NEWS OF THE BROTHERS IN IVORY COAST: The situation remains tense but our contacts with the Brothers indicate that they are all safe for the present. The same goes for the 5 properties of the Brothers (4 in Abidjan, 1 in the town of Daloa, up-country).

In addition to the presence of the Brothers Scholastics, their formators and staff members of the CELAF (Centre Lasallien Africain) Institute, as also of the Brothers of the Akwaba centre for street children, there was at the time of the new outbreak of hostilities the annual meeting of Visitors of RELAF (Région Lasallienne Africaine) and a special meeting of RELAF bursars at which Br. Francisco Lopez, Bursar General, was present. These meetings were held at the inter-District Scholasticate for French-speaking RELAF which is on the campus of CELAF in Abidjan. CELAF is temporarily closed, but the plan is for it to re-open on 16 November.

General Councillors Br. Marc Hofer and Br. Yemanu Jehar, Delegate for Rwanda, were attending as also was Br. Ismael Beltrán, Vtr. of Central Spain, on which the Sub-District of Golf of Benin depends. Br. Dominic Ehrmantraut, Vtr. of Lwanga, was not able to fly in to Abidjan and the same goes for Br. Sylvain Consimbo, Vtr. of West Africa, and Br. José Manuel Agirrezabalaga of SECOLI.

Evacuation of those wishing to depart has been one of the problems. However, it appears that Brothers Marc Hofer, Francisco López and Ismael Beltrán have finally been assisted in leaving Abidjan for Europe, and that Brother Hilaire Raharilalao, Visitor of Antananarivo and his two Brother Bursars have left for Madagascar.
^{(Br. William Mann, Vicar General)}

Builders of hope, Reflections of Christ: All Saints week-end was an important one for Young Lasallians. They were gathered at Toulouse to assess two years inspired by the motto, 'Local Children, Dare to take a Look, Build up Hope'.

Brother Theophile Penndu gave an overview of those two years. The Young Lasallian's eye is an eye which sees beyond appearances. As the Moon reflects the rays of the sun, we seek to reflect the light of God.

On Saturday evening was a late session when we reflected on the various ways of looking which took place. This was done by means of masks on which we wrote all these various ways of looking. After daring to take a look, we built up hope following the example of five witnesses: Stan Rougier, Jean Vanier 'Love is possible', Guy Gilbert, Brother Roger of Taizé 'God deposits a gospel treasure in the clay vessels, which we are', and Abbé Pierre. After the session a period of adoration was suggested for those so inclined.

On Sunday morning we continued to build hope. Brother Josselin (24 years old) left for six months in Argentina, a country in the grip of a serious crisis. Faced with this, in Cordoba where Brother Josselin lived for these six months, the Brothers built a school in a poor area. The people said what they expected of the school and it tried to respond to that. Each class undertook a project. Thus the school is the kernel of an area in which there is no public welfare service.

Karen Gallay and Brother Daniel built hope within the gypsy community in Perpignan. Karen gave witness by living three months with the gypsies, through the medium of the mobile classroom for the children and discovering gypsy society. It was a matter of changing her view of this community.

By means of a car rally the young Lasallians discovered Toulouse's special architecture and the numerous historic monuments in the town centre. It finished up at the Church of the Jacobins, where we celebrated Mass. This was beautiful and devotional, and some masks, decorated that same morning, were placed in front of the altar.

Referring to Haïti, Brother Jacques d'Huiteau told us there could be every reason to despair.

But, there is the choice of confronting it.

Building hope is saying no to what can seem like a tragedy.

Building hope is taking steps and not waiting for something to happen; it is adapting to the situation.
Confident hope must be built up. Expectant hope is much stronger because it rests on a promise, the promise of Christ, and it is matter of living this promise which comes to us through our faith.

As Brother Jacques d'Huiteau reminded us, this week-end is not an ending but a step on the way. We became aware of the many plans of each of the Young Lasallian teams. The new motto which is going to carry us through the coming two years is, "Young Lasallian, draw me your star".

Sincere thanks to the organisers of this week-end, to the people of Toulouse who welcomed us, to the Brothers present either in Toulouse or through their prayers and to the leaders of the institutions which supported the Young Lasallians in this project.
^{(François-Xavier SIGAUT,President of French Young Lasallians)}

XV Annual Meeting of Young Lasallians of the District of São Paulo: On September 3rd, 2004, one hundred sixty young people were leaving their houses, taking to the road, heading to the XV Annual Meeting of Young Lasallians of the District of São Paulo. Coming from different cities in Brazil, they arrived on the morning of September 4th. For some of them traveling took twenty hours, for others just four, but everyone was equally enthusiastic to have three days of sharing experiences and receiving formation while developing the topic: The Spirituality of the Young Lasallian.

The meeting was divided in three parts. The first, focused on the person of Jesus Christ, His life and His History. The second was dedicated to the Institute: Addressing the Spiritual Inheritance of La Salle and some topics of the 43rd General Chapter. It also included three workshops about La Salle, Lasallian Martyrs and The Life of the Brothers. Then, the third part was time to reflect on our District, to share what has been done this year and to plan our activities for next year.

The meeting was opened by Brother Visitor Ignácio Weschenfelder, who spoke about how important we are to the Institute and he invited us to continue committing ourselves to the betterment of the poor and especially to children.

Finally, after three amazing days, the youth could better understand the Lasallian family and come back home with a certainty: we ARE the difference in this world, through our charisma and our connection with one another, trying to build the Civilization of Love.
^{(Anny Lutz, International Council of Young Lasallians, icyl@lasalle.org)}

1904 – 2004: Centenary of the Mother House moving to Lembeek: The abolition of the Institute in France obliged the Brothers to move the Mother House from the Rue Oudinot in Paris to Belgium. From 1904 – 1936, the Mother House of the Institute and most of the services of the Institute were in Lembecq-lez-Hal: 6 General Chapters were held there and 4 Superiors-General were elected there.

The imposing house, referred to as a château, which dated from the beginning of the 18th Century, gradually saw itself surrounded by red-brick buildings which were to house the main services of the Mother House, as well as the Second Novitiate and the houses of formation (novitiate, scholasticate, juniorate). This house, St Joseph’s Lembecq, just 200 metres from the Paris-Brussels railway line, housed 400 people, including those in formation.

After the transfer of the Mother House to Rome in 1936, the Brothers of Belgium North continued to use the schools attached to the juniorate, up to 1964. In 1968, the mayor decided to get rid of the huge unoccupied buildings: in a day everything was destroyed apart from the gate and the building beside it, which nowadays has become a youth centre. One might think that all trace of the presence of the Brothers had been destroyed. Quite the contrary!

Neighbours were able to save some commemorative plaques and some pictures from the chapel. A cultural association, run by some convinced Christians, decided to reactivate the memory of the presence of the Brothers, which had been so invigorating for the little town. Two men, D. Vandenplas and E.Vanneron, showed themselves particularly active: they got in touch with the Provincial House at Grand-Bigard (Groot- Bijgaarden) in order to get books from the period as well as Circulars, copies of the Rule, lives of the Founder or robes worn by the Brothers.

They came to the Archives in Rome to consult lots of documents and with photographic and scanning equipment they made some visual reproductions with a view to an exhibition. With great technical expertise they rejuvenated old postcards or old photos of Brothers. They put together a vast exhibition covering an entire side of the parish-church of Saint-Véron, going from the life of St.John Baptist de La Salle to the holy Brothers Mutien-Marie of Malonne and Benito de Jesus, the martyr of Turón, who had lived for three years in Lembecq.

On Saturday October 30th 2004 between six and nine o’clock in the evening, the inauguration of this exhibition took place: there was a Eucharistic celebration presided over by a deacon, talks by those in charge of the association and by the Burgomaster surrounded by his deputies. All this was in Dutch apart from a few words in French for the two Brothers who had come from Rome (the Superior-General had been unable to attend). A good proportion of the population of the town, especially older persons, with a community sense typical of the Flemish, remained in the church for those three hours up to the official toast and the visit to the exhibition.

At the end of the liturgical celebration, Brothers Rodolfo and Alain Houry unveiled a statue of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, while the Brothers present (including the Visitors of the two Districts) and several past-pupils sang Honneur à toi in Dutch. Among those present was Maurice Nevens, the artist who painted the large canvas of Saint Mutien-Marie for the day of his canonisation in St.Peters, Rome and who restored the stained glass windows of the Brothers Martyrs in the Mother House chapel.

The exhibition will remain in the church until November 14th , but the memory will be more abiding. We might have believed that the Mother House at Lembecq-lez-Hal remained a little French enclave enclosed in its large property: on the contrary, the bonds created with the life of the locality have stood up to the passage of time during the 35 years since the departure of the last Belgian Brothers.
^{(Br. Alain Houry, Director of the Mother House Archives)}

First Continental Signum Fidei Assembly: The first continental Signum Fidei Assembly was held in Aravaca, Spain from October 22 - 24, 2004. Twenty-four persons attended from 3 different counties, France, Spain and Italy, met together under the theme "United for the Lasallian Mission." Amid fraternity and serious work, the following were developed:

- To prepare the 2006 Assembly and establish the criteria for participation.
- To share experiences that each member was living, both personal and community ones, based on a Lasallian, religious and cultural perspective.
- To reflect on the commitment with the Lasallian Educational Mission (MEL) on the part of the Signum Fidei fraternity.
- To study ways to update the document entitled "Style of Life" from a lay perspective.
- To direct the conclusions of this continental assembly towards the experience of the "Style of Life" of the members of Signum Fidei.
^{(Ángel Olmo, S.F., ANDALUCÍA)}

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