An invitation to strengthen our faith
Yet another anniversary of the death of Brother Francis, when we call to mind his features and his life. And we also revisit the situation concerning the cause of his beatification. The cause of Brother Francis, from the point of view of the Postulation, demands great cooperation by the Institute to obtain, through his intercession, a miracle that will prepare the way to his recognition as beatus. Seen from the perspective of the Institute, this constitutes a strong call to exercise our faith.
Francis was a man of faith
Between 1848 and 1853 he left us four written circulars concerning the spirit of faith. It is wonderful to study the different editions of the Rules written for posterity, toinform ourselves of the great repercussions suggested by thecalls of Brother Francis in the texts which provide motivation and rules of behaviour for our Marist life.
Francis is still to be discovered in depth by most of the members of the Institute. The institutional community has assimilated some important features of his life, but we are still far from the springs which nurtured him and led him to become a Brother. We could do worse than to celebrate this anniversary by reading the four letters which he wrote on the spirit of faith that must once again guide the life of the Brother. It could be a motivational gesture that would help us to become more aware of the basic dimension of our life. The just man lives by faith. Brother Francis invites us in his first circular (1848) "to think, to judge, to speak and to act in everything according to the perspective of the faith."
The life of faith or the spirit of faith that guides our life will encourage us to discover this model of a Brother as being a model of Marist sanctity for the present day. Francis invites us to revaluate and to love our Brotherly vocation more and more. This same spirit of faith will help us to intercede effectively before the Father in our needs and the needs of those who live with us. And we dare to request miracles through his intercession. Also this is a manifestation of our love for the Institute.
Meanwhile we continue taking some small steps towards knowing and sharing of the life of Brother Francis.
'Marist places' in Rome
On the 26th of September 2018, the pilgrimage began to visit those ' Marist places ' in the city of Rome, under the auspices of the presence of Brother Francis Rivat. The news became public through www.champagnat.org accompanied by pictures on 05/10/2018. The group of older Spanish and Portuguese Brothers taking part in the 'Dawn' course were accompanied by the Brother Postulator General. They followed a pilgrimage from the General House to the Church of the Holy Name of Mary, situated in the Forums next to the Trajan column. It was with this visit that the route of the Marist places of Rome was inaugurated.
At this time the publication is under wayof a selection of the reflections of Brother Francis, gathered especially from his notebooks and from the letters directed to the Brothers between 1840 and 1860. These reflections contain fourteen different topics contained in two long chapters: Francis the spiritual man and Francis the perfect pupil of Champagnat.
At the same time a group of artists is preparing a new graphic image of Francis which will accompany the spiritual image of his thoughts. We expect to send out this material about the face of the successor to Champagnat, sometime this year to different areas and Marist establishments.
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Br. Antonio Martínez Estaún, Postulator General