We recently heard from former Cassadagan Ron Gaulin who met up with a friend in Rome. He wishes to share this joyous experience with the Assumption family.

“I really enjoy the newsletter and the photos because I look for people I know. So when I knew I was going to Rome, I contacted fellow Cassadagan John Franck and we started e-mailing back and forth.

On the evening of December 30, the first Congolese Assumptionists arrived at the São Paulo airport to begin their new mission in Brazil: Fr. Jules Mumbere Paluku, 37 years old, and Fr. Roger Wasukundi Sivakwirivutwa, 36 years old.

For almost ten years now, the Assumptionist Center in Brighton has been the home of a core group of community members and a residence for young, single men who are studying and/or working in the Boston area who wish to share an experience in Christian community life in the Catholic tradition. They come together on a regular basis to share meals, prayer, recreation and meetings through which they discover how God is working in their daily lives.

In 2011 when the masculine branch of the Assumption Family established a formation community in Ougadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, it became only the fourth country in the world where all five branches of the Family are found (France, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Vietnam being the other three). The first to arrive, in 1965, the Religious of the Assumption run two schools there as well as a formation house.

At Mount Saint Mary’s Abbey (Wrentham, MA), from January 26^th to February 16^th, 2014

Silence touches the heart…reveals the self. It was a life-giving experience, a journey that started with fear and hesitation, but allowing the Spirit to take control made a difference; a total surrender of myself to God to entrust everything to His grace. Silence taught me to value every word that comes out of my mouth, to be vigilant at all times in what I say:  is it a message that gives life or that destroys? It was a time to pick up the pieces of my life and continue the journey, appreciating and thanking God for His grace and enlightenment. (Brother Leo Divinagracia)

Please help us celebrate "Bro's" 90^th birthday by sending birthday wishes to our very dear friend and Alumni Ambassador extraordinaire.

Cards and notes may be mailed to us at Assumption, or e-mail either dlaska@assumption.edu or demarais@assumption.edu and we'll share them with "Bro" on March 12.

For the many of you who have inquired...a scholarship fund was established for "Bro" by the Class of 1969 at its 40^th Reunion.  If you wish to contribute as a birthday gift, you may do so online.  Under "Gift Designation" please indicate that your gift is for the Bro. Armand G. Lemaire, A.A.'48 Scholarship.  You may also forward a check, made payable to Assumption College, to either of us at the address below.

Instead of visiting the beaches of Florida or the Caribbean, nearly 80 Assumption College students have opted to volunteer during their upcoming spring breaks by performing acts of community service in cities and towns up and down the eastern seaboard.

This year, 2014, the Assumptionists of the Province of Africa have accepted responsibility for the administration of three parishes in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Assuming responsibility for the two parishes in Tanzania, Murugunturu in the diocese of Bunda, and Digodigo, in the archdiocese of Arusha, came in conjunction with the silver jubilee of the Assumptionist presence in East Africa and as a sign of the Congregation's commitment to serve the Church throughout the area. The first Assumptionist community was founded in Nairobi in 1988, a joint effort of three provinces of the time, the Congo (now part of the Province of Africa), England, and North America.