A Grand Marist Experience
As a community of Marist educators from Uruguay, we, Brothers and laity, made a pilgrimage to various Marist places from September 14-19 where the dream of Marcellin began. We 50 pilgrims were welcomed and accompanied during this entire time by the Marist community of the Hermitage and we are very grateful to them for their hospitality and family spirit which they offered to us during our days there.
The Hermitage, Rosey, Marlhes, La Valla and many other places were all central to our experience.
It was a time for soaking in the Marist spirit, growing together in our shared faith and spirituality.
“The welcome has been exceptional… it has totally surpassed my expectations, I leave with great peace, filled with energy and a great restlessness about how I can continue to live out the reality of the spirit of Marcellin in Uruguay especially with the youth.”
“It is a unique experience, it revived the spirit of Marcellin and we shared time with a group of people who felt the same inspiration, and how to model it….”
“I have enjoyed this experience, I have enjoyed, every moment each word, I feel a part of this history.”
“This was an incredibly rich experience; a variety of methods brought us to the most profound understanding of ourselves and our mission…. Our dreams are many; our priority now is to share what is now burning in our hearts with others….”
“This experience invites me to a greater commitment to the Marist mission, with my students, fellow workers and my family.”
“This was an incredible experience for me… I dream of being able to participate in the celebration of this life among brothers and laity, laity and brothers.”
“In all my years and as a former Marist student I never imagined being able to live this out…. I come away renewed, filled with the spirit of faith…”
“I was able to encounter God many times and I was able to take advantage of and enjoy praying.”
“I learned a great deal about Marist life, the first brothers and their charism.”
“I came away with a grand dream: that as parents of Marist alumni, we devote ourselves to being true Marist laity for today’s world…”
“It has been a marvelous experience. The grandness of nature which surrounds this place, which allowed us a glance at the beauty of the people who shared this pilgrimage, a deeper sense of the who Marcellin was, and to place ourselves in the history … it is engraved in my heart … I actually feel spoiled by God…”
“It has been an experience which generated in me feelings of wanting to do more for my communityand to participate and witness more as a lay Marist… it has caused me to seriously question myself and examine my Marist vocation and the responsibility we have to continue this spirit and this way of being Marist.”
“The experience has been marvelous, not only because of getting to know the geographic features of places which was significant , but we also had a sort of itinerary of formation and a very strong deepening in spirituality, very well presented and certainly more than expected. I have experienced many years of Marist life and not just a few courses and meetings linked to Marist spirituality, but the experience of these days here without a doubt have left their on me.”
“The community of the Hermitage offered us a with warmth and happiness that impressed me deeply. When we started the route through the places of Marcellin, I marveled at the landscape of the French countryside, but the workshops and prayers which accompanied each event were transformed into the beautiful of pilgrimages. They started in me a rebirth of many desires and projects which were stale.”
“What I came away with most was a reaffirmation of my being a Marist…”