‘La Valla, saying goodbye to L’Hermitage and our journey to Rome’

On Easter Sunday at 9:30am, we renewed our baptismal vows in the light of the Pascal candle at a beautiful mass said by Father John Craddock and Monsignor Peter Jeffrey at L’Hermitage chapel. The mass was also attended by many of the local people which created a great sense of universal community (Catholic).There was a great sense of Easter joy as we all wished each other signs of peace.

L’Hermitage then put on a magnificent 4 course meal for lunch which included crab meat and salad as the entrée, beef steak and French fries as the main course, and of course some locally made cheese and bread for dessert with some locally grown fruit to finish the meal (if anybody got this far).

After lunch we visited La Valla, which is situated approximately 8 kilometres north of L’Hermitage and high up in the mountains. It is the place where Marcellin was first appointed as a priest and where he set up his first school. He then built the L’Hermitage because his work was gathering such momentum that he needed to build a bigger formation house. It was an amazing experience to visit the birthplace of the Marist Brothers, the place where Marcellin and the first group of Brothers first began motivating young people with their enthusiasm for teaching and spreading the good news!

The next morning we said our goodbyes to Brother Neville, Brother George, Father John and other ‘family’ members at L’Hermitage. We were welcomed with great warmth and generosity and it was quite hard to say goodbye. Living at L’Hermitage for 5 nights was an inspiring experience and one which we will never forget, having the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Father Marcellin Champagnat.

We then set off on the next chapter of our journey to Rome. We travelled by bus to Lyon and then caught a flight to Rome. We checked into our accommodation around 2:30pm and then quickly set off in groups of 4-6 to discover what Rome had to offer, and cram as much into our afternoon as possible. The Colosseum was a major hotspot, with the Trivia Fountain and the monument of Victoria Emmanuel also being popular places to visit.

Today we again are in Rome, seeking the various sights before gathering together at 2pm to share an audience with Brother Emili and other General House members.

The group is all going well. Some members have caught the cold and are taking it easy today to try and beat the ‘sniffles’ but all in all, we are all having a wonderful time. We are beginning to get to know each other quite well and have shared many great experiences which we are all extremely grateful for. Our thoughts and prayers are once again with Brother John McMahon and also our family members back home.

God bless,

Tim Kelly

Notre Dame College, Shepparton