Final Words to the Missionary Oblates of
Mary Immaculate
Towards the end of his life, Eugene had become
very free. Faced with the prospect of the
cardinalate which had been promised and which
slipped away from him because of political
considerations, he had this to say: "After
all, it is all the same whether one is buried in
a red cassock or a purple one; the main thing is
that the bishop gets to heaven".
Shortly before his death on May 21, 1861, in
keeping with his temperament, the elderly and
seriously ill bishop said to those around him:
"Should I happen to doze off, or if I appear to
be getting worse, please wake me up! I want to
die knowing that I am dying".
His last words to the Oblates were a testament
that summed up his life: "Practice well among
yourselves charity, charity, charity, and
outside, zeal for the salvation of souls". Saint
Eugene died on Pentecost Sunday to the prayer of
the Salve Regina, It was his final
salute on earth to the one he considered as the
"Mother of the Mission".
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