2020-06-19 SRI LANKA

Marist International Novitiate – Tudella

The Marist International Novitiate – Tudella is located in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. It receives novices from the Province of South Asia, the Province of Australia and the Marist District of Asia. The present community is composed of brothers from Sri Lanka, Canada, Spain, Australia, Vietnam and Timor-Leste. Just recently, 6 Vietnamese brothers completed their formation and made their first vows.

Marist novitiate, first steep in the Marist Consecrated Life

The novitiate is a privileged time when the novice is invited to open himself without fear to God’s love.  As he is initiated into religious life, he is led to personal growth and conversion of heart, while at the same time integrating the evangelical counsels and the Marist charism into his way of being and acting. The novitiate is the stage in which the novice learns to cherish silence and the interior life which will help him grow in intimacy with God and develop a deeper love for his brothers and sisters. It culminates, should the novice decide to welcome God’s call to Marist life and the community agrees, in the profession of vows as a brother. (Based on “Wherever You Go” # 58)

The novitiates in the Marist Institute Today

During the early days of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns in practically all parts of the world, the Brothers Today Secretariat thought of a way to connect the brothers, specifically those in the formation houses during this period of quarantine.  For a start, the novitiates were invited to send videos about what they are doing during this time along with the initiatives that they may have developed in response to the situation. 

To date, there are 9 (nine) Novitiates in the world of the Marists of Champagnat. In Africa, there are three: the Marist Brothers Interprovincial Novitiate of Save in Rwanda, the Marist Novitiate of Matola in Mozambique, and the Marist Novitiate of Kumasi in Ghana. In America Sur, there is the Champagnat Regional Novitiate in Cochabamba, Bolivia. In Arco Norte, there are two:  the La Valla Interprovincial Novitiate in Medellin, Colombia and the Marist Novitiate in Jeremie, Haiti. In Asia, there are two:  the Marist International Novitiate in Tudella, Sri Lanka and the Immaculate Conception Novitiate in Tamontaka, Philippines. And in Oceania, there is the Marist Brothers Pacific Novitiate in Lomeri, Fiji.

At the moment, the Tamontaka Novitiate (Philippines) is closed and the lone novice from the East Asia Province was sent to Fiji for his formation. The lockdown because of the pandemic, left him stranded in Samoa and so he has to do part of his novitiate in the Mulivai Community. There are also two novices undergoing formation in the Patos de Minas Community, in Gerais, Brasil.  In Australia, there is a novice from East Timor, who, while attending to significant health issues, is doing the novitiate experience with the brothers of the Daceyville Community in Sydney. These three special arrangements were approved by Br. Ernesto.

While there is no operational novitiate house in Europe, we have actually one novice from Greece, who is doing his novitiate experience in Medellin, Colombia.

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