In
accordance with the wish of the Blessed Virgin Mary to propagate and
promote throughout the world the devotion to the Flame of Love of
her Immaculate Heart, the Flame of Love Movement, fully
obedient to the Catholic Church, came into
being in several countries, starting in Latin America and Hungary.
What is the Flame of Love Movement and what is its mission within the
Church?
- The Movement of the Flame of Love is a Catholic Marian Movement inspired by the
Blessed Virgin Mary and wishing to participate in the salvation of all
humanity under the guidance of the Church.
- The mission of the Movement is to evangelize, particularly the families, with the
Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, living and spreading
Her message, so that the Love of the Eternal
Father and of the Sacred Heart of Jesus set all hearts on fire.
Even though the devotion of the Flame of Love is known
in many countries throughout the world, currently, the Movement is
officially established in several countries of the Americas and in
Hungary.
The internal structure of the
Movement is made up of several
levels of responsibility, beginning with the International
Coordinator and Spiritual Director. His role is to establish
relations with the hierarchy of the Church, to maintain the unity
within the Movement, to appoint the National Coordinators, etc. He is
assisted by an International Assistant.
In each country where the
Movement is established, a National Coordinator is appointed. He is
to insure smooth running of the Movement in the country, particularly the relations with the Church, promote the spiritual
life of the Movement centered on the Holy Eucharist, preserve the purity
of the message of the Flame of Love, promote the unity, approve the
publications, appoint the Diocesans Coordinators, etc.
The Diocesans Coordinators
will maintain contacts with the cenacles of prayer
guides, organize the various retirements and
activities, participate in the diocesan Council of the Laity, etc.
In Canada,
the Movement had its beginnings in 1998 with two main prayer groups in
Longueuil and Montreal, in the Province of Quebec.
In each country where it is established, the Movement adopts the legal
form required by the legislation concerning groups or associations,
and the fiscal policy of the country. In Canada, the Movement is a non-profit organization
known as 'The Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Inc.'
The
Movement has held an international conference in Ecuador from August
8-13, 2005, with the participation of delegates from countries where
the Movement is established. During this five day conference, the
delegates drew up the statutes of the Movement which will soon be
presented to the Hoy See to obtain the statute of Association of the
Faithful.
_____________________________
Some
news concerning the Movement in Canada,
in chronological order
In
December 1998, we began to meet in Longueuil (Quebec)
to pray. This marked the beginning of the prayer groups of the Flame
of Love. At the same time, another group started in Montreal.
In
1999,
we multiplied contacts with persons already aware of this prayer in
order to form groups. More prayer groups have then come into
existence.
May
2000,
has seen the beginning of the Marian pilgrimage at the Chapelle de
la Réparation in Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec. This gave us the opportunity to distribute almost two thousand
booklets of the Flame of Love.
September
15 to 17, 2000: large Marian gathering at Cap de la Madeleine
A splendid information kiosk was installed to promote the Flame of
Love. These three marvelous days spent together have been for many
the opportunity to revive their devotion and their desire to spread
it.
September
21, 2000.
The Movement of the Flame of Love in Canada
comes into being under the legal statute of a non-profit
organization called THE FLAME OF LOVE OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF
MARY INC. The executive committee was made up of five members
allowing the Movement to be managed correctly:
President: Marcel Dufour
Treasurer: Gérard Picard
Secretary: Paul Desmarais
Directors: Edmour Côté and Mrs. Léonie Picard
November
2000. 40 000 booklets of the Flame of Love
of
the
Virgin
Mary
It
is the great start marked by the printing of the first edition of
forty thousand booklets (authorized copy by Éditions du Parvis, in Switzerland) of “The Flame of Love”; twenty thousand in
English and twenty
thousand in French. Other editions have later been made in both
languages.
June
2, 2001. Visit of a prayer group in Grand-Mère (Shawinigan,
Quebec)
Gérard
and Marcel travel to Grand-Mère, Quebec, at the request of a marvelous prayer group, and meet with a
Haitian priest who returned to his country with several hundred
booklets to spread the Flame of Love of the Virgin Mary. This group has helped us a lot
to collect funds for the reprinting of these booklets.
October
2001. Website
Creation
of the present website of the Flame of Love which enables us to
promote the Flame of Love all over the world and to make known the
existence of the Flame of Love of the Blessed Virgin Mary! People from foreign countries get in
touch with us and receive the necessary documentation to start
prayer groups and distribute booklets. The propagation of the Flame
of Love is particularly successful in
Africa, thanks to Internet.
November
2001. Song of the Flame of Love
Sister
Jacqueline belongs to the group “Arc-en-ciel-jeunesse” (a group
of animation-evangelization proclaiming the Word of God and singing
His marvels through music, teaching and witnessing). She has
received an inspired song for the Flame of Love and we thank the
Holy Spirit for this beautiful grace.
This
song of the Flame of Love is available on CD or cassette, including
the chaplet of the Flame of Love and the chaplet of the “Heart of
Mary”.
December
2001. Second visit of a prayer group in Grand-Mère (Shawinigan,
Quebec)
We
find ourselves once more in Grand-Mère in front of a group of
twenty-five persons to present the Flame of Love and the inspired
song on cassette of Sister Jacqueline, with the chaplet of the Flame
of Love. Later, our friends Jean-Claude and Jacqueline invited us to a marvelous meal during which
we had the opportunity to have a wonderful exchange with the parish
priest.
February
9, 2002. Visit of a prayer group at the Visitandine Sisters in Ottawa,
Ontario
Three
persons from the Longueuil received a warm welcome from the
Visitandine Sisters in Ottawa, at the invitation of Father Clément
Fillion.
We
started by sharing a magnificent time of prayer with the cloistered
nuns and a group of over eighty persons. It was followed by a talk
on the Flame of Love which raised considerable interest among the
assistance. We wish to emphasize that the propagation of this
Movement has been encouraged by Father Clément Filion. We seized
this opportunity to thank him for his very precious support. The
whole day was a blessing.
October
13, 2002.
First National Conference of the Flame of Love of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary Movement in Canada
This first conference held in Montreal
has been a great success. Close to 400 people have answered the call
and participated in this conference which ended with an evening of
prayer including the Holy Mass and the chaplet of the Flame of Love
of the Virgin Mary.
October
13, 2003.
Second National Conference of the Flame of Love of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary Movement in Canada
The
second conference was held under the theme: “Gathered to pray the Flame of Love”. And as in the first, many
were present to participate. We noticed that the Flame of Love was
making progress and that the Virgin Mary was touching many hearts.
June
2004. Creation of distribution centers in Africa
The
first distribution center in Africa has been established in Togo
by Mr. Alfred Vinakpon. More will gradually be opened in other
countries of the African continent. These centers will answer
requests from these countries and insure the distribution of the
Flame of Love booklets published by the Movement.
July
2004. Translation into French of the Spiritual
Diary of Mrs. Elizabeth Kindelmann
Thanks
to Mr. Michel Quessy from Quebec, fervent apostle of the Flame of Love, the over 400 page Diary has been translated into French and posted on the Internet
pending its publication in book form.
November
13, 2004.
Third National Conference of the Flame of Love of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary Movement in Canada
The
Third National Conference was held with the presence of Father
Gabriel Röna, S.J., International Coordinator of the Movement, who
came especially from Hungary to attend this event and to give us a talk on the connection between
the message of Fatima and the Flame of Love. During the conference, Mr. Michel Quessy
presented his translation of the Diary. The conference ended
with an evening of prayer including Holy Mass, adoration of the Most
Blessed Sacrament and recitation of the chaplet of the Flame of Love
of the Virgin Mary.
January
2005.
Important reorganization of our website under its present form in
English and French.
August 8 to 13, 2005. Meeting of Quito
Gérard Picard travels to Quito,
Ecuador, to take part in the international work session of the Movement, in order to work out the official statutes of the Movement
to be submitted for approval by the Holy See.
August 2005. Appointment of the National Coordinator
Following the
work session of Quito, Father Gabriel Röna, International Coordinator and
Spiritual Director of the Movement, appointed Marcel Dufour as National
Coordinator for Canada.
August 2005. Reorganization of the committee
Mrs. Léonie Picard
tendered her resignation from the committee of the Movement for
health reasons. Two new members appointed: Élisabeth Grondin and
Gilbert Abboud.
November 1, 2005. The operational center
Rental of
an operational center in the town of Longueuil (Quebec) in order to
centralize the various activities and to allow a greater
effectiveness in work coordination and communication. All
the material was transferred to the new center, which made it possible to save
the cost of renting storage space for the booklets,
images, CD, etc. Elizabeth Grondin lives on the spot.
November 13,
2005. Fourth conference of the Flame of Love of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary Movement in Canada
Under the theme 'The Flame of
Love sets the world ablaze', the fourth national conference took
place in the
presence of many participants. The various interventions made it
possible to note the progress made in the propagation of the
Flame of Love in the various countries around the world. The conference
ended with an evening of prayer in the church.
