On 26th October last, the Teresianum celebrated/held a congress on Bld. Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, entitled: ‘Fr. Marie-Eugene, Mystic and Teacher’. After the welcome address, given by the President of the faculty, Fr. Denis Chardonnens, there were six conferences: ‘I want to see God and contemporary debates about mysticism’ (Fr. Bernard Minvielle); “Bld. Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, Discalced Carmelite’ (Fr. Emilio José Martínez, OCD); ‘A concept of mystical life rooted in experience’ (Fr. Louis Menvielle, Vice-Postulator of the Cause of Canonisation); ‘The sanctification of Ordinary life according to Bld. Marie-Eugene’ (Fr. Laurent Touze); ‘Theology and contemplation in the thought of Fr. Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus: implications, problems and perspectives” (Fr. Jesus Manuel García Gutiérrrez); and ‘I want to see God as a theological synthesis’ (Fr. François-Marie Léthel, OCD).
The conferences were followed by a round table, presided by Fr. Piero Coda and it fell to Fr. Jean-François Lefebvre, Director of the ‘Studium Notre Dame de Vie’, which is affiliated with the Teresianum, draw the discussion to a close.
The congress succeeded in demonstrating Fr. Marie-Eugene’s contribution to theology, particularly to understanding mystical life, placing it in its context, as well as within the Carmelite tradition and showing the validity of his work today.
