Scritto da Valentine Ranjith Nicholas | Categoria: A proposito di Noi |  Pubblicato il 28/09/2024

This year in the religious institute of Apostles of Jesus Crucified fathers and brothers (AJC) in Davao, Philippines, marked with two special events. 

First, we honored the feast of the renowned St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina on Monday, the 23rd of September with a solemn celebration of the Holy Mass at our community chapel along with many local people, youths and friends of our religious community. Prior to this special celebration which is very dear to us was preceded by the novena beautified with liturgical service this year started on September 14, including the local people, youths and friends of our community. 

Second, along with this celebration on that special feast day of our community was marked by the event of the admission and entrance of two aspirants to the postulancy stage and our three postulants to the novitiate stage. The newly admitted postulants were bro. Lourdes Ronald Jude and bro. Pawsan Sebamalai. Postulancy is the period in religious life which marks the official entry of an aspirant to an order. Postulants would live and pray with the community, study more about the religious community and its life and would participate sometimes in the apostolic works. The newly admitted novices were bro. Valentine Ranjith Nicholas, bro. Marvin Coonghe and bro. Francisco Jose Ximenes Correia. Novitiate aims to prepare themselves to live a vowed life. It’s a time to deepen his knowledge of the community’s charism and spirituality, as well as of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience. 

The solemn Holy Mass was celebrated by Rev. Fr. Lope Maria Polinar (AJC), the local superior of our community along with Rev. Fr. Eddie Boy Fuentes (AJC) and Rev. Fr. Michele Maria Momoli (AJC), who came as an official delegate from Italy to attend this event. During the sermon given by Fr. Michele, he synthesized the whole liturgy of that day in one word, “availability” to emphasize to us brothers who are admitted to postulancy and novitiate that we as religious AJC brothers must be available to do God’s will at all circumstances and all times. He also mentioned that the Gospel reading taken from St. Luke 8:16 -18 was very suitable for us because it urges us brothers who are advancing in the stages of religious formation must absorb the light of Christ into our hearts during these precious times of formation years in the community by meditating the scriptures, in spiritual reading, in serious studies, prayer and in community life. During this religious ceremony, we were all given a cross around our neck as a mark of our admission to the next stage of our religious formation and the book of constitution and statutes of our community were presented to the novices. 

After the celebration of the Holy Mass and the thanksgiving speech given by Fr. Lope, the celebration followed up by a grand dinner organized by our community to all the guests who shared the happiness on joyful feast day of St. Pio and prayed with us. Our community owes a debt of gratitude all who contributed and helped in various ways to bring this event to a successful one. The celebration of the day certainly brought happiness to all of us by the blessings of God through the powerful intercession of St. Padre Pio and the maternal blessing of Mother Mary.