PROVIDING AN EDUCATION TO THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN ONE VILLAGE AT A TIME
Sixty years ago, in 1953, the Assumptionists arrived in Madagascar, the almost forgotten island off the southeast coast of the African continent. The southern end of the island was administered by the Vincentians but covered an immense territory that they were only too willing to share. They retained the eastern half of this territory while the newly arrived Assumptionists assumed responsibility for the western half, with its main urban center Tuléar, in Malagasy Toliara. The head of the Assumptionist mission, Fr. Michel Canonne, was to become the first bishop of the newly erected diocese in 1959.
The first Little Sisters of the Assumption arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1910 and later spread out to other countries in Latin America. That is something we celebrated and recounted on this page.
The first community was located in a working-class and poor area, with many tenements. In 1932 a second community was opened in a more outlying area and settled in the district of Flores where there were simple houses, working families and many immigrants.
One of these families were the couple Mario José Bergoglio and Regina María Sívori, Italian immigrants. This working family asked for the help of the Little Sisters when their first child, Jorge Mario, was born on the 17th of December 1936. It was an Irish sister (Sr Oliva) who gave them the care they needed.
Look upon your Church, O God, with unfailing love and favor, so that, renewed by the paschal mysteries, she may come to the glory of the resurrection. (Easter Sunday, Prayer After Communion)
Easter Joy and Peace to you and yours, - From the Assumption Family
Assumptionist spirituality was the theme for the recent “Conversations at the Center” in Brighton, MA. Fr. Dennis Gallagher, A.A., the guest presenter for the day, is Vice-President for Mission at Assumption College on Worcester, MA and regularly attends these fruitful gatherings, the purpose of which is to build Christian community inspired by the Assumptionist Rule of Life and St. Augustine.
«Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations» (Mt 28 :19). Having adopted this motto, the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro is preparing to welcome thousands, perhaps millions, of young people for World Youth Day, July 23-28, 2013.
It will be a time of faith, of fellowship, of exchange, of building up, characterized by the meeting of faces and cultures from the four corners of the world with one goal alone : an encounter with Jesus Christ and the extension of his Kingdom.
The next in our series of discussions on the documents of Vatican II will take place
on Thursday, March 21 at 4:00 p.m. in the Tinsley Campus Ministry Center
Our discussion will focus on Chapters 5-8 of Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: the Universal Call to Holiness; Religious; the Pilgrim Church; and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Mystery of Christ and the Church.
This video is a tribute to the life and ministry of Fr. Richard Brunelle, A.A. with the accompanying Letter from the Brothers in Africa which was read at his funeral.
(Br. Milad is an Egyptian Assumptionist who currently works at the Assumptionist barge community on the River Seine near Paris, a community that serves the poor, especially immigrants. Br. Milad holds a doctorate in Sociology from the University of Paris X- Nanterre granted in 2008.)
This story began about two years ago when two provincials at the time were meeting and discussing different topics, Fr. Benoît Grière of France and Fr. Vincent Kambere of Africa. It was at that moment that the possibility of my teaching a couple of courses at ISEAB arose as a form of collaboration between the two provinces. It is a grace and an opportunity for me to have the Assumption ask me to share some of the knowledge I gained before entering the Congregation. It was also a joy to be able to discover the Assumption on this vast continent that I belong to, since I am originally from Egypt. Besides, it is the dream of every Egyptian to see the source of the Nile!
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