The Assumpt

Passionat

ionists

e about God and Man

Assumptionists, we are religious living in apostolic

communities. Faithful to our Founder, Father

d’Alzon, we seek to work before all else, and out of love

“for Christ, for the coming of the Kingdom. ”

The Assumption

HISTORY OF A PASSION

for God and for man.

The Augustinians of the Assumption, known as the Assumptionists, are religious brothers and priests who live in an apostolic community. Faithful to their founder, Father Emmanuel d’Alzon, they want, before all else, and out of love for Christ, to work for the coming of the Kingdom in and around themselves.

The Assumptionists were founded in 1845 by Father Emmanuel d’Alzon (1810-1880) who at the time was Vicar General of the diocese of Nîmes (France) and director of the College of Nîmes, Assumption College. For that reason they are called Assumptionists.

During his century, the 19th,

The Church was concerned. Heirs

France underwent many

of the Revolution, those involved in

political upheavals and several

the social movement wanted a society

revolutions (1830, 1848, 1870)

founded on the rights of man and not

that were often characterized

on those of God.

by bloody repressions of

demonstrations by the

“Today,” said Father d’Alzon, “God is working-class.

being driven out of the State, Society, Family, and Morality. Every day, this is becoming more and more evident.”

(E. d’Alzon)

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http://www.assumptio.org

Father d’Alzon’s main concern was to re-give God his rights. It was this passion for God that led him to found a Congregation. Since its beginnings, the raison d’être of the Assumptionists is to promote the love of God by extending his

“Our spiritual life, our religious nature, our raison d’être as

Kingdom (A.R.T., Thy Kingdom Come).

Augustinians of the Assumption

is found in our motto: Adveniat

Regnum Tuum. The coming of the

reign of God in our hearts … the

coming of the Reign of God in the world …, what can be more matter-of-fact, I dare say, than this form of love of God?”

(E. d’Alzon)

The first generation around Father d’Alzon (1879) One passion, three loves!

Ideas that have nourished it throughout its history The Assumptionists live this love of God by Heirs of the charism and of the spirit of their loving Jesus Christ and what he loved the most Founder, the sons of Father d’Alzon want to be in the world, the Church and the Virgin Mary: men of prayer and witnesses of God in their time, sometimes by adopting the means used by their

“If, to this principal love, you add the love of Our Founder, sometimes by creating others, according to Lord Jesus Christ, the love of the Blessed Virgin the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

his Mother, and of the Church his spouse, you will know in its simplest expression the spirit of Today they are present on 5 continents and in 30

Assumption.” (E. d’Alzon)

countries.

1. England

16. Tanzania

2. Netherlands

17. Kenya

3. Germany

18. Madagascar

4. Belgium

19. Colombia

5. France

20. Ecuador

6. Spain

21. Brazil

7. Italy

22. Argentina

8. Greece

23. Chile

9. Bulgaria

24. Mexico

10. Romania

25. United States

11. Turkey

26. Canada

12. Russia

27. Korea

13. Israel

28. Philippines

14. Togo

29. Vietnam

15. D.R Congo

30. New Zealand

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A passion held by

MEN OF FAITH

and nourished by prayer

Prayer is one of the

“Christ is the one who

motives that prompted

gathers us together.

me to enter religious

We live in community

life. As a matter of

according to the spirit of

fact, I realized that,

St. Augustine: ‘Before all

at home, I didn’t have

else, live in a household of

Community of Kwangju (Korea)

enough time to pray. I

perfect harmony, having

needed well-structured

but one heart and one

and specifi c times

mind intent on God.’”

for prayer. I actually

(Rule of Life)

found that time in the

Assumptionist religious

life… When I pray, I

meet my God and I

dialogue with him; I

Community of Rome (Italy) at prayer speak to him, and he

Prayer is diffi cult for everyone!

listens to me…

Antoine Kasereka

Muhindo (DRC)

Together they search for God.

And together they listen to him.

The community of Florence (Italy) during the The Adveniat House community (Philippines) adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

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http://www.assumptionist.org.uk

“For me, Christ is my life”

After having spent two years

Their vowed life

at the center in Juvisy (Paris

is at the service of Christ and the Church region) […], I wanted to deepen

the direction of my life, so I

requested to leave for one year

Perpetual profession in France

as a volunteer. It was in Canada

that I discovered community life

and its demands. It was there

that I discovered Saint Augustine, but also the face of a Church

that is wounded, but to a lesser

degree than it had been in France.

What prompted me to become an

Assumptionist was that you cannot

“In the presence of my brothers, in your hands, Father …

discover God by yourself. What

(representing the Superior General), for love of Christ and to extend was lacking before was the presence his Reign, I, Brother… promise God to live in poverty, in chastity, and in religious obedience until death, according to the Rule of Saint of others who are also searching for Augustine and the Rule of Life of the Assumptionists.”

God. For that reason, the Gospel of Saint John helped me a lot. When the Greeks were searching to meet The vowed life is the basic

Jesus, they approached Philip

reason for my choice of

saying “we would like to see Jesus,”

religious life. Following

and with Andrew they approached

Christ more closely,

Jesus. For me this passage was

announcing the Gospel,

the sign of community life: to ask serving Jesus in the poor

others to see Christ and to help

and the sick, and living a

others to see Christ.

happy life were my reasons

Philippe Berrached (France)

for entering religious life. I

understood that achieving

all of this would be possible

only in the family of

the Augustinians of the

Assumption because I saw

the way they were living.

Lucian Dinca with Philippe

Kakule Mutahya Augustin

Berrached (in Quebec)

(D.R. Congo)

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A passion lived in

an apostolic community

“The coming of the Reign of Jesus Christ for us and our neighbor is already taking place in our common life” (Rule of Life) During community meetings

During meals

which for the Assumptionists are occasions to strengthen their ties in simplicity, according to Assumption’s traditional family spirit.

The Casa Manuel community (Mexico) In a spirit of openness and frankness, everyone is responsible for the smooth running of the community The Anakao community (Madagascar) By being open and listening to each other A Malagasy, a Colombian and a Spaniard Austin House community (Tanzania)

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http://www.assomption.org

During times of relaxation

José Manuel Oyakawa

Araoz, 25 years old, Peruvian

by birth, but a professed

religious of the Province of

France.

[What prompted me to

become an Assumptionist

Novices during an outing (France) was] before all else, the way

in which all the members of

At Assumption, priests and non-priests, young and old, black and white, all are brothers and follow the teaching of the community are united

Christ according to the spirit of Saint Augustine, whatever in the same spirit. Diff erent

their age, culture, race or origin. Together, they discern the countries, diff erent cultures,

means of responding to the challenges of the world. Yes, it and diff erent languages

is this passion for the Reign of God that transforms their come together to walk in

cultural diversity into richness.

the footsteps of Christ. It’s a

richness to be able to share

with others and especially

to learn from others. Each

Assumptionist I’ve met so

far has brought something

to my life. From the fi rst

moment one enters an

Assumptionist community,

one senses immediately the

devotedness of all. Each

one is ready to give what he

has and what he is. In turn,

Julian (Romania) and Roger (Nairobi) The Saigon community

(Vietnam)

I want to do the same thing

in order to collaborate in

“In a divided world, our common life bears the coming of the Reign of

witness that Christ is alive among us, and it unites us for the proclamation of the God.

Gospel.” (Rule of Life)

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Their secret: simplicity, humility, frankness, transparency, openness of spirit, cordiality.

I have just moved to the Cachan

community, rue de la Marne (France).

Before that, I lived for eleven months with the Morère community. It was one of the most international Assumptionist communities with brothers from Peru, Egypt, Vietnam, China, Korea, and also France. Though we hailed from diff erent countries and diff erent cultures, we lived harmoniously in this community. I was able to discover there a new dimension of the Assumptionists, that of an always Young Assumptionist priests (Bulengera, D.R. Congo) stronger internationalization. Its members took interest in me who came from a small country, Korea. When they watched the news on television or the commercials regarding Korean businesses, they would share their opinions and their thoughts. I too became interested in what was happening in the society and the Church in Europe, in the Church in China, in the Church in Vietnam, etc. And so I became interested in international relations.

I believe it is a great richness to be able to come in contact in his way with other Formation community in Chile:

how beautiful is our diversity!

cultures. These diff erences are a great treasure, though on occasion I had a few small problems, e.g., when to address people as “vous” and when to address them as “tu.”

Testimony of William, a postulant, between Leo Brassard and Joseph Baik Hô.

“No one can experience the joy of this life without committing himself to it totally.”

Novitiate of Juvisy (France)

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http://sites.google.com/site/asuncespa/

The Reign of God

AROUND US

A contagious passion!

“I cannot love Jesus Christ without wanting all creatures to love him.

That is why my life must be apostolic.”

(E. d’Alzon)

By teaching in all its forms

Still today, education in all its forms is one of the ways in which the Assumptionists seek to evangelize and bear witness to Christ the Savior in today’s world.

Emmanuel d’Alzon College (Colombia)

“Our motto, ‘Thy Kingdom Come,’

prompts us to work for the coming of the Reign of Christ in us and in the world. Just as the Father sent him, so Christ sends us, with the promise of his Spirit, to serve our brothers and sisters by proclaiming the Gospel.” (Rule of Life)

Emmanuel d’Alzon among his students at the College of Nîmes (France)

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Whether they are teachers, professors or researchers,

To accept to work as an academic of the

Assumptionists work fi rst of all for the Reign of God

Emmanuel d’Alzon Higher Institute of Butembo (known as the ISEAB) is fi rst and foremost The Assumptionists teach in or animate various to recognize that I will be both “giving and educational institutions: two universities, receiving.” I rediscover Christ on the faces of Assumption College in the USA, and another in the D.R. Congo; a dozen or so colleges in persons who are eager to be educated. There seven countries; technical schools, primary is an ardent fi re of love burning deep within me schools, schools that teach adults how to read that pushes me to work night and day to answer and write, etc. Others are student chaplains.

the demands of education. I sense the need to collaborate with my colleagues and to actively participate in the dialogue between teachers and students. I feel as if Father d’Alzon were encouraging me to be closer to the students.

That is why I always organize a “d’Alzonian meeting” with the students. As an educator, I discover my human frailty and my shortcomings, and in so doing I learn how to become a responsible religious.

I try to help the ISEAB to become an active member of the Reign in a world that is undergoing massive sociological changes and that is putting human dignity in peril. I am convinced that the ISEAB will meet the expectations of our founding Students at the College in Lota (Chile) Father.

Jean-Vianney Thaliwatheka with students (ISEAB)

ISEAB, Emmanuel d’Alzon Higher Institute of Butembo

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http://www.assumptionists.ph/

Whether they are teachers, professors or researchers,

By the media

Assumptionists work fi rst of all for the Reign of God

In time and space, in the north as well as in the south, the media are for an Assumptionist a way of re-giving God his place in the hearts of men and women and in society.

Bishop Canonne College (Madagascar)

“To form Jesus Christ in souls, that is Michel Kubler, Journalist for La Croix, France the only goal of education; that is what must constitute the apostolic character Today, the Bayard Group, present in France and of my life.” (E. d’Alzon)

internationally, is a flagship of the Catholic press, with for example the daily newspaper La Croix, the weekly Pèlerin, the Documentation Catholique, the monthly Living with Christ, etc.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Assumptionists animate and administer a radio station known as Radio Moto.

Assumption College, Worcester (United States) Radio Moto (D.R. Congo)

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By youth ministry

Since their foundation, the Assumptionists have been bringing the message of the Gospel to young people. Still today they animate numerous activities: student centers (like Adveniat, the Catholic youth hostel in Paris or the youth center in Blaj, Romania), cultural centers for youth, sessions and retreats, volunteer programs in mission countries, etc.

Youth Hostel, Paris

João Gomes et Célio Firmo with young people in Eugenopolis (Brazil)

By pilgrimages

Every year the Assumptionists animate the International Pilgrimage to Lourdes (France), as well as many others, like to the Holy Land Lourdes (France), during the national pilgrimage.

“Our common prayer is that of the Church. Through it, the community celebrates its faith and opens itself to the Spirit in view of the mission.”

(Rule of Life)

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http://www.mevetroi.org/

Missionaries

BEYOND OUR BORDERS

Father d’Alzon was a son of Nîmes, but a Catholic at heart. During almost all of his life, d’Alzon served his Church as Vicar General. In like However, after having founded

manner, many Assumptionists are at the service of local churches.

the Assumptionists, d’Alzon

wanted his sons to become

broad-minded. At a time

when there were only about 15

religious in the Congregation,

d’Alzon did not hesitate to

answer the call of the Church

of his time to send religious to

foreign countries. Accordingly,

he sent religious to Turkey and

Bulgaria to work for the

unity of the Church.

Parish of Kijenge, Arusha (Tanzania) Plovdiv (Bulgaria)

Still today, following the example of the Founder, the heart of an Assumptionist is restless as long as God remains on the fringes of society. Impassioned for the Reign of God, the Assumptionists are not afraid to reach out and to open new communities in distant countries despite their small numbers: In Vietnam, the Philippines, and Togo.

The Council of the Congregation visits Buddhist monks (South Korea)

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“I must love this world so that I can

evangelize it” (E. d’Alzon)

One of the things I admire about

the Assumptionists is their ability to “think Church.” Father Emmanuel d’Alzon loved the Church so much that he encouraged his religious to have “a heart as big as this ocean which is the Church.” And this love for the Church gives Assumptionists great apostolic freedom: written press, teaching, education in all of its forms, a great preoccupation for Christian unity, the animation of pilgrimages, chaplaincies, Jean-Paul Sagadou (Burkinabe) with young Togolese in Sokodé etc. To see big, to see wide, to see far, to see deeply, that is what touches me humanly, spiritually and intellectually about d’Alzon and his heirs. For two years, I have been sharing community life with four other brothers: a Frenchman, a Malagasy, and two Congolese. It’s with them that I’m trying to discover the traces of God in the lives of men and women in the midst of events that are taking place in the country where we are living: Togo. It’s a community in the process Frans Desmet, Belgian, missionary in Kwangju (South Korea) of being founded. I marvel at seeing my vision of God and man becoming broader as I come in contact with brothers of other cultures with whom I am living.

The apostolic work we are doing in the parish, with youth and the media, in the spirit and in line with the charism of Assumption, stimulates me to move ahead in this adventure in the footsteps of Fr. d’Alzon.

Jean-Paul Sagadou, Assumptionist from Burkina Faso and missionary in Togo

Gilles Blouin (on right), Canadian, missionary in the Philippines

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http://asuncionistas.atspace.org/index.html

“Just as the Father sent him, so Christ sends us, with the promise of his Spirit, to serve our brothers and sisters by proclaiming the Gospel.”

…I had only a rather vague idea

about the missions. I thought, as do many other young people, that

the missions meant going to work

among the black people of Africa, very far from home. What a surprise I had one day when, on the website of the Augustinians of the Assumption, I saw the work they are doing among the natives in the region of Veracruz Paul Van Dong with the postulants (Vietnam) and Oaxaca, to the east and south of Mexico. All this work gave me a broad understanding of the missions not in far-distant countries but in one’s own country. That’s what brought me to contact the community of Casa Manuel, particularly the director of vocations, in order to learn about the congregation and to begin the process of discernment. Today I am conducting my apostolate in that same region (once a month), accompanying groups that Michaël, Congolese Assumptionist and missionary in Spain were created some time ago in these outlying districts by Assumptionist missionaries… I continue to discover the true meaning of missions in my life, which serves as the driving force that is pushing me toward the construction of the Reign in me and around me.

Carlos Danilo A. Lemus (Salvadoran

postulant in Mexico)

Marco Silva during his first Mass (Ecuador)

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Diff erent apostolates but with the same spirit

of TRUTH , UNITY and SOLIDARITY

Jesús Tlecuile Mixteco (Mexico)

What attracted me about the Augustinians In the footsteps of Christ

of the Assumption, better known as the sent by the Father to gather men and women Assumptionists? Working in groups. With into a single family,

this same spirit, they work in inner-cities the Assumptionists want to be:

Men of communion and unity.

where precisely people need this type of work to accompany them and to be with them as they struggle to live each day. This spirit of work impressed and fi nally led me to want to be like them. That is why I contacted them in order to discover how they did this work and to work one day with them, especially in the marginalized milieus of what we often call natives. I belong myself to this group of natives. Though I underlined only one aspect of the Assumptionists, there are also many others, among them faith, simplicity, fraternity, hospitality, attention to the needs of the poor, work with young people (especially in education)… I believe that what motivates them to do such work are the words which I found in their Rule of Life: “Our The beatification of the Bulgarian Assumptionist priests communities wish to share the joys and hopes, (Kamen, Pavel and Josaphat) May 26, 2002. They gave the sorrows and anxieties, of the men and women their life for the unity of Christians in the Near East.

of their time, especially of the poor and of all

‘those who hunger and thirst for justice.’” The Assumptionists do all of this prompted by a Like Christ,

doctrinal, social and ecumenical spirit. The the Assumptionists want to be

most important here is the love of God among protagonists of a world that is more just and the men and women we meet on our way with more supportive of the poorest.

Jesus.

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http://www.assunzionisti.it/

Diff erent apostolates but with the same spirit

of TRUTH , UNITY and SOLIDARITY

For the love of God and to protect human rights, they are ready to sacrifi ce their own life.

“The Assumptionist community

exits for the coming of the Kingdom.

The spirit of the Founder impels us to embrace the great causes of God and of man, and to go wherever God is threatened in man and man threatened as the image of God.” (Rule of Life) A young Philippine man with children (Manila) Each Saturday in Butembo (D.R. Congo), the novices visit the prisoners with whom they share Duong, Vietnamese postulant

the Word of God before sharing a meal.

What attracts me to Assumption is a sentence like: “to go wherever God is threatened in man and man threatened as the image of God” (Rule of Life). In living with Assumptionist brothers, I am discovering that Assumption wants to be close to the poor and to accompany youth. The fraternal life in community is also very important for me.

On board the Péniche (Barge), a hospitality center for migrants (France)

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Alliance

Guy Leroy of the Maranatha community in Brussels

WITH THE LAITY

I live my vocation in peace and

confi dence thanks to the support of the

religious and the laity.

I fi rst lived with a happy-go-lucky attitude, This passion to put God back in our societies, in our loved by my parents and surrounded by families, and in our relations is not a private affair.

my brothers and sisters. After my higher It should be the passion of all Christians.

education and my involvement in business world as an accountant responsible for data Together with Father d’Alzon and the Assumptionist processing, I asked myself the question about religious, laypeople are searching to re-give to Jesus Christ and to what he loved most, the Church the meaning of my life. Living moments of and the Virgin Mary, their place in society. At the solitude and emptiness, I met Christians college in Nîmes, the birthplace of Assumption, who were happy, just simply happy. I then laypeople and religious had been moved by the same decided not to leave them, at the detriment desire: the Kingdom of God.

of my other relations. It was there that God came to get me. With thirty years of hindsight, I dare to say that it was the fervent Christian community that led me to real faith and helped me to discover the concrete calls of the Lord…. The decisive call came from an Assumptionist who invited me to work with him, and nothing more. At that very moment, I, who usually need time to think things over, understood that in addition to the administrative work involved, it was all my life off ered to God that was at play. I said yes and still today I am happy to have made this decision. Surrounded by brotherly love Laity and religious of Buenos Aires (Argentina) during one of the canonical visitations.

in a community of religious and devoted laypeople who are prayerful and stimulating, I have lived in peace and confi dence the Still today, wherever the Spirit wants Assumption various steps of my religious vocation. Even to be present, laypeople and religious, hand in hand, are happy to support each other and drink from the when I accepted responsibilities within my same source.

congregation, laypeople and religious were there to support me.

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http://aamada.free.fr/index.php

At Assumption, there is therefore place for everyone: young people, adults, religious, and laypeople!

Guillaume and Adeline testify:

Since we’ve become Lay

Assumptionists, our daily life has changed a lot. It is out of love for the Assumptionist triple love that we conduct our apostolate at the

parish, in our neighborhood, in our Members of the International Lay-Religious Commission group, and within our family where we devote ourselves to the Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Savior. We alleviate as best we can the misery of the children in need and of the street children. The simplicity advocated by the Assumptionists means that we regularly share our meals with the needy as well as with the servants.

Prayer, through the intercession of the Very Reverend Father Emmanuel d’Alzon, doesn’t cease to shower us with surprises that make us happy.

Romain, a young French volunteer, gives courses to the postulants and candidates (Saigon, Vietnam) The Couple Guillaume-Adeline, Lay Assumptionists, Goma, with street children In Nîmes, religious and laypeople reflect on the Alliance surrounding them. (D.R. Congo)

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Assumption

IS A BIG FAMILY!

Besides the Augustinians of the Assumption, this passion for the coming of the Reign of God is also shared by consecrated women:

The Religious of the Assumption

The Oblates of the Assumption

founded in 1839 by Mother Marie-Eugénie Milleret, founded in 1865 by Father Emmanuel d’Alzon and today Saint Marie-Eugénie. They are involved mainly in Mother Marie Correnson. Their foundation is linked teaching institutions, spiritual centers, and in faith to the Near Eastern Mission. They work in schools, education in all its forms.

orphanages and hospitals.

(www.assumpta.fr)

(www.oblates-assomption.org)

The Little Sisters of the Assumption The Orants of the Assumption

founded in 1865 by Father Etienne Pernet, one of the first founded by Isabelle de Clermont Tonnere and Father disciples of Father Emmanuel d’Alzon, and by Sister Antoinette François Picard (Assumptionist) in 1896. This is the most Fage. They seek to “to procure the glory of God by the contemplative branch of the Assumption Family. They salvation of the poor and little ones.”

carry out their apostolate especially in spiritual centers and (www.assomption-psa.org)

small fraternities. (lesorantes@wanadoo.fr) As in a family, they all have the same passion: the coming of the Reign of God in and around themselves!

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