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| The Word of God in the life of Emilie de Vialar : |
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INTRODUCTION AND ChI. EMILIE KNEW THE WORD OF GOD.
by Sr M.Pascale Epailly - translation : Sr Maria Bonello
We have just gone through the Liturgical Year in the company of St Emilie de Vialar. We have seen how she was disciple of Jesus, seen how she lived with him the Mystery of the Incarnation as well as the Pascal Mystery. Next we have seen the consequences that these mysteries had in her life : from a disciple she became an Apostle, sent on Mission.
In each of these stages, Emilie received life from the Sacraments and from the Word of God. This is the reason why we will consecrate this last chapter, divided in threee parts, to see how Emilie was penetrated and shaped by the Word of God.
1. The Context
In Emilie’s time, the Word of God was only known through the liturgical texts, and by means of certain psalms. It was in Latin, but the missals had the French translation. The explanation and the application to life were given only by the preachers: that of the Sunday Mass; the sermons of the parish mission, when one had the chance of having one.. (it seems that Emilie had benefited from two of these: one in 1815 or 16, and the other in 1829, given by the Jesuit priests Guyon and Petit); in the big cities like Paris there were “catechisms of perseverance”, sermons for adults, that Emilie had made a point of following, whenever she visited relatives in Paris.
2. Emilie knew the Word of God
In spite of the fact that the context is quite different from ours: the faithful had no Bible in their hands, and there were no books available about the Bible, and no talks on the Bible…Emilie knew certain passages of the Word of God well, since they came easily to mind when she wrote such or such a letter which were not circular letters with a spiritual theme, but a ‘business’ letter, or a letter about daily life. For example, she wrote to Sr Mary Petit – Paris on 21st April 1855:
“The good of your soul is as precious to me as it is to you; I shall do everything so that you can sanctify yourself. God is present everywhere….How He loves us to have recourse to Him with a deep spirit of humility!....He Himself said so in Holy Scripture: .He will never reject a humble and contrite heart. Personally, I have experienced this many times; a “Miserere” that I have said with faith and humility, and with the fervour that was granted to me, seemed to me that it was acceptable to Him”(to Sr Celestine Mougin 15th February 1848)
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