News
Soon it will be 150 years
To all religious and lay members of the Alliance
Roma
This year we celebrate the 145th anniversary of the "Dies Natalis in Caelum" of our Founder, Venerable Father Emmanuel d'Alzon. What is the best way to honor him? We are not going to wait five years to do so. My editorial in the sixth issue of AA-info (October 2024) was entitled: "It is good that he is known!" That was also the wish of the 34th General Chapter, which had expressed its desire for a new biography of Father d'Alzon to be written. I can inform you that this work is underway.
We have all read and meditated on the circular letter about Father d'Alzon's last moments (ULTIMA VERBA). We quickly realize that, even in the last moments of his life, when he could easily have been overcome by fear of death and a certain discouragement, our founder did not lose sight of what he most desired. To the questions that were asked of him (surely by Fr. François Picard), his answers are unequivocal:
- "What do you desire, Father?" "I desire only the will of God."
- "Do you have any wishes to express, Father?" "I desire only heaven."
Perhaps the best way to honor the memory of our founder is to strive to be good religious. Whatever the context in which we repeat these words of Father d'Alzon, "Be good religious," at the heart of it is the desire to respond to his call. The question then becomes: what does it mean to be a good religious? We don’t need to look for the answer somewhere else: to be a good religious is, above all, to seek to fulfill God's will and to direct our hearts toward heaven.
The following can be read in Fr. d'Alzon's obituary:
"In the year of our Lord Jesus Christ MDCCCLXXX
On the feast day of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
In our convent in Nîmes
The Most Reverend Father Emmanuel D'ALZON
Founder and Superior General of our Congregation
Provided with the sacraments of Our Mother the Holy Church,
Was presented by the Blessed Virgin herself to her divine Son."
These words, full of hope and deeply moving, reflect the happy outcome of the journey of a man who received everything and gave everything generously so that the Kingdom of God might come in him and around him. May the celebrations of this 145th anniversary of his "Dies Natalis in Caelum" in our communities and in the groups of the Alliance be occasions to intensify our prayer that the Church may recognize the holiness of our Founder.
Happy feast day to all!
Ngoa Ya Tshihemba, a.a.
Superior General