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July 27, 2016

“Very well, my children, make this known to all my people.” Mary at La Salette.

Dear Brothers,

These few lines are being sent to you the day after our return to Rome from Tanzania, where Adilson and I have lived unforgettable moments, which certainly are very historical, with the opening of a La Salette Community in Rutete, in the Diocese of Bukoba, Tanzania, in conjunction with the commemoration of the 170th anniversary of the Apparition and the celebration of the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis.

The road of discernment, which lasted a few years, involving the Diocese of Bukoba, the General Council, the Council of the Congregation and the whole Congregation, happily culminated on the 15th of July 2016 with the arrival of our three confreres in Tanzanian soil in order to begin the first La Salette presence in that country.

On Sunday, 17th of July, Fr. Adilson Schio, M. S. Vicar with General, Fr. Rosanno Soriano, M. S. Provinvial Superior of the Philippines and myself with the three Missionaries: Fr. Manuel dela Cruz, M. S. (Philippines) Fr. Dileesh Poriamvelil, M.S. (India) and Fr. Aldrin Cenizal, M. S. (Philippines), accompanied by Bishop Desiderius Rwoma, the Ordinary of the Diocese of Bukoba, and Bishop Methodius Kilaini, Auxiliary Bishop, were welcomed by a dozen of Diocesan Priests and around three thousand enthusiastic and festive faithful, who, escaping the scorching sun, sheltered themselves under temporary tents put up by volunteers for the occasion, around and in front of the covered outdoor altar constructed for the occasion.

During the Mass, which lasted around 4 and a half hours, 197 children were baptized by our missionaries; and 12 couples celebrated their wedding. At the end of the celebration, the Bishop blessed and enthroned the Statue of Our Lady of La Salette, and introduced the missionaries to the faithful, thus marking official the beginning of La Salette presence in this wonderful country of Tanzania. Before this, at the homily the Bishop officially announced that the new Parish will be under the patronage of Our Lady of La Salette. This decision tells all and describes the climate of warm and enthusiastic and sincere welcome (Karibu in Kiswahili) to our three Missionaries and the profound gratitude to and appreciation of our Congregation by the Diocese of Bukoba.

After lunch the festivities continued until around 6:30 with songs and dances typical of the region, and the giving of many gifts to our Missionaries among which were 7 small goats, a dozen chicken, some rabbits and a gas stove. They also offered different vestments and other sacred materials for the liturgical celebrations.

The residence which will house our confreres, constructed by the parishioners, is modest but adequate and with very welcoming atmosphere. It has electricity, but lacks running water for the moment. Each of the priests has a private room with bath and an adjacent study. There are common rooms: small parlor, a dining room, both are well ventilated, and a small kitchen, and a still empty supply room.

Foreseeing the initial difficulty of learning the language, a diocesan priest has been assigned by the Bishop to be with our confreres for a few months to help them learn the language and the culture of the people, at least until they have acquired a basic knowledge of Kiswahili. We have been very impressed and are grateful to Fr. Eric for his willingness to share his time and talents with our missionaries during this period.

In the name of the entire Congregation I would like to express my gratitude, first of all, to the three Confreres who have made themselves available to begin this new Mission, a totally new missionary experience in Tanzania. Of course our sincere gratitude goes to their Provinces of origin, Philippines and India, for having responded to the call of the General to establish this new presence of the Congregation in the Diocese of Bukoba.

As I have pointed out to them: Fr. Manuel, Fr. Dileesh, and Fr. Aldrin are not in Tanzania on their own account, but in the name of the Congregation in response to the request of the local church.

Our stay in Bukoba also gave us the opportunity to finalize and sign a contract between the Diocese of Bukoba and the Congregation that stipulates the length conditions of our presence in that local church.

I entrust the beginning and the development and growth of this new mission to the Virgin of La Salette, our patron and advocate, that she may sustain and bless this missionary endeavor of the Congregation, in this 170th anniversary of her merciful Apparition on the Holy Mountain. I also wish that the prayer of each one of us, and that of thousands of La Salette Laity spread all over the world, accompany every step of this journey and every effort of our dear confreres in the land of Tanzania. They have the sacred task of announcing the Gospel of Jesus and of making known the message of reconciliation, hope and mercy of the Beautiful Lady.

Finally, I send you the e-mail addresses of our First Missionaries in Tanzania, for you to be able to send to them your greetings, as a sign of our fraternal solidarity:

Fr. Manuel dela Cruz, M.S.: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Fr. Dileesh Poriamvelil, M.S.: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Fr. Aldrin Cenizal, M.S,: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Fraternally yours,

Fr. Silvano Marisa, M. S.

On 13 and 14 May in Salmata we held a symposium with the participation of the Provincials and delegates from all the provinces of the Congregation dedicated to the theme of the Jubilee in the context of Apparition at La Salette. Topics of the conferences have been developed by individual provinces.
Here is a list of topics:
1. Jubilee in the Old Testament (Fr. Janusz/Poland)
2. The Christ event and the proclamation of the Kingdom as a jubilee experience (France)
3. The jubilee experience in the history of the Church (Angola)
4. USA) Some problematic aspects of the Christian jubilee (Indulgence, Pilgrimage) (USA)
5. The Jubilee mentality and economic system (Brazil)
6. The jubilee as a paradigm of moral experience (India)
7. The psycho-social implications of the jubilee ( Philippines)
8. The jubilee as a lasting form of justice and peace (Argentina)
9. The jubilee experience in the Congregation (Madagascar)
10. A jubilee Theology of the apparition : the event, message, prospects. (Gian Matteo Roggio)

The symposium was attended by Silvano Marisa General and members of the General Council (Fr. Adilson Schio, Father. Henry Przeździecki) The representatives of the provinces were Fr. Alfredo Velarde (Argentina), Fr.. Edegar Silva Junior, Fr. Luis Carlos Lores, Fr. Ivo Lisaki (Brazil); Fr. Louis de Pontbriand, Fr. Andrzej Zontek (France); Fr. Piotr Cieplak (Poland); Fr. Heliodoro Santiago Bernardos, Fr. Celeste Cerroni, Fr. Jean Pierre Rabenimanana (Italy); Fr. Avelino Sangameya (Angola); Fr. Philip Naw Aung (Myanmar); Fr. Rene Butler, Fr. Ernest Corriveau (USA); Fr. Rosano Soriano (Philippines); Fr. Romuald Rakotondraibe, Fr. Jean Wenceslas Rakotomahefa (Madagascar); Fr. Biju Abraham, Father. Roy Parayil (India); Fr. Janusz Kręcidło and Father. Gian Matteo Roggio, (Theological Commission).

Below we present the video recording of the first part of the meeting.
The next part will be published as they become available
2 Part Fr. Janusz Kręcidło https://youtu.be/LtPJWk6j1os
3 Part French Province https://youtu.be/fjLphA3oXh8
4 Part American Province https://youtu.be/i3j3uDJW93g

Dear Confreres and friends of La Salette,

It is with great joy that I inform you that, through the initiative of Father Manuel dos Reis Bonfim, Rector of the Shrine of La Salette (France), Pope Francis will officially crown the statue of Our Lady of La Salette on Wednesday, May 18, 2016.

The brief and moving ceremony take place immediately after the General Audience in the St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. On that occasion those invited to greet the Pope personally will include Fr. Manuel, Rector of the Shrine, some members of the La Salette General Council of the Congregation, Fr. Joseph Antin, Vicar General of the Diocese of Grenoble, Sr. Elisabeth, Superior General of the Sisters of Our Lady of La Salette, the Honorable Gilda Perrin, Mayor of La Salette-Fallavaux, among others.

I will take advantage of this grace-filled meeting with Pope Francis to renew the Congregation’s invitation to visit the Shrine of La Salette in France during this Jubilee Year of Mercy and the 170th Anniversary of the Apparition.

The Audience and the ceremony of the Crowning of the Virgin can be followed  on the Vatican website. You may also find it on local stations which ordinarily show the Pope’s Wednesday General Audiences, such as EWTN or Italian Television.

Given the particular importance of this moment and the undeniable relevance for the entire Congregation, I invite every community and each individual member to unite themselves with us this coming Wednesday, May 18, in prayer and in thanking God for this auspicious event.

It will also be a good occasion to further our making known the Apparition of the Beautiful Lady and her message of reconciliation.

I hold all of you in prayer and blessing.

Fr. Silvano Marisa, M.S.,
La Salette Superior General, Rome, Italy

Rome, May 10, 2016

To all the Provincials and Members of the Congregation:

It is always a joy for us on the General Council to be in touch with you each month with a bit of news concerning our lives and our activities.

The month of April was “here and there” : we spent the first part of the month at La Salette in France, involved in the final weeks of the PPP, and the other part of the month in Rome, involved in preparing upcoming events. The month of April also marked the fourth year of our mandate: Fr. Silvano observed this occasion April 24 and the other members of the General Council gave thanks to God for these four years of service on April 27.

Being at La Salette and spending some time with Fr. Joseph Bachand in his new role as superior of the international community of the Shrine was truly a grace. He is full of life and is discovering little by little what is involved in the new responsibility he has assumed in the name of the General Council.

But the month of April 2016 will surely be remembered in our history because of Decision 24/2016. This important decision concerns the opening of the new mission of the Congregation in the Diocese of Bukoba, (Tanzania). The text of this decision should already be familiar to all. It was the wish of Father General – and so it came to pass – that this decision would actually be taken at the Shrine of La Salette (France), with the intention of placing our activity in this new country in Africa under the direct protection of the Beautiful Lady, and of Maximum and Melanie. In the General House – and I hope this is happening throughout the Congregation – we are already praying for this new missionary endeavor.

The weather at La Salette (we were there for a month), was not the best: it was cold, snowy and foggy. However, the spirit of our young members participating in the PPP was always positive and characterized by great fraternity. In the PPP we certainly experience being an international community, “multicultural and extending beyond the limits of provinces” (General Chapter 2012). The young people who spent this month of formation on the Mountain of La Salette numbered 26. At the end – April 17, to be precise – 10 of them made their perpetual profession at the Shrine. After the PPP, the young members from Angola, India, the Philippines and Madagascar gave us the joy of spending some days with us in Rome, thereby taking advantage of the opportunity of getting to know more thoroughly – and certainly better than we who live there – the “Eternal City.”

We received some good news at the end of April (24): the Sisters of Our Lady of La Salette, gathered for their General Chapter in the little town of Quézac (France), elected their new General Council: Sr. Elisabeth (France), Superior; Sr. Estelle (France), assistant; Sr. Sonia (the Philippines), councilor; Sr. Maria da Gloria (Angola), councilor; Sr. Jeanne Odette (Madagascar), councilor.

When we returned to Rome, the time already seemed short for preparing all the activities planned for the coming months, namely:

That’s what has been happening at the General House. At the end of the month, we had the joy of receiving at our General House the bishop of Grenoble, Guy de Kerimel, who shared supper with us. Being in Rome for some pastoral activities, he gave us the joy of spending a few hours with us, and he shared the good news that the Bishops’ Conference of France decided that September 19 will be observed as an optional liturgical memorial of Our Lady of La Salette. This decision by the Bishops’ Conference of France was accepted by the Congregation for Divine Worship, March 18, 2016, with a decree signed by the Prefect, Roberto Cardinal Sarah.

We wish everyone a happy, joyful May, with great dedication in the ministry and in prayer. To Fr. Efren Musngi, who is on vacation in the Philippines, there is nothing to say, but enjoy these days to the utmost without forgetting to take care of your health!

A hug to everyone,

Fr. Adilson, ms

The new La Salette Shrine Silang website is now accessible at www.lasaletteshrinesilang.net. Comments and suggestions are encourage for the improvement of the site.

Thank you!

Fr. Elmer ms

April 2016

March in Rome this year, was shorter than usual. Why was this month shorter?  Because it was the season of Lent and preparation for the Easter, it was shorter because a part of the General Council left for La Salette Shrine in  France, it  was shorter because  we slept one our less in this month. It  was shorter because less happened during this time in our General House. However what happened I registered for our history:

1. While Fr. Belarmino  and Fr. Alex  remained in the General House for the current business, March 17, early in the morning, Fr. Adilson, Efren  and Fr. Silvano departed for the Shrine of La Salette, together with two brothers from Angola Isaac and Hélio, where they will take part in the meeting of the PPP 2016 (March 19-April 17).
2. March 19 morning, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, was the official opening of the PPP 2016 with almost the whole group, all but our Indian confreres who arrived on March 20 afternoon. This same day at 18 PM began the ceremony of the opening of the Holy Door, presided over by  Guy de Kerimel, bishop of Grenoble, in the presence of about 300 people. The ceremony started in the "Chapelle de la rencontre" and ended in the Basilica with the singing of Vespers. Even if the church felt like an icebox, people stayed until the end.
3. The group of PPP 2016 (26 students, of which 8 Malagasy, 2 Angolans, 6 Polish, 8 Indians and two Filipinos) participated with great faith and enthusiasm in the celebration of the Easter Triduum. Fr. Joseph Bachand, the new Superior of the international community, presided over the liturgy of Holy Thursday, while Fr. Silvano presided over the liturgy of Good Friday and the solemn Easter Mass,  Fr. Manuel was main celebrant  of the Easter Vigil.
4. Father Henryk, as a parish priest, remained in Rome to preside  the liturgy of Holy Week. I will reach the rest of the General Council in the Shrine at  La Salette 10 April.
5. Our guests students leaving in General House, for Easter are dispersed in different parishes around Italy to help parish priests during the holidays. In such way as Italians use to say:  in the house remained only “four cats”.
6. The La Salette communities of Rome, Naples and Isernia including Brazilian students came together for "Easter Monday" (Pasquetta) in Isernia. After a sightseeing tour of the city led by Father Celeste after which we had the joy of sharing  together a festive lunch.
7. Sunday, April 3, the participants of the PPP lived a day of leisure in Grenoble with a visit to the town and celebration of 'Eucharist with the parish community of Rue Chanrion. All this ended with a rich lunch prepared by some ladies of the parish.

In Rome we enjoy the beautiful colours of the trees and flowers, the temperature is warming and the days are more and more sunny. Instead at La Salette there is still  snow as you can see on  the photos in our website.

I hope that this information reaches to the most far away Missionary. But always with great attention we are waiting for the information from you! Do not be afraid to share it  with us. With Easter joy I wish you good work and courage in the mission.

Fr. Henryk Przeździecki MS

Easter 2016

“Everything in him speaks of Mercy. Nothing in him is devoid of compassion.” (MV8)

“How long a time I have suffered for you…as for you, you pay no heed!” (Mary at La Salette.)

Dear Brothers,

On the wall behind the altar of our chapel here in Rome, there are two posters, one at the right and the other at the left of the wooden statue of the Virgin. One poster is the logo of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, and the other is that of the 170^th anniversary of the Apparition. Furthermore, on the altar is a terra cotta lamp, a gift from our sisters, which also has the logo of the Year of Mercy. All these are for us a daily reminder to journey with the entire Church the road of the Jubilee of Mercy, and as La Salettes, to live our community life and our service to the Congregation and the people of God in faithfulness to the charism of Reconciliation, rooted in the Apparition of La Salette whose 170^th anniversary we are celebrating.

These two jubilee events are not in conflict nor are they in competition with one another. They are joined to each other and harmoniously complement and enrich one another. The message of La Salette indeed reminds us that the tears of Mary are not tears of desperation, but of mercy. They are tears that reveal the “compassion” of God for his sinful children, who are always loved, with a love that is not diminished in spite of the repeated lack of coherence in their life and in spite of the frequently broken covenant. They are tears that speak of hope and of redemption, and thus recalling the possibility of a true and promising human and spiritual rebirth for all those who allow themselves to be embraced by the Mercy of the Father.

The Jubilee Year will be a moment of grace if we are disposed to rediscover in ourselves that which truly should make a difference in our religious life: to try, in our living together and in our ministry to proclaim each day the beauty of God which is revealed Jesus Christ. For us religious what is important is not money, nor the wellbeing, nor the quest for an easy and comfortable life, but instead to live in coherence with and fidelity to our identity and in joy as Jesus lived his mission in our midst. He is our model to whom we should return in order to “reconstruct” our Salettine, personal and communitarian Religious Life.

We also, like the whole Church, should be in “exodus” or going forth. Pope Francis does not tire to remind us. The Jubilee Year is a providential opportunity to change not only the way we do ministry, but also to see what we have to change in our personal lives in order to improve our community life. The renewal should always begin with us and with our community.

In the third circular letter which the Congregation for Religious has sent to all consecrated persons in the month of December 2015, entitled “Contemplate” are put forth three attitudes (Verbs) that should characterize the life of every religious especially in this year of grace. I invite you and me myself to let them sink into our daily reality.

The first attitude is: To Search. This requires effort, commitment, constancy and the willingness to challenge the nights and their dangers. As Pope Francis says: “Contemplation” and we can add spiritual life “is intelligence, heart, and knees.” Our present historical and civic condition is no longer in agreement with this. It is a time of failure and fall, of indifference and loss of taste. It is indispensable to be aware of this inconvenience and of the fact that Christian life, and consequently our religious life, imposes purification and uplifting that is totally foreign to our prevailing culture. To be truly “profound” pilgrims, we need to reawaken the anxiety and the strength of the question (within ourselves) in order to “walk with courage and determination towards Christ in order to center life in Him”. (Testimoni, January 2016, page 14).

The second attitude is to dwell. We are called to a process of continuing conversion which can be concretely threatened to diminish in importance because of the existing tension between the life in the Spirit and the activism that dries up the heart into joining the worldly spirit. This is “hidden behind the appearance of religiosity and even in the love for the church; this consists in searching for human glory and for personal wellbeing instead of the glory of God” (Francisco EV 93), “Interior life demands asceticism of time and of body, demands silence as a dimension in which to dwell; invokes solitude as essential moment of personal purification and integration; calls to hidden prayer, in order to meet the Lord who dwell in secret and take to heart the interior cell. (Contemplate, n. 38).

The third attitude us: to form. The fruit of spiritual formation should be the commitment to live the nearness of Mercy, the closeness of the faces.  The passage should be from the contemplation of the cross to the vision of many who are crucified in history, and to the victims of violence, who, like other Christs, are hanging humiliated.” The hearts of Christians and of religious in particular, are hearts that see and contemplate the faces and the nature that surround them. In other words, they are hearts that know how to read and decipher the signs of the times, the silent tracks of the divine in each one’s story and in the world.

There is indeed a lot to reflect on in order to give our personal and communitarian religious life the wings towards new heights.

In the name of the General Administration, I extend to all of you, dear young people in formation, novices, students and brothers and priests in whatever situation you are living in, my religious and fraternal wishes for a Holy Easter of the Resurrection. May the Risen Lord fill your life with his light and his joy, and your ministry an aspect that   cures and eases the wounds of this world in the spirit of reconciliation and of mercy.

I would also like to extend these Easter Wishes to all our La Salette Laity in the various provinces who, in a variety of ways, collaborate in the proclamation of the Gospel under the maternal gaze of the beautiful Lady of La Salette. I wish that our common mission in the bosom of the Church and the Congregation give each one an ever increasing realization, motivation and joy in the fact that we belong to a large reality that embraces all of us, that is to say our “La Salette Charismatic Family”.

Blessed Easter to all!

Fraternally yours,

        Silvano Marisa, M. S.

Some news from Rome:

• Every Friday of Lent the religious community with the student priests boarding with us, gather in our chapel for the celebration of the Way of the Cross.  This is a way of immersing ourselves more deeply into the spirit of penance and reconciliation that emanates from it especially during the Lenten period.

• Last Feb. 21, we had the joy of welcoming Msgr. Desiderius Rwoma, Bishop of Bukoba, (Tanzania) who was in Rome, and we shared a simple Sunday lunch with him. The day after, the 22^nd of February, we received and read his letter officially inviting the Congregation to establish a La Salette presence in his Diocese. The opening of said Mission is scheduled for the month of July 2016.

• On the 24^th of February we joyfully and thankfully welcomed at the General  House three Brazilian Confreres: (Fr. Luis Carlos Lopes, Bro. Franzei Zenatti and Bro. Edvan Santos da Silva). The following day, accompanied by Fr. General and Fr. Adilson, they went to Naples to be with the La Salette community there, for a collaborative effort between the Brazilian and Italian Provinces, in a pastoral ministry for youth and the promotion of vocation.

• It has given us much joy to receive encouraging news from Fr. Joseph Bachand, who left Rome on the 4^th of January for the La Salette Shrine in France as the new Superior of the International Community. He finally arrived at the Holy Mountain on the 27^th of February. He had spent a couple of months studying the French Language and familiarizing himself with the culture of his new host country. We wish him well and a fruitful ministry in the service of the La Salette Religious community put under his care and in welcoming pilgrims that will come to the Shrine at the beginning of the coming pilgrimage season.

• On February 26^th to the 28^th there was a meeting of a small committee consisting of Frs. James Henault (USA), Adilson, Henryk and Silvano, with three La Salette Laity coming from France and Italy: Anne Marie Heretier, Francoise Magnin and Ginette Orsini. The committee prepared the agenda for the 2^nd International  meeting of the La Salette Laity which will be held at La Salette Shrine (France) from Sept. 30^th to Oct. 9^th 2016. The results of the meeting will be communicated to the whole Congregation and the La Salette Laity of every Province at the earliest possible time.

• From the 7^th to the 11^th of March the International Finance Commission of the Congregation held its annual meeting at the General House under the guidance of Fr. Alex, the General Treasurer. They examined the annual Financial Reports of the General Administration and the various Provinces. Present at the meeting were Frs. Alex, Adilson, Efren, Silvano (CG) Gabriel Ngonga (An) Dominique Mabboux (Fr,) and Giancarlo Bersacola (It).
• In the meetings of the General Council in February, some of the important decisions taken are the following:

1. Since Fr. Henryk has been named Pastor of the Parish of Rome, it became necessary to think of another one to be Procurator General to the Holy See. The General Council decided to name Fr. Belarmino Tchipundukwa to take over this responsibility, while remaining Secretary General.
2. The Gen. Council also approved the texts for the Official Prayers of the Congregation for Vocations and for the General Chapter of 2018. The two prayers will be sent shortly to the Provincial Secretaries to be distributed to all religious so that said prayers maybe used individually and in community.

As far as the District of Myanmar is concerned, the Gen Council approved the following decisions taken by the District Council: 1) P. Nicodemus Aung Than Aye was named Director of Theologians and responsible for vocation promotion. 2) Fr. Valentine Sun Tun was named Master of Novices and District Secretary.