RETROSPECTION OF THE SECOND WEEK.

28^th August, 2017 Mgr. Louis Rutten.

The second week of the Oasis program was dedicated to the Congregational Pilgrimage.  Three historical places were identified and visited by the participants. The birth place of Mgr Louis Rutten, the place he started the nursery and St. Servaas Church.

Participants were taken through Jordenstraat, where Mgr. Louis Rutten was born. The family house could still be identified along the street. A building which was put up in the 18^th century as a family and also as brewery, one could still identify a gable-stone inscribed on top of the entrance door.

The pilgrimage took us to the second place of significance where Rutten started the “school for the poor” and the middle-class school. Since he could not do it alone, He invited the Ursuline sisters to come and take over the school. With their inspiration, Mgr. Rutten moved to live with the Ursuline Sisters in 1850. He was in this house until 1871 when his health was failing him. He left for Trenen in Belgium where he died. We ended that day’s activities with a visit to St.  Mathias and St. Servaas churches.

29^th August, 2017 Bro. Bernadus  Hoecken.

During the second day of the second week, our reflection centered on Bro. Bernard Hoecken, the Co-founder of the Congregation. A visit to Bro Bernard’s birthplace was not possible.  We instead visited Bogaardenstraat, where the Red Lion community is located in the heart of the city of Maastricht. Mgr. Rutten bought this house, where the first brothers lived and worked. It remains the cradle of our Congregation. Currently the house is used as a community and also center for a growing community of persons who wants to be good and to do good. About six brothers live in this community.

30^th August, 2017   An Outing.

The participants of the Oasis went to Vaals, a historical and border town between Germany and The Netherlands. It was interesting to see participants using seconds and minutes to cross into these countries without visa checks.

Our next place of interest was a glass factory close to this border where the owner demonstrated to the group how glass wares were made. We ended the day’s visit in a shepherd cottage where a professional shepherd uses dogs to control the flock.

31^st August, 2017.

The 31^st day of the month was full of activities but not so stressful. The day was marked by the overview of pictures taken during the pilgrimage. The essence of these pictures were to enable us recapitulate what happened at these places of visit.  Members were then put in pairs to share their experiences. This was done in a more fraternal manner. We ended the day by writing letters to our dear ones about our experiences, inspirations from the pictures and the feelings of the congregational walk.

1^st September, 2017.  

Today, we turned our attention again to our founders.  An opportunity was offered us to watch the video entitled “The Beginning of a Congregation”. The video is a story that starts from the birth of Mgr. Louis Rutten and recounted his early formal education, his seminary years, and how he started his work leading to the founding of the congregation, with the help of Bro. Bernardus.

The video provoked intense feelings of emotions and at the same time, helped us to connect with the realities at their time. It was quite an emotional moment as expressed by some participants. The video helped each one of us to cultivate a sense of empathy and passion for the marginalized in our society.

            After the video, participants were asked to compose a poem about our two founders. This was later shared in language groups. The activities of the day were finalized with a procession to the Brothers’ cemetery. A very reflective prayer service was organized by Bro. Frans Wils on the ground.  It was a moment of remembering our diseased brothers some of whom we lived and worked with during their live time.

Compiled by; Bro. Sentu B. T. Severious