Province of Spain – Meeting of the Associates in Barcelona and Madrid
On Saturday 28 January, the associates of the Province of Spain met in Barcelona and Madrid to celebrate the meeting they had planned on the theme of Mary.
At 10:30 am, in the premises of the Provincial House of Barcelona, the group of the Gabrielite Shared Mission of Catalonia met to focus on the development of the personality of St Louis Marie de Montfort, from the point of view of his Marian devotion, in his childhood and youth until his ordination as a priest, and later, in his time as an apostolic missionary. The exhibition presented the “external practices” that St Louis proposed to us ‒to please and glorify God‒ and that he put into practice in his missionary activity. External practices which, as he insisted, must always correspond to “internal practices”.
After a snack, we watched the episodes of Jesus lost in the Temple and the wedding at Cana. We reflected on the attitude of Mary, who not only accepted to be the mother of Jesus, but who, by her yes, also accepted the divine identity and saving mission of her son.
In the afternoon, at 5 p.m., the group AGMONT met, also in the Provincial House, to work on the same theme. They first analysed the relationship between Mary and Jesus through five episodes of the Gospel, and then established Mary’s relationship with us. Finally, they also looked at the theme: Who was Mary for Father de Montfort? After the Eucharist, they had a relaxed dinner together.
For their part, the group of Montfort Family associates from Madrid and La Aguilera met with the group of MCG associates from Madrid at the school in Madrid at 10:5 am. They were joined by several collaborators from the school and by two other associates online from Jaén. After the opening prayer, Brother Ángel Llana presented the figure of Mary as it is presented by the Church:
- Mary Mother of God… co-creator (engenders God in History)
- Virgin Mary… free (God is the only reason for her human existence)
- Mary Immaculate… co-redemptrix (Mary is the example of what we can assume with God’s grace)
- Mary Assumed… assumes her identity (revaluation of the unity between body and spirit)
After the presentation, an episode of the series The Chosen was shown in which Mary talks with the disciples while Jesus heals the sick Samaritans. During the break, participants chatted and enjoyed good coffee and sweets. Then groups were formed to discuss a series of questions about our relationship with Mary. This first part of the meeting ended with a prayer to Our Lady. After lunch, the group visited the parish of Santa Maria del Silencio, which has been working, since 2012, with a group of people with sensory disabilities, deaf and dumb,. The parish priest explained the history of the parish and the role they currently play in it.
A Saturday entirely dedicated to the memory and honour of Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, as well as to the memory of the personal experience of St Louis in his devotion to the Virgin Mary, which gave rise to his Marian doctrine that has meant so much to the Church and to us all.
MCG Training Team
