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 ...raconte-moi la vie de tes soeurs actuellement.
 
  Ch. II. THE EUCHARIST, SOURCE AND FOOD FOR THE MISSION
Sr M.Pascale Epailly, translation, Sr Gemma Farrugia

In this our second chapter we will consider the Mass from two angles : we will speak of the Mass and the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

THE MASS.



1) The historical context :
At the time of Emilie's childhood, just after the French Revolution, religious cult was forbidden, and priests were persecuted. It was also a time marked by Jansenism. Thus participation at Mass was considered as a duty for Christians, and children made their Fist Holy Communion much later in life.
Emilie herself made her First Holy Communion the age of 13, while she was a boarder at the Nun's School l"Abbaye aux Bois, in Paris. This was a decisive step in her life with regards to her relationship with the Lord . In fact it turned into a very strong personal relationship :
" At the age of 13, I was sent to a convent school in Paris to be educated . From that moment I began really to love God ." ( Account of Interior Life )

As for adults Communion was not so frequent ; even for religious it was not necessarily an everyday practice. It was the Confessor who decided on the frequency of Holy Communion for the penitent :
"Having put myself under the direction of an over-rigorous Confessor, I rarely approached the Sacraments ..." (Account of graces)

However, participation at Mass brought Emilie abundant graces, as she herself admits after her " conversion " at the time of the Parish Mission of 1816
" When I had completed my confession and was assisting at Mass with the intention of going to Holy Communion, the same motive of having offended God gave me such a detestation of sin that I shed abundant tears, and I felt a complete change of heart. Now I was overflowing with love for God, and filled with strength to avoid every offence against Him " ( Account of graces )


2) The Importance of the Mass.
This radical change after the Mission was evident by her daily participation at Mass Even so she could only receive Holy Communion 3 times a week, which was a very impressive number at the time. :
" This spirit of piety which it pleased Almighty God to foster in my soul, made me avoid anything which would prevent me from assisting at Holy Mass daily... I received Holy Communion 3 times a week without the least scruple of conscience " (Account of graces)

Since she found out the importance of this for herself, she then suggested it to the young girls who joined her, and later on she asked this of her sisters. Undoubtedly, this was the custom in other Congregations as well:
"They assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as often as possible" (Rule of the House of Gaillac)
"The sisters have a special love for the sacrifice of the Mass, and they never miss it on ordinary days, unless for valid reasons, and then not without the permission of the Superior " ( Spirit of Rules ) .

It is good to note the "participation at Mass " is mentioned in the article on "exercises of piety" such as is the practice of Meditation, the Rosary, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. ... For Emilie it is a means of which she avails herself, as others did to nourish and deepen her relationship with God. This was considered a privileged means since she recommends it daily.



Nowadays, we use the word "participate " rather than " assist "? it is up to each one to draw her conclusion . Even if Emilie and her sisters "assist " at Mass, it remains clear that for them there was an interior participation through the hearing of the Word of God and Holy Communion.


3) The Mass as a Sacrifice .

The Expression that Emilie uses does not require any further comments. It is clear to her and to all who listen to her, that the Mass re-enacts the Mystery of Jesus o the Cross. The contemplation of Jesus on the act of "passing from this world to His Father : " Having loved his own who were in the world , He loved them to the end " Jn 13, l,


Emilie insists on the practice of daily Holy Communion, because from this daily participation springs forth their daily giving of themselves in the apostolate


4) Communion.
This is not just a rite that could be accomplished automatically, it is a moment of deep intimacy, that heart to heart with Jesus This is why both she and her sisters spend a considerable time in Thanksgiving
"The sisters keep in their heart a love for Holy Communion, which they receive as often as possible, according to the advice of their confessor. According to the Spirit of the Congregation the sisters will receive Holy Communion every Sunday. There is General communion on Christmas day, Holy Thursday, Easter. Ascension. Pentecost, the Assumption of Our Lady. All Saints day and all the other feasts particular to the Institute.
The thanksgiving is always of quarter of an hour" ( Spirit & Rule ).


It is certainly because of this intimacy with Jesus that Communion and Peace were often linked. Must not one be pure to be intimate with Jesus, and when we welcome such a guest must we not spend sufficient time in his company ? and be like Mary , who stood at the feet of Jesus listening to His words Lk 10, 39. These two aspects are almost forgotten nowadays, and it is good to see what one can do about it.
Mgr. Dupuch tried to manipulate the love the sisters had for the Sacraments and thus oblige them to yield to his abuse of power. If the sisters do not go to Confession they could not, in conscience, receive Holy Communion., the power to hear confessions for a priest depended on the Bishop
" However, Mgr Dupuch, seeing that all his tactics to disorganise the Institute failed, as they faced our firm and respectful attitude, made up his mind to brake those that could not give in...In all his ways Mgr ex-communicated , in a way, all the sisters then in Africa by depriving them of the Sacraments. Mgr made the sisters of Constantine, Bone understand through the parish priests of those towns that they are forbidden to receive Confession and Holy communion. As for Algiers, he did not dare act openly, but he ex-communicated them in a more supple way, by withdrawing the jurisdiction for the priests except for one whom, because of previous experience, we could not trust.

During 9 months our poor sisters were deprived of the Sacraments of he Church, so necessary for them to sustain their strength amid the hard work that charity weighed on them ( Report to the Minister of War 1842 )



5) At the Mass we hear the Word of God.

In the previous chapter we tried to deepen the link that exists between Emilie and the Word of God, now we know that the Mass is basically the only means for the people to get to know the Word of God and to put it into practice . The reading of the Bible and its study are reserved for the priests. The faithful are only familiar with the passages that are used in the Liturgy. The homilies help them to understand the Word of God and to put it into practice. From the allusions, that are spontaneously found in the writings of Emilie, we see that the Word of God leaves an impact in her life.



THE ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT



Since she was young, Emilie felt an attraction for prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
"It was about this also, on a certain Holy Thursday, I felt a most vivid inspiration of Divine Grace."

But the faith in this mystery was not always easy for Emilie :
<assented to serious doubts regarding Our Lord's presence in the Blessed Sacrament."

Jesus Himself gave her the response, coming to her in a vision :
"One afternoon, between three and four o'clock, I was making a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. Suddenly, I saw Jesus Christ in the tabernacle. He was lying with His head resting on the Gospel side and His feet resting on the Epistle side. The Saviour's arms were out stretched in the form of a cross…. My attention was particularly centred on the five wounds, which I discerned quite clearly, especially at that one in His right side, from which some drops of blood were oozing. I was astonished to discover so clearly that this adorable wound was not on the left side as I thought it was until this time."
First of all, let us notice the last sentence which sets off the authenticity of the vision : Emilie thought the lateral wound on the left side and can see it on the right. Now we do know through subsequent studies that that wound must have indeed been on Jesus's right side ; thus it is rightly Jesus Himself who appears, by no means the fruit of her imagination.

What is going on in her heart ?
She makes a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, looks at the tabernacle, looks at Jesus's host.
She sees then Jesus crucified, with the blood flowing from His heart, proof of the extraordinary love He has have for her and all mankind.
No more doubt about the real presence of Jesus in the host.
No more doubt either about His love for each man, a love which goes as far as the gift of His life.

And the call becomes then clear for Emilie : so many men still suffer from various poverties, so many diseases, that He sent to them His only son and that this son, Jesus, loved them so much that He gave His life for them. Emilie as well has to give her life for all these people.

"I gave myself up to the inclination He had inspired in me to practise charity towards my neighbours, either by visiting the sick in their own homes and caring for them in their needs, or by labouring for the conversion of sinners and of heretics."

This mystic experienceis the source of Emilie's Missionary Vocation.
However, without having any sensible graces, Emilie keeps on this practice in hr life and encourages others to do so.
" I obtained permission front the Bishop of Tunis to have the the Blessed Sqcrament in our chapel: As the sisters zere occupied with their daily functions and as ze zere surrounded by Moslen Arabs I was the only one free to adore Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and I spent as much ti,e as possible."

Adoration ! an attitude forgotten in our age of speed; in our hectic age: Emilie spent as much time as possible ; to be there before the Lord doing nothing; saying nothing, just being present before the Creator; her God:
"Jesus Christ, God and Man is present in your house. In your difficult moments; go to Him; speak to him; Beg Him o come to you; to assist you; Ask Him to give you light, strength by His grace." (to Sr Mary Petit, Paris, 21 October 1855).

At the end of this chapter , let us remember that we are living in the time of the Church,
a time after the Ascension of Jesus where He leaves us alone and send us on Mission.
Alone ?
Yes and No .!
Indeed, Jesus is not physically visible, but He is present in the Sacraments.
Let us follow Emilie and our Mission will not be mere activism but an action of God prolonged through the Eucharist
Emilie's experience. her participation in the Mass and her moments of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament invite us to see the indissoluble link between the Eucharist and the love we ought to have for the others. It is the Eucharist that brings Jesus alive in us, and it is Jesus living in us who helps us give ourselves to all in need, be it material or spiritual,.
The reception of the sacraments in indispensable for the christian : it is the source and the food that makes us through our activity people sent on Mission, a Mission that is beyond our means since in comes from God.



 
Création: jpmarty