What is the Glorious Cross?
The Glorious Cross is a Mission of the Emmanuel Community created with the purpose to integrate the brothers and sisters who have physical and/or psychological sufferance. They are dedicated to this mission for others to pray for them every day and for them to offer their sufferance in prayer for different intentions.
Bruno, can you explain to us what the Glorious Cross is?
It is a service within the Community, which brings together people who are sick, disabled, or it can also be parents who have a disabled child, and who offer their experience for the missions of the Community.
The Glorious Cross was born at the end of the 80s, following an intuition of Pierre Goursat. Some brothers of the Community who were suffering could not be as active as most of the brothers. They could have the feeling of being useless or not being fruitful. The Glorious Cross is for them a means of offering themselves and their lives for the Community.
How does the Glorious Cross work?
The brothers and sisters of the Glorious Cross meet once a year during a retreat in Paray le Monial or Lourdes. But many brothers of the Glorious Cross cannot be present because they are too ill. The Glorious Cross has 200 members, and often only 40 to 50 people can come to this retreat.
The link between the members of the Glorious Cross is through a letter that I send every month, on the Thursday before the first Friday of the month, because the brothers pray the Holy Hour. I send them the text of the Holy Hour and the prayer intentions of the Community. These are prayer intentions by geographical area: for example, a Fraternity retreat in a country, a school of evangelisation, a change of leader for a province or a service etc.
We have beautiful testimonies. Brothers of the community entered the Glorious Cross because they were sick. They were healed, but they remained in the Glorious Cross.
Bruno, can you tell us about the brothers and sisters who are part of the Glorious Cross?
I have overseen the Glorious Cross with my wife Hélène for three years. It is a very touching mission,.
Most of the members of the Glorious Cross are in France, some are isolated, very alone, or very far away. We even have brothers in Australia (2) and Nicaragua (1).
Last year (nl.2019) we went to Poland. There are now about ten brothers and sisters of the Glorious Cross in Poland. Our service is also developing in Germany.
Bruno, can any brother or sister of the Community enter the Glorious Cross?
Yes, any brother or sister can enter it, if he or she feels the call to offer himself or herself. We will not propose to a brother who is revolted by his illness to enter the Glorious Cross, the person must feel called to offer his suffering. Originally, Pierre Goursat wanted the Glorious Cross to be open to people outside the Community. An article was published on this subject in Il est vivant (nl. French magazine published by the Emmanuel Community). However this opening is not yet in place. Currently it is only opened for the brothers and sisters of the Community.
To make the Glorious Cross known, we are working with the leaders of the Province. It is necessary that those in charge of the Province do not hesitate to offer this service to the brothers and sisters. It is a very beautiful service. Recently we have also created the “Brothers and Sisters of Prayer”.
Could you explain who these “brothers and sisters of prayer” are?
Sometimes we had prayer intentions that were too pointed, which we could not communicate to all the members of the Glorious Cross. The brothers who have certain responsibilities in the Community now have a “brother or sister in prayer”, a member of the Glorious Cross, to whom they can entrust important intentions.
It is those responsible for the Province, for the zone, for certain important services such as Fidesco who have “a brother or sister in prayer”. The brother or sister of the Glorious Cross prays for this brother or sister and his or her mission, and in return, the person in charge commits himself or herself to pray for the health of this brother or sister of the Glorious Cross.
Almost all the brothers of the Glorious Cross now have a brother for whom they pray. In this way they are part of the Mission. For example, the team of the Invisible (free magazine) considers the brother of the Glorious Cross to be part of its team.
Community brothers should not be afraid to join the Glorious Cross.
We have beautiful testimonies. Brothers of the community entered the Glorious Cross because they were sick. They were healed, but they remained in the Glorious Cross.
