On Sunday,1st September, 2019, Anthony Nguyen Van Loi and Antoine Mennencier started their Novitiate in the Novitiate community in El Escorial. They are novices of the Province of France, who, by agreement between the provinces of France and Iberian, will undertake their novitiate in El Encinar. This year there are no novices from the Iberian Province.
The beginning of the Novitiate was marked by a simple ceremony that took place in the community chapel and which was led by Alphonse Fraboulet who was representing Christian Flottes, Superior Province of France. In the ceremony, Alphonse invited the novices to understand that when God calls, he asks us, just as he asked Abraham, to leave our land and divest ourselves of our securities. We are asked to respond to Jesus' invitation to live not so much out of what we have as out of who we are. The novices are entrusted to the Novice Master, Enrique Losada who will guide them and through the novitiate community we pray that they will discover before the Lord their true vocation. The song of the Salve Regina was sung, reminding the community that Mary, our Mother, is accompanying them.
09/03/2019