Madrid, Spain. Convoked by Fr. Gonzalo Fernandez, the General Prefect of Spirituality, the Claretian Spirituality Centre (CESC), Vic organized the Encounter with Claret for the Claretians from the English speaking organisms of the Congregation throughout the month of September, 2012.
There were 16 participants from the organisms of Bangalore (3), Chennai (2), Congo (1), East Asian Delegation (2), Indonesia (2), Philippines (1) North East India (2), St. Thomas (1) and West Nigeria (2).
The Encounter began with a day of recollection as preparation to get into the experiences of the following days. Visits to the places of Father Claret, conferences, personal and group reflections and liturgical life were the means of personalizing the experiences of the encounter.
The first stage took place in Sallent, Vic, Barcelona and Fontfroide. The second stage began from the places of martyrdom of our brothers in Cervera and Barbastro and got over in Colmenar Viejo with its corresponding visits to Madrid, La Granja, Segovia, El Escorial, Aranjuez and Toledo.
The experiences in the claretian places impressed the participants to come into contact with the experience of Father Claret and understand better the social reality of his time.
The conferences of the resource persons on the person of Father Claret, his charismatic spirit, his works (his written works and Claretian Family) helped them to identify themselves with him. The recollections and liturgies were the moments of personalization of the calls from the present times in the light of this “Encounter with Claret”. The intercultural reality of the group encouraged the members to value the richness of the diverse living reality of the claretian charism.
All the members of the group were happy about the claretian hospitality experienced in all the communities they passed through.
Thus the “Encounter with Claret” came to an end on 30 September, 2012 with the positive evaluation and a Thanks Giving Mass.
Picture: the group in front of the “Cristo de la Granja” in Segovia.
