Marists of Brazil participate in the first Workshop on Historical and Spiritual Patrimony

More than 30 brothers and lay people from the Provinces of Brasil Centro-Sul, Brasil Sul Amazônia and Brasil Centro-Norte took part on 12 and 13 May in the first Workshop on Marist Historical and Spiritual Patrimony (PHEM) 2021. The theme of the activity was “Superiors General of the Marist Institute: Champagnat’s succession – charism, spirituality and management”. The meeting was also attended by Brother Pablo, Provincial of Santa María de los Andes, and members of the Champagnat Movement of the Marist Family.

At the opening of the event, Dyogenes Philippsen Araújo, director of the Marist Memorial, presented the first volumes of the Marist Studies Collection, divided into three areas:

• Marist Sources: brings together fundamental unpublished sources, in a bilingual version;
• Marist Studies: oriented towards important studies on different themes of Marist history;
• -Marist Spirituality: presents studies related to the historical evolution of Marist spirituality.

The first day was devoted to the theme “How to build a successor”. Angelo Ricordi and João Luís Fedel, both from the Direction of Identity, Mission and Vocation of the Province of Brasil Centro-Sul, treated the subject of the succession of Father Champagnat in two stages.

First, Angelo recalled the history of the story of succession by analysing two sources: Life of Father Champagnat, by Jean-Baptiste Furet, and “Annales de l’Institut”, by Br Avit. In the second part, João Luís encouraged the participants to work directly with some texts from Notebooks 303 and 304 of Br François. Materials related to Government, especially on their use as literature to complement the knowledge on the best way to govern.

The second day was devoted to the theme of spirituality. Fabiano Incerti, Director of the Directorate of Institutional Identity of the PUCPR, proposed the reading of Brother François’ Notebook 301.

These elements make Brother François not only the successor of Champagnat, but also the heir of a rich spiritual tradition which continues to inspire us.

For Brother Claudiano Tiecher, Director of the Colégio Marista Santo Antônio, the workshop led to a profound reflection. That is to say, a technical and refined analysis of the role of Brother François at the head of our Institute.

“It is important to be able to understand this person and how the elements of his time influenced the directions taken in the decades following the death of the Founder. Brother François’ writings, in the form of a diary, are a real treasure to be deciphered, full of anointing, spirituality and nuances of how he conceived leadership as Superior General. Amazing records that reveal an admiration for the Founder and the need to strive to achieve Champagnat’s virtues. Congratulations to the Memorial and the team for their research and their valuable contribution to Marist Brazil and our Institute,” he said.

The PHEM Workshop is a project that has existed since 2012, and is promoted by the Department of Identity, Mission and Vocation, through the Marist Memorial of the PMBCS. And it has a partnership with the Irmão Francisco Laboratory, of the Identity Board of the PUCPR.