St Eugene de Mazenod knees before Pope Leo XII as he presents to the Holy Father the Oblate Constitutions and rules Today we celebrate the anniversary of the approval of the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate by Pope Leo XII. On February 17, 1826 the Holy Father acknowledged that what inspired St Eugene de Mazenod to establish a community of Missionaries and to devote themselves to the service of the Church which was ruined in the post-revolutionary France, was of the working of the Holy Spirit. When Eugene was leaving France to go to Rome to ask the Pope for his approval he could have been easily discouraged by that enterprise which he was undertaking. At that time the Holy See decided not to approve new religious orders as it was believed that the Church had plenty of them. The only thing that the pope would do was giving a word of encouragement to a new group. Eugene knew that, he also knew that he couldn’t impress the Holy Father with a flourishing Oblate Congregation as after 10 years it had only 22 members, some of them still in training. However Eugene was taking with him his deep faith that the Oblates were established not because it was his dream but because it was the will of Jesus Christ. When he arrived in Rome he was just another pilgrim among thousands but the heart of that 44 year-old priest from a small region in the Southern France was so filled with love, passion and conviction that the Pope could not help thinking that he was talking to a man of God. In the eyes of Eugene Pope Leo saw the fire of the Holy Spirit. Today as we Oblates recall that blessed day when the Pope Leo XII approved the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate as a new religious congregation we pray so that each Oblate could be passionate about Jesus and passionate about the Church like St Eugene de Mazenod was. We pray and we dream so that people looking at us could see in us the fire of the Holy Spirit which the Holy Father saw in our saintly Founder.
Tomb of Pope Leo XII who approved the Oblates. Basilica of St Peter, Vatican
When the Pope’s advisers were deliberating on Eugene’s petition to have Oblates officially approved, St Eugene himself was spending most of the day praying in a church in Rome. The church of Church of Santa Maria in Portico in Campitelli is a local shrine of Our Lady so we can say that he was spending that day in the presence of the One he had chosen as the Patroness and the Mother of the Oblates.
I am always deeply touched when I think about those long hours Eugene prayed in that church when our future was being decided. I believe that the papal document approving the Oblates has got not only the Pope’s signature on it but it is also profoundly soaked with the prayers of our Holy Founder – Eugene de Mazenod.
I am always deeply touched when I think about those long hours Eugene prayed in that church when our future was being decided. I believe that the papal document approving the Oblates has got not only the Pope’s signature on it but it is also profoundly soaked with the prayers of our Holy Founder – Eugene de Mazenod.
Interior of the Tomb of Pope Leo XII who approved the Oblates. Basilica of St Peter, Vatican
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