Province of Spain – Multiple meeting of Gabrielite Shared Mission

On the 22nd of April 2023, the groups of the MCG and Montfortian Family-Madrid, together with the group of monitors of the St. Gabriel Camps, met at the St. Gabriel School in Madrid, reaching a total of 50 people.

Teacher Carmen Eugenia, in charge of Pastoral area at San Gabriel school in Madrid, opened the meeting at 11 a.m. by giving a sincere and cordial welcome to all those present.

Brother Ángel Llana reminded everyone of the meaning of Shared Mission and its origin in the Institution of the Brothers of St. Gabriel and in all its centers, and explained the importance of sharing the charism, spirituality and mission of the Brothers with the laity.

Throughout the years of running of the Gabrielite Shared Mission in the Province of Spain, from its beginnings until now, these meetings to share formation and ideals have been increasing because “You cannot share what you do not know”.

Brother Ángel Llana, with the help of a power point, explained the religious experience and love of St. Louis for the Virgin Mary.

• In his early years in an eminently Christian family. 
• In his years of formation at school and later at the seminary Saint Sulpice.
• In his life as an apostolic missionary.
• And finally, in his writings. The life of Saint Louis and his works have made him one of the greatest promoters of love for our mother.

We enjoyed a short coffee break or just a relaxed chat with the companions of the Meeting.

After a short coffee break or just a relaxed chat, seven small groups were formed to discuss the theme: The experience of the Virgin Mary in my life. Some of the questions we asked ourselves were: What is your devotion to Mary like? What have you learned about her in your adult life? Who has influenced your devotion to the Virgin? What places of devotion to Mary have you visited?

We then shared our reflections. Some of them were these:

• Devotion to Mary should be like our dealing with our mother: trust in her, because she gives us security; love, because she wants the best for us….
• There are as many invocations of the Virgin Mary as there are villages in Spain, but we must not forget that under these different invocations lies the same person: the Mother of God and our Mother.
• The importance of the family in instilling the devotion to Mary.

Personal experiences were presented and finally Brother Ángel Llana, in addition to summarize what was presented by the groups, completed the content speaking of how we should apply this devotion in our daily lives. The spiritual experience of St. Louis should form part of our identity…:

• Helping those most in need.
• The way in which we show ourselves useful to a child, to an adolescent, to a young person?
• Devotion to Mary, which began in us when we were children, must gradually abandon its childish image and grow in us as we grow in age, knowledge and experience.
• We cannot be trees full of leaves, but without fruit: all the works and deeds we do must seek the welfare of others.
• Mary is not the end of our journey. She must be our companion on the way to Christ.

The meeting ended singing a song to San Luis composed by the teacher Carolina Sánchez and sung by the Infants’ group of the school.

MCG-Province of Spain