A Peek Into Day 1

1. Encounter: We're meeting the community at L'Hermitage and getting to know them. Br. Alan has been giving us a tour for most of today. We're getting acquainted not only with each other, but our surroundings!

Br. Alan (right) along with our Brothers from the US

2. Learning: These pick marks display all the work that was done by the early Brothers. They cut into the mountainside to build this first community. The details of our heritage are telling!

3. In The Steps of Champagnat & the Brothers: Champagnat's room is pictured above. Touring L'Hermitage is incredible because you literally walk the steps of the first community. It is an incredible feeling. It also reminds us what is unique about that community, and invites us to think about how we are unique today!

4. Sharing: The most important thing happening here is the sharing. Sharing of knowledge, space, prayer, and of experience (past and present). This is the meaning of community.

There is more to come! Stay Tuned!

Home

We've arrived home at Notre Dame de L’Hermitage! Our roots as Marists. More to come!

I'd Rather Be

"We are a thousand miles from comfort, we have traveled land and sea.  But as long as you are with me, there's no place I'd rather be."

These lyrics are from the song Rather Be which randomly came on my Spotify on my flight to France.  And the song has been stuck in my head since I've been here. There were many feelings before getting on the flight,  "what can I Expect?",  "is the money worth It?" and "is this how I want to spend 10 days of my summer?" But there's a sense of belonging and peace that has come over me since we started our journey.  We all come with our own baggage and our own struggles, sacrifices that we have made.  But each of us on this journey are exactly where we are supposed to be. This trip parallels with faith sometimes we don't know what God has in store for us but we just have to trust Him,  and take the leap. Now, I don't know what the final destination is but I'm excited to soak in every inch of this journey.

"We staked out on a mission to find our inner peace. Make it ever lasting so nothings incomplete. It's easy being with you sacred simplicity, as long as we're together there's no place I'd  rather be."

-by Opal Vadhan

Off to the Hermitage

The group is on its way down to the Hermitage!

Starting Up... Breaking Bread

Our group met up at Notre Dame de Fourviere yesterday evening. From there we proceeded to dinner in Vieux Lyon.

Some of us are acquainted and some are meeting for the first time... building new community!