To all Assumptionists at Christmastime

A WORD OF THANKS FROM US, THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE EASTERN MISSION, TO OUR FOUNDER

Emmanuel d'Alzon (1810-1880)

November 21, 2005 is the 125th anniversary of the birth into heaven of our venerable founder, Fr. Emmanuel d'Alzon.

"The (Eastern) mission owes its birth to Pius IX. Leo XIII has just established it definitively. In June 1862, at the time of the first great pilgrimage that was destined to launch the movement and to become the origin of so many beautiful and magnificent expressions of faith, during that solemn audience when our Father was so proud to be able to present so many devoted priests with Bishop Plantier at their head, the great Pius IX addressed our stouthearted founder and said to him, 'I bless your works in the East and in the West.' We had but two houses, quite weak, in the West, and nothing in the East. What did the Holy Father mean? An audience the next day, which had not been requested, would clear up the mystery. The Bulgarian movement was on His Holiness' mind. He had neither men nor money to pay attention to it, so he designated Fr. d'Alzon."
(Fr. François Picard, The Eastern Mission, 1896)

In January 2003 the Council of the Province meeting in Worcester, Massachusetts, approved the new statutes for the United States region and encouraged the religious in Mexico to consider the possibility of requesting a similar status so as to create three fairly parallel governing structures in the province. With the consent of his council Fr. John Franck appointed Fr. Dennis GALLAGHER the regional superior for the United States and Fr. Miguel DIAZ AYLLON the provincial delegate for Mexico. Fr. Dennis is currently Vice President for Mission at Assumption College, a position he will maintain with the added assistance of an administrative assistant, Br. Paul HENRY. Frs. Dennis and Miguel will begin their new duties on April 1.

The "regionalization" of the province responds to the new reality of the province, i.e. three separate realities with three different languages, churches, cultures, histories, etc. The nomination of a regional superior in the United States was seen as a means to free the provincial to spend more time caring for new efforts in Mexico and Quebec, overseeing planning for the new foundation in the Philippines, maintaining involvement in the development and expansion of Bayard North America, and developing ways to increase collaboration between the three distinct regions of the province, which has drastically declined due to ageing and a decrease in personnel. The provincial will also maintain the direction of the Board of Trustees at Assumption College.

In order to better respond to the new needs of the Church and the world in North America, the religious of the United States organised a time to reflect and share with lay people close to them. This reflection followed several stages.

On 10th July 2002, thirty-two people, religious and lay people went together to the abbey of Glastonbury. There they exchanged their ideas on various fields of activity. The workshop that had greatest success was entitled "Why are the Assumptionists important to me" The sharing was very rich that the participants decided to send their testimonies by mail to the different communities. This was done in September.

The exchange continues …...