Initial steps of a Spiritual Journey
Eugene de Mazenod’s spiritual journey and
personality were profoundly influenced by his
family’s values and struggles amidst the
insecurity and ambiguity of the Italian exile.
During his time of exile in Venice (1794-1797),
a holy priest, Don Bartolo Zinelli, introduced
him to the spirituality of the Company of Jesus.
From him as a young boy, Eugene learned how to
pray and how to practice mortification. Don
Bartolo also initiated him to a devotion to the
Virgin Mary "It was there", Eugene would later
write, "that my vocation to the priesthood was
born".
Special Graces
Two interior graces transformed Eugene in his
twenties. The first was a grace of "conversion".
During the adoration of the cross on Good Friday
in 1807, Eugene had a special experience of the
love and goodness of Christ which culminated in
the shedding of his blood to obtain the
forgiveness of all sins. Simultaneously
conscious of his own sins and filled with a
sense of profound confidence in Divine Mercy,
Eugene decided to make amends through the total
gift of his life to Jesus his Savior.
A second moment of grace, which he describes as
"an impulse from without" from the Spirit, led
him to a decision for the priesthood. In 1808,
he would enter the Seminary of Saint Sulpice in
Paris and be ordained a priest at Amiens, on
December 21, 1811. His dream was to be "the
servant and priest of the poor".
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