It is clear, however, that the spirituality of the Assumptionists is nourished by the Augustinian tradition, and, I would even say that one of the defining characteristics of the Assumptionists in the fidelity of their academic, social and missionary commitment to the thinking and spirituality of Saint Augustine. As a result, community spirit is fundamental and community solidarity is an essential element of Assumptionist identity, bringing them closer to the monastic orders in this respect. The Assumptionists obviously share orientations with other religious families: social, missionaries, doctrinal, but they live in the Augustinian tradition, which enables them to unify these different orientations.

 

The disciples of Father d’Alzon want to be present on all mission fields, even parishes so that Catholicism will triumph everywhere for everyone. So, in the thinking of Father d’Alzon, the Augustinian spirit and Tridentine spirit converge, giving birth to an original and versatile religious family that enables each of its members to find their own place: men, women, intellectuals, manual workers, priests and laity, etc… but amidst all their differences, they are pious and active, fraternal and apostles. All of them, through their various commitments, express the presence of the Catholic Church in the world, particularly in difficult fields of service like the "young Churches" just as it is today; places, for example, where the Catholic faith is threatened, where social misery is present and where the missionary spirit must be lived daily, in adapting itself to the reality of its local situation. This is the case, for example, today, in Africa or Russia, difficult places if I may say so, as I have personally seen for the Assumptionists in Moscow a year and a half ago or in Rwanda in 2006. All these disciples of Father d’Alzon believe with strength and passion in the motto of their religious family, a motto that unites them across social, intellectual and geographical borders: "Thy Kingdom come!" (...)

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The Assumptionists and the religious

A Conference by Sophie HASQUENOPH