The
site of the old church of St. Mary Magdelene is but a short distance both from
both the de Mazenod mansion on Mirabeau avenue and the home of the Joannis on
Papassaudi street. It was the parish church of the de Mazenod and Joannis
families and was dedicated to Saint Magdalene. It was here that Eugene was
baptized. The building was very old and in lamentable condition and was
demolished at the end of the 18th century. In 1791, parish services and the
title were transferred to the church of the Dominicans (Place des Prêcheurs) who
had been expelled by the Revolution.
The baptismal font of the old church
was transferred as well. That is how the marble font which was used to baptize
the Founder of the Oblates was conserved. At the beginning of the 19th century,
this church also received the statue of Notre-Dame de Grace, originally a gift
from Saint Bonaventure to the Order of Friars Minor of Aix and kept until that
time in their monastery on Cordelier [Franciscan] street. In 1814, it was before
this statue that the members of the youth association prayed their novena when
Eugene was seriously ill from typhus which he had contracted in his ministry to
the Austrian prisoners of war in the city jail. On May 3, 1814, Abbé de Mazenod,
recovering from his illness, came to celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving at the
altar of the Cross in the Blessed Virgin’s chapel.
It was also in this
church that Abbé de Mazenod began his priestly ministry in March-April of 1813,
preaching in Provençal during the Sundays of Lent. On April 9, he wrote to his
friend, Charles de Forbin-Janson: “Each Sunday in Lent I have preached in
Provençal at 6:00 a.m. in the Magdalene church for the instruction of the
people. As you can imagine curiosity brought lots of others besides
country-folk; but the latter and the low class of society whom I had principally
in mind turned up in such numbers that I had reason to hope that it will have
been for the greater glory of God.” (Spiritual Writings 1812-1856, Oblate
Writings, I, vol. 15, no. 116, p. 49)
Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.
Sources
and bibliography
MAZENOD, Eugene de, Letter to Forbin-Janson,
April 9, and extracts from some sermons in (Oblate Writings, I, vol. 15,
no. 116, p. 35-50)
ROUX-ALPHERAN, Les rues d’Aix, vol. I, 1846, p.
631-643.
