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  Time of the Church, time for Mission.
CH. III MISSION IN THE ACTUAL LIFE OF ST EMILIE

by Sr M.Pascale Epailly, translation Sr Gemma Farrugia


Let us recall what we have seen in the first 2 chapters about :" Time of the Church Time of the Mission "
The fundamental spiritual attitude : the sources of the Mission and of every Missionary Vocation are :
* the desire that all people praise the Lord
* recollection and union with God
* the quest of the Word of God in the Church
* disinterestedness and disappropriation of self : it is God's work and not ours.
The Eucharist is the source and food of the Mission. Thus Mission expresses itself in concrete actions.


Is Mission the response to a call ?
Of course ! But one can distinguish 2 types of calls.

a) An Interior Call.
We see this in a particular way at the beginning of Emilie's vocation
Compared to other Foundresses the case of Emilie is different: No one , no priest urged her on. It is the Lord, who directly and gradually, made her understand , and asked her , "to found a work to assist the poor day and night " Moved and nourished by her contemplation, she says that she " has seen " the needs of those whom she met and began to act. She attributes the " success " of her actions to God and not to herself. The attraction she felt in doing good confirmed her in her Vocation.
She then submitted this work. To certify her Vocation, she approached a priest who represents the Church.



Still later she submitted the Rule of the House of Gaillac to the Archbishop of Albi

This could also be a result of her reflection.

The Foundation of Tunis seems to owe its origin to Emilie's personal reflection to further the field of action of her newly founded Congregation ' It could be also because she foresaw what the outcome of Algiers could be. She remarked " that they send to our house of Bone the Europeans from Tunis..." She studied the problem, and then wrote to Mgr de Gualy in 1840
"" ... I am eager to let you know about the foundation that I was inspired to make... Now that I feel called I have a strong desire to fulfill this Mission."

b) A call generally coming from some other source, generally from the Church.

* The first call for a Foreign Mission did not come form a priest, but from the
"" Municipal Council of Algiers " through one or more members (her brother Augustine ) who also saw the misery of the people of Algiers.



* other calls generally came form priests or Bishops who were already in established countries, who "saw " the needs, and asked for sisters.
" According to a letter of Rev. Fr. Bruno : "... an Oblate Father of our Congregation who was favoured to get to know you in Malta... I beg your gracious person to let me know, at your earliest convenience, if you still intend to send between 6 - 8 sisters to the Burmese Mission of Ava and Pegu.... "
Fr Avaro 1845 .

In each case the appeal is studied :
*Emilie certifies the appeal by the Church, unless it is the Church who calls
* also Emilie sees if she has sisters available. who are fit to answer the needs :
* health :
"at 5 pm Sr Sophie passed the eternal rest ...she was suffering and for the last month she was paralysied ( Sr Therese Mc Kenzie, Sup. of Moulmein 1848 -
* competence …
"" Bishop Ceretti... asked me for 10 sisters of my Congregation, 3 English and 7 French... Some Sisters need to have a knowledge of Nursing and the ability to care for the sick and to do minor surgical operations. In Education they will instruct the Children of distinguished families in the country ...teach advanced Arithmetic, Geography and History...they must have knowledge of English, French, Italian and possibly of Portuguese.... " 1845.
Means of subsistence :
".... Regarding expenses for my sisters to come to Pegu ,each sister will bring her trousseau and other necessary objects; as for the travelling expenses... it is impossible for us, at the moment, to assume the responsibility. " ( 1845 )
" The Council ( of the Propagation for the Faith ) assures me to pay in advance ...in order to cover the travelling expenses of my sisters going to India...but the same Council cannot guarantee extra money for the Sisters' board, and thus the number of sisters must be reduced to 6 sisters."



Who are those who are to benefit from the Mission ?

In the Relation of Graces where Emilie gives an account of her Vocation we read :
"" I gave myself up to the inclination He had inspired in me to practice charity towards my neighbours, either by visiting the sick in their own home and caring for them in their needs, or by labouring for the conversion of sinners and of heretics "
After her "conversion," which took place during the parochial Mission, Emilie intensified her relation with Jesus : she was favoured by a vision of Christ with his 5 wounds, and the result is the text just quoted above ; She feels an attraction, a disposition, to turn towards others , thus her contemplation translates itself in action
Let us remark 3 types of actions :
* visiting the sick
* working for the conversion of Sinners
* and of heretics
These last 2 types focus on making God known and on helping those who find it hard to trace their path to Him

Later on we read :
"Through the charitable activities to which I devoted myself, my Vocation became more and more convincingly defined, owing to the attraction I felt for this work and the success with which Almighty God blessed my efforts,. I was instrumental in bringing about the return to the Church of young girls and women leading sinful lives, and in the conversion of several heretics, and give assistance to many poor persons abandoned by doctors. "

This is a very strong text therefore the apostolic action corresponds to the reason for which it is done and to which God crowns it with success, which confirms to Emilie that this is the path that God wants for her . She starts by mentioning the young girls and the adult sinners, then of converting some protestants and finally of restoring health to the poor sick people. Must we see here an order in priority ?

b) Another important text is the letter she addressed from Paris to François Pézét in 1826. It is the only letter of Emilie that we have before the Foundation, a letter which bespeaks of her preoccupation "
"" I was delighted to see signs of piety in a good number of people who make amends to the good Lord for such irreligion found in this city, which should by right, be a Holy City. Real Christian are but a small minority here.
Any act of worship outside the Church is carried on discreetly. The Sacrament of the Sick is administered as quietly as possible, without any fuss. The priest carries the Blessed Sacrament in a small box and goes unnoticed. It is necessary to act in this way to avoid having insults hurled at the Blessed Sacrament, or the priest . Just lately I have met quite a few people who were distressed to see the dying deprived of the Last Sacraments, because there was no one to arrange things for their reception. This was quite a surprise to me as there does not seem to be any lack of charitable people around. But Paris is so big and there is not enough of such people
In certain parts of the city priests do not dare go out at night without an escort to take the Blessed Sacrament to the sick, for fear of being attacked by rogues. However, in our vicinity things are not so bad, as even during the day , priests can go out in their cassocks without being accosted. But this is not the case everywhere "


Emilie was struck by the atheism and anticlericalism of certain people in Paris. We feel that she took it to heart and that it preoccupied her a great deal.
The pious persons there form only a small group ".Then there are all the others. These are the "unfaithful ones" whom one met in France after the Revolution Later she was attracted by the "infidels" in foreign countries : Jews, Moslems. Buddhists and even non Catholic Christians.. She stated that the holy people made up for this lack of religious attitude that reigned in the city. " But this is not enough."

c) Wherever possible, in Mission Foundations, Emilie addressed herself to young girls coming from good families. She cares for Vocations, vocations of persons having the right attitudes to work in different Missions, in various functions, be it those that demand the shouldering of a responsibility. This is the case of Rome and later of Malta.
""I believe that the time has come to materialise the plans I have had for 2 years
This country ( Malta ) has for a long time wished for a French Institution, In a predominantly Catholic country non cloistered sisters have become a need as much in education as in charitable work... that is why we cannot respond to all the requests which come to us to enter our Institute. We have already admitted 3 young people who come from very good families, The knowledge of English is as necessary as Italian and Maltese ..". ( to the Superior of Tunis 1845 )



Why these people ? Because in one way or another they from part of "Suffering Humanity "

In the letter to François Pezét cited earlier on , we read "
"" I have not yet visited the hospitals I have been busy following courses...: if those of Toulouse are interesting to see those of Paris are even more so... There are several. There is one where 3000 - 4000 .incurables are cared for. As my grandfather is the trustee I had the occasion of seeing at his home many heads of establishments run by the Sisters of Charity. "
The organisation of hospitals interests her (her grandfather is the administrator)
She remarks that these are all run by the Sisters of Charity. It is a free interpretation : " Since they are all run by religious there is no place for me ; or "in that way I should join these religious ??? "
But the Lord is calling her for something else- to work in fields, which at that stage, were cared for by no one. There are many, humanity suffers of different evils and in many places. Where nobody had tried to ease the sufferings, there Emilie must go.



Why ? For what reason ? So that they come to know that God loves them .

Indeed there is the material poverty which must be attended to immediately
But the beginning of the XIX is marked by colonial expansion, and in the circles where Emilie lived she heard people talking about far away countries where Faith had not yet penetrated.
Gradually she feels attracted to these peoples
" I felt a strong attraction for the Foreign Missions.
My heart went out spontaneously to infidel regions, every time I entered a Paris church dedicated to the Missions :or when I knelt , in one of the churches of Gaillac, before the altar dedicated to St. Francis Xavier, honoured in a special way. At the age of 18 I made a vow to invoke this great saint daily, by reciting certain prayers in his honour "


Her brother Augustine set out with the first colonisers to plant the French Civilisation on Algerian soil. It was for him a noble and gainful enterprise . But he discovered the misery of the people and spoke to his sister Emilie about it.
In Algeria there are no religious to care for the sick and orphans, and to educate children... moreover, these people, Jews and Moslems, do not know Jesus:
For Emilie this is one more reason why she should go there, as she herself stated later on when speaking of Tunis.
"" Tunis is rather large town and as important as Marseilles, it is an non - believing town. This is what attracts me with joy, and makes me bless the Lord to use us as instruments for doing good. There are no houses of Religious in Tunis... No one there is devoted to the care of the sick ... ( to Mgr de Gualy 1840 )



We find the same trend when she speaks of the foundation of Burma :
""May they ( the sisters ) through their feeble efforts contribute to make God known, loved and adored. This is my desire, my unique ambition and the reason why I am sending them to you ." ( to M. Abbe Bruno 1845.)



Conclusion :
It seems evident that Emilie felt called to :
* respond to needs that were still uncared for by others
* to ease all forms of poverty
and in priority spiritual poverty of those that do not know God or find it hard to live according to his word.



Jesus sends each one of us on Mission, and it is good to ask oneself :
* What fundamental attitude urges us to such and such a work ?
* It is an answer to a call ? if yes, is it in link with the Church ? ( otherwise it is not a Mission but a personal work
What is the object of the mandate for the Mission ? is it " Suffering Humanity "- suffering of different types
* material
* moral
* Spiritual

What do we seek ?
In any case may those to whom we minister come to the knowledge of God in Jesus and live according to love.

 
Création: jpmarty