Brad Rozairo, OMI – Experience in Aix-en-ProvencThe De Mazenod Experience, sometimes also called DMX, is a program held every year at the birthplace of our congregation in Aix-en-Provence. The program is centred on the charism of our Founder St. Eugene and has a few objectives. They are personal conversion, deepening of the Oblate charism in one’s own life, reflection on the lived experience of the charism, personal renewal in the Oblate vocation, a deeper understanding of the person of the Founder and ongoing formation. The two-month experience, held in an atmosphere of prayer, reflectionandfraternal sharing, enables an Oblate to look back at his own experience of the Oblate charism lived in daily life and ministry. The program has two pillars, namely, pilgrimage and a fifteen-day silent retreat.
Following a renewal program at the birthplace of our congregation has a special place in the heart of every Oblate. This year (September 11 – November 7), I joined a group of Oblates for an experience of our charism. We were ten in number including the three facilitators. Although the number of participants was small, the group was diverse in culture and language, and there were seven different nationalities. This reminded me of the internationality of our congregation.
Although during the first years of formation I had learnt about our Founder, after my priesthood I did not do any serious reading on his life. But during the DMX, the talks I listened to refreshed my memory and helped me discover some new insights into the life of St. Eugene. For example, I did not know that our Founder played an important role in the construction of the Gare Saint Charles railway station, which is Marseille’s Central Station today. It was commissioned and inaugurated on January 8, 1848, by Bishop de Mazenod, Archbishop of Marseille. I learnt that one of the favourite places of our Founder was the fish market, where he encountered a group of women fishmongers. They befriended him, and later he became a leader of these women and was responsible for bringing them back to the faith.
During the program, one of the things I liked most was the pilgrimages made to some significant places in the life of our Founder. To mention a few, Saint-Laurent-du-Verdon where the first draft of the 1818 Rule of our congregation was written, Notre-Dame de Lumiere, a Marian apparition shrine & an Oblate mission, the first parish mission in the village of Grans, a mission in Barjols, a visit to the tomb of St. Eugene in the Cathedral of Marseilles etc. Taking the time to see these places, to pray and offer mass with my companions brought the memories of St. Eugene alive.
The climax of the experience was the two-week Ignatian-style silent retreat held at Notre-Dame de Sainte-Garde, in a beautiful natural setting. Thanks to Fr. Bonga OMI, for helping us through his inspiring conferences that enabled me to concentrate on the spiritual exercises and reflect on the scripture passages and the retreat notes of our Founder. After a very long time, I was happy to make a silent retreat in a more relaxed atmosphere.
Going back to our Founder, charism, the roots of our congregation etc. makes me feel more Oblate and brings a sense of joy to my vocation. The De Mazenod experience was something I was looking forward to, and I am happy to have lived it in the “Holy Land” of our congregation. I would strongly recommend living this experience at least once in your lifetime.
A fruitful year of sabbatical began in the US and ended in Aix-en-Provence with a special mass for ‘mission sending’ celebrated by our Superior General. At the end of a wonderful and meaningful liturgy, each participant was blessed by the Cross of our Founder. Having walked in the footsteps of St. Eugene de Mazenod we were sent back to our respective missions, but as renewed persons.
