On Sunday April 3, 2016, the second celebration of the lay linking to the Marist Charism in the Ibérica Province took place in the Chapel of the house of meetings of Lardero.  Fourteen lay men and women who have followed the Marist path for a long time confirmed publicly their vocation and commitment.

 

Sunday was a special day in which the affirmation found in the document of the XXI General Chapter became a reality: “we recognize and support the Marist lay vocation.  We believe that it is an invitation from the Spirit to live together a new communion of Marist Brothers and Laity, contributing a greater vitality to the Marist Charism and to the Mission in our world”. 

 

And this was clear because of the large number of Brothers who accompanied us in the celebration and, above all, in the emotion and joy that their faces and tears expressed.  Brothers who have not only witnessed our growth and development of our Marist option but also, in many cases, they have been the mediators for us to encounter a loving and tender God, close to us, with the solicitous presence of Mary and with the model of a full human being who is Marcelin Champagnat.

 

One of the moments of greatest emotion was that of the expression of the public commitment by the formula that has been coined in our Province and which reads as follows:

 

In the presence of God, our Father, our Good Mother and Marcelin Champagnat,

After a process of discernment of my Christian vocation lived in the Marist Charism of Champagnat, I…, desire and is my will to be recognized as a Lay Marist in our Iberian Province.

I ask Brother Provincial Superior to be accepted in this family and I commit myself to take care and to live my faith, to share it in my community and with other brothers and Lay Marists and to make Jesus Christ known and loved, constructing, with the help of the Spirit, a prophetic and Marian Church.

 

The Provincial accepted each one of us and gave us a beautiful silver cross with violet enamel that without any explanations it is a great sign.

 

United with this promise, each one of us placed a paper with our name on it in a little box that had the shape of a heart that was placed at the feet of our Good Mother.  This gesture reminded us the tradition of Marcelin in the Hermitage when he deposited the names of the Brothers in the heart of the Virgin before they left for their new destinies. By this gesture we offered our life to Mary.

 

Full chronicle in English – PDF

 

 

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Ana Sarrate