The Priory celebrated the Feast of Our Lady, Queen of China on the first day of the Chinese Lunar Year, this year of 2014 the Year of the Horse. Our brother Fr. Edmond presided the concelebrated Mass of the community and gave us a beautiful homily. Hereafter, Fr. Edmond’s summary.
 This feast commemorates events which took place in April 1900. During the Boxer rebellion, a great number of soldiers attacked the village of Donglu, Hebei. The village consisted of a small community of Christians founded by the Vincentian Fathers.
The Virgin Mary appeared in white, and a fiery horseman (believed to be St Michael) chased away the soldiers.
The pastor, Fr Wu, commissioned a painting of Mary with Christ child dressed in golden imperial robes. This painting became the image of Our Lady, Queen of China.
Donglu became a place of pilgrimage in 1924. The image was blessed and promulgated by Pope Pius XI in 1928.
Happy feast day,
FR. EDMOND EH KIM CHEW, OP
St. Dominic’s Priory
St. Paul’s School celebrated its feast, the solemnity of the Conversion of Saint Paul, which this year was held on January 24, Friday. The multi-faceted commemoration consisted of the celebration of the Eucharist, presentation of a cultural program, and a family banquet.
The celebration of the holy Mass was presided by the Bishop of Macau, the Most Rev. Jose Lai, DD, and concelebrated by nine Dominican priests from the communities of Macau and Hong Kong and two other priests close to the Dominicans. Held at the main auditorium of the school, it was attended by about nine hundred students, and academic and administrative staff.
The short and entertaining cultural program of songs and dances was opened by Fr. Alejandro Salcedo, OP, Director of the Escola Sao Paulo, who expressed the deep gratitude of the school to all the teaching staff and students, his Dominican brothers, and the benefactors and friends of the school.
The banquet at a well-known restaurant and convention center was a family affair with good food, and spontaneous and excellent singing by some teachers and alumni, including our brother Fr. Athanasius, OP, Director of the school’s Campus Ministry and of the radio station “Saint Paul.â€
Escola Sao Paulo or Saint Paul’s School is a Catholic school of the Diocese of Macau run by our Dominican brothers. It is a leading school among the thirty four Catholic schools of Macau. About two hundred and eighty (full or part time) teachers impart lessons to and walk with over three thousand students of kinder, primary and secondary schools as they pursue their studies at St. Paul’s.
 
Brother Peter Zya Reh, OP is the newest member of our community, of St. Dominic’s Priory in Macau. Bro. Peter is from Myanmar. After completing one year novitiate, Bro. Peter made his first simple profession as a Dominican of the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary on December 15, 2013 at St. Albert’s Priory, Rosaryhill, Hong Kong.
Brother Peter Zya Reh, now assigned to the Studentate in St. Dominic’s Priory, took up three years of philosophical studies at St. Francis Xavier Major Seminary in Singapore. After taking a short vacation in his hometown, Loikaw, Myanmar, he arrived in Macau on the 17th of January 2014.
All the twenty eight members of the Dominican community in Macau warmly and joyfully welcomed Brother Peter. We all pray and hope that he will enjoy the new environment and the new community. We assure him of our help and support, as we continue to support each other and face together good and bad times. Now, our new brother will continue his philosophical and theological studies at the Faculty of Christian Studies of the University of Saint Joseph.
May the good Lord bless him and guide him in his community life and studies, and may he be faithful to his Dominican vocation.
Brother Peter Zya Reh, you are most welcomed!
(Bro. Francis Nge, Nge, OP)
