When I met Colette, I was very impressed, especially by her liveliness and her enthusiasm, but also by a kind of temperance or reserve. She was contagious and, at the same time, she seemed not to want to invade. Proposing, not imposing.

I had gone to Paris to talk to her about the Fraternities. Our District, at that time, was once again looking for ways to revitalise the processes of Association for the educational service of the poor between Lay Partners and Brothers and we thought we could see in this model a mirror and a guide.

Years later, Colette provides us with this systematic and meticulous reflection on the historical development of forms of Association for the mission in France. It is not an object of study that she looks at externally or dispassionately. Her life and this process are interwoven in a fruitful dialogue.

She helps us to offer keys for reading the context and guides us along the path from the 1970s to the present day. It has not been a linear route. It represents a serious and committed search, trying, erring and getting it right.

We hope that the reading of this Bulletin will awaken creativity, enliven searches, open questions and remedy mistrust. That is our prayer for each of you, kind readers.

Br. Santiago Rodríguez Mancini
Director of the Office of Lasallian Heritage and Research