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| The Word of God in the life of Emilie de Vialar |
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Ch. II HER VOCATION IS A RESPONSE, DAY BY DAY, TO THE WORD OF GOD, LISTENED TO, ASSIMILATED, AND EXPRESSED IN HER LIFE.
Emilie lived the Word of God
Her whole life was an expression of the Word of God, a Word known in the formulation and the Biblical context of the time, but also listened to, assimilated and translated in a certain spiritual attitude, or a certain concrete action.
The ‘conversion’
In her account of the graces that she received from the Lord, and which she wrote to the Bishop of Albi in order to authenticate her vocation, she relates:
“I was too young to be left without a guiding hand, and as a result, I soon lost sight of the signal graces with which God had favoured me, and my former piety was so weakened that my mind and heart were occupied with nothing but vanities”
Couldn’t we almost hear what is written in St Matthew:
“In those days before the Flood, people were eating, drinking, taking wives, taking husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark; and they suspected nothing, till the Flood came and swept them all away….You, too, therefore, must stand ready” (Matt 24/ 38,39,44) ?
Jesus, at the beginning of His public life, seeing the state of the people He met, said to them:
“Jesus began His proclamation with the message ; ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand’ ( Matt 4/ 17)
And this is what Emilie did:-
“A mission was preached in one of the parishes of the town in which I lived. I followed all the exercises in a dry way, and even without devotion……
I felt a very keen sorrow for my sins because of the offence they gave to God. 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 her Interior Life)
In which way was Emilie’s heart changed? First of all, and in a constant manner throughout all her life, by a search for a greater intimacy with the Lord. This led her, not only to take part in daily Mass, but also, to go to Church every evening. The two events which follow, will show us how the Lord made up for the poverty of the Biblical culture of the Christians of that age.
* The mystery of the Incarnation
At Mantauban, an ancient church, the Church of St James, had, facing the main door, which was at the side, a picture representing the apparition of the angel to St Joseph as described in Matt 1/ 18-25: “Joseph, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit.”
Emilie often had occasion of going to this town, and she certainly prayed in front of this picture. The Word of God that she knew through the Gospel of the Nativity, and which she contemplated in this picture, gradually penetrated her, and imbued her, even though she does not say so. She was so full of it, that when she founded a new religious family, she gave it the name of St Joseph of the Apparition, and she had a copy made of this picture of Mantauban, to place on top of the altar of the chapel in the foundation house.
Did she have it copied? Yes, but not completely, as can be seen when we look at both pictures.
 
Did she say anything on this subject? No, but, who else, if not Emilie, had ordered the artist who copied the picture, to change the background ? The persons are the same, but, if the angel of the Mantauban picture has his finger pointing to heaven, he wasn’t showing anything in particular. On the picture that Emilie had ordered as a copy, the angel shows a light coming from heaven and which gradually enlightens the darkness in which the world is, the world to which belong Joseph, with his brown cloak, colour of the earth, the world to which Emilie belongs, - our world.
On seeing this ray of light crossing the night, one thinks of the expectation in the Old Testament: “Oh, if only you would rent the heavens…”
And also, of what Jesus says explicitly to Nicodemus: “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…”(John 3 / 16)
*The Vision of the 5 Wounds
This is also a sequel of the attraction that Emilie felt towards recollection. Actually, it was during one of her visits to the church, St Peter at Gaillac, this time, thathe Word of God, known through the Paschal Liturgy, revealed itself to her, in action, if one can say so.
“One afternoon, between 3 and 4 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. His arms were outstretched in the form of a cross….My attention was particularly centred on the Sacred Wounds which I discerned quite clearly, especially on the wound in His right side; from which some drops of blood were oozing” (Account of graces)
This vision helped Emilie interiorise two essential aspects of our Christian Faith:
a) The link between the Eucharist and the real presence of Jesus in the host outside of Mass, and the Sacrifice of the Cross.
Emilie saw Jesus Crucified, but she saw Him as she looked at the Tabernacle which contained the Blessed Sacrament the host, presence among us of the Risen Jesus.
“This is My Body, given for you…. This cup is the new covenant in My blood, poured out for you.” (Lk 22/ 19-20)
b) This sacrifice of the cross, this gift of the life of Jesus, shows, to the highest degree, His love for men “Jesus, knowing that His hour had come, to pass from this world to the Father, having loved those who were His own in the world, loved them to the end.” (Jn13/1)
This immense love which Emilie discovered more ardently, she realised thatmany people did not know, or lived without paying any attention to. “He came to His own, and His own received Him not” (Jn 1/17)
She needed therefore, to make Him known, first in Gaillac, then, further afield. From this came the apostolic vocation of Emilie. This vocation is for :
* Suffering Humanity, suffering from diverse ailments: material, moral and spiritual.
“I gave myself up to the inclination he had inspired in me, to practise charity towards my neighbour, either by visiting the sick in their homes, and caring for them in their needs, or by labouring for the conversion of sinners and of heretics” (Account of graces)
“When He saw the crowds, He felt sorry for them, because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples: “The harvest is rich, but the labourers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest” (Matt 9/36-38)
*Far away lands
“I felt a strong attraction for the Foreign Missions. My heart went out spontaneously to infidel regions, every time when in Paris, I entered a parish church dedicated to the missions, or when I knelt on one of the churches of Gaillac, before an altar dedicated to St. Francis Xavier” ( Account of graces)
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