Marcilhac-sur-Célé, France (Monday, July 20, 2015, Gaudium Press) Located in a beautiful area in the department of Lot, in the French region of Midi-Pyrenees and in the “Camino de Santiago”, the abbey of Marcilhac-sur-Célé was founded by the Benedictine monks in the early ninth century and it became the soul of this town.
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| The abbey Marcilhac-sur-Célé needs mayors repairs, especially the stain glasses |
Its style is Carolingian Gothic or Romanesque and its architectural life has been hectic and includes periods of destruction and reconstruction, but know it is protected by the State.Nevertheless the building needs mayor restoration. Some months ago the parish priest, Father Guillaume Soury-Lavergne, launched a fundraising appeal through a Christian site called CredoFunding, reinforced by a personal challenge done the President of the Skydive club of Cahors: the priest should jump if they reached the figure of 25,000 Euros, which is half of what is needed to carry out the work.
Either because of love for the abbey, or out of curiosity to this young priest, 36 years old, who is usually dressed in a white robe with a black sash, the fact is that the objective was achieved, and now the priest had to keep his promise.
Last Friday, at eleven in the morning, the Cahors-Lalbenque airfield was full of media to witness the event. “I am scared,” he confessed to the media, “and the last days I have not slept too much”. He had never done a free fall, although he had some diving experience from his military service.
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| Fr Guillaume arrives to the airfield with his habit of the Missionaries of the Divine Mercy |
Nothing to do, in any case, the few low-altitude jumps with automatic opening and got to know during his time as a soldier, with the minutes waiting for him in the air at the discretion of the force of gravity before experiencing pull El Salvador back of the straps. So I had to take some classes and fulfill its promise in the company of specialists.
When the hour arrived, he changed his white habit for a black clergyman, he blessed the whole team, and climbed up to 4000 meters, in order to jump with a team of specialists, make a freefall 2500 meters, and be then be on his own for the last 1500 meters.
A moment of danger
All went well until the moment he had to open the parachute, he had trouble to find the ring that opens the parachute, but he did it with the help of the instructor.
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| Fr. Soury-Lavergne with his instructor |
The impact of his little adventure goes beyond the funds that were raised, which adds to 28,000 Euros. It ended up in a tremendous publicity for Abbey itself.
Source: Religion en Libertad Spain
