After conquering nine summits
In the 177th issue of Marist News, October 6th, the formation experience of “Horizons” for Brothers ages 35 to 45 was featured. This experience started at the Escorial on the 4th of August. For the culmination of this formation experience, the 16 Brothers participating in the program made a pilgrimage to the Hermitage during the last days of the course.
The itinerary included a weekend in Taize, sharing the dynamics of the monastery: prayers and songs, silence, workshops, the smiles of youth, and simplicity of life… Also included was the gift of meeting with Brothers Hector and Alois, the later being the present Prior of Taize. In what was formally the room of Father Roger, we shared the riches of our respective charisms, threshing through our restlessness and dreams for creating fraternity and offering a path of hope for the youth of today.
On October 3rd, the group started on the road to Geneva with the view in mind of getting to know about the office of FMSI and the work being done at the United Nations in defense of the rights of children. Brother Manuel Mendoza showed them his place of work and explained the origins of the Marist Foundation for International Solidarity (FMSI); a visit to the headquarters of the United Nations was then suggested.
The Brothers arrived at Our Lady of the Hermitage, the house of our origins and the heart of our Institute, for the final step on the pilgrimage. They were revitalized by an international community of Brothers and laity from different cultures and languages who were totally attentive to the “Horizon” group. They took them on a tour of Marist places and proposed various dynamics for reflection, moments of sharing and periods of silence and prayer.
The steps listed above have served as the conclusion of a formation journey which began on August 4th and ended on October 9th, covering nine weeks of work, community living and shared prayer, symbolic of the nine Biblical summits which lead to the horizon in a new land and a new way of being human, building a Church around Mary.