Blessed Father Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus (1894-1967)

Beatified on November 19, 2016 

 1 Roots

Early years : a simple and harsh existence

Born on December 2, 1894 at Le Gua (Aveyron, South of France), Henri Grialou was the third of five children. His mother, Marie, came from peasant stock, and his father, Auguste, worked at the mine.

Their life was hard.

1904 : his father died. Henri was ten. He had already heard God’s call to become a priest. To answer it, he went to Italy (Susa), to study free of charge, in the Seminary of the Holy Ghost Fathers,

who at that time were exiled from France.

In 1908, he discovered Saint Therese of Lisieux, who was still unknown : she had died just 10 years earlier. He was immediately struck by the strength of her message.

In 1911, he entered the Major Seminary of Rodez.

1 914 1918 : The First World War   

In 1913 – he was not yet 19 – he volunteered for the army. In 1914 war broke out. For five years Henri Grialou took part in the major campaigns of the conflict : Argonne, Verdun, Chemin des Dames…

In 1919, he went back to the Seminary of Rodez.

1920: The Call to Carmel

During a spiritual retreat, on the evening of December 13, 1920, Henri was reading a Life of Saint John of the Cross when he was struck by an overwhelming revelation : God wanted him to enter Carmel.

Faced with this irresistible call, Henri had to deal with the resistance of many people : his spiritual director, his bishop and especially his beloved mother who would lose him for a second time.

However, the affection they had for each other would be strengthened as a result of this trial.

Letter to his mother dated February 15, 1922

You know how much I avoided taking this path, because of the grief I was causing you. But God’s call became clearer and clearer. I wept too as I thought of the sacrifice I was imposing on you, but

I cannot resist God’s will which has been so clearly manifested.

1922 : Priest and Carmelite

Henri Grialou was ordained a priest on February 4, 1922. On February 24, 1922 he entered the Carmel at Avon (Fontainebleau) taking the name of Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus.

He discovered the power of prayer. After his noviciate, he participated actively in the preaching that followed the beatification and the canonization of Therese of Lisieux (1923-1925).

He gave himself fully to this apostolate, thus contributing to the renewal of the Church in France between the two World Wars.

2 Prayer and commitment in the world

« Stay faithful to the spirit, to what is essential : closely uniting action and contemplation. »

As a Carmelite, Father Marie-Eugene lived fully the maxim of the prophet Elijah : « He is alive, the Lord in whose presence I stand. I burn with zeal for the Lord God of hosts ».

He encounters God in the silence of prayer, he collaborates with Him in all his activities : this love unifies his life. His experience sheds a simple and practical light on how to how to live united with the living God.

« The greatest priority is to give time to God. »

•Prayer is a conversation. To put it simply : it is communicating with God, it is an affectionate exchange with God.

• I can develop a relationship with Him. He knows me, He loves me, and in turn I know Him and I love Him. He loves me as a Father and I love Him as a child. That is His joy.

• God always keeps His door open so that we may encounter Him through prayer.

• We are blinded as it were by the Infinite which is in God, but we know that in this Infinite, there is love, only love.

• Having found Jesus, talking to Him or simply gazing at Him is enough.

• We have to fill our soul, our intelligence, our memory with Jesus Christ.

« To witness is to allow God to be seen. »

Our modern world is hungry and thirsty for happiness. It is hungry for bread, but it is even hungrier and thirstier for God.

• Today, we will not spread the message through discussion : people no longer believe in it. Not even through good works. The best means is through the witness of someone who is captivated by God,

who by their words and behaviour allow God to be seen.

• You bear witness to God’s existence because He dwells in you. You are like tabernacles, or radiant monstrances, but without candles or incense.

• Everywhere, there are people searching for God. If only I could reach them all and tell them about Infinite Love.

Letter to a member of Notre-Dame de Vie dated February 23, 1961 :

You are not in the world to see evil, to become aware of its enormity, not even – strictly speaking – to fight evil and to eliminate it. You are in the world to bear witness to God, to God’s life,

to His existence and to His strength, and thereby to become a source of joy for God and of light for those who want to remain faithful.

To fulfill this mission, you need to immerse yourself in God for a long time, because it is only when His life takes over your life that He can keep you faithful and pure and let you bear the witness

which is part of your vocation. Therefore walk courageously.

3 Walk toward God with trust

A life given to the Church

In 1928 Father Marie-Eugene was named Prior of the « Petit Castelet » Friary in Tarascon. The following year, three young women who ran a private school in Marseilles, came to him for advice and direction.

From this meeting a new spiritual family, Notre-Dame de Vie, was born in 1932. Father Marie-Eugene was next named Prior of the Friary in Agen (1932-36) and in Monte Carlo (1936-37).

He was then elected as a member of the General Council of the Carmelite Order in Rome, where he remained until 1955. More specifically, he was given the responsibility for the French-speaking Carmelite

monasteries of nuns . He paid particular attention to the persecuted communities. Totally faithful to prayer, he led at once the many activities which defined his mission: responding to many letters, overseeing

new building projects, travelling, organizing Notre-Dame de Vie Institute, writing his major work, I want to see God /I Am a Daughter of the Church (1953). He devoted a large part of his ministry to spiritual

direction. He followed the debates on « spiritual life and psychology » with great interest.

« The more the saints are held captive by love, the nearer they are to us ! » (I Am a Daughter of the Church, p. 614).

« If I am spoken of, one should say that I am poor, simple and that I have suffered much. » (1967, one month before he died).

To the ends of the earth

His various responsibilities led him to travel throughout the world : The Holy Land, Iraq, Vietnam, the Philippines, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Canada, the USA, Mexico. Back in France in 1955, he was named

Provincial. Attentive to the signs of the times and to the rise of atheism, Father Marie-Eugene followed closely the upheavals of the post-war period and the new apostolate initiatives in the Church.

He took an active interest in the development of ideas and the theological research which preceded the Second Vatican Council, whose teachings he received with joy. He was eager to make them known and to

put them into practice. Right up till the end of his life, he carried out his tasks within the Carmelite Order as well as his responsibilities as founder of Notre-Dame de Vie.

From 1965 onwards, his health gradually deteriorated. He focused his activities on the essential things : teaching the fundamentals of the spiritual life and supporting the growing number of those who sought

his advice. After many months of acute suffering, he died on Easter Monday, March 27, 1967, the feast day he had previously established to celebrate Our Lady of Life, Notre-Dame de Vie.

«I am going towards the embrace of the Holy Spirit. » (Last words).

4 The Holy Spirit, my Friend

Father Marie-Eugene was convinced that he could only work in close collaboration with the Holy Spirit. In February 1965, he revealed something of his personal experience :

« Everyone has probably noticed that when I speak of the Holy Spirit, normally I easily become enthused. I call Him « my Friend » and I think that I have good reasons to do so. »

He wants to help us know the Holy Spirit and how He speaks to us, to establish a true collaboration with Him and to place ourselves willingly under His guidance.

• The Holy Spirit is an outstanding figure who looks after each one of us.

• The Spirit makes us cry out « Abba ! Father ! » and at the same time He leads us to become involved in the world. These two actions go together. They cannot be opposed to each other : it is the same love !

• Tell Him : « I am poor… » The Holy Spirit goes to the poor, this is why He is called the Father of the poor. He will help you : He is eager to do so !

• We should not believe vaguely in the Holy Spirit ; we must believe in Him as a living reality, a living, intelligent, almighty person, a person who knows what he wants, who does what he wants and who knows

where he is going. The Church needs the Holy Spirit, this Holy Spirit who is her soul, who is her friend. We also need Him.

« This is the legacy that I am leaving you… May the Holy Spirit descend on you so that you may all say, as soon as possible,

that the Holy Spirit is your Friend, that the Holy Spirit is your Light, that the Holy Spirit is your Master.

… This is the prayer I shall certainly continue for you throughout eternity. February 21, 1965 

 5 Mary, Mother of Life

• Mary knows that everything in her is a gift of God. Only littleness and poverty are truly her own. And because she sees herself in truth, Mary can remain humble while receiving God’s gifts.

• Mary offers herself, prays and works with Jesus, for the same intentions. They walk towards the same goal. Jesus’ work is hers.

• She is our Mother, she belongs entirely to each of us.

• Let us learn with Mary to believe in spite of the darkness, to hope against all disappointing realities, to love always.

• The exercise of mercy is essential for a mother : a mother provides for the weakness of her child.

• O Mary, please help us bear a living witness, a real witness : may we become like you sources of life.

• We pray to you, Virgin Mary : Draw down the life of the Risen Christ on the whole Church. 

Notre-Dame de Vie

In the great family of Carmel, Notre-Dame de Vie Institute is a secular institute of consecrated life. It is made up of three autonomous branches : the laywomen’s branch, the laymen’s branch and the priests’

branch. They are entirely consecrated to God and entirely engaged in the life of the world. Through their faithfulness to silent prayer and their commitment to their professional activities or their priestly

ministry, they witness that God is alive and that in His love He wants to reach everyone.

www.notredamedevie.org

Mary !

In 1931, when Father Marie-Eugene discovered the ancient sanctuary of Notre-Dame de Vie, he recognized a living presence which never ceased to accompany him. He also discovered a powerful source of grace.

6 Mercy is more relevant than ever.

Father Marie-Eugene lived in a world marked by violence (two World Wars), atheism and the apparent triumph of technical progress. Early on, he understood that Mercy is God’s favourite name.

Experiencing divine mercy by living in union with Christ : this is the best method to form the missionary disciples whom the world needs.

• Be there fog or storm, or on the contrary very soft light, we are always in God’s mercy. Once it has taken hold of us, Mercy will never let us go.

• Sometimes Jesus allows himself to sleep in the boat, but even while sleeping He watches and will certainly manifest Himself when necessary to be victorious with us and through us.

Let us ask him to give us such trust.

• This is the amazing foolishness of Mercy : God particularly likes to descend towards misery.

• God watches us with love because we are His children. God’s gaze envelopes us whatever our psychological mood or weakness.

• We receive everything from Him, and what we have is very little compared to what He wants to give us.

• Trust in God attracts God’s answer.

• When the road is steep, it does not mean that we have taken the wrong path.

« I have understood Mercy. Saint Therese felt its gentleness, I feel its power. » (January 12, 1967)

After Father Marie-Eugene’s death, many testimonies coming from all over the world led in 1985 to opening the cause for his canonisation. On December 19, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI recognized

the heroism of his virtues and declared him Venerable. In the 1980s, a baby, a few weeks old and seriously ill, was inexplicably healed. Members of his family had prayed to God through the intercession

of Father Marie-Eugene. After a careful and lengthy investigation, this healing was recognized by the Church as a miracle. On March 3, 2016 Pope Francis authorized the beatification of Father Marie-Eugene.

He now belongs to everyone.