In 2010 the bicentennial of the death of Fr. Emmanuel d'Alzon, the founder of the Assumptionists, two Assumptionists, Fathers Jean-Paul Périer-Muzet, the general archivist at the time, and Jean-Daniel Gullung, the general treasurer, collaborated in putting together a large collection of the photos and images that exist of him.

The text has yet to be translated, but the photos and images need little translation!!! They can all be found at http://www.assomption.org/fr/mediatheque/cahiers-du-bicentenaire-1/le-pere-d-alzon-en-images.

We are reproducing some of them here to give our readers a taste of the collection. Good viewing!

By Fr. Oliver Blanchette, A.A.

“Every century has its own vices, we must above all have the virtues that are contrary to these vices. It is in this sense that we must belong to our times”.  These words of Emmanuel d’Alzon prompt me to offer congratulations to Fr. Julio, postulator for the cause of beatification of Fr. d’Alzon, for choosing to speak in the present and coming issues of the “Signs of God” and in this Year of Faith, of the faith of our founder. There is a crying need for Catholics to deepen their faith. There is a crying need in our country for men and women who live out their faith so that it affects all society for the common good. That’s why, in part at least, we are having this Year of Faith. This offers us a powerful reason for speaking of Fr. d’Alzon’s faith and of showing how it was precisely our founder’s  faith, deeply personal yet very public, that made him a man of his times. In turn, this invites us, if we wish to really be men and women of our times, to seek in Emmanuel d’Alzon an example of living faith, for both our personal lives and in our more public lives as members of the body of Christ, the Church, and as active citizens of our country. And, of course, we hope that this will also advance The Good Cause of Emmanuel d’Alzon’s beatification.

Word of the Postulator

Pope Benedict XVI called on the entire Church to celebrate a « year of faith ». It was meant to be an opportunity to recommit ourselves to search for the truth: the truth about God and the truth about Man. It also meant bearing clear and courageous witness to our faith in Jesus Christ in the midst of our world and the men and women who surround us.

One basic criterion in demonstrating the holiness of a Servant of God is precisely that of showing how he practiced a life of virtue, especially the virtue of faith. We know that Fr. d’Alzon was a man of faith and that it was this beacon that enlightened his whole life, all his apostolic initiatives, his love of the Church, and his unconditional commitment to Jesus Christ.

By Fr. Oliver Blanchette, A.A.

Fr. Julio Navarro, Postulator for the Cause of Beatification of Fr. d’Alzon is, to say the least, a good salesman! In the 5^th issue of “Signs of God", he links the Church’s recognition of the holiness of our Founder with our own call to holiness. Thus for Assumptionists and all those belonging to the larger family of the Assumption - friends, volunteers and Lay Assumptionists - Fr Julio is, in a sense, telling us that it’s in our own deepest interest to work for the canonization of Fr d’Alzon! How does he do that ?