On January 23-25, 2023, Conventual Franciscan postulants from Spain, France and Italy met in Brescia, Italy, to spend some time of sharing their experiences and getting to know each other.
Fourteen postulants attended the meeting. They came from the formation houses of the Province of Our Lady of Monserrat in Spain, the Provincial Custody of St. Bonaventure in France-Belgium and the Italian Province of St. Anthony of Padua (Northern Italy). Some of the postulants undergoing formation in the Province of Padua are members of the Provincial Delegation in Portugal and the General Custody of the Sacred Convent of St. Francis in Italy (Assisi).
The participants were accompanied by their formators: Friar Juan Luis CORMENZANA CARPIO for Spain, Friars Jack MARDESIC and Bart DE PAEPE for France-Belgium, and Friars Alessandro PERISSINOTTO and Thomas Marie André BOURQUEROD for Italy.
Their time at the Friary of San Francesco d’Assisi in Brescia was an opportunity to discover the Franciscan realities of the place. In particular, the postulants let themselves be questioned and challenged by the example and life of Venerable Friar Giacomo BULGARO.
Spending time together, in simplicity and fraternity, brought the participants into contact with the formation realities of each country. Engaged in profound dialogue, they gained a better understanding of the particularities and goals in each place. Together with their respective formators, the postulants also spent time in prayer together, thus uniting their various languages into a single voice of praise and thanksgiving to the Father, for the ever evolving gift of their vocation.
Friar Thomas M. André BOURQUEROD
