Letter of Recommendation

from Cory Andrew Labrecque

Saint-Hubert, January 22nd, 2006

Many greetings,

I am most pleased to serve as referee for a candidate as enthusiastic, gifted, and refined as Marina Bresba.

I have known Marina for well over a decade as a colleague serving the parish community of Saint Gabriel (Saint-Hubert) in the capacity of pastoral agent charged, in particular, with family catechesis.

In the diocese of Saint-Jean-Longueuil, our parish is celebrated for, among other things, its vibrant and active young adult community in which Marina is, foremost, a leader.  Marina has led prayer services, youth retreats, and social/fun-raising events.  These experiences have made plain to the parish her incomparable degree of commitment, management, interpersonal skill, direction, conviction, passion, and, above all, her genuine love for the community.

As pastoral agent and catechist, Marina has wonderful intuition and a remarkable ability to communicate with young children, adolescents, and adults alike.  Her flexibility and facility in adapting to various classroom settings has proved indispensable.  It is common to find Marina leading a class of grade 5/6 or high school students through storytelling during one session and, by the next, be using drama and creative play to teach a group of 2 or 3/4 students.  It is clear to all of us that Marina's catechetical style not only reveals love for the material she is teaching (and prepares with such diligence and creativity!), but, more so, love for the students.   As expected, Marina's students have come to appreciate her more as the mentor and friend that I know her as.

I cannon, by any stretch of the imagination, express my gratitude for Marina's work (indeed, she would never call any of this "work").  When my mandate was extended to include the Chapelry of Saint Raymond in Candiac (thus, placing me in the blessed charge of over a hundred students and their parents), Marina was, by far, an invaluable partner even in light of the fact that she had a number of other ecclesial communities to tend to.  It takes fortitude, organization, and endurance to serve in several churches while juggling longstanding commitments to her home parish of Saint Gabriel's, work, school, and a host of various other extracurricular activities too numerous to make note of here.

Teaching is Marina's vocation.  She has made this so very clear in both word and deed.  I do not simply maintain that Marina is an outstanding and truly competent candidate on account of her extensive experiences and boundless imagination, but am wholeheartedly convinces that the very person she is and the gifts this person is so willing to share are marks of a model educator.

May this sweeping attestation leave you with an accurate impression of the excellent candidate I know Marina to be.

Best Regards,

Cory Andrew Labrecque

coryandrew [at] canada [dot] com

Pastoral Agent & Catechist

Saint Gabriel's Parish (St-Hubert) and the Chapelry of Saint Raymond (Candiac)

Doctoral Student & Sessional Lecturer

McGill University (Montreal)

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