Dear Friend,
Welcome to the 150th
Anniversary of the Immaculate Conception! 150 years ago, Pope
Pius the IX declared infallibly that Mary, the Mother of God, was
conceived without original sin. As you can imagine, this feast
has special importance to us here at the Missionary Association.
Our founder, St. Eugene De Mazenod,
was a strong supporter of this dogmatic declaration. In fact,
this month’s issue of Oblates has information both about the
history of the Immaculate Conception along with a little bit of
information about St. Eugene’s interest in it.
And what a perfect time this
is for the Oblates to receive an Apostolic Blessing! With this
blessing, the Vatican has commended our work in the United States and
around the world. I want to thank the Holy Father for giving us
his blessing. I have included the letter from the Vatican on the
following page.
The Apostolic Blessing comes
in part because the Oblates are the top distributors of the Holy Rosary
throughout the world. We have distributed over nine million in
the last forty-five years. And, as we all know, there is no
better way to honor Mary than praying in the form that she herself gave
us—namely, the rosary.
Also in this issue, we have
several articles focusing on formation within our order. On this
special anniversary, we wanted to put a spotlight on the young men who
are choosing to join the Oblates in part because of their
respect and love for our Blessed Mother.
In the love of Mary Immaculate,
Fr. Louis Studer, O.M.I.
