Toulouse Province - En

ACTS OF THE 7th EUROPEAN ASSEMBLY OF LAY DOMINICAN FRATERNITIES

ANNEX IIf

PRESENTATION OF THE PROVINCE OF TOULOUSE Before presenting the Province of Toulouse and the dynamics of its projects, I would like to tell you how happy I am to be amongst you all. All the countries represented here, the names of which strike a chord in my personal map of the world, will now have faces and I believe this is truly the meaning of our lay Dominican fraternities, and more particularly, of this meeting. Our provincial President, Brigitte Valade, could not attend the European Assembly and asked me to stand in for her. I shall be brief as regards logistics: − The major cities in the south of France with Dominican convents or monasteries are Nice, Toulon, Sainte Baume, Saint-Maximin, Marseille, Montpellier, Prouilhe, Fanjeaux, Toulouse and Bordeaux, with the French West Indies and the Reunion Island in France’s overseas territories. − On 15 June a new fraternity will be established in Nîmes and a fraternal group in Alès in the south-east of France. The original feature of both these groups is that their setting-up does not result from contacts with a convent or a monastery but with a priestly fraternity of St Dominic (group of diocesan priests) followed by the Dominican priory of Marseilles. There are around 230 lay Dominicans in the Province of Toulouse. What should be noted for the members in our fraternities is the particularly active part most of them play in dioceses, particularly as regards: - catechetics, - pastoral care for the bereaved, - the Rosary Pilgrimage. We are also active in the areas where we live and work. Concerning the frequency of our meetings, it is once a month. Study takes the form of reading and commenting the Gospel or books written by members of the Dominican Family. A retreat is also proposed twice a year. It is preached by the religious assistant of a fraternity. In the field of formation, newcomers from the two regions of the province will meet in Fanjeaux in November 2008 to discover and become immersed in the Word of God and the grace emanating from the area. As from September 2008 exchanges on the monthly Justice & Peace newsletter circulated by Fr. Henrik Alberius will be proposed to all the fraternities.

Major joint projects are the sustained discovery of Prouilhe/Fanjeaux and SaintMaximin/La Ste Baume by the Dominican Family. La Sainte Baume will be taken over and fully managed by the Dominican Order and we shall send invitations in the very near future to regular study and prayer meetings in this splendid Provence location which has been marked by St. Magdalene since 1295. The guest quarters established by Fr. Lacordaire will be 150 years old in 2009 and will be the subject of a colloquium which you are all naturally invited to. I would also like to draw attention to the new monastery of Dominican nuns in Saint-Maximin which is expected to be completed by 2009. On these occasions, lay Dominicans are particularly involved. We are extremely fortunate to be living in such blessed places which naturally facilitate our life within the Dominican Family. If I have mentioned the Dominican Family so often, it is because I am convinced that we cannot manage without one another. I would like to end this talk by reiterating the greetings of our provincial President and the members of the fraternities of the Province of Toulouse.