The place of Mary in the document of Marist apostolic spirituality

For some years now, it has been a tradition among us to offer to the Brothers and lay people a day of reflection on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Brother Bernard Beaudin (in the picture) has been engaged in renewing our vision of the Virgin and, more especially, reviving our love for the Good Mother. This year he also prepared a prayer meeting and he presented it with great enthusiasm.

As the Province is quite extensive geographically and as Mother Nature can present us with some surprises with the snow and the cold at this time in December, the meeting was arranged on two dates and in two places, to make things easier for the participants. The first meeting took place in Iberville on Saturday 8, and the second in Château-Richer on the following day.
The lay people involved with the communities are always invited to join us in these moments of prayer. But on this occasion, due to the year of spirituality and following the meetings of les Avellanes (May) and Mendes (September), there was an even greater response from the lay people, both in Iberville and in Château-Richer. Brother Bernard had proposed as the topic ?The place of Mary in the document of Marist apostolic spirituality Water from the rock (see picture). With this in mind, The Province of Canada has also made a special effort to gather together the lay people together with the Brothers to offer them a time of profound spirituality. We think that the launching of the document Water from the Rock, directed as much at the Brothers as at the lay people, as well as the invitation of the General Council to consecrate this special year in such a way as to reinforce our spirituality, offers us a privileged space for this initiative. Therefore, the Province has organized five periods of spiritual intensification, by convoking two or four days that will be facilitated by specialists in Champagnat and Marist origins: Brother Téofilo Minga in December 2007, Brother André Lanfrey in February 2008 and Brother Alain Delorme in August 2008. The response that is coming from the lay people is highly significant. And we hope in this way to revive the Marist flame in the heart of each one and in the environments in which we live.

Gilles Hogue, fms.