Alex and Prisca Horesnyi live at the Marie-Thérèse residence in Lyon. Parents of four children, the couple is making a lifelong commitment to the Chemin Neuf community this summer. Prisca manages the Chemin Neuf community store, located one block from Perrache Station. As for Alex, he is one of the treasurers of the religious congregation.
Why are you making a lifelong commitment to the Chemin Neuf Community?
Prisca
This summer, I am making a lifelong commitment to the Chemin Neuf community because it is my response to the Lord’s call. Ever since I was 14, I have felt that this community was my spiritual home. But with three “nevers ”: “ never ” in community, “ never ” living in a community house, “ never ” making a lifelong commitment. And yet, patiently, the Lord came to calm my fears and remove all obstacles. All those “nevers” were ultimately successive calls that were revealed one after another, leading to a fuller life and greater closeness and intimacy with the Lord.
Alex
I’m involved because I’m passionate about it: I believe this is the best place to help me follow Christ.
Brotherhood sustains us on this journey.
How did your desire to get involved come about?
Prisca
Our first three-year commitment began in 2009. Then we entered into a community of life in 2014. The past 12 years have been rich in joy, growth, and a deepening of my relationship with God, but also in suffering, difficult times, and pruning, through daily contact with my brothers and sisters, in mission, and in the life of prayer. Proof that Love = Happiness + Suffering.
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68
I feel that I am where the Lord wants me to be, where he calls me. It is through the community, through my brothers and sisters, that I find the Lord more and more each day.
Alex
Back in 1999, before we were married, Prisca dragged me to a Cana Fiancés weekend, and the Lord took that opportunity to convert me. So I said to him , “Lord, if you exist, I’m willing to follow you, but at the first sign of trouble, I’m out of here! ”
Since then, I’ve been striving to follow Him. Over the years—and especially during our 12 years in the community of life at 59—a lifelong commitment has become a matter of course.
How did you receive that call?
Prisca
The call came in stages. First, during a 30-day Ignatian silent retreat, as I sensed my total preference for the Lord. This call was echoed in Alex’s life, also during those 30 days, a little later on. Then, as the years passed, life took root in this daily routine of prayer, mission, and shared life. The engagement period did its work, and I heard the call to something definitive, to no longer consider the possibility of turning back. And I received very strongly this verse from John 21:22: “What is that to you? You follow me.” My heart was ready for the definitive “yes.” No turning back.
Alex
During the 30-day silent retreat, I realized that following Christ far outweighed the difficulties inherent in community life and life in general. With those obstacles out of the way, nothing stood in the way of my making a final commitment, provided it was approved by Prisca and the Community.
What aspects of community life give you a sense of fulfillment?
Prisca
What gives meaning to my daily life as a committed member of the community is giving myself to my brothers and sisters, giving myself to the mission, and giving myself to service, guided and led by the Holy Spirit. Not my desires and plans, but the paths along which the Lord leads me. Driven by a passion for unity—from the small domestic church of marriage and family, to unity among our churches, to the unity of the person…
Alex
It is difficult to distinguish the effects of one point or another, so closely intertwined are they, but I would say that the community sustains me; the charismatic life and Ignatian spirituality enlighten me, but it is personal prayer and mission—in the sense of proclaiming the Gospel—that nourish me.
A word to guide you on this journey ?
Prisca
As this solemn moment of lifelong commitment approaches, the words of this hymn are often in my heart: “Come and see, we have found the one we seek, Jesus, our Master and Lord.” I have a strong desire to proclaim this as often as possible. I have found Jesus, my Master and my Savior, through the humble life shared in community, a life of mission and service. I cannot hide this treasure I have discovered; I cannot keep silent about the joy of this different and so rich life.
“ “Follow me!”
Alex
Matthew 16:25: “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
Translated by artificial intelligence