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Jerusalem
Communities - Montreal
Sanctuary
of the
Blessed Sacrament
500 East, Mont-Royal,
Montreal,
Qc, Canada, H2J 1W5
«
By choosing to pray at the heart of the city,
you mean to
show that your life is in the heart of God.
»
Jerusalem Community
Rule of Life
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History
A
bold project
In 1975, the crisis of the Church is
in
full swing in
Europe. Vocations and church attendances sink rapidly into
decline
at the same rythm. In parallel, new communities are created.
The decade witnesses many foundations. Driven by the Spirit, the
Emmanuel Community, the Chemin Neuf Community, the Community of the
Beatitudes, St John's brothers, the male branch of the Bethleem
monasteries, the apostolic monks of St John of Malte,
etc.,
appear. In Paris, St. Gervais's
welcomes the early stages of the Monastic Jerusalem Communities
(MJC). The bold project is to offer a new
form of monastic life in the heart of the city. |
 St.
Gervais's,
Paris
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Photo : John Pole
Soeur Marie et frère
Pierre-Marie,les prieurs généraux des Fraternités
Monastiques de Jérusalem,
en compagnie du Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte.
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Since
Septembre 2004, les FMJ crossed the ocean to set up for the
first
time outside the european borders, on the americain soil. At a time
when the population that attends churches goes gray, the diocese of
Montreal, through the Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, chose to invite
the MJC to come to become
integrated to the Church of Montreal. One grace: evangelization through
contemplatrive liturgical beauty in the heart of the city.
30 years after the initial foundation of the MJC in Paris, it's
Montreal's turn to welcome them. The project is still so bold. |
Germination
Before the creation of the
MJC, the archbishop of Paris,
Cardinal
Marty, was already carrying the vision of a monastery in the city. In a
Parisian weekly magazine, he launched the call: «
In
Paris downtown, there is no lack of churches: one of them must become a
true song of monastic prayer, inviting the Parisians to a happy resting
place… » The call remained unanswered
until Fr Pierre Delfieux adopted it as his own and made it a
reality.
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Photo:
Raymond Vidome
Br
Pierre-Marie, founder of the MJC,
in front of St. Gervais's in Paris
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After 10
years of priesthood, mainly in the academic world, then two years in
the Sahara, near Fr Charles de Foucauld's hermitage in
Tamanrasset, Fr
Pierre Delfieux come back to Paris with the project to start a monastic
life in the heart of the city. The meeting between the two
men occurs in July 1974, in Royat.
The famous « It's OK! »
that Cardinal Marty came out with is acknowledged as an
assignment
by the one who will become Br
Pierre-Marie.
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On March, 15
1975,
shortly after he creates the MJC, Br
Pierre-Marie states :
It's not about
starting something but about living the Gospel and making St. Gervais's
presbytery a
monastery and the church a "prayer carpet" on Paris's macadam, while
remaining as a Parisian with the Parisians. It's not about
refuting one thing or another but about creating a space of prayer and
silence, of welcome and share, by immersing ourselves in the city
without sinking in it, and thus revealing the presence of a living
source at the heart of the daily life, realizing a mystery of communion
in the pace of modern-day Paris, without introducing anything, without
any luggage for the route.
Then again :
I just would
like to
be able to say here that what we are looking for doesn't have
in any way anything aimed at contradicting anything
existing. We like traditional monasticism too
much to do that,
and St Benedict in particular. What we are looking for is the
possibility of a construction the way God wants, with
as much complementarity as possible and harmony,
taking into
account today's multiple calls.
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Official
foundation
On
November 1, 1975,
with All Saints' Day mass, the Monastic Communities
of Jerusalem
were born. St. Gervais's accomodates them for the celebration fo their
first liturgy. They are officially founded on November 30, 1975, that
is to say the first sunday of the Advent, during the Eucharist that
Cardinal Marty presided over at
St. Gervais's in Paris.
From December 8, 1976, the feast of the Virgin Mary's Immaculate
Conception, a female Monastic Community is born in harmony with the one
that already exists at St. Gervais's. Less than 3 years later,
in 1978, the MCJ receive their bylaws. |
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comes the stage of the Constitutions given by the Church to lead the
walk of the Communities. On this subject, Br Pierre-Marie writes in
November 2000 in Sources Vives:
« Thanks to Mgr Albert Rouet and with the efficient help of
Fr Pierre
d'Ornellas, then secretary of the Archbishop, as far back as
1989, we got started on the text. As far back as
1991, Cardinal Lustiger gave it to us "ad experimentum".
In 1996, with the approval of both the Congregation
for the
Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for the Consecrated Life,
we were granted the official recognition. It was such a joy
in our Communities when we received a letter from Cardinal
Jean-Marie Lustiger notifying that the MFJ were permanently established
as an Institute of Diocesan Law! » The
Constitutions represent a
grace for Jerusalem because they give a recognition of the Church and
an institutional stability. |
 Photo:
Arturo
Mari
Br Pierre-Marie
Audience with Pope John-Paul II
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Present
radiance Today,
monks and nuns of the MCJ gather rassemblent en leurs rangs plus de
30 nationalités différentes. The Jerusalem Community Rule
of Life, which records the main points of the Communion of Jerusalem's
charisma, is translated in more than 20 languages.
The parent house of the MCJ is always at
St. Gervais's in Paris. An urban crowd of 700.000
visiteurs passes by each year. The MCJ are also established at
the basilica St. Marie-Madeleine, in Vézelay (1993), in
Strasbourg, at St. Jean's (1995), in Italy, in Florence, at La
Badia Fiorentina's (1998), in Belgium, in Brussels, at St. Gilles-au
Parvis's (2001) and in
Mont Saint-Michel (2001). The MCJ are also present in the diocese of
Blois where the house of "Magdala" offers a place for spiritual
retreats for monks, nuns and lay people.
Since September 2004, the MJC have been established in
Montreal too. They fit into the dense area of the Plateau
Mont-Royal,
complementing the various richnesses that the area offers.
The MJC also become integrated into the workings of the dynamics of the
Church in Montreal.
Sanctuary
of the
Blessed Sacrament
Mont-Royal
street, Montréal
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©
Communion of Jerusalem - Last update : October 20,
2006
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