What am I waiting for to write this ninth edition of the newsletter relating what’s been going on here in Bucharest at the Center --- snow, free time, some added dose of energy ?? In any case, time is flying by and I really want to share with you some news. But first of all, let me wish you all a Happy New Year 2014 --- one filled with tenderness and peace!
As time goes by (and I don’t need to remind myself as I approach 60, that it is, I keep wondering what it is that would be most important to share with you --- some of the highlights since the last edition or rather what an ordinary day or week looks like (the latter would be harder to do but might give you an insider’s view of how it is that we choose to carry out our mission in this very particular societal and Church context?
OER was the scene of a “Celebration of Spring” on April 8, 2014, from 3 to 4:30 P.M. It was the amalgamation of two ideas. For a time, Jamie Couture, Donna Michael’s assistant, had been talking about having his friend Wil Darcangelo and his group, called the Tribe, come to OER and sing for the religious of OER. Tomasz who, with Sister Clare had come to take photos of the religious, talked about having a showing of the photos. Both ideas were put together. “De fil en aiguille,” as we say in French, it was decided to invite all the religious of the region and their friends and relatives to share in both experiences. Refreshments were served: ice cream, cookies, cake, coffee and tea. It became a wonderful spring party, concert and picture showing, complemented by great conversation and laughter with some 45 people.
O God, who on this day, through your Only Begotten Son, have conquered death and unlocked for us the path to eternity, grant, we pray, that we who keep the solemnity of the Lord's Resurrection may, through the renewal brought by your Spirit, rise up in the light of life.
Jesus, you who on the cross were my model, my priest, my king, and my God, you who entrusted me to your mother, who forgave the thief, who thirsted for my salvation and who, after fulfilling the Scriptures, said that everything was finished; you, whose power tore the veil of the Temple, tear the veil of my illusions; you who brought the dead back to life, bring me back to the life of grace; you who split rocks, break the hardness of my heart so that, dying with you, I may also rise to new life with you.
On a recent Lenten Saturday, the Lay/Religious Alliance members from St. Anne/ St. Patrick's Parish in Sturbridge, MA and the Assumptionist Center in Brighton gathered for a day of prayer.
Fr. Claude Grenache, A.A., superior of the house and the provincial alliance liaison shared two reflective sessions on, "Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us the wrong we have done as we forgive those who wrong us," from Matthew's account of the Lord's Prayer.
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.
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