in the little chapel, above your tomb, where you lie at rest.

We see depicted on the wall the Mother

surrounded by her son’s disciples,

filled with the Spirit and ready to go hither and yon to the ends of the earth.

You often said, when the way ahead seemed bleak,

“I place myself in the house at Nazareth and from there I see everything I must do”.

That’s where you awaited us.

To each you said, “put your cares aside, rest, be silent,

and let your heart sing again the story of your first love.

Rediscover the zeal of youth”.

Pater, ora pro filiis

Yesterday at Fourviere you were only twelve to offer your lives to Mary,

your hearts burning with the desire to do great things for God

young and eager, you felt the joy of a new adventure.

Yesterday yet again in the chapel at La Capucinière,

twenty of you consecrated yourselves;

and seven among you were already preparing to set out to the end of the world.

To them you said, ‘Times are bad, friends; we have work to do”

We are here today. We’ve come from North and South, from East and West,

inhabitants of the old Europe.

Years of toil have left their mark; but our hearts are still burning.

You invite us draw breath

and fetch within our inner wellspring the buried treasures of experience and work.

And you command:

“Let us go, friends; we have work to do. Our Society must begin a new Church”.

Pater, ora pro filiis

In Cuet and at Cras, you, Petelo of Futuna, the man with the big heart,

you invite us to live more closely to those furthest away, a simple presence,

in order to say more powerfully than with mere words

That God loves and awaits us.

Today, what Exodus are you leading us towards in search of living water

for our parched hearts?

Perhaps called like you to shed old ways, letting go of certainties,

letting silence invade our inner spaces;

Taking the pilgrim’s staff and walking forward as we watch the Star

twinkling in the deepest night.

From our poverty you create wealth and from our powerlessness an opening

to life in the Spirit.

Pater, ora pro filiis

Mother, you who are the guardian of God’s secrets, you made the journey of faith,

amidst the impossible and unexpected without ever losing confidence.

And through you God has done great things.

Create in us that trusting heart which gave you the freedom to say an unqualified ‘yes’!

May the Spirit overshadow us too so that a new birth might come.

Mater, ora pro filiis