Six days before the Passover, when the Lord came into the city of Jerusalem, the children ran to meet him; in their hands they carried palm branches and with a loud voice cried out: Hosanna in the highest! Blessed are you, who have come in your abundant mercy! O gates, lift high your heads; grow higher, ancient doors. Let him enter, the king of glory! Who is this king of glory? He, the Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory. Hosanna in the highest! Blessed are you, who have come in your abundant mercy!
The fourth of six children, René Mertz was born in Riedwhir (Haut-Rhin), France, on February 18, 1907. After attending several Assumptionist high school seminaries, he joined the congregation and made his first vows on November 5, 1926, taking the name Amarin. After studying philosophy in Belgium and theology in France, he was ordained a priest at the end of 1934.
First Assignment: Manchuria (1935-1948)
Shortly thereafter, in October 1935, he left for Manchuria with Fr. Cyrille Paratte, the first two Assumptionists to set off for this Far East mission. He stayed for 13 years (1935-1948). During this time he would never be able to leave in order to see his family and often times he had a hard time corresponding with them. Already during his lifetime Fr. d’Alzon had his eye on the Orient and even mentioned to the Oblates of the Assumption, with a touch of humor, that they shouldn’t rest easy until they had arrived at the foot of the Great Wall of China! Since 1931 Manchuria had been in the hands of China’s bellicose and imperialistic neighbor, Japan.
(On Thursday, April 3, 2014, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation of Saints in Rome to recognize that Fr. Marie-Clément Staub lived a life of 'heroic virtue' and can now be considered "Venerable", a further step in the canonization process. A French priest of the Assumptionist Order who was sent to mission in Canada, he saw a need to provide the Canadian seminaries and religious educational facilities with a support staff of nuns who would work to assist these institutions through charitable service and prayer. Hence, he founded the congregation of female religious known as the “Sisters of St. Joan of Arc” to accomplish his vision. He died in Quebec in 1936 and his Cause was initiated by that diocese. He was declared a Servant of God in 1986. Read full article below from the Catholic News Service on Pope Francis' decisions.)
VATICAN CITY - Without a canonization ceremony, Pope Francis declared three new saints for the Americas, pioneers of the Catholic Church in Canada and Brazil.
The magazine, Auras de Lourdes, published by the Assumptionists who run the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Santo Lugares section of Buenos Aires, celebrated its 100th birthday on January 1 of this year --- 100 years without interruption. To commemorate the event, the religious of the shrine produced a special centennial issue. At present the magazine appears four times a year.
The centennial issue, 54 pages in all, gives a short history of the magazine which was launched on January 1, 1914, at the original chapel under the direction of Fr. Godofredo Pierson AA, the superior of the community at the time. Only in 1920 was this community established as a parish.
