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94 IV. DISCOVERING, LIVING, SHARING THE GIFT OF GOD Lasallian; we find it especially in the Meditations for the Time of Retreat, where we become aware that what procures the glory of God is the salvation of the children who are confided to us. In 1691 it was to procure with all our powers and with all our endeavours, the establishment of the Society of the Christian Schools. In a way, the three Brothers were fixing the limits of their consecration. Now, in 1694, they are putting it back in God’s hands and under His will. We have changed to a different level and it is truly the sign that the two expressions (that of 1691 and that of 1694) are not on the same plane, even if the vow of 1691 was necessary so that those of 1694 and all that followed could exist. I… promise and vow to unite myself and live in society WITH… There follows the listing of the other twelve names. This material presence of the names of the other Brothers making the vow, reinforces the cohesion of the Association. It does not consist of an act done “in general”, but of a reciprocal reference to the vow-makers themselves. It is, in fact, with these that I am associating, men who have faces, a history, men that I know, with whom I have shared a part of my life, my hopes, struggles, failures… One is really in the presence of a founding “act”, almost in the legal sense of the term. The Society has a recognisable consistency in the social and ecclesial landscape of the time. This second part of the formula thus clearly signals the objective properly so-called of the consecration: “to unite myself and live in society…” The consecrated life of the Brother is incarnated in this Association and establishes there its central core. This society is “to keep together and by association gratuitous schools…” Its aim is precise. The gratuitous schools refer to a type of school associated with that of the “charity schools”, which were well known in the France of the Ancien Régime. Usually these “charity schools” were reserved for poor children, those whose parents
IV. DISCOVERING, LIVING, SHARING THE GIFT OF GOD 95 figured on the parish lists or those of the Offices for the Poor. To say “gratuitous school” therefore implied a change, that wished for by John Baptist de La Salle and the Brothers: they would be schools open to all, which did not wish to separate the poor from other , better-off children. This step carried a force of transformation for the society for which the Great Revolution would be, doubtless, one of the results. The commitment was not established directly with the work of the schools but with Association, that is to say with the “Community for the gratuitous schools”. From the beginning, the centre of gravity, the indispensable mediation which characterises the Lasallian plan, was clearly established. It placed itself in the fraternal communion which united the Brothers. The latter placed itself even in front of the apostolic plan properly so-called, even though the latter was the final aim of their communion. Therefore, it is not by chance that the naming of all those making the vows precedes the final aim of Association. The aim is to keep gratuitous schools. In this aim, the favoured recipients, poor children, are implicitly included. The force of Association is directed towards the poor, without excluding others, but with a strong preference for the former. It is the aim of association and it ought to be pursued by this same Association, and not by each member taken in isolation. “Together and by association”: this reveals the manner in which we ought to carry out the work as well as the fruitful tension which is established between what is being achieved in a concrete manner for precise recipients - which comes under the jurisdiction of the community - and the perspective of universality - which should characterise the institution. The community dimension is present in this commitment: “to unite myself and live in society with… to keep together and by association”. The formula becomes a lived community missionary plan, the vow coming from life as it is shared. It is a response to persons, to needs. The Brothers give themselves objectives, communi-
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LASALLIAN STUDIES Nº 13 The Intern
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of contents
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INTRODUCTION 5 Introduction The Int
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I. CHARISM - ITS SEMANTIC FIELD 7 I
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I. CHARISM - ITS SEMANTIC FIELD 9
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II. CHARISM IN THE BIBLE 11 II. Cha
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II. CHARISM IN THE BIBLE 13 charism
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II. CHARISM IN THE BIBLE 15 So he i
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II. CHARISM IN THE BIBLE 17 iours o
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II. CHARISM IN THE BIBLE 19 The cha
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II. CHARISM IN THE BIBLE 21 Other a
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II. CHARISM IN THE BIBLE 23 7. Char
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II. CHARISM IN THE BIBLE 25 1. Blin
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II. CHARISM IN THE BIBLE 27 4. To b
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II. CHARISM IN THE BIBLE 29 (cf. 1
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III. CHARISM IN THE CHURCH 31 III.
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III. CHARISM IN THE CHURCH 33 The w
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III. CHARISM IN THE CHURCH 35 The C
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III. CHARISM IN THE CHURCH 37 ards
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III. CHARISM IN THE CHURCH 39 The c
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III. CHARISM IN THE CHURCH 41 Relig
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IV. DISCOVERING, LIVING, SHARING TH
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V. CHARISM IN THE RECENT INSTITUTE
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VI. EIGHT TESTIMONIES FROM LASALLIA
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MAKING THE LASALLIAN CHARISM LIVE T
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 265 Bibliography ABERB
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LISTS OF PUBLICATIONS 267 Lists of
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LISTS OF PUBLICATIONS 269 Cahiers L
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LISTS OF PUBLICATIONS 271 14 - LA S
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LISTS OF PUBLICATIONS 273 32 - AROZ
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LISTS OF PUBLICATIONS 275 50 - CAMP
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