First profession and retreat of the novices of PACE and Madagascar at Save

On June 6, seven novices of the Province of East Central Africa made their first profession in the Institute at the interprovincial novitiate in Save, Rwanda. Two other novices, who have completed their second year, will make their first profession at the end of the month, in Madagascar.

In preparation for this important moment in the life of the novitiate, from May 29 to June 4, Brother Oscar Martin Vicario, General Councilor, led a retreat on the theme “Spirituality of the Heart as the Source of our Consecration”. There were 20 participants in the retreat: 9 first year novices, 9 second year novices and 2 formators.

The retreat took place at the Monastery of the Benedictine Sisters of Save, a very suitable place, in the middle of nature, and with excellent conditions for silence and prayer. These days offered everyone the opportunity to deepen the journey already made during the Novitiate: to become more and more rooted in spirituality and in the experience of God’s love, in order to respond with generosity and courage to God.

During these days of silence and prayer, there was time for presentations, dialogues, prayerful moments and practices of interiority, always oriented to the experience of encounter.

The novices who make their first profession in June will continue their Marist formation in August at the International Scholasticate in Nairobi (MIC), Kenya.

First Profession – 6 June