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Having returned from their
formative visit to Chile, the Juniorate has learnt
much about what it is that makes the Manquehue Apostolic
Movement, a lay Benedictine organisation based in Chile,
so successful.
Dom David Foster and the
two Juniors spent the month of May visiting the Manquehue
Apostolic Movement in Chile. They began by living in
one of the celibate Oblate houses near San Anselmo
School, in Chicureo, outer Santiago. They were introduced
to the organisation and how it functioned and then
visited each of the Movement’s three schools. Their
last 10 days was spent in Patagonia, where there are
two Manquehue communities living the Benedictine life
in very isolated and intense conditions.
At the heart
of the Manquehue life, founded on the Rule of St Benedict,
is the knowledge that Christ reaches out to us through
scripture and that we can discover Him through lectio
divina and in real human friendship. In that sense
the Manquehue Apostolic Movement embodies St Aelred’s
words: ‘In human affairs there is no goal holier than
friendship’, the qualities of which ‘come together
in Christ, they are advanced through Christ and in
Christ they are perfected.’
Each of the three schools
run by the Movement has a unique character, yet they
share an identical ethos: to make Christ known. Christ
is not considered an added extra in Manquehue schools,
but His Gospel affects every part of the school life.
This is nowhere more obvious than through the concept
of ‘tutoria’ in each school. Tutoria is a difficult
concept to translate, but it involves older students
making friends and mentoring younger ones through sharing
an experience of lectio divina in fun engaging ways.
The deeply Benedictine life of the Manquehue Oblates
is profoundly inspiring. The Juniorate left with renewed
confidence that the Rule of St Benedict still has the
power to create real human communities even in the
21st Century.
The Manquehue Apostolic Movement is a relatively new
movement in the Church yet it has already produced
wonderful fruits. We look forward to the future and
strengthening our bonds of friendship in Christ.
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