221 Jair Batista de Souza, MIC Brazil, Curitiba, Provincial Superior It seems that the fundamental fruit of this event [the beatifi cation] was a deeper Marian identity. According to my insight, this deepening did not happen fi rst and foremost on the intellectual level. I mean that we, the Brazilians, did not have any great refl ections about our Founder and his ideas. Our getting closer to him happened on the level of everyday life or in our experiencing his spiritual presence and the presence of his legacy in a deeper way. The following instruments were used in order to achieve this goal: The refl ections prepared by the Curia General for our monthly Days of Recollection. These materials allowed us to discover the timeliness of Fr. Founder’s thought and spirituality in our present life; The participation by a good number of our confreres in the beatifi cation ceremonies. We were able to send nine brethren to this event; in the selection, we gave priority to our youngest priests. All of our confreres, who participated in the beatifi cation, lived it out as a great grace. They also had the opportunity to get to know places where our Fr. Founder lived, which certainly brought him closer to them and made him more concrete. It was especially important because the history of our Congregation frequently seemed to be no more than a collection of fi rst and last names, unpronounceable for us. They lived in places, the names of which we couldn’t say, either, but of which we learned mostly from the Album of the Dead. Personally, participating in the beatifi cation program made these persons and places more real to us. Another important instrument was the renewal conducted for all of the Province members by Fr. Michał Kozak, MIC. The renewal refl ections were based on classical topics appropriate for the period, and Fr. Michał conducted the retreats on the base of Fr. Founder’s writings, which brought his thoughts and spirituality closer to us. Our annual retreat run by Fr. Zdzisław Żywica, MIC, brought the person of our Founder and the charism of our Congregation closer. Undoubtedly, this retreat greatly enriched our spirituality. Practically, all of the confreres who took part in this retreat considered it to be an important moment in their lives. We are grateful to Fr. General for making this experience available to us. The beatifi cation has shed new light on certain aspects of our lives. The fundamental aspect of our lives, on which the beatifi cation shed a new light, is our Marian identity and the living out of our charism. During the four years in which I served as the Novice Master, I always felt a certain embarrassment when it came to talking about these matters. It was because I myself was not • • • • •
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