beginnings

"With good heart I've begun my work here and I don't feel any repugnance. I hope to do a little good, that's all I can expect. In the confessions, in the attendance to the sick and in the schools I see the miseries of society close up. I aim above all to recover somewhat the moral misery." (2.12.1871)

And so Dehon begins his ministry in November 1871 not with enthusiasm, but in a very open spirit. He is ready to face the pastoral challenges. Thus, only some months later, he is able to write in a letter to his friend Palustre:
"Very much better than I expected it, I got into the active ministry." (letter to Palustre, 8.1.1872)
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