that state I have always dreaded and from which in all likelihood I have been unable to preserve myself in these latter times. God grant, God grant that I may not be worse still and that the Lord is not just starting to vomit me from his mouth, but that he may not have implacably banished me from before his face.
Sweet hope, you have ever brought me happiness, and been dear to me for bringing me to see in God a ravishing perfection which made me love him with a delicious abandon, so often have I preached you to my brothers to encourage them to serve God, stiffen them to love, more than fear, him, sweet hope have you abandoned me? What will become of me if you do not sustain my faith, and temper what it teaches me of the rigours of my God’s Justice. Come back to me, come back, and be forever my faithful companion in the exacting scrutiny I am going to carry out of my numberless infidelities, in the reflections to which I am going to give myself during this retreat on the sacred duties of my state, the awesome functions entrusted to me, the terrible account the Sovereign Judge will call for of my stewardship. Lord, make to shine on me a ray of your celestial light so that I may know myself as I am in your sight; inspire my soul with the feelings it should be imbued with at the sight of its sins; grant me, I beg you, through the infinite merits of your Passion, through your precious Blood poured out for me, through the intercession of your most holy Mother, grant me the spirit of compunction to convert and change me; may your grace revivify in me the gifts - I do not say virtues - you allotted me and I have not made good use of like a faithful servant, may I leave this retreat filled with a new vigour, firmly resolved not merely to do good, but all the good it is permitted me to do. My God, remember your mercies, for you are my God, Deus meus es tu and I am your poor servant quia ego servus tuus (Ps. 115:16).
A strange thing! In this retreat I have not given time to a consideration of the eternal verities that constitute the regular, normal fare of the ordinary retreat. God’s Spirit focused me on myself. I was never done with the reflections or rather with the feeling this topic gave me, for I produced very few external acts; but I [p. 5] continually experienced the desire to renew myself wholly and I repeated interiorly many times this prayer: Spiritum rectum innova in visceribus meis (Ps. 50:12).
I have an explanation why I did not feel drawn to meditate on the great Truths. I came on this retreat already decided on the reform that was necessary in my inner self. This thought was uppermost in my mind, my heart embraced it and went with it with all the strength of its affection and desire, there was no need for me to convince myself, whether by seeking to consider my last end or seeking to focus my attention, move me to make resolutions by the sight of death, the fear of judgment, etc. My God’s grace had prepared my soul, I was so to speak already at the point of “the conclusion” when I entered into solitude. Whatever about that, this is what happened. In all truth, those great topics towards which God’s Spirit did not draw me in the present instance were not total strangers during my retreat; as my retreat coincided with that which good Father Enfantin was giving in our church, I assisted at his instructions, but that is as far as it went. My readings centred on the dignity, the sanctity of priesthood, the grievous quality of sin in priests, the danger of sinning and being lost if one is unfaithful to grace, negligent in the practice of virtue which should adorn the priest’s soul continually and especially when the priest is one called to be a model, stay and support of those whom Providence confided to his direction, a priest whom God has awakened to the fact that the ordinary virtues do not suffice to accomplish the wonders which should accompany the works of his ministry and who has sought out men of counsel the better to fulfil the precepts.