It was on December 17, 1991, that Fathers Frans Desmet (South Belgium) and Thierry Cocquerez (France), having taken off from Logan Airport in Boston (USA), arrived at Seoul International Airport where they were welcomed by the local superior of the Missionary Fathers of St. Columban. The following day they were joined by Fr. Leo Brassard (USA) whose plane had been delayed in Los Angeles with technical difficulties. And so it was that the Assumptionists were to set foot once again in the Far East. For, in fact, they were forced to leave Manchuria in 1954 under pressure from the Communists. Christmas would be celebrated with the Oblate Sisters of the Assumption in Kwangju, a city in the southwest part of the country. It would be there that the community would establish its first community after two years of language study in Seoul.
- Could you tell us a little bit about your history with the Assumptionists?
- I come from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where I was born in December 1965 in the small village of Beni-Paida, in the province of North Kivu. My adventure with the Assumptionists began in 1984 when I met Fr. Christian Blanc, of happy memory, who was visiting the Orant Sisters of the Assumption in Beni. Six months later, I was already a postulant, and two years later, on September 16, 1986, a young Assumptionist.
Since then, I have come to know, to love, and to transmit to others my love for the Assumption, which has really become my new family.
Fr. Marcel Neusch, philosopher and theologian, has read St. Augustine a lot. He has studied him a lot, reflected on him a lot, and also taught about him a lot. He has done so as a professor in theological schools and seminaries, as a retreat master, and as a conference speaker --- before the most varied audiences and at every level. He has also written a lot on the bishop of Hippo, in erudite tomes as well as humble magazines. Without being a ‘specialist’ of St. Augustine in the strict sense of the word, let us say that Marcel Neusch knows his subject. And he knows how to make him known and loved thanks to his recognized ability as teacher and as one who knows how to make complex information accessible.
- Brother Antoine, could you introduce yourself briefly?
- Brother Antoine (BA): I am an Assumptionist, born in Alsatia (France), from a peasant family that was deeply Catholic. I made my first vows in 1955. As a young religious I pursued a dream of becoming a missionary --- first in Ivory Coast and then in Madagascar.
- You were a missionary in Madagascar for 30 years and here you are again a missionary, this time in Burkina Faso. What keeps you going?
For the past year, I have had the privilege of serving on the editorial board for Lumen et Vita, a student-initiated and facilitated academic journal at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. This often requires a lot of so-called 'grunt work'; this includes planning events, drafting flyers, the long process of selecting and editing submitted articles and finally producing a finished product which appears online. What motivates me and the others on the editorial board is the purpose of our efforts: to provide a space for students at our school to share their ideas about theology and ministry within the community of the school itself, but also with the larger community of those interested in these topics.
The Triduum of prayer and reflection that preceded the Commemoration prepared us well for the solemn celebration on Sunday presided by our Bishop, Mgr. Christo Prolkov. This year, the parishioners from Kuklen joined those from Plovdiv. This helped to create a true spirit of family and unity.
The Divine Liturgy is an event characterized by a place and rites whose purpose is to bring us to encounter God so as to be transfigured by Him. The chants, the icons, the incense, the candles, the Word from the Holy Scriptures, are all meant to open our hearts so that God can touch them and make them more “holy” by the gift of his grace.
In honor of the 200th birthday of Fr. Emmanuel d’Alzon, Assumption College released a festschrift titled, Teaching after d’Alzon: Essays on Education Today, about the power of the Assumptionist founder and educator’s ever-present influence on today’s classroom. In the publication, Assumption community members reflect on how their own teaching lives have been formed in the tradition of d’Alzon.
The Assumptionist Province of North America and the Philippines is happy to announce the appointment of Fr. Peter Precourt, A.A. as a member of the Bayard Administrative Council in the United States.
Fr. Peter is presently pastor of St. Anne & St. Patrick's Parish in Sturbridge, MA. Congratulations Fr. Peter!
This year the Assumption family in Vietnam is offering residence to 84 university students in Saigon, in four different communities. They are studying a variety of subjects: humanities, management, education, law, languages, engineering, etc. in many different schools. They are all responsible for organizing their daily life together. There is an Assumptionist and an Assumption sister assigned to each community to help with the spiritual development and to provide overall direction.
