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L'Arche

Jean Vanier

Daily thought

Finding a Place

Those who are weak have great difficulty finding their place in our society. The image of the ideal human as powerful and capable disenfranchises the old, the sick, the less-abled. For me,...

The Heart Has Its Reasons

The Story of Jean Vanier & L'Arche

Journey Films
Produced by Martin Doblmeier

“To speak of the heart is not to speak of vaguely defined emotions but to speak of the very core of our being.”— Jean Vanier, from Becoming Human

(DVD; Journey Films, 1989; Running time: 57 min.)
Distilled from 25 hours of film shot in May 1983 at the L’Arche Trosly-Breuil community, Jean Vanier’s home community in France, and interspersed with recorded interviews with Vanier, this film is the story of L’Arche. The program focuses on the joys and struggles of daily life with mentally and physically challenged people in communities in France and the United States. We see small homes, not large institutional settings, daily chores and special celebrations—all framed by the L’Arche philosophy: the handicapped person is the heart of each community. Throughout the program, Jean Vanier offers insights resulting from his (then) 20 years of life in community.