NACMS NEWSLETTER
January 2022
When is the registration deadline for the February Online Reading Group?
Where in the world is Brother Tom Redmond?
Who is the newest NACMS staff member?
To find the answers, keep scrolling!
Coming shortly after celebrating the Feasts of two Marianist Founders--Mother Adele on January 10th and Father Chaminade on January 22nd--our February Online Reading Group will be focused on the Marianist Founders! For each session, we will read one of the best-selling booklets on the Founders as well as a short article on that particular founder (which is available online). 

The group will meet for three Thursdays (February 10, 17, and 24) from 8:00 to 9:00 pm EST via Zoom. The program is free to participate but you do need to purchase a copy of the Founders booklets if you don't already own them.

To register for this free program, click here: https://forms.gle/5pFnFWKShcK8Nnjs5
Photo #1: Brother Tom and two of the retreatants
Photo #2: The training group
Photo #3: The retreat grounds
by Brother Tom Redmond, SM
Last August I was asked by Father Stephen Wanyoike, SM Regional Superior of the Marianists in The Region of Eastern Africa, if I could come to Kenya in December and January to lead a training session directing the Spirit of Saragossa Retreat and then direct two of our brothers on the 30-day retreat as part of their preparations for final vows. Following a conversation with Father Oscar Vasquez, our Provincial, we both agreed this would be a very good thing to do.
 
The training session was held at the Marianist Novitiate in Limuru and the 30-day retreat is being held at the Sisters of the Incarnate Word Retreat Center in Molo, Kenya, a four hour drive N. W. from Nairobi, into the beautiful Rift Valley. 
 
This is my third trip to be with our Marianist communities in Eastern Africa.
I continue to be impressed with the youthful and energetic spirit of our Marianist charism here.
 
NACMS has developed the 30-day Spirit of Saragossa Retreat into The Retreat in Daily Life, a format more accessible to those who cannot get
away for 30 days. Click here to learn more.
On December 20, 2021, we welcomed a new member to the NACMS team. Mallory Fowler has taken on the role of Program and Technology Assistant. Born in Dayton, OH to a large Irish-Catholic family, Mallory grew up in nearby Springboro. Upon completing primary school at Saint Albert the Great and graduating from Springboro High School, Mallory attended Saint Mary’s College of Notre Dame, where she majored in History with minors in Humanistic Studies and Italian. Her fondest memories of her time at Saint Mary’s include studying for a semester in Rome, working in the College Archives, and the many friends she made along the way. She continued her advanced education by attending the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, where she earned a Master of Science by Research (MScR) degree in Collections and Curating Practices. Since completion of this degree in 2018, she has worked as an Archival Assistant in the Cincinnati Museum Center, been a Public Librarian in Amelia, OH, and even started her own freelance Genealogical Research business.
 
Mallory’s personal interests are many and diverse. She enjoys spending time with her family, especially the family’s Golden-mix rescue, Darcy! Her days are filled with music, spanning all genres, especially Folk, Pop, Classic Rock, Classical, Easy Listening and Reggae. She speaks three languages (English, French and Italian), and is a committed bibliophile, reading over one hundred books since March 2020. She enjoys working out, and she maintains her spiritual life by lectoring at her local church. Her favorite topics of conversation include history, culture, food, art, linguistics, and genealogy. Mallory is excited to be working at NACMS, and she can’t wait to meet the amazing people affiliated with the Marianist Family.
Winter in all of Our Lives
There is a winter in all of our lives,
a chill and darkness that makes us yearn
for days that have gone
or put our hope in days yet to be.
Father God, you created seasons for a purpose.
Spring is full of expectation
buds breaking
frosts abating and an awakening
of creation before the first days of summer.
Now the sun gives warmth
and comfort to our lives
reviving aching joints
bringing colour, new life
and crops to fruiting.
Autumn gives nature space
to lean back, relax and enjoy the fruits of its labour
mellow colours in sky and landscape
as the earth prepares to rest.
Then winter, cold and bare as nature takes stock
rests, unwinds, sleeps until the time is right.
An endless cycle
and yet a perfect model.
We need a winter in our lives
a time of rest, a time to stand still
a time to reacquaint ourselves
with the faith in which we live.
It is only then that we can draw strength
from the one in whom we are rooted
take time to grow and rise through the darkness
into the warm glow of your springtime
to blossom and flourish
bring colour and vitality into this world
your garden.
Thank you Father
for the seasons of our lives.
- Author Unknown
North American Center for Marianist Studies
Dayton, OH 45430-1083

NACMS Office Hours by appointment only until further notice.
To make an appointment please call 937.429.2521.

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