The Beginning of L'Arche and the First Learning

In 1964 I took from an asylum two men, Raphael and Philip, and we began to live together. I did not know I was founding the first of many L’Arche communities. I simply felt called to live with these two men who had suffered rejection and a lot of inner pain, and perhaps with a few others like them. When I had begun living with them, I soon discovered the immense pain in their hearts.
- Jean Vanier, From Brokenness to Community, p.11