In 1995, the Augustinians of the Assumption, sponsors of Assumption College, celebrated the 100th anniversary of the establishment of their first community in the United States. Here, in brief, is the story of our presence in America.

The story began in France in the year 1850, when Venerable Emmanuel d'Alzon founded the Assumptionists to work for the coming of the reign of Jesus Christ in human hearts, in society and in the world, and to give a doctrinal, ecumenical and social dimension to all their works. D'Alzon's broad vision would take Assumptionists to many countries throughout the world both in his lifetime and after. In 1889, Fr. François Picard, the successor of Emmanuel d'Alzon, wrote the following from France: "in our country of revolution, a house in South America is not to be disdained, and a foundation in the United States would be desirable."

50th Anniversary of the Worcester Tornado and Destruction of Assumption College/Preparatory School, June 9, 2003

On the second afternoon of the annual retreat, I had slept and missed chapel. When I awoke, I decided to shave, another thing I had overlooked that day. Outside,I could see the towering white cloud announcing a violent thunderstorm which was already rumbling in the distance. When I had finished, I sat in a rocker and read Vespers.

HOW DID IT STARTED?

Assumptionists' Church in Moscow

On September 14, 1903, Fr. Baurain arrived in St. Petersburg where he established the first Assumptionist residence in Russia. This was the fulfillment of one of Fr. d'Alzon's most ambitious dreams. Two years later, Fr. Maniglier founded St. Peter's Church in Odessa and the dream became a reality. After the Bolshevik Revolution, most foreigners were expelled and very little remained of the Assumptionist presence except for the Church of St. Louis in Moscow. It is to this Church that Fr. Leopold Braun was attached as the first American Assumptionist to serve the diplomatic corps under the Roosevelt-Litvinov agreement. American Assumptionists served in Moscow for the next 75 years.

100 YEARS IN RUSSIA

Dear Friends,

From November 20-22, the Assumptionists sponsored a colloquium in Rome to commemorate the centenary of the Assumptionist presence in Russia. During the colloquium, Prof. Gary Hamburg of the History Department of Notre Dame University made a presentation on the experience of Fr. Leopold Braun, the first AA to serve as chaplain to the international community in Moscow, from 1934-45. It is a compelling and heroic story. Please read a complete copy of his lecture.

Fr. John Franck, aa

"Reading the "Letter of the Martyrs'" of Lyonto the Churches of Asia fills us with great admiration for their courage, their mutual support and the solidarity between them.

Today, the accounts of similar events in different circumstances can be found throughout the international press which will, perhaps, affect us in the same way. We forget that they are our brothers who have been persecuted and killed.