Oasis of the Living Church

At the end of the 1960s an increasing number of Oasis members asked for continuing spiritual instruction between the summer retreats. In 1969 the first “liturgical communities” of Oasis members were organised in the parishes. These groups met once a week for “Gospel-based renewal of life” — to pray and reflect on their spiritual life and become involved in liturgical renewal within the parishes. From these tiny but dynamic groups the con­cept of the Living Church emerged — a church which expresses its vitality through communities of believers building their new fives together. This concept of the Living Church became fundamental to the whole movement.

During the 1970s local parish communities were penetrated by Oasis groups, creating the Living Church. The Oasis retreats, now called the Oasis of the Living Church, spread rapidly throughout the country. In 1972 re­treats for various groups — children, school pupils, students, young work­ers, adults, priests, seminarians and nuns — were organised, following one of three programmes not only according to age but also according to spiritual maturity. In 1973 the first Oasis for families, the so-called Home Church, was organised. As a result family communities of the Living Church were set up, based on the French Equipes de Notre Dame, and grew rapidly from 51 families in 1973 to 157 in 1976.

In 1973 a structure for the whole movement was introduced and it was decentralized. At the same time a detailed programme of spiritual formation was drawn up for the whole year, which remains in force to this day. It was divided into three periods: Oasis summer retreats, post-Oasis retreats which fell during the school year and a pre-Oasis period of preparation before the summer camps. All members met together once a year during the so-called central Oasis which takes place on the feast of Pentecost. In between the summer retreats the work is carried out in small groups meeting once a week for prayer and Bible study. Every six or seven weeks a “communal day” is organised at diocesan level.