VINCENT LECLERQ
Assumptionist priest, Vincent Leclerq, is the postulator for the cause of beatification of Father Emmanuel d’Alzon, who founded the first community of the Augustinians of the Assumption the night of Christmas 1845, in Nîmes. The columnist of Let Us Pray in Church explains to us how, according to him, to welcome the mystery of the Incarnation.
The rule of life of the Augustinians of the Assumption invites them to “work to the coming of the kingdom of God.” What kingdom is this? It is about letting Christ grow in us, among us (in Church, in community, in the parish…) and around us. It is the idea of a contagious charity that can be lived, for example, by the Assumptionists in their places of mission: school, pilgrimages, the press, or the parish. For us all, the kingdom of God is a gift to share through unity and by the truth of Christ. But the most important aspect, it is charity: we will share the love of Christ with others. In the times of Advent and Christmas, it is a call to solidarity, to fraternity, to hope for peace in families, in the hearts, to pacify the world so that God comes. But, to pacify the world, it is necessary first to pacify one’s heart, that is to say let God love us, search that which is aimable in others, notably in those who are the furthest from us, and make a gesture of unity or reconciliation. The Lord meets us in all the fractures and ruptures of this world. At the division, he wants to bring an addition of good and confidence. The coming of Christ is an antidote to despair.
“The best way to wait for the Lord, it is to let him enter in our hearts.”
How can we work toward the kingdom of God, especially during Advent?
It is to live the ordinary things in an extraordinary way, that is to say by associating God in concrete terms of our lives. The Incarnation is good news because Christ pulls the world from its chaos to gather us in his love. The Lord wants to offer the gift of his presence. It is up to us to be the instrument, by a word of hope, encouragement, forgiveness, by a smile, an attitude or a look which raises and relieves suffering. Father d’Alzon invited us to be the “disciples of Jesus,” by being the Church and by continuing the ministry of reconciliation and the healing of Christ. The best way to wait for the Lord, it is to let him enter our hearts to continue his beautiful ministry of salvation and healing.
Certainly, we can be tested and suffer, but we cannot be sad. No one can take the joy of being Christians, to be in the hands of God which are good hands. Let God be God for us, join us and transform our life. The world can be without God, but not us.
What does the good news of Christmas bring?
When we say at Christmas that the Lord is here, this changes everything! Through the Incarnation, we know not only that we have a destination, that we are expected in the Kingdom, but also that the Lord has already paid the ticket. Our gift is to look at the landscape, that is to say, the course of our lives with this faith and hope that the Lord is with us and for us on the way. We just need to welcome this God who loves us and who does extraordinary things in our lives. And know to recognize his passage.
Father d’Alzon desired “to burn with more and more love for Jesus and Mary.” What does that mean?
The most important thing is not to do things for God, but to let Him do it, to “let Him reign in our hearts and our lives,” said Father d’Alzon. Throughout his life, he demonstrated that, when we give our heart to the Lord, he takes all. Very young, he had the intuition to let the Lord reign in his life. Then he put it into work, attentive to the world in which Jesus chose to live and grow up.
What form did his prayer take?
If he had not prayed, he would have been hyperactive! His prayer was truly contemplative, that is to say that he was able, like the saints, to see the action of God in his daily life and that of others, to see the world differently, to believe that God does not cross his arms but transforms the world. His prayer linked action and contemplation. He connected with a God who is incarnated in the life of the world and in the heart of man.
WHO WAS EMMANUEL D’ALZON (1810-1880)?
A son of Cévennes, southern in origin, appearance, but also spirit, this is how he can be defined geographically and morally the man of the Church, vicar general of his diocese for forty years. Throughout his life, Emmanuel d’Alzon overflowed with activities, initiatives, and projects, never hesitating to conduct all head-on. He found his strength in the long hours devoted to prayer. 180 years ago on the night of Christmas, Father d’Alzon founded in Nîmes (30) the first community of the Augustinians of the Assumption, more commonly called the Assumptionists. Their charism is expressed in four dimensions: the unity of Christians, education, pilgrimages, and the press.
By the example of Father d’Alzon who was a true son of the Church, how can we live the ecclesial dimension during Advent?
It is about loving the Church, believing in the importance of living one’s faith daily and living in a communal dimension, for example by praying for one another. There is also a link between love for the Church and the word of God. The way to be the Church today, it is to meditate the Word that we have read, sung, celebrated, and put to work in our lives. The Church permits us to receive it, live it, and experiment with it. At Christmas, the Word of God becomes flesh. This engages us to ensure that the word of God is read and meditated so that it is still incarnated today. A beautiful program for the readers of Let Us Pray in Church!
Remarks collected by Bénédicte de Saint-Germain
TO GO FURTHER
Father d’Alzon spoke of “burning love for Jesus and Mary.” What fuels my inner fire? What sometimes extinguishes it?
“Thy kingdom come”: how does the phrase from Our Father, motto of the Assumptionists, resonate for me?
What does this change for me to believe that “God does not cross his arms”? Where do I see signs that God acts?
Vincent Leclerq with a bronze bust of Father Emmanuel d’Alzon, at the general house of the Augustinians of the Assumption, Rome (Italy).
