The roots of our fellowship go back to 1996-1997, when a few students started to gather for simple prayer meetings. We knew each other mostly from spiritual retreats for youth, called Oasis of a New Life. We were already closely connected to the Redemptorist order, because most of us were from eastern Slovakia, not far from Podolinec, a small town where the Redemptorists have a monastery. Often it was the Redemptorists who organized these retreats we attended. It was in 1996 or 1997 that the Redemptorists first held a parish mission in Bratislava, at Kalvária Church — “Calvary” in English. We were there, and after the mission, we were asked to hold short prayer meetings after Tuesday Mass in this church.
But this wasn´t the Redemptorists’ last parish mission in this city — in preparation for the Jubilee Year 2000, they joined with other religious orders and organized missions in most parishes in Bratislava in October 1999. We gathered for prayer meetings in Kalvária Church for a whole year before the missions, to pray for the missions’ success.
Our fellowship was growing at this time, as we were joined by a few more people willing to offer their time, energy and even money to support the mission. During the missions, we had evangelization programs in many schools, barracks, we invited people in the streets to the mission program and by leading songs we contributed to the liturgy in the church.This time was very important for us, and we felt very close to one other even though we didn´t known each other well. It was at this time that we decided to continue proclaiming the Gospel as a fellowship. Our fellowship has continued to hold prayer meetings (but we moved them to the Redemptorists’ church), and we’ve helped with a few missions in other cities, but our work has expanded beyond its initial scope. Now some of our members have initiated their own small groups where they lead others to a deeper spiritual life, and our fellowship hosts spiritual retreats from time to time. And through all this, we’ve lived through our own joys and crises.
Since our founding, things have changed a little – some new people have joined us, others have left, others have spent time abroad (on missions to Kazakhstan, for example). Today we have almost 30 members, both single and married, and include two children (with a few others on the way).
Over time, our mission has become clearer, and we’ve come to understand that it’s based on three things – fellowship, community prayer and evangelization.
