Echoes of Vie Montante Belge Francophone 

(French Speaking Life Ascending Belgium)

Sylviane, who has presided over the destiny of Vie Montante in her country for almost five years, presents her movement, which was created in 1963 and now has 600 members.

For more than 15 years Vie Montante Belgique and Vie Montante Suisse Romande have met every year for a working week to ensure the drafting of their common year brochure. We were to meet next March in Alsace in the Foyer de Notre-Dame de Reinacker. The current situation has forced us to postpone our reunion for a year. We will therefore devote our meetings in 2021 and the first semester of 2022 to deepening our current booklets: “Face of God” and “Listening”. Other texts proposed by the group leaders will complement this.

A few major dates have marked the life of the movement and its members in recentyears:

-June 8, 2013 was celebrated the 50th anniversary of VM Belge Francophone.

-The members of Vie Montante participated in the meetings of Life Ascending International:  from15 to 20 October 2014, meeting organized in La Pairelle, Ignatian spiritual center  located  near Namur,  october 2018 in Santo Domingo  in  the Dominican Republic  and from 28 to 30 January 2020 participation in Rome in the international congress "The richness of many years of life" with members of Adem-Tocht, Dutch-speaking branch.

-In 2019, VM Belge Francophone and Adem-Tocht met in Mechelen and Brussels during the pensioners' day at the Cathedral of Saints Michel and Gudule.

The movement's communication is ensured through the structure of VM: from the national to the dioceses, through visits to groups, through the quarterly review “Sérénité” and the website  https://www.viemontante.be

As in many countries of the world today we are confined. Many Vie Montante groups have not met since March 2020. Others resumed their meetings in early September before breaking off again and resuming occasionally. Our seniors fear for their health. It is true that we are the target group of the Coronavirus. Everyone knows more or less serious cases in his entourage, his village or his town. Most of us stick to strict guidelines in the hope of better days and waiting for the vaccine.

To keep alive the flame of Vie Montante, we made sure to hear from each other: phone calls, letters, birthday cards, emails. We have increased the sharing of homilies, texts and press extracts. We came forward to give courage to those who felt isolated. Our wish: to see each other again soon, even if the usual precautions must persist for a while, and to regain our life before, our warm meetings and moments of conviviality!

Sylviane Sbille Hancq

President of Vie Montante Belge Francophone