A Spirituality with an identity
The Province Cruz del Sur welcomed the V Encounter of the Network of Centers of Marist Memory of the Region of South America, celebrated from 4 to 8 November, 2019, in Villa Marista in Lujan, Argentina. The objective was to promote the Network of Centers of Marist Memory of the Region and to promote formation and reflection among the professionals – coordinators, technicians, and collaborators – who work in these Centers of Marist Memory. Twenty-eight participated in the meeting.
On the first day of the Encounter, they spoke about the NET of Centers of Marist Memory, in the context of the South American Region and of the Marist Institute, with the participation of Brothers Josep Maria Sotero, General Councilor of the Marist Institute, Alberto Aparicio, Executive Secretary of the Region of South America and Dyógenes Araùjo, member of the Commission of Marist Spiritual Patrimony. Dorotea Cinanni, Archivist of the General Administration was also present.
In his conference, Brother Soteras considered the challenge of watching for a spirituality with identity, with horizons and roots and linked to the mission, and he proposed three lines of action: to open widely, from one side to the other, the doors of the heart to that spirituality, to establish its “places” of reference and contribute to the development of the NET.
In the afternoon of the first day, the progress and the difficulties that each participating Province had experienced since the last encounter of the Net, concerning the organization of the Centers and the orientating documents for the Management of the Patrimony: archivist, bibliographic, and of the museums, There was also sharing about launching the Institutional Policy for the historical Memory of the Marist Province Amazonia Brazil Sul.
The second day was dedicated to the advising of technical formation; in the morning the collaborator of the Marist Province South-Central Brazil, Fernanda Arruda, presented a model of work with the tool Canvas for the elaboration of Swot Matrix of each Center of memory, which ended with the joint elaboration of a Swot Matrix for the Net. In the afternoon, the advisers Susana Brandariz and Magali Alonso spoke on the preventive preservation pf the common property and they carried out some practical activities.
At the end of the second day, two publications were presented: Our Superiors General (biographies of the Superiors of the Institute of Marist Brothers since 1839 to 1993), produced by the Marist Memorial of the Province of South-Central Brazil, and Saint Marcelin Champagnat (biography of the Founder of the Marist Brothers written by Manuel Mesonero Sanchez fms), produced by the Province Santa Maria de loss Andes.
In the morning of the third day of the Encounter, five teams were formed, which worked on some of the objectives of the Net: Education, Innovation and Investigation, Formation and Qualification and Communication and Spirituality. There was also technical formation on the System Pergamum and the places of the History and the Historical Archives of the Province of Cruz del Sur were visited.
The last day of the Encounter there was also a technical visit to the Museum of Modern Art in Buenos Aires. The integration of the group and the fraternal climate shared during the Encounter reflected the sentiment of belonging and the team work of the Net. The Encounter, besides, strengthened the mission that we all share: to work together in favor of the Marist Memory.