On the evening of Wednesday 16 November, under the patronage of Saint Gertrude (one of the first confidants of the Sacred Heart!) and of Our Lady of Peace, the first event of the academic year took place in preparation for the beatification of our martyred Fathers, Ladislaus, Frézal, Polycarp and Marcellin.
Under the gaze of the Founders in the large salon of Picpus, currently used as a house of discernment for the Seminary of Paris, several groups gathered for a conference on the theme of building peace, entitled: "Blue White Blood, The Commune of 1871: what kind of peace for what kind of world?
These conferences are normally provided for young people/professionals who are associated with the Congregation in Paris. They also invite members of the SSCC Secular Branch members who live in Paris to attend, and on this occasion the conference was open to all the baptized of the Diocese of Paris, where the beatification will take place.
In the form of ten questions put by Brother Antoine Mennecier sscc, Father Jacques Benoist, art historian of the City of Paris, specialist in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre, first of all brought to life for the listeners the social atmosphere, the currents of thought that prevailed in the turmoil, the events that marked the lives of our martyrs. He then highlighted the individual responsibility that each one had, which political opinions can only enlighten or obscure. The absolutization of politics was shown to be the main obstacle to the construction of peace, both internal and common. Peace can never remain an idea or a collective tendency, rather, peace must “compromise” while risking exposing our "face to insults and spitting" (Is 50:6) if need be, as Christ our Peace did and as Ladislaus, Frézal, Marcellin and Polycarp did. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" was the final word of Father Benoist. Know how to wage war and win, but without hatred, like Christ at Easter.
11/22/2022