I promised a few weeks ago to post something about L'Arche communities. Here is something I wrote last year and which was published in Catholic Life magazine.
A Sign to the Downtrodden - The L’Arche Communities
The names Raphael Simi and Philippe Seux will not attract instant recognition. Who are they you will ask? Raphael and Philippe were two middle-aged men with intellectual impairments (we would say; ’learning disabilities’) who were befriended by a quite extraordinary French Canadian man who knew he had a call from God to make a difference to our world. That man was Jean Vanier, ex Royal Naval Officer, son of a Governor-General of Canada and a Catholic who was on fire with the love of God. In September 1964 Raphael, Philippe and Jean moved into a house in a small village, Trosly_Breuil, near Compeigne, France. They lived together as three friends and slowly, as they grew in love for each other they became a family. The three companions called the house ’L’Arche’, the Ark. Like the ark of Noah their little home was an ark or a sanctuary against the prejudices of the world. Today there are over 130 L’Arche Communities worldwide. So was the L’Arche movement born.
What Jean Vanier wanted to create was a different way of life for persons who hitherto had been locked away from society in vast Institutions. With his friendship with Philippe and Raphael he saw a way of doing this and he had the resources - personal, spiritual, financial to carry it out. What happened next was an Epiphany for Jean Vanier.
“ I found with Raphael and Philippe, the first two people I began to live with, that I began to discover myself. I began to find the child in myself. I was never so happy as when I was living with them in a very simple way in a little house, working together, having fun together, praying together. That is to say, I sensed a completely new meaning to my life, very different from when I was in the navy, very different from when I was teaching philosophy, but something much more fulfilling. It was a place where it was quite clear that Jesus was present.”
Jean Vaniers’ message as lived and witnessed by those who live in L’Arche communities world-wide is that we are healed by those whom we have rejected. The charism of the L’Arche movement can be defined as friendship with people with learning disabilities, being with them, living with them sometimes but being with them as friends and comrades always.The Charter of the L’Arche movement states that :
“L’Arche seeks not to offer a solution but a sign, a sign that a society, to be truly human, must be founded on welcome and respect for the weak and the downtrodden.”
L’Arche are small communities; households where the learning disabled and the able live together, sharing life as a family and as equals. Everyone is a volunteer, both the able and the (dis)abled. No one has to live in a L’Arche community unless they really want to. As relationships of mutual trust and respect with each other are built they discover the gifts of the person with a disability and in the process their own values are revealed. All this is lived in the spirit of the Gospel and prayer forms part of daily life. L’Arche are communities of faith where the Gospel values of Jesus are lived out every day.
One person who famously shared his life in a L’Arche community was the Theologian and spiritual writer Henri Nouwen. Invited by Jean Vanier to be ‘writer in residence’ at Trosly-Breuil, Henri Nouwen discovered, as his friend Jean had before him, that being in such a community became a healing experience. For years Henri had experienced severe depression. At L’Arche he discovered that the love he received from his fellow residents, and the love which he gave in return healed him. This was an example of what Jean Vanier described as the ‘theology of brokeness’ in action. When his time at Trosly-Breuil came to its end Henri decided to move permanently to a L’Arche Community, ’Daybreak’, at Richmond Hill, Toronto, Canada where he became Chaplain. There
Henri was asked to assist a core member, Adam Arnett who had severe disabilities. In a L’Arche community a Core member is a resident with disability. The able-bodied volunteers are known as ’Assistants’. Later Nouwen wrote about his experiences in a book, Adam,God’s Beloved. Henri became Adam’s friend, guide and teacher.
Between 1986 and his death in 1996, Henri felt deeply fulfilled during his time at L’Arche. He demonstrated a core value of L’Arche in that wherever he travelled to speak about his work as spiritual guide and theologian or as Chaplain to the community he was accompanied by a core member who was also co-speaker. “They won’t remember a thing I said but they will remember that Bill and I stood here as friends and equals together.” he said.
Jean Vanier is himself a Catholic, and life in the communities have a ‘catholic’ flavour to them, in which prayer and the sacred life have an important part to play in the life of the communities. Jean himself has always been careful to emphasise the Ecumenical nature of his vision. Core members and Assistants come from all backgrounds and religious faiths although Catholics and Anglicans dominate. Prayer and the spiritual life are encouraged among both core members and assistants. But so also is meaningful work, education and personal development. The heart of the mission of L’Arche is to seek to encourage core members to develop and share their gifts and skills, and to become as independent as possible. ’Us’ (the able-bodied) and ’Them’ (the disabled) attitudes are discouraged within the community and all members of the community work hard at living together in community, with house meetings, prayer meetings, celebrations and meals eaten together and work done together. The type of life being lived in L’Arche households all over the world is best summed up by Jean himself when he spoke of that first ‘Ark‘ back in 1964: working together, having fun together, praying together.
To those who wish to volunteer the post of an assistant in a L’Arche community can be tough. Indeed it is closer to a calling than any mere volunteering because it calls on the volunteer to:
Enter into relationship with others,
To discover the gift of the person with a disability
To get to know themselves
To build community
To question society’s values,
To be people of peace and reconciliation,
To discover the Gospel of Jesus.
Typically but not exclusively the volunteers are young . For all of them life in a L’Arche community is a positive expression of a desire to be less self-centred; less ‘me’ and my ego. More about the other and living a life of service. In that respect it is very counter-cultural “a sign of contradiction” in our very selfish world.
Some assistants stay for a brief time, perhaps six months, others live in a community for years and even decades. Jean Vanier himself still lives in that same house in Trosly-Breuil that he purchased back in 1964. Athough no longer the President of ‘L’Arche movement world-wide, nor even the leader of the community, he is still engaged with core members and lives and works with them every day. Each day of his life Jean Vanier lives out what he calls ‘the theology of brokeness’.
“ You see, I believe that we are all very broken in our capacity to relate. Human beings like power and to be admired and to be brilliant. When you start living with people with disabilities, you begin to discover a whole lot of things about yourself. Some are easy to live with, but others can make you climb the wall. Others can make you touch your own brokenness, your own poverty, your own violence and so on. I have lived experiences when I have sensed incredible violence inside of myself. Maybe being in community I didn't hurt anyone, but I discovered who I was.”
The L'Arche Prayer
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Father, through Jesus Our Lord and Our Brother, we ask you to bless us. Grant that L'Arche be a true home, where the poor in spirit may find life, where those who suffer may find hope. Keep in your loving care all those who come. Spirit of God, give us greatness of heart that we may welcome all those you send. Make us compassionate that we may heal and bring peace. Help us to see, to serve and to love. O Lord, through the hands of your little ones, bless us; through the eyes of those who are rejected, smile on us. O Lord, grant freedom, fellowship and unity to all your children and welcome everyone into your kingdom. AMEN |
William,
I enjoyed your article and have one query.
Please refer to your paragraph starting with "Henri was asked to assist with a core member..." and kindly check the end of that paragraph. Was it not David who became Henri's friend, guide and teacher - and not the other way around?
Respectfully, Peter Taylor, Associate member of l'Arche Sydney, Australia, and a former Assistant.
Posted by: Peter Taylor | 09/15/2008 at 01:36 PM