In order to prepare for the annual Assumptionist pilgrimage to Lourdes, known simply in French as "Le National," a meeting was held in Lourdes from January 20 to 22 under the supervision of the new director, Fr. Fabien Lejeusne, A.A.

Fr. William (Willy) AQUIJE-MATTA, A.A., was ordained on September 11, 2011. He is currently living with the Assumptionist community which serves the neediest and is located on a string of barges in the Seine River near Paris. Here he is "in his own words."

When I was 6 years old, I used to be an altar boy always ready to open the doors of the church. Already at that young age·I had a desire to become a priest. But such a desire needed to be concretized.

Thanks to the sabbatical year I'm enjoying, here I am, after visiting Athens and Plovdiv, in another of our Near Eastern missions, Istanbul-Kadiköy.

In spite of the political tensions perceptible in the country (above all, questions concerning the Armenian genocide), the economic and social activity in Turkey is surprising, especially for one who comes from a country like France where there are crises of every order taking place.

In the 1970s, an Assumptionist religious, Fr. Mutien Lambert, was leading a Bible study group. Over time he was drawn to the Charismatic Renewal and to its develop-ment in the United States and Europe. The Scripture group gradually became a prayer group in the style of this new movement. Visiting various similar groups outside the country and the arrival of young people to share this new experience led to the formation of a prayer group which took the name Maranatha. Three principal aspects define it: prayer and praise, fraternal life, evangelization.