Journey to the sainthood
The Third of December 20 years ago was a Sunday. Actually it was the First Sunday of Advent. As Rome was waking to the Lord’s Day or maybe better to say when a lot of Romans were still fast asleep 12000 people were making their way to St Peter’s Basilica for a memorable event – the canonisation of Eugene de Mazenod, the Founder of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and Bishop of Marseille in France. Among those rushing to the Papal Mass there were nearly a thousand of Missionary Oblates from all corners of the world where the passion which Eugene de Mazenod had himself and implanted into his Religious Congregation, has taken them to. How different that Sunday morning was to Rome 170 years earlier when a 43 year old Frenchman was walking from one Vatican office to another to arrange the Papal approval of the Oblate Congregation. In his Diary from that time we can discover how much that Provencal Priest immersed himself in the spiritual life of the Eternal City. The pages of his diary shine with his deep love for the Holy Father and the sacredness of Rome. He wasn’t satisfied with the private audiences with Leo XIII he was granted but Eugene de Mazenod went to all possible events attended by the Holy Father. He was missing his Oblates dearly but he didn’t feel a stranger to the city he had never visited before. On the contrary he felt there very much at home as his heart was deeply Catholic. He believed that the presence of the Pope was making that chaotic place his home. 170 years later 1000 of his spiritual sons and thousands of those who were touched by Christ through the ministry of the Oblates, were walking the same streets he was walking before. This time it was the time of jubilation and gratitude for his example of love for Christ and his Church.
Fr Marcello Zago OMI, the Superior General of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate at that time, the man who was a successor of Eugene as the head of the Oblate Congregation full of joy declared that morning: “This is the day the Lord has made!” Indeed those in attendance could admire the grace of God who shaped the Founder of the Oblates to become a saint. In 1825 when he presented to the Holy See the Oblate Constitutions and Rules, there he wrote: “We must lead people to act like human beings, first of all, and then like Christians, and, finally, we must help them to become saints.” Those who came for the Canonisation in 1995 realised that he applied those words to himself first. It was the goal he aimed at himself.
John Paul in his homily captured that goal brilliantly when he said: “Blessed Eugene de Mazenod, whom today the Church proclaims a saint, was an Advent man, a man of the Coming. He looked not only upon the Coming, but as bishop and founder of the Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, he devoted his life to prepare for it. His waiting achieved heroic intensity, and was characterized by a heroic level of faith, hope and apostolic charity. Eugene de Mazenod was one of those apostles who prepared modern times, our time.”
I also believe that St Eugene de Mszenod was thrilled that his canonisation happened during the time of the Novena of the Immaculate Conception, which begins every year on November 29 and leads us to the great celebration of December 8. It was in Rome where Eugene requested Pope Leo XIII to name his newly founded Institute the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. It was in Rome that he attended the Novena of the Immaculate Conception during the Jubilee Year of 1825 with this spiritual intuition to offer himself and his companions to Mary Immaculate.
Fr Marcello Zago OMI, the Superior General of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate at that time, the man who was a successor of Eugene as the head of the Oblate Congregation full of joy declared that morning: “This is the day the Lord has made!” Indeed those in attendance could admire the grace of God who shaped the Founder of the Oblates to become a saint. In 1825 when he presented to the Holy See the Oblate Constitutions and Rules, there he wrote: “We must lead people to act like human beings, first of all, and then like Christians, and, finally, we must help them to become saints.” Those who came for the Canonisation in 1995 realised that he applied those words to himself first. It was the goal he aimed at himself.
John Paul in his homily captured that goal brilliantly when he said: “Blessed Eugene de Mazenod, whom today the Church proclaims a saint, was an Advent man, a man of the Coming. He looked not only upon the Coming, but as bishop and founder of the Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, he devoted his life to prepare for it. His waiting achieved heroic intensity, and was characterized by a heroic level of faith, hope and apostolic charity. Eugene de Mazenod was one of those apostles who prepared modern times, our time.”
I also believe that St Eugene de Mszenod was thrilled that his canonisation happened during the time of the Novena of the Immaculate Conception, which begins every year on November 29 and leads us to the great celebration of December 8. It was in Rome where Eugene requested Pope Leo XIII to name his newly founded Institute the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. It was in Rome that he attended the Novena of the Immaculate Conception during the Jubilee Year of 1825 with this spiritual intuition to offer himself and his companions to Mary Immaculate.
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