Inauguration of the centenary
On the 2nd of January, the Marist family of Catalonia gathered, as they traditionally do, in the house of les Avellanes to celebrate with the older Brothers the anniversary of the foundation of the Institute.
This year, the date coincided with the beginning of the celebrations for the centenary of the Marist presence in the Monastery. September 2010 marks the centenary of the arrival of the Brothers in this house of les Avellanes to convert it into a novitiate.
The monastery of Santa María de Bellpuig de les Avellanes was founded by Premonstratensian monks at the end of the XII century. The property and the monastery passed through various hands until it was acquired by the Marist Brothers in 1910. With their coming, the Monastery went through several phases of restoration and was filled with life. Numerous generations of Brothers, who did their juniorate, novitiate, or scholasticate there, have spread its name around the whole world as Marist religious and apostles of children and youth.
Today, the house accomodates a community of retired or infirm Brothers, and a community of hospitality and spiritual direction for those seeking a place of silence and interior peace. This place of spirituality is a fount of new life which is palpable not only to those who live in the house but also to those who have found it a reference point for their human and spiritual journey. Among them are many young people who, in the celebration of Easter, in work camps, or in live-in experiences, have discovered valid reference points for their life projects. New life which today expresses itself in a house of ?open doors? which welcomes any person in search of rest, peace, silence, nature, and experience of transcendence. New life which makes us feel universal in our ideals, at the same time as rooted in and committed to our land.
The celebrations of the centenary will be held throughout the year, beginning on 2 January 2010 and concluding on 2 January 2011. The central act of this joyful celebration is fixed for the 10th of September, anniversary date of the arrival of the Brothers in the house. The days preceding, 8 and 9 September, there will be a Marist gathering for those who lived in this house during their years of formation.
Among the activities inaugurating the centenary was the blessing on 2 January of the new image of the Virgin Mary which has been placed in the remodelled community cemetery.
Dear Brother and friend, you too can take a leading part in this centenary!
We invite you to live with us, giving thanks for the life and the new life which this house has generated and is generating.
Happy centenary of the Marist presence in el Monasterio de les Avellanes!
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