Virgo-Fidelis - Christmas Mass with the Daughters of Mary and the residents.	Marienthal - The young people from the camps participat­ing in an outdoor Mass.
Arkansas - Sister Julie Ouellette and Claudia Joubert at the daycare.	Lac-Etchemin - The Sons of Mary working at pruning the trees and gathering the wood on the lots belonging to the Work.
Father Carl Beaupré giving the sacrament of the sick to some Sisters and the elderly at Virgo-Fidelis.	Center of the Immaculate- Religious and lay people work together to repair the roof.
The canning of pumpkins in the kitchen at Spiri Maria Alma.	Marienthal - Exposition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament outdoors.

Ora et Labora!

– Prayer and Work!

Saint Paul honored manual labor and the duty of earning his living, besides his apostolate in the Lord’s vineyard. He presented himself as an example to follow:

Is it only myself and Barnabas who are forced to work for a living? What soldier in the field pays for his rations? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its yield?... Likewise the Lord himself ordered that those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel. As for me, I have not used any of these rights, nor do I write this now to see to it that anything should be done for me....

When I was with you and in want I was a burden to none of you, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. In every way possible I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and I shall continue to do so. (1 Cor 9:6-7,14-15; 2 Cor 11:9)

The spirit of Saint Paul is found in the Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary and in the Army of Mary. The Foundress has always seen to it that each one be able to live off his own means, without being a burden to others. She herself set the example by never drawing from the donations made to the Army of Mary in order to live. Her Works and her two Communities reflect this same attitude in all their ramifications. Every compo­nent or element expresses itself by a human and spiritual enrichment of one or more activities adapted to the vocation of the persons or the different community groups.

This adaptation brings us back to the richness of the work of the Christian monks who built up Europe by introducing the people to manual labor and human development without, for all that, hindering evangelization. On the contrary, the pastoral work was doubly rewarded for this.

It is providential that the Sons and Daughters of Mary revive this tradition which has given proof of its effec­tiveness. The monk or cloistered nun who work with their hands build up the Kingdom just as much as those who contemplate and evangelize.

We must praise the Sons and Daughters of Mary who, besides the fair amount of time they spend in prayer and orison, are busy in various workshops doing manual labor: garden, bakery, kitchen, statues, sewing, rosaries, mechanics, forestry, carpentry, greeting cards, bookstores, printing, the paper, accounting, etc.

Ora et labora (prayer and work), that was the motto of the monks. Did not Jesus work as a carpenter with Joseph for the better part of his life? Thirty years of private life working with His hands and three years of public life proclaiming the Good News.

Manual labor brings us closer to the values of the earth and the virtues of charity, devotedness, humility, simplicity, fidelity, etc. Ora et labora.

Let us conclude with a thought from Saint Paul: Scripture says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and thwart the cleverness of the clever.” (1 Cor 1:19)

Father Marcel Larouche