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January 2008
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Easter 2008 - From
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Letter
From Jean Vanier - September
2007
At present I am in the monastery at Orval: a gentle time of quiet, of peace, of prayerfulness. A time to assimilate all that I have lived these last few months and particularly Barbara’s death. I still have difficulty realising that she has gone. Bill Clarke was able to be with her a day before she died. She was so present at the Eucharist he celebrated in her hospital room. It was a real gift for her that he was able to be with her. For me, I had the grace of being with her, holding her hand, during her last two hours. She opened her eyes, looked at me, we prayed, her breathing and her heart stopped. Her departure was gentle and peaceful; she left without a groan, without a murmur, no word of complaint, no apparent agony; a falling asleep as a little child in the arms of God. Her last breath was for Bill when he arrived to say mass a second time. Barbara died as she had lived, humbly and silently.
Archbishop Rowan Williams
'The Mission for L'Arche Today' - Address at L’Arche International Federation Meeting, Assisi, Italy Sunday 29 May 2005
When I think of L’Arche, I usually think first of faces: literally, primarily, the faces of community members met over the years, as well as all the particular stories that L’Arche people tell, the witness of individuals and about individuals. The most effective books about L’Arche have been those with pictures. The history of the community is an icon screen, a forest of faces behind each of which is the holy place. People are made to look like God, says the Bible ..
Jean
Vanier
Founder of L'Arche
Jean was born in Canada in 1928;
his father was the Governor General of Canada. He was brought up in both
Canada and England, and spent many years in the British Royal Navy and
then the Canadian Royal Navy. In 1950, he resigned from the Navy and
passed a doctorate in philosophy at the “Institut Catholique” in
Paris.
In 1963, he discovered people with learning disabilities when he visited
his friend, Père Thomas Philippe, chaplain at the Val Fleuri, a home for
thirty or so men with learning disabilities in the village of Trosly
Breuil in the Oise region of France. Challenged by the simplicity, the
sense of welcome, and the urgent call to relationship expressed by these
men, Jean decided, in 1964, to welcome Philippe Seux and Raphaël Simi
into a home he called L’Arche, in the village of Trosly Breuil. Jean was
well aware of the fact that his action was irreversible, however he did
not imagine how big L’Arche would become: in 2006 there are 131
communities in 34 countries throughout the world.
In 1971, Jean founded Faith and Light with Marie Hélène Matthieu. This
movement brings together people with learning disabilities, their parents
and friends for a time of sharing, of celebration and of prayer. These
communities meet once or twice a month, and there are currently more than
a thousand communities worldwide.
Jean was community leader for L’Arche Trosly-Breuil until the year 1981;
he still lives in this community. He visits communities throughout the
world, and gives talks and retreats.
JEAN’S TESTIMONY WITH REGARD TO HIS CALL
“I discovered people with learning disabilities in 1963 when I visited Père
Thomas Philippe, who was chaplain at the Val Fleuri, a home for thirty or
so men with learning disabilities, in the village of Trosly Breuil in the
Oise region of France. I was challenged by their simplicity, their sense
of welcome, their urgent call to relationship.
This experience moved me and I decided to visit homes for the mentally
handicapped, homes for the elderly and psychiatric hospitals. What I saw
came as a terrible shock to me. I discovered an atmosphere of violence, of
cries and yet, at the same time, I felt that God was deeply present. It
was a mixture of peace and chaos.
I gradually became aware of how deeply wounded people with learning
disabilities are. Even if they are well cared for, they do not understand
why they have been excluded, why they are not living in the same way as
their brothers and sisters. They are also sometimes oppressed: throughout
the world I have seen children chained up; I have seen 200 men and women
piled into a room and living in filth…
My experience has shown me that their violence, their strange behaviour,
their depression are pleas for true relationship: Am I worth taking care
of? The only response to this question is another heart saying “Yes,
you’re worth it. I am willing to commit myself to a relationship with
you, because I want you to live”.
So it was that, with Père Thomas help and confirmation, I felt called to
welcome Raphaël and Philippe, two men with learning disabilities. We
started to live together in a small house in Trosly Breuil. We worked,
prayed, travelled, and shared our lives together. Little by little we
learned how to get on with one another: L’Arche had begun”.