 The First Foyer in Poland
It
all began with a retreat made at Châteauneuf-de-Galaure in August 1992.
Nine of us came from various corners of our diocese of Lublin. The
object of our journey was to find out more about the Foyer in its daily
life of work and prayer.
We
had read up a good deal about the Foyer before setting off, and we had
met once a month to pray together. But we had never foreseen that this
retreat and our meeting with the communities at Châteauneuf and La
Flatiêre, together with Père Ravanel, would be for us (Fr Marian and
Beata) an essential stepping-stone towards our own Foyer.
In
July 1996 Père Ravanel came to Poland to meet our Bishop with Fr Marian
Matusik, and permission was given for the foundation of a Foyer. At the
same time they went to look at a possible site near the banks of the
Vistula. We made overtures to buy a wood and rent a former school 2 kms
away. On February 6th 1997 work was started to transform the school
into the Foyer of Kaliszany. Classrooms and corridors were altered into
rooms for retreatants and members of the Foyer. Four ladies began to
live together in community amid the dust and debris.
Fr
Marian came from time to time to encourage us and pray with us. In
April he celebrated the first Mass in the future chapel to which the
workmen came and some of the villagers. At the end of this Mass an
elderly lady got up and thanked the Lord for this chapel built by local
people, where they could come and pray. it was the beginning of a most
friendly relationship with the village.
A
month later Fr Marian preached the first retreat to fifteen
retreatants. All that summer various groups came to stay while the
building work went on. We began to learn community life and build a
family in difficult circumstances. We were supported by the prayers of
our friends and of our sister Marthe, as well as by the great
experience of our Father Marian.
Our
Bishop came to bless the Foyer on 28th September 1997, and we felt
God's blessing too. We now have eight members. The following year we
were able to buy the freehold of the school and grounds. We soon came
to realise that our house, adapted for thirty people, was already
becoming too small; and in 1999 we alternated retreats with a building
programme. Thank you Lord for all our good friends who made this
possible.
During
the Jubilee Year no fewer than 2000 guests came here. Many came
individually to the Foyer for a time of prayer and work with the
community. Our situation on the edge of a quiet village is ideal for
relaxation and silence. Recently we have prolonged our times of
Adoration to one hour in the morning and another in the evening. Twice
a week village children come here for Bible study. From time to time we
have organised retreats in Russian, as several of our diocesan priests
work in Russian-speaking areas. So, as Jesus said to Marthe, it is a
House of my Heart open to all.
(Taken from L'Alouette December 2001)
OUR COMMITMENT by Fr Marian Matusik
(When
a man or woman wishes to become a permanent member of a Foyer, after a
three year novitiate, he or she makes what in French is called 'un
engagement'. Since engagement in English is usually associated with
marriage, we suggest the translation 'commitment'.)
In
August 1991 the world meeting for Youth with Pope John-Paul II took
place at Czestochowa in Poland. More than one million young people from
the West and from the East made the journey, and among them was a group
of young French persons who came with the Foyers of Châteauneuf, Grégy
and Tressaint.
They
came to pray for the grace of the foundation of a Foyer of Charity in
Poland. Almost exactly ten years later on a fine autumn day, 20 October
2001, at Kaliszany on the Vistula, a priest and four members made their
commitment to a new Foyer by means of consecration to Jesus through the
hands of Mary.
For
a long time as a priest I had been searching for my proper place in the
Church, and I found it in the vocation to be the Father of a Foyer. It
all began with my first retreat at Châteauneuf in August 1992, preached
by Père Bernard Michon. This retreat was like the conception of my
vocation and the birth took place at La Flatiêre during my meeting and
prayer with Père Jacques Ravanel.
The
ceremony took place in our parish church dedicated to St Stanislaw,
Bishop and Martyr. Present were Mgr. Ryszard Karpiski, about twenty
priests, numerous friends, members of the candidates' families, two
choirs made up of village children taught at the Foyer and young people
from the parish, and above all representatives from other Foyers Père
Bernard Michon and Micheline Jaeger from Châteauneuf, Père Jacques
Ravanel and Irene Madrecki from La Flatiêre, underlining the
universality of the Church.
Aware
of our unworthiness but with very great joy we made a total act of
Commitment to the service of the Work of the Foyers. Thus we accepted
the richness of the vocation to a Foyer of Charity and all the demands
of evangelization, to carry to the world the Light of Jesus by means of
love in fraternal unity. The medals, the rosary beads, the cross, the
books, and the kisses of peace given as we joyfully sang the
Magnificat, were for us an expression of our entry into the great
Family of the Foyers.
In
his homily Père Michon stressed that service in a Foyer of Charity is a
great mission as well as a great joy. There would be joy too in heaven,
above all for our sister Marthe who led us to this extraordinary and
happy day by love of Mary, Queen of the Foyers. All present lived this
liturgy profoundly, and thanks to the homily they received a deeper
understanding of it and the role of the Foyers in the Church.
Our
hearts and souls were happy, helped by the good wishes and flowers
brought to us by our families and friends. I pray that this ceremony
may increase our faith and love,
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