Worldwide Bicentennial Celebrations

 

  

On January 2nd, 2017, the Marist Institute celebrated the bicentenary of its foundation. Below is a video featuring pictures from many different 200th anniversary celebrations around the world.

 

 

 

 

The Marists of Champagnat have been preparing for this historic event for the past three years, leading the way towards A New Beginning. As in a triduum (a three-day period of prayer, usually in preparation for an important feast or celebration), the three years leading up to the bicentennial have given us the opportunity to reflect on three aspects of the Marist vocation:

 

            First, the MISSION during the Montagne Year (2014-2015)     

            Next, COMMUNION throughout the Fourvière Year (2015-2016)

            Last, as of August 2016, SPIRITUALITY in the Year of La Valla.

 

 

The celebration of the bicentenary will take place in 2017, with the General Council deciding on three different key dates:

 

• January 2nd, 2017: A date that connects us with our past, the General Council will celebrate in different places around the world as a way of highlighting the internationality of the Institute – in La Valla, Nairobi, Lujan (Argentina), and in Rome. Superior General Emili Turú will be in Bangladesh, where he will attend the opening of a school for the sons and daughters tea plantation workers in the region. On this day, the Superior General will connect with all Marists worldwide via video message.

 

• June 6th, 2017: Celebrations will be held in Rome to highlight Marists’ presence in the ecclesial community. On that day, the three volumes of the book ‘History of the Institute’ will be presented and a photographic exhibition on the Institute as it stands today will be launched.

 

• September 8th, 2017: In Rionegro, Columbia there will be celebrations of the opening of the General Chapter and representation of all Administrative Unites of the Marist World. It will be a special moment giving us all a chance for thanksgiving, to request forgiveness, and, above all, to commit to the future.

 

Along with these proposals from the General House, each Administrative Unit is organizing their own bicentennial celebrations. The General House will publish the different initiatives that are being developed around the Marist World. Their communications office is also preparing a video on Saint Marcellin, an App for smartphones to highlight a New Beginning, and is considering promoting other initiatives. One of them, being launched now, is the hashtag #MillionMarists.