Word of the Postulator

November 21, the liturgical feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple, has become an important date in the Assumption Family. On this day we remember the death of Fr. Emmanuel d’Alzon. In earlier days people used the expression « dies natalis », that is, the day of one’s birth to eternal life. Today we prefer to speak of his « Passover », the passage from death to new life in God. In many places, this date in November has been reserved for Lay Assumptionists to pronounce or renew their commitment to live the spirituality and mission of the Assumption. Still, the real reason for this feast is to recall a « father », a « spiritual master », a « model of holiness », who invites us to become saints ourselves and to imitate his virtues. This is what we hear from the bishop of Nîmes, Most Rev. Robert Wattebled, and from the Superior General of the Assumptionists, Very Rev. Benoît Grière, in their homilies on that day. Requesting the beatification of Fr. d’Alzon has no other meaning than that of presenting him to the People of God as a model of holiness for our day.

Fr. Julio Navarro Román, A.A.

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This is a significant testimony, by his present successor, of the lasting fruits of the Charism  given first to Fr. d’Alzon for the good of the whole Church  as well as a sign of the founder’s own great virtues.  

Then we recall the testimony of one who personally knew our Founder:  “Rev d’Alzon was an incomparable father and master…We owe him the benefit of a Christian education…His holy soul lived  for the Church  and for France alone….A simple priest in the Church ‘s hierarchy, he was  nonetheless one of the most noteworthy and most brilliant in the Church of France  in the 19^th century.  If I differed  from him  and from the school  of which he was the soul on certain issues  which remained open to debate, no one admired more  than I his  sincerity  his loyalty, his humility, his passion for souls, his measureless  and limitless charity and his devouring need  to sacrifice  all for  his neighbor, his  country  and for the faith.” (Testimony of Fredrick de Fabreges, former student of Fr. d’Alzon, in a letter dated November 21,1880,i the very day of Fr. d’Alzon’s death.)

Word of the Postulator

We are aware that, for Fr. d’Alzon, faith signifies, above all, love of the truth, filial obedience to God’s will, and apostolic action rooted in love of Jesus Christ and the coming of his Kingdom. He teaches us how to view the events of the world and of history with the eyes of faith, that is to say, with hope and optimism. Faith leads us to denounce the ills of the society in which we live, but that is not enough. Real faith leads to action. It draws us into the dynamism of love. «The hands of faith», an expression Pope Francis, are raised to forge human relationships, founded on love, and so to build a new society. Fr. Emmanuel d’Alzon’s passion was the transformation of the society of his day, in accordance with God’s plan; « Thy Kingdom come! » was the battle cry of this apostle. He desired to see in his disciples the martyrs’ audacity and the apostles’ daring. Throughout his life, all his actions, all his apostolic works were imbued with his ardent spirit of faith --- always. Pope Benedict and Pope Francis invite us to become men and women of faith, to bear public witness to our attachment to Jesus Christ, and to his Church, and not to be content with an individualistic and passive faith, but rather to place ourselves ‘at the concrete service of justice, right, and peace’.

Fr. Julio Navarro Román, A.A.

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Word of the Postulator

Faith is a grace, a free gift from God. By means of faith we are capable of drawing near to the truth about God, that truth which Jesus Christ came to reveal: God is Love. Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that faith transforms our entire human existence and that it grows when it is lived as an experience of love. Fr. d’Alzon also teaches us, both in word and by the example of his life, that faith is above all attachment to God, with all our being, in love and obedience. Moreover, faith is a light that lets us perceive, albeit imperfectly, the truth about God’s being, about the relationship we are called to establish with him. This light is a grace from God, a gift of the Holy Spirit. But, on our part, there is always an effort to be made. Our faith can and must grow: through prayer, study, personal effort, seeking the truth, surrendering ourselves to God’s will. This is what Fr. d’Alzon asks of his disciples, religious or lay. On our lips there should always be found this prayer of the apostles, “Lord, increase our faith!”

Fr. Julio Navarro Román, A.A.

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