DOCSLIB.ORG

The Catholic Church and the French Nation, 1589-1989 (London and New York: Routledge, 1990)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Catholic Church and the French Nation, 1589-1989 (London and New York: Routledge, 1990) NationaI Library Bibliothèque nationale 1*1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 OttawaON K1AON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/^ de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author' s ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstrac t 1 look at the strategies of evangeiization used by a Roman Catholic missionary congregation. the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. in nineteenth-century British Columbia. These strategies of evangelization involved multiple geographies. including a circulation of representations between North Arnerica and Europe: the various spatialitirs of evangelization itself: cornplex deployments of disciplinary and pastoral power: and cultural geographies of order. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract Table of Contents List of figures Abbreviations Acknowledgements iNTRODUCTION and Part 1 Chapter One Tridentine Catholicism in Nineteenth-Century France The Catholic C hurch in Pre-Revolutionary France The Church and Revolution Eugène de Mazenod Discipline and Seminary Formation Discipline: The Victory of the Clock The Perpetual Examination Evangelizare Pa~penbusMisit Me: The Missions Oblate Missions in France The Pacitk Northtvest Conclusions Chapter Two The Circulation of Representations and the Power of Vision Representations Oblate Representations of Native People Vision. Power. Gender Gender. Sexuali ty and Sin Vision and Salvation Conclusions Part 11 Pastoral Power Chapter Three Spatial Strategies and Sacramental Practices Mission Sites Following Paul Praxis: Preaching and the Sacrarnents Prédication Sacraments Baptism Maniage Conclusions Chapter Four The Machinery of Power La Machine Kaltash Bilalam From Confession to Contrition Confession Un Pénible Mode de Confession Action of Formation Conclusions Part III Govementality Chapter Five CulturesofOrder Land and the Order of Rights Ordering Natural Rights Disorder Law and the Order of Culture The Products of Ordrr: Neophytes or Cornmoners? Conclusions Conclusion Bibliography List of figures La carte Boulard Map of the Pacific Northwest Map of Oblate Missions Lacombe Catholic Iadder. 1896 Chnst on Calvary Christ Nailed to the Cross The Crucifixion: Passion Play at Saint Mq's Mission. 1897 Lejacq Mission course. 1869 Lejacq Mission course. 1870 Roman Catholic Church at Sechelt False Creek Indian Reserve Catholic Ladder. 1844 Nkla'kapamux sketch of the worid Abbreviations AD Archives Deschâtelets. Ottawa. Canada. CC Colonial Correspondence. Bntish Columbia Archives and Records Service. Victoria. Canada. ILQ Papers connected rvith the lndian land question, 1850-1875. Victoria: R. Wolfenden, 1875. Ore. Drouin. Paul. ed. Les Oblats de iMarie Immaculée en Orégon, 1847- 1860. 3 vols. Ottawa: Archives Deschâtelets. 1 992. RG 10 National Archives of Canada. Department of Indian Affairs. Record Group 10. Black Series. UBCSC University of British Columbia - Special Collections VRCAD Vancouver Roman Catholic Archdiocesan Archives. Early Bishops' Correspondence. vii A project such as this naturally involves many more people than the title page suggests. I would like to thank the University of British Columbia for four years of financial support in the form of University Grant Fellowships. the Geography Department for providing me with a position as teaching assistant. and Derek Gregory. who offered me a research position during the two years I was not funded. The Guy Lacombe Bursary for Western Oblate Studies in 1995 contnbuted enormously to my abilit?; to research this project. With regard to research. the help of archivists is essential. and 1 would like to thank Sister Diana Harsch of the Vancouver Roman Catholic Archdiocesan Archives for her aid and interest. as well as Father McGinty and the Hugheses at the Oblate Archives on the Crescent in Vancouver. Most of all. I va nt to extend my sincrre thanks to Father Boucher at the Archives Deschâtrlets in Ottawa. who literally gave me the key to that extraordinary collection. During my time in the Geography Department I have been privileged to be arnongst a group of people who are extraordinq in terms of the range of their interests. their committment. and their willingness to engage with the projects of others. 7hanks particularly to Kate Boyer. Brett Christophers. Dan Clayton. David Demetitt. Averill Groenveld-Meyer. Colin Maycock. Michael Smith. Nadine Schuuman. Matt Sparke. and Bruce Willerns-Braun. Outside the department. help has been proffered by Nick Blomley and Jackie Gresko. My "real" life has been vastly improved by my husband Robert Blake. whose encouragements and provocations have been invaluable. I also uant to thank the Culpeppers gang, most notably Jim Scott and Trevor Carle. for their long term interest in my doings. Sincere thanks go to Cole Hams for his many contributions ro this project. and to my parents. who have unwaveringly supported me in too many ways to mention. Most of dl. I owe Derek Gregory who has enriched rny lifè irnmeasurably. Part 1: introduction "Lanterne magique. pièce curieuse. Approchez Mrs et MM vous verrez des choses extraordinaires, dont vous ne vous seriez jamais douté. des choses plus qu'extraordinaires. ravissantes. mais peu amusantes pour ...les gens qui ayant mis la main à la lanterne en ont découverte le curieux mystère."' [Magic lantem. strange object. corne closer ladies and gentlemen and you will see arnazing things. things you would never have imagined. delightfui things. But not so entertaining for... those who have touched the lantem and unveiled its strange mystery .] In August 1995 1 attended the fourth Western Oblate Studies conkrence in St- Boniface. Manitoba. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Imrnaculate were. and are. a Catholic congregation2 that specialized in the evangelization of Native people in nineteenth-century Canada. The papers delivered came from a wide variety of sources. including graduate students. archivists. theologians. and secular clerics. but al1 focused on the activities of the Oblates over the century and a half since the congregation's amval in western Canada. The conference was interesting for me substantively. but rven more so emotionally. 1 was astonished at the immensely cntical stance that many of the papers assumed towards Oblate activity (particularly regarding the evangelization of Native people). but 1 was amazed and touched by the various and vehement responses of the I Pandosy to ?. 27 November 186 1. AD. Ore 2. ab- 1. 1. ' As Robert Choquette explains. .-In Roman Catholicism. groups of men or women who live in a community bound by vows of poverty. chastity. and obedience are members either of religious orders or religious congregations. The difference between orders and congregations is a technical. canonical one, 'order' designating those groups bound by solernn vows. -congregation' designating those bound by more simple. temporq vows." The Oblate assault on Canada's north and west (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. 1993, 25fn. audience (which included man- Oblates) to the final paper. delivered by Wayne Hoist. a Protestant missiologist. Holst acknowledged his appreciation of the contributions made by Catholic missionaries to Canada. and suggested that *-lessonsfrom the past ...appear to provide direction for the future."' His paper provoked an emotional and heated debate that centered on the topic of the inclusivity of the Church and the appropriate goals of missionary activity. a debate that quickly crystallized into two diarnrtrically opposed sets of beliefs. One position suggested that the very survival of the Church depended on its willingness to include and embrace a broad range of practices that were not encompassed by traditionai Catholic dogma. The other position viewed the inclusion both of those pnctices and of those who engaged in them as lethal to the Church and its mission. The proselytization of Native people. then. \vas clearly still a central issue in 1995. The conference. 1 think. suggests that the social. cultural. and political issues surrounding the Christian (and in this case Catholic) evangelization of Native people in Canada are far fiom being matters of msre historical curiosity: rather. thry are issues that are alive and well today. The conference. and its implications. have haunted my study. which centers on the multiple geographies of power in which. and tlirough which. the Oblate evangelization of Native people in the Pacific Northwest took place. 1 am particularly interested in the modalities of potver deployed by the Catholic Church. which aimed to produce a docile and obedient clergy: the ways in which those same modalities of power were exported to North America and deployed by the Oblates to produce a 3 Reverend Wayne Holst. "Revisiting olrr pasr - revisioning ozvfirttrre: Refkctions
Load more

Recommended publications
  • St. Eugene De Mazenod Had a “Zeal for the Kingdom of God” That Was Infectious
    Saint Eugene De Mazenod Feast Day: May 21st Born Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod on August 1, 1782 into a wealthy family in the south of France, his life was quickly transformed by the French Revolution. At the age of 8, he fled France with his family to Italy as political refugees. Following an eleven-year exile, Mazenod returned to France when he was 20 years old; it was a whole new world. Distressed by the state of the Church in France, Mazenod felt called to the priesthood; he was ordained December 21, 1811 in Amiens, a city in northern France. Eventually, he returned to his hometown, Aix-end-Provence. He focused his ministry on the less fortunate – such as prisoners, youth, servants, workers, and country villagers. His preaching in the local language, rather than French, led to some local opposition by other members of the church. He engaged in an “intense community life of prayer, study and fellowship” along with a group of other “equally zealous priests,” according to the Vatican. These men, once called the Missionaries of Provence, became known as the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1826 with Pope Leo XII’s approval. When he founded the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the congregation primarily served the “spiritually needy” on the French countryside but eventually expanded their ministry to Switzerland, England and Ireland, at first, and then to Canada, USA and parts of Africa. This missionary order spread throughout the world – living out their motto, “He has sent me to evangelize the poor,” by establishing a deep spiritual foundation, close community life and a visible, unfettered love for the less fortunate.
    [Show full text]
  • The Legacy of Eugene De Mazenod, O.M.I. Yvon Beaudoin, O.M.I
    The Legacy of Eugene de Mazenod, O.M.I. Yvon Beaudoin, O.M.I. harles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod was born in Aix-en­ In 1823 the Diocese of Marseilles, which had been united to C Provence, France, on August I, 1782. He was the eldest that of Aix during the Revolution, was restored. De Mazenod's of three children born to Rose Joannis and Charles Antoine de uncle, Fortune de Mazenod, was appointed bishop and asked to Mazenod. His father was the president of the Court of Accounts havehis nephew as vicar-general. Eugene, ordained to thetitular and Audits of Provence. The family belonged to the lesser See of Icosia on October 14, 1832, succeeded his uncle in 1837 and nobility and so, at the beginning of the French Revolution, they continued as bishop of Marseille until his death on May 21, 1861. had to go into exile. They fled first to Nice and then to Turin, He was canonized in Rome by Pope John Paul lIon December 3, Venice, and finally to Naples and Palermo. Eugene lived in these 1995. ­ various places from 1791 to 1802, unable to pursue a regular course of studies except during a brief sojourn in Turin. Origins of de Mazenod's Vocation He returned to Aix in 1802, where his mother and his sister had been living since 1795. De Mazenod was disturbed and During his stay in Venice from 1794 to 1797, de Mazenod often disappointed by the condition in which he found his native city, visited the Zinelli family, from which two sons had become which was in ruins both materially and morally.
    [Show full text]
  • Oblate Fathers Assumption Province
    The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate - ASSUMPTION PROVINCE in Canada 1956 - 2006 Editor: Janusz Blazejak OMI In conjunction with: Paul Bulas Katarzyna Bukowska Roman Majek OMI Jan Mazur OMI Christopher Pulchny OMI Teresa & Jacek Ratajczak Jaroslaw Rozanski OMI Wojciech Wojtkowiak OMI Photos: Archives of the Missionary Oblates, Assumption Province Tadeusz Wolinski Graphic Design: Elżbieta Michalczak Cover: Krzysztof Michalczak Printed by: Marek Kornas “Nova Printing” Year 2006 All correspondence and inquires should be directed to: The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate - Assumption Province 71 Indian Trail Toronto, Ontario M6R 2A1 Canada A HALF OF CENTURY The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate - ASSUMPTION PROVINCE in Canada Table of Contents CHAPTER 1. _______________________________________________ 13 A SHORT HISTORY ________________________________________ 13 CHAPTER 2 _______________________________________________ 39 OUR MINISTRY ___________________________________________ 39 PROVINCIAL HOUSE __________________________________________________________ 41 HOLY GHOST PARISH - WINNIPEG ______________________________________________ 43 ST. HENRY’S CHURCH - MELVILLE ______________________________________________ 48 HOLY ROSARY PARISH - EDMONTON ___________________________________________ 51 MARY QUEEN OF ALL HEARTS CHURCH - LESTOCK ______________________________ 55 ST. CASIMIR’S PARISH - VANCOUveR ___________________________________________ 58 ST. PATRICK’S CHURCH - STURGIS _____________________________________________ 61 ST.
    [Show full text]
  • St. Eugene of Mazenod Catholic.Net
    St. Eugene of Mazenod Catholic.net Also known as: Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod Born: 1 August 1782 at Aix-en-Provence, southern France as Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod Short Biography: Eldest son of Charles-Antoine De Mazenod and Marie-Rose Joannis. His mother was of the French middle class, convent educated, and wealthy; his father was an aristocrat, classically educated, and poor. Their marriage, and Eugene’s home life, were plagued by constant family in-fighting, and interference from his maternal grandmother and a neurotic maternal aunt. The women never let his father forget that they brought the money to the family. On 13 December 1790, at age eight, Eugene fled with his family to exile in Italy to escape the French Revolution. He spent eleven years in Italy, living in Nice, Turin, Venice, Naples, and Palermo. While he learned Italian and German from dealing with people day to day, the bulk of his education came in Venice from Father Bartolo Zinelli, a local priest. In Palermo he was exposed to a wild and worldly life among rich young Italian nobles. After the Revolution, his mother returned to France, but his father stayed in Italy, ostensibly for political reasons. Upon his own return to France in 1802 in an attempt to reclaim the family lands, Eugene tried to reunite his parents, but failed, and they were divorced, an unusual event in the early 19th century. His often unsupervised youth, the constant fighting at home, and the eventual break up of his family led to his patronage of dysfunctional families and those in them.
    [Show full text]
  • A Sign of God's Love for 100 Years – Will Shaw, U.S
    A Sign Of God’s Love For 100 Years Disponible en Español en oblatesusa.org/oblates omiusa.org June 2021 JUNE_2021 Oblate World.indd 1 4/6/21 9:54 AM Insid e Front Cover: The Missionary Oblates thank the following for contributing information and/or photographs to this 4 — 5 A Sign Of God’s Love For 100 Years issue of Oblate World: 6 — 8 A Journey Of Perseverance And Joy A Sign of God's Love For 100 Years – Will Shaw, U.S. Province Communication Office 9 Oblate Crossings 10 — 11 Father Gil Makes Everyone Smile Changing Lives In Tijuana – Rich Reader and David Rizo 12 — 13 A Celebration Of Faith And Hope 14 — 15 Changing Lives In Tijuana Available in Spanish at oblatesusa.org/oblates 16 — 17 The Beauty Of God’s Love 18 — 19 My Vocation Story: Fr. Jim Allen, O.M.I. Disponible en Español en oblatesusa.org/oblates 20 — 21 Earning His Wings — Fr. Jim Foelker, O.M.I. 22 — 23 St. Peter Julian Eymard 24 A Future Missionary For The Poor 25 Four Oblates Profess Perpetual Vows 26 — 27 “Night Ministry” Shines Light Into Darkness 28 — 29 Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way OBLATE WORLD magazine is a publication of the 30 Oblate Crossings United States Province of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Washington, D.C. OBLATE WORLD magazine seeks to inform our readers about the mission to the poor in which Oblates engage around the globe; to educate our readers about the teachings of the Catholic faith and the Missionary Oblates; and to inspire our readers so that they may enhance their own spirituality.
    [Show full text]
  • 12 to Father Gouret, a Novice at N.-D
    Letters to the Oblates of France Printed in Canada e Marian Press Ltd. Battleford, Saskatchewan Blessed EUGENE DE MAZENOD 1782-1861 Collection: Oblate Writings XII Letters to the Oblates of France 1856-1861 Translatée! by John Rheidt, O.M.I. General Postulation O.M.I. Via Aurélia, 290 Rome 1989 Table of Contents Chronological List of Letters ................................................. IX Bishop Charles-Joseph-Eugene de Mazenod on his Deathbed (photograph)................................................. XVII Map of the First and Second Provinces of France .............. XVIII Introduction (Father Yvon Beaudoin, O.M.I.) ..................... XIX Father François-de-Paule Henry Tempier (1788-1870) (photograph).............................................................................. L Letters of 1856 1 Letters of 1857 35 Cardinal Joseph Hippolyte Guibert (1802-1886) (photograph).............................................................................. 55 Letters of 1858 75 Father Joseph Fabre (1824-1892) (potograph) ..................... 105 Letters of 1859 118 Letters of 1860 174 Father Louis Soullier (1826-1897) (photograph)..................... 182 Letters of 1861 . .................................................................... 199 Father Antoine Mouchette (1828-1894) (photograph) .... 201 Circular Letters of Bishop Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod to the Oblate Fathers and B ro th ers......................... 203 Index of Names ....................................................................... 241 Index of Subject
    [Show full text]
  • May 2020 Eucharistic Adoration Newsletter
    ST. JOSEPH’S EUCHARISTIC ADORATION NEWSLETTER May 2020 Issue 11 St. Joseph Catholic Church Mandarin, Florida Presented by the Eucharistic Adoration Committee ST. JOSEPH’S EUCHARISTIC ADORATION NEWSLETTER May 2020 Issue 11 OUR MONTHLY THEME FOR THE MONTH OF MAY IS DEDICATED TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY The feasts on the General Roman Calendar celebrated during THE MONTH OF MAY the month of May are: is dedicated to 1. Joseph the Worker, Opt. Mem. 2. Athanasius, Memorial 3. Fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday), Sunday the 10. Fifth Sunday of Easter, Sunday 12. Nereus and Achilleus; Pancras, martyrs, Opt. Mem. Blessed Virgin Mary 13. Our Lady of Fatima, Opt. Mem. 14. Matthias, Feast 15. Isidore the Farmer (USA), Opt. Mem. 17. Sixth Sunday of Easter, Sunday 18. John I, Opt. Mem. 20. Bernardine of Siena, Opt. Mem. 21. Ascension of the Lord; Christopher Magallanes and companions; Eugene de Mazenod (Canada), Opt. Mem. 22. Rita of Cascia, Opt. Mem. 24. Ascension or the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Solemnity 25. St. Bede the Venerable; St. Gregory VII; St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, virgin, Opt. Mem. 26. Philip Neri, Memorial 27. Augustine of Canterbury, Opt. Mem. 31. Pentecost Sunday; Whitsunday, Sunday This information on the special feast days were obtained from Catholic Culture.org. In this Issue: • Personal Reflection – Deacon Bob Repke • The Month of May and Mary • Holy Music Honoring Our Blessed Mother • A Jewel in Our Backyard – Rod Cruz • Mary Through the Ages • The Marian Library in Dayton, Ohio • Some Thoughts Shared – Susan Rezsonya • Eucharistic Adoration Online • Schedules and More THE BLESSED • Team Captains VIRGIN MARY "The Eucharist, in the Mass and outside of the Mass, is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and is therefore deserving of the worship that is given to the living God, and to Him alone" (St Pope John Paul II, Opening address in Ireland, Phoenix Park, September 29, 1979).
    [Show full text]
  • St. Eugene of Mazenod Catholic.Net
    St. Eugene of Mazenod Catholic.net Also known as: Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod Born: 1 August 1782 at Aix-en-Provence, southern France as Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod Short Biography: Eldest son of Charles-Antoine De Mazenod and Marie-Rose Joannis. His mother was of the French middle class, convent educated, and wealthy; his father was an aristocrat, classically educated, and poor. Their marriage, and Eugene’s home life, were plagued by constant family in-fighting, and interference from his maternal grandmother and a neurotic maternal aunt. The women never let his father forget that they brought the money to the family. On 13 December 1790, at age eight, Eugene fled with his family to exile in Italy to escape the French Revolution. He spent eleven years in Italy, living in Nice, Turin, Venice, Naples, and Palermo. While he learned Italian and German from dealing with people day to day, the bulk of his education came in Venice from Father Bartolo Zinelli, a local priest. In Palermo he was exposed to a wild and worldly life among rich young Italian nobles. After the Revolution, his mother returned to France, but his father stayed in Italy, ostensibly for political reasons. Upon his own return to France in 1802 in an attempt to reclaim the family lands, Eugene tried to reunite his parents, but failed, and they were divorced, an unusual event in the early 19th century. His often unsupervised youth, the constant fighting at home, and the eventual break up of his family led to his patronage of dysfunctional families and those in them.
    [Show full text]
  • The Life of St. Eugene De Mazenod
    A tribute to St. Eugene de Mazenod, founding father of the Oblates, on the 150th anniversary of his death 2 A Human Path to Holiness BY RON ROLHEISER, OMI We admire saints, but rarely ever think of ourselves capa- ble of becoming one. Saints, it would seem, are extraordinary people, made of different stuff than we are made of, immune to the everyday humanity that keeps us so rooted on earth that the idea of becoming a saint cannot even be nursed as a fantasy. Me, a saint? I’m too earthy! My blood is too red and I have too many faults. I’m too human to be a saint! Well, maybe, just maybe, St. Eugene de Mazenod might be a saint who was human enough to be a model for us less- than-extraordinary, earth-bound, folks: On Dec. 3, 1995, Pope John Paul II formally declared Eugene de Mazenod, founder of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a saint. When someone is declared a saint, he or she becomes then a saint for the whole Church, and not just for those who have a special or vested interest in his or her life. That is the case with Eugene. He now belongs to everyone, not just to us, the Oblates. So what should we know about him? How might he be a model to inspire us in our earthly and religious struggles? The chronology of his life can be easily given: He was born into an aristocratic French family, at Aix-en-Provence, in 1782. The French Revolution forced his family into exile when Eugene was eight years old and he spent his youth shuttling among a variety of cities in Italy – bored, often melancholy, reading whatever books he could find, and struggling inter- nally, torn between the pull of God and the lure of the world.
    [Show full text]
  • The Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul Directory of Relics
    The Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul Directory of Relics https://www.ctkcc.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/All-Saints-Fra-Angelico.jpg Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul Directory of Relics In grateful appreciation of the generous donation of sacred relics to the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, Chattanooga, TN, by John George Jerome Holland III, KHS. John Holland began collecting relics at age 13, living in Miami Gardens, Florida. Deeply devoted to the Church, saints, and priests, as a young teenager John Holland consecrated himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary and sought be become a Redemptorist priest. He entered Seminary, but had to leave to help his family, and did not return. His whole life he was active in the Church, especially with helping the priests, and his life work was collecting relics to be venerated in churches. Many of the relics were obtained from a motherhouse in Rome, the Augustinian Monasterium S. Luciae in Silice, which sent him relics through a priest friend working at the Vatican. John Holland also received many relics from Poland, including from the private collection in the home of Pope St. John Paul II. John Holland married Elaine Holland in 2003, and they moved to Chattanooga, TN, where he passed away in 2016. John Holland’s life goal was to become a Knight of the Holy Sepulcher, and honor that was granted just before his death. In 2016 he was posthumously inducted. John Holland graciously donated his collection of over 175 relics to the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul.
    [Show full text]
  • The Relevance of St Eugene De Mazenod
    1 St. Joseph’s Parish, Ottawa The relevance of St. Eugene de Mazenod for today On May 21 the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Eugene de Mazenod, marking the anniversary of his death in 1861. During the Canonization Mass on December 3, 1995, Pope John Paul II said in his homily, “We are living in the second Advent of the world’s history. Eugene de Mazenod was a man of Advent, a man of the Coming. He not only looked forward to that Coming, he dedicated his whole life to preparing for it, one of those apostles who prepared the modern age, our age.” By recognizing this John Paul II presented Eugene de Mazenod, his model of life and charism, as a gift to all, not exclusively to the vowed Oblates. So what is the relevance of this XIXth century saint for today? Grace Builds on Nature We are all called to be saints, to this ultimate union with our Savior in “being” and “doing”. It’s a life-long journey. Eugene’s example testifies that despite of our complicated personalities, circumstances of life and challenges, God meets us where we are and guides us where He wants us to be. It’s a journey of faith towards sainthood. Christ-centered Relational Faith Eugene’s spirituality shows us that faith is “relational” rather than “doctrinal”. Pope Frances echoes this truth, “Rather than being too concerned with communicating a great deal of doctrine, let us first try to awaken and consolidate the great experiences that sustain the Christian life.” (Christus Vivit 212) Through his conversion journey Eugene discovered a true unconditional love of God and his life and mission became a response to this love.
    [Show full text]
  • Vincentian Studies Institute Monographs the Vincentian Family
    Vincentian Studies Institute Monographs I. The Vincentian Family Tree A Genealogical Study Institutes of Consecrated Life Societies of Apostolic Life Lay Associations And Non-Catholic Religious Institutes BY BETIY ANN McNEIL, D.C. EDITED BY MARTHA BEAUDOIN, D.C. STAFFORD POOLE, C.M. EDWARD UOOVlC, C.M. ii About the Author SisterBettyAnnMcNeil, D.C., bornintheUnitedStatesinVirginia, entered the Daughters of Charity, Emmitsburg Province in 1964 and earned a bachelor's degree in social welfare from SaintJoseph College, Emmitsburg, Maryland, (1969), and a master of social work degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, (1975). A licensed clinical social worker, she has had a variety of social ministry roles in institu­ tional, parish" and commuity settings. Now serving as a resource person for mission and heritage services within her province, Sister Betty Ann also teaches Vincentian heritage in the Interprovincial Collaborative Seminary of the Daughters of Charity in the United States and makes presentationsontopicS related toSaintElizabeth Ann Setonand the Vincentian family. Sister Betty Ann has represented the Emmitsburg Province of the Daughters of Charity on the Vincentian Studies Institute since 1988. iii Dedication To men, women, and children oppressed by poverty and injustice throughout the world. May their struggle teach us to discover Jesus Christ in new ways and challenge the followers ofVincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac to refound the Company ofCharity for today! iv v TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements vii List of Illustrations
    [Show full text]