In the Founder's House

It’s Tuesday and things are back to “normal” in Paris, compared to the Easter holidays, meaning that the traffic is deadly and the pedestrians cross streets without looking left or right.

I woke up to Roch’s knocking on my door. Apparently, I’d set my clock forward less than I should. When I thought it was 6:30 AM, it was really 7:30 PM. So having missed morning prayer and breakfast, I got myself ready ASAP and Roch joined me for a late breakfast – mostly apple sauce, juice, a piece of bread, spreadable cheese, and café au lait in a bowl. Quite sufficient and well-balanced, when you think of it.

After breakfast, we got our stuff together, packed up, and left for Reims. The journey would take several hours. Once I’d negotiated out of Paris without major injury to anyone (at one point a lady on a bicycle made a left turn in front of me without so much as a backward glance), the highways were smooth and speedy. The only downer was the fact that we had to pay a 2 – 4 Euro toll every 40 kilometers or so. That could get expensive.

We stopped at a roadside pull-out for a lunch-time sandwich and then proceeded into Reims. But before going to the community, Roch directed me to the Mumm’s champagne cellars where we went through the whole under-ground tour of the caves, complete with a tasting at the end. Although I’m sure that there are those who appreciated champagne, I’m not one of these. Give me a good Cabernet instead. We did run into a couple from the Napa Valley who were on the same tour – small world – and spent time chatting with them during our visit to the cellars and the tasting.

Then it was on to work, because, as we constantly reminded one another, that’s why we were there. The Brothers at the central community welcomed us warmly and we spent several hours going over our notes, with Brothers Christian, Ives, and Fernand making all sorts of beneficial suggestions. Since by now it was later in the afternoon and the sunlight was warm and nuanced, Roch took the camera outdoors and began shooting lots of “B roll” scenes with his camera. We covered both the back and the front of the house where the Founder was born. Then we walked to the nearby Cathedral and spent several hours there, with him shooting film and me shooting various photographs. Inside the cathedral, it was quite cold compared to the outside, and the light was not very plentiful. But my eyes adjusted gradually and the cameras adjusted even more quickly. Roch filmed as much as he could from the outside and from the inside.

I was particularly touched when I found the chapel where De La Salle had said his first Mass after his ordination. It was the little Blessed Sacrament chapel and there were a number of people there praying the rosary or simply mumbling to themselves. To know that the Founder had walked there, had known the streets of Reims as we might know our own neighborhoods, and had been formed by all of that was quite striking to me. One could see how the close proximity of that cathedral might have influenced his vocation to the priesthood and the Church. It’s all quite dramatic and powerful, with statues on the outside and much history on the inside – e.g., most Kings of France were crowned in the Reims cathedral since the Clovis in the 11^th century.

When the light faded and a loud bell ran inside the cathedral, we knew that it was time to return to the Brothers for dinner and an evening’s conversation in French. I understand just a bit of what was going on, but it was enough. I remember sitting there at dinner and reflecting on the fact that these Brothers whom I had never met before and did not know were yet as familiar as any of the Brothers I’ve known at Mont La Salle. Their generosity and personalities were those of teachers who dedicated themselves to a charism beyond themselves and they were as comfortable with us, knowing us as fraternal brothers, as we were with them.

Tomorrow, it’s off to Liesse, Laon, and other parts of Reims. More later.

Pictured above in this posting: Roch and Br. Ives filming the back of the Founder's House in Reims. Inside of the cathedral, looking back towards the entrance. Picture of myself with the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament (where DLS said his first Mass) behind me. With the Brothers in their dining room - second floor of the house. And evening picture of the back of the house.