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Carthage — The Path · JAR
The Path / Carthage

Stage 03 · The Path

Friendship, a living flame.

Carthage.
When the questions
begin to arrive.

A new phase begins for Augustine. Like a living flame burning strong, this stage represents the love that sets the soul alight and the courage to take the step towards youth.

Pre-teens · 12 to 14 years

JAR pre-teens in a group

Augustine's step

Year 370 · Carthage.

Here Augustine
comes of age.

In Carthage a new phase begins for Augustine. The turbulence typical of adolescence arrives: doubts, desires, big questions. But it is also there that he fully experiences friendship, that bond which would become one of the most important experiences of his life.

The participants are boys and girls aged 12 to 14, in the same situation Augustine found himself in. The heart symbolises friendship and self-giving: at this age, feelings and the will begin to take on a central role.

Stage objective

Strengthen friendship
and mature in faith.

To strengthen the idea of friendship from a human, Christian, and Augustinian perspective, and to mature in faith so that the "yes" to God is as conscious as possible. This is the final stage of Christian initiation.

Four keys
to an intense stage.

What we live in Carthage:
friendship, faith, and a "yes" that is chosen.

i.

Augustinian friendship

Learning that a true friend is not just someone who is there, but someone who pushes you to be better. That was Augustine's ideal.

ii.

Maturing in faith

Growing in the human, Christian, and Augustinian dimensions. Three aspects worked on simultaneously, without shortcuts.

iii.

A conscious "yes"

Reaching the end of Christian initiation knowing what is being chosen and why. Not out of obligation, but with conviction.

iv.

Safe accompaniment

The group leader is trained and carefully selected, following the Movement's safeguarding guidelines for minors.

No one is truly known except through friendship.

Saint Augustine  ·  Letter 130

An age not to walk alone

Carthage
is lived as a group.

If you are between 12 and 14, there is a JAR waiting for you. Find it and dare to join: the group changes everything.

Find your JAR →
JAR group at a gathering
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Madaura
10 to 12 years