Founder of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate

In Aix as a young priest, Father Eugene continued his work with those people he saw as being abandoned and neglected. While ministering to the Austrian prisoners of war who had been imprisoned in Aix he contracted typhus. After recovering from this serious illness, he realized that he could not achieve his ideals alone, and so he invited other priests to join in the project of evangelizing the Provencal countryside. One such invitation was made to Fr Tempier, a young curate in a neighbouring town, saying that he was ‘absolutely necessary for this work that the Lord inspires us to undertake’. Fr Tempier agreed and together with three others, these five young men, most of them in their late 20’s and early 30’s, became the foundation group of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. They took residence in an old Carmelite convent in 1816.

Reflection Questions

From a young ambitious nobleman to a priest working with the abandoned and neglected, the focus of St Eugene changed dramatically when he experienced the deep love God had for him. When have you been moved to help another at cost to yourself?
First on his own, and then as a group of five, St Eugene and friends attempted to address a need in society. Sometimes the enormity of a task can overwhelm and immobilise us yet St Eugene shows us the importance of taking small steps. Consider your immediate environment. Is there something you and a friend can do to alleviate the suffering of one person?