January 25, 1816: A Story Begins
What a Story!

This past Saturday, January 24, on the eve of the anniversary of our foundation, the Oblates at the General House commemorated 210 years of our Congregation’s history with a solemn Eucharistic celebration. This celebration accelerates the pace of preparations for the Bicentennial of our Pontifical Approval, leading up to the formal opening of the Jubilee Year on February 17, 2026.

Father Luis Ignacio, our Superior General, ushered us into this year of grace with natural ease. In a homily that was both elegant and incisive, Father General illuminated the bond linking our charismatic roots, the Missionaries of Provence recognized in Aix in 1816, to the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He reminded us that it was this same body that, only a decade later, in February 1826, Pope Leo XII approved our Constitutions and Rules and elevated us to the status of a religious family of the universal Church.

Father General raised a central question: Why did Pope Leo XII approve the Constitutions of a ‘small and fragile’ religious institute? Why take a community of diocesan right—barely ten years old and operating solely in the French periphery—and elevate it to a Congregation of the universal Church? This is a valid question because it points to the unsettling, scandalous ways of the God of the Gospel, who never tires of upending our purely human logic of power and efficiency.

According to our Superior General, three fundamental motives compelled the Pope to grant his approval. These motives become evident when we return to the roots of our charismatic history of 1816.

1. Our Founder’s radical love for Christ. This love opens us to the greatness of living in total oblation to Him.
2. The community lifestyle of the Oblates. By stripping ourselves of personal selfishness, we choose to live in fraternal charity and offer a credible witness to the Gospel truth.
3. The mission to the most abandoned. This stands as the incarnation of the compassionate and saving love of God in Jesus.

These pillars have shaped the history of our religious family, even amid difficulties and sin. But above all, these reasons have made Church history. All of us as Oblates of Mary Immaculate know that we cannot love Jesus Christ without loving the Church. We know we cannot be consecrated to the God of the Cross without loving one another. And we know we cannot call ourselves missionaries if we do not carry in our hearts those who are distant from the Gospel—that grace of salvation meant for all.

To the eyes of faith, these realities are not surprising. However, they represent a “distinct evangelical way of standing in the world.” They challenge the culture of indifference toward our neighbors and the brazen hedonism that glorifies the selfishness of having “everything, right now.”

It is these realities that have driven our history for two centuries. Consequently, they are what comprise God’s History—history written with a capital “H.” It is precisely this history that will remain forever, long after the history of the world has passed away.

By Alberto Gnemmi, OMI – General Councillor for Europe

Published on the OMI World website