2 January 2011

In the early hours of 2 January, Brothers Emili Turù and Ernesto Sanchez went to the airport of Fiumicino for the flight to Nigeria where, in the last days, the Provincial Chapter was hold and the new Provincial, Br. Joaquim Etezulugu, took up office.The remaining members of the General Council were responsible for the liturgy of 2 January. The animation of this solemn ceremony was assured by Brothers Michael De Waas and John Klein, while Br. Joe Mc Kee, gave the occasional discourse and led the singing for this celebration of the 194th anniversary of the foundation of the Institute.About forty Brothers were present, coming from the two communities of the General House, Manziana, Viterbo, the College of San Leone Magno in Rome and from Giugliano, near Naples. To be precise, the latter delegation consisted of one Brother and four members of the Marist Fraternity. We formed a microcosm of the Marist world for we were of 14 different nationalities, with some brothers having worked for many years in mission countries. The Mass was celebrated on the first floor, in the space in front of the Superior General?s rooms. Over the entrance is a fresco showing the various places of our foundation and life: La Valla, 1817; L?Hermitage, 1824; Saint-Genis-Laval, 1859; Grugliasco, 1903,? and Rome, 1961. This last date reminds us that the General House has been in Rome for 50 years. We also had before us the two great bas-reliefs of Brother Santamarta: on the left, Marcellin Champagnat, the Virgin Mary, the Brothers, and on the right, Brother François with his motto: « Let us walk in his steps and continue his work ». The vicinity of the chapel of the Council, with the altar, the statue of the Bonne Mère and the first portrait of our Founder, made us feel very close to the first Brothers of La Valla and l?Hermitage, and to all the Brothers who departed on mission to all the dioceses of the world.Chants, prayers, readings, and discourse gave evidence of our international character as we celebrated in English, Spanish, French and Italian. At the moment of the offertory copies of the great documents of the Institute were placed in a basket in front of the altar: the Constitutions, Water from the Rock, Formation Guide, Around the same table and the Document of the XXIst General Chapter. Thus our prayer was able to take in the whole Marist Family, our missions, the youth of our schools and colleges, the parents who entrust their children to us. We felt at the heart of the Marist world, sharing the joys and sufferings of all our Brothers and Marist laity. We prayed with our eyes fixed on the coming bicentenary and the new land to which we are called to go in haste.