A Foyer for England? Every one of the 70 Foyers in 40 countries has, I am told, been founded in much the same way. 1. A group of lay people has formed who are keen to have a Foyer; they pray and work for this end. 2. A priest is found who is willing and able to be the father of this new Foyer. He must be capable of preaching five day silent retreats; he must want to live in community; he should have sufficient French to liaise with the centre Foyer in France. 3. A bishop invites Châteauneuf to establish a Foyer in his diocese, and premises are found. In the British Isles there are, and have been for some time, groups of 'Friends' in Ireland, Scotland and England, and all three are still hoping and praying that parts 2 and 3 may be achieved. It took twenty years for this to happen at Courset, so we must not be impatient. Several bishops are interested in us. It is worth recalling the sequence of events leading to the founding of the first Foyer at Châteauneuf in 1936. Marthe Robin had made a formal act of consecration of her life to the service of God in 1925 aged 23. In 1930 she was marked with the stigmata of Our Lord's Passion, and started to relive that Passion weekly. In 1933 she received precise instructions about the first Foyer mystically from Our Lord. In 1934 she asked for the school for girls and the Abbé Faure bought the château. But it was only in February 1936 that she met Pere Finet, and the first retreat was held in September, followed by the establishment of a community with Hélène Fagot and Marie-Ange Dumas as first members. Thus a good decade was involved. Monseigneur Pic of Valence was their bishop. So far as we in England are concerned, there have been two important signs of progress in this last year of the second millennium. With the dedicated aid of Fergal Martin, Secretary-general of the CTS, a splendid new booklet was published (after alarms and excursions showing as always resistance on the part of our spiritual enemy) called "Marthe Robin A Chosen Soul". In the new Biographies Series (B652) and reasonably priced at £1.95, it is a compendium of pieces on Marthe and the Foyers, which include David Fanning's original work together with my translation of Pare Tierny's "Une Ame d'Elite". It should go some way towards making Marthe and the Foyers better known in the English-speaking world. The other notable event was the retreat held at Maryvale for the second year. That pastoral centre has now been sold to developers, and September was its final month. Led by Fr John Edwards S.J., the dozen who came were given a rich fare of Ignatian spirituality, and relished the silence which they kept so well. We were given fresh insights into many aspects of the Faith, and deepened our awareness of Our Lord's Presence in the Blessed Sacrament and the Mass, as well as in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Blessing of the Sick. It remains to be seen whether there are any more recruits ready to help found a new Foyer. We must not be in too much haste to do this. As a young supporter who came to the 1998 retreat and is now studying for the priesthood at the English College in Valladolid put it in a letter "To plant a precious seed in the wrong soil is pointless, and it is better to wait for the right conditions; they will come ... who knows how the Lord will surprise us?" Père Ravanel, the senior Foyer Priest (and successor to Père Finet), who is to retire at the end of this year, has sketched the basic essentials necessary for a new foundation, namely a youngish priest plus four active lay members. So let us all continue in our zeal to work for an English Foyer and to pray that God will send us the requisite personal for this initiative. I hope you will do all you can to publicise B652, and get it stocked in your parish CTS racks. French readers may like to subscribe to the excellent magazine "L'Alouette" from B.P.17, 26330, Châteauneuf-de-Galaure, which is published five times a year and costs F155. I always send cash which saves trouble and cost with banks. Next year we have booked the Carmelite retreat house at Boars Hill near Oxford from Monday 11th September to Saturday the 16th. Fr Ian Kelly, Catholic Chaplain at Salford University will be our retreat conductor. Invitations to book will go out in the spring. Meanwhile I hope some of us will be able to see in the Holy Year in the traditional Foyer manner, with a vigil before the Blessed Sacrament followed by Mass. Don't bother with telly, and steer clear of the Dome! Each morning I try and say the daily Foyer prayers (in B652) and I invoke the intercession of Marthe, Père Finet, Saint Thérèse, John Henry Newman and the little shepherds of Fatima (soon to be beatified). You might like to do the same. With every good wish and blessing for the Holy Year in union of prayer with Jesus and Mary, Yours ever sincerely Martin Blake

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