St Eugene de Mazenod, born on August 1, 1782.
St Alphonsus Liguori, died August 1, 1787.
On August 1, 1782 a baby boy was born to an aristocratic family living in Aix in the Southern France. The following day the baby was baptized as Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod. The noble family name of de Mazenod was believed to set the little man on the path to a bright career. Little did they know how unusual the path was to be taken by him. The magnificent mansion in the main and most prominent street of the city of Aix hich saw his birth was soon to be lost to the de Mazenod Family as the turmoil of the French Revolution was to turn upside down the ancient country of France with its Catholic identity and the de Mazenods were to share the drastic changes of the XIX century France. When Eugene was baptized on August 2 he officially became a French citizen, as a Catholic baptismal certificate served as the proof of the French citizenship then. Eugene was born to the country where only Catholics could be citizens. However soon it was to be changed for good. His life was going to take him on a challenging journey leading him to making his own personal commitment to Christ and his Holy Church. Eugene, who as a child still in France and later a teenager sharing the life of exile with his family, was surrounded by nostalgic sentiments of the “beautiful old days” when all French were Catholics, as a young adult didn’t get caught into dreaming about those old days to be reestablished. On the contrary he allowed the Holy Spirit to guide him and to choose what today is called as New Evangelization.
First he discovered that being a Catholic doesn’t simply come from living in a Catholic country but it is the outcome of one’s personal, transforming encounter with the Saviour. The French Revolution had drastically changed the society’s religious milieu. It didn’t support the Catholic way of life any more but it rather demanded on one’s part a strong commitment to Jesus and his Church.
Secondly, St Eugene was to discover that what his country needed wasn’t a new royal edict making all citizens Catholics again. Those strayed French needed a fresh, new chance to discover Jesus as God who loved them and wanted their love. That’s why when some 30 years later he began serving as a priest he was deeply inspired by a contemporary Catholic thinker who died on the day when he celebrated his fifth birthday (August 1, 1787). The thinker was Alphonsus Liguori.
Sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit St Eugene recognized that the moral theology of Liguori which highlighted God’s mercy toward sinners was a perfect means to reach out to those who were already deeply wounded in the spiritual and personal life in the aftermath of the Revolution. The acceptance of the moral directives of Alphonsus Liguori ostracized the future Founder of the Oblates. He was accused of being too easy giving absolution. However Our Founder guided by the supernatural sense of faith never abandoned Moral Theology of Liguori.
The spiritual closeness of the two saints who never met on earth was sealed in 1816 when first on January 25 Eugene and his companions established the community of Missionaries which eventually evolved into Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and then on September 15 Alphonsus Liguori was beatified by Pope Pius VII. St Eugene saw in the Church’s recognition of Liguori some further affirmation of merciful approach to sinners.
Finally I would like to recall Pope John Paul II who described Alphonsus as "a close friend of the people ... a missionary who went in search of the most abandoned souls ... a founder who wanted a group which would make a radical option in favor of the lowly ... a Bishop whose house was open to all ... a writer who focused on what would be of benefit to people." If I didn’t know that it was about Alhponsus Liguori I could think that it was a perfect description of the man who was born in Aix on August 1, 1782 – Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod.
First he discovered that being a Catholic doesn’t simply come from living in a Catholic country but it is the outcome of one’s personal, transforming encounter with the Saviour. The French Revolution had drastically changed the society’s religious milieu. It didn’t support the Catholic way of life any more but it rather demanded on one’s part a strong commitment to Jesus and his Church.
Secondly, St Eugene was to discover that what his country needed wasn’t a new royal edict making all citizens Catholics again. Those strayed French needed a fresh, new chance to discover Jesus as God who loved them and wanted their love. That’s why when some 30 years later he began serving as a priest he was deeply inspired by a contemporary Catholic thinker who died on the day when he celebrated his fifth birthday (August 1, 1787). The thinker was Alphonsus Liguori.
Sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit St Eugene recognized that the moral theology of Liguori which highlighted God’s mercy toward sinners was a perfect means to reach out to those who were already deeply wounded in the spiritual and personal life in the aftermath of the Revolution. The acceptance of the moral directives of Alphonsus Liguori ostracized the future Founder of the Oblates. He was accused of being too easy giving absolution. However Our Founder guided by the supernatural sense of faith never abandoned Moral Theology of Liguori.
The spiritual closeness of the two saints who never met on earth was sealed in 1816 when first on January 25 Eugene and his companions established the community of Missionaries which eventually evolved into Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and then on September 15 Alphonsus Liguori was beatified by Pope Pius VII. St Eugene saw in the Church’s recognition of Liguori some further affirmation of merciful approach to sinners.
Finally I would like to recall Pope John Paul II who described Alphonsus as "a close friend of the people ... a missionary who went in search of the most abandoned souls ... a founder who wanted a group which would make a radical option in favor of the lowly ... a Bishop whose house was open to all ... a writer who focused on what would be of benefit to people." If I didn’t know that it was about Alhponsus Liguori I could think that it was a perfect description of the man who was born in Aix on August 1, 1782 – Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod.
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