Saint Eugene de Mazenod (1782-1861) – The Founder
“We must attach ourselves heart and soul to our Rules and practice more exactly what they prescribe to us … In the name of God, let us be saints.” – St. Eugene de Mazenod, Letter to the Oblate Family, February 18, 1826
DOWNLOAD – LETTER MAY 21, 2026
My dear brother Oblates!
On the heavenly birth of our beloved Father and Founder Eugene de Mazenod, I would like to share the last 36 hours of his life, the blessings and message that he left behind for us his sons. This will be followed by a few inspirational thoughts of three popes about our Founder and how should be our life as Oblates.
The inspiring words of three Popes about our Founder are as follows:
Pope Pius XI called us “specialists of difficult missions.” On the day of his canonization, Pope John Paul II described the Founder as “a man of Advent, docile to the Holy Spirit in reading the signs of the times and in assisting the work of God in the history of the Church.” In his address to the 36th General Chapter, Pope Francis said: “The Founder was a man who loved Jesus passionately and the Church unconditionally. These characteristics are present in you, his sons.”
Preparation for death:
Fr. Tempier announced to Eugene de Mazenod, on his death-bed, that all hope was lost, that the medicines were powerless, and that he should offer to the Lord the sacrifice of his life and prepare for death. Immediately the Bishop joined his hands, offered to God, with the greatest faith and the most perfect generosity, both the sacrifice of his life and the sacrifice of everything he was leaving on the earth. He did not hesitate a bit, and from that moment, with an unbridled joy, he wanted only to think of death, and he renewed incessantly his act of submission to the divine will.
The Will of God:
The dying St. Eugene proclaimed: “I want only one thing – that the holy will of God be done.” He immediately took his cross in one hand and his rosary in the other, and did not relinquish the cross or the rosary, for even a moment, during the reminder of his life.
The Formula of Oblation:
Tempier wrote: “One of us recited aloud the usual formula of oblation, the bishop listened, followed along, and repeated with ineffable happiness those words with which he had consecrated himself to the Lord, and that all his children had pronounced consecrating themselves in turn to the Congregation of which he was the Father and Founder.”
The Blessing:
Tempier continues: “’Bishop’, said one of us, ‘please bless all your Oblates.’” “Oh! Yes!” Eugeneexclaimed. And his failing hands rose with love, an ineffable look upward to gather from heaven the most precious blessing, he lowered his hands to take the Oblate cross and he blessed all his children with the crucifix, making the sign of the Cross to the various points of the earth.
Dying happily:
“’Bishop’, asked one of us, ‘give us a few words we can communicate to all our brothers. They will make them happy!’” Eugene responded: “Tell them that I die happy….that I die happy that the good Lord has deigned to choose me to found in the Church the Congregation of the Oblates.”
The Last desire of the heart:
Last of all, Tempier recounts: “Bishop, please tell us the last desire of your heart.” And Eugene gave us his dying words: “Among yourselves practice charity….charity…….charity and outside, zeal for the salvation of souls.”
The Areas that could be focused:
Charity and zeal take many forms. As Pilgrims of Hope in Communion, we are challenged to embody this charity and zeal as we continue to embrace the directions discerned at our last Chapter: renewal of community life, formation of intercultural communities, quality formation, vocation ministry, synodal leadership, seeking new ministries, restructuring Units and consolidation of formation houses are some the areas that could be focused on more concretely to move forward in our life and mission as Oblates.
Two Hundred of life:
As we are celebrating our 200th years of life of our Congregation, we are at the crossroads of new challenges, which require more creative, timely, and collaborative responses. Let us listen to the signs of times and commit ourselves for the evangelization of the poor with deep love and zeal. Let us strive to make the daring choice of going to the poor and the most abandoned, if necessary, relocating our presence where there is greater poverty.
Let us not give up:
Let us not give up! The efforts we have made thus far should give us added energy to march ahead with courage, commitment, and determination to do more.
Let our Founder pray for us.
Happy Feast to you!
Eugene BENEDICT, OMI – General Councillor for the region of Asia-Oceania
Published on the OMI World website