PROVINCIAL CHAPTER CHRONICLE NUMBER FOUR
 One thing is what the horse thinks and another who saddles it. And the one to saddle it is none other than the Community. That is why on this day, Monday, 26 (August), the previous plan) to elect the Provincial at the first hour in the morning was modified. It seemed better to discuss on the priorities of the Province and on the personal qualities of him who shall occupy the service of leading the Province. The Jesuits called this time as the murmuratio.
 Conclusions:
1. It is clear that the priority is in Asia, the vocations, the preparation of being … so that they may be good friars and missionaries: the young student brothers. The priority is to maintainn the unity within the variety of places, ages and cultures.
2. Person of the Prior Provincial: The God of Genesis must come to Avila and to configure a new “Adamâ€. It had been demanded so many and such qualities that not even a lamp of infrared rays could find a person like that. In the end 5 or 7 names were presented, who could assume this responsibility, if the Holy Spirit would grant him fourteen gifts.
The time planned came and the election for the new Provincial took place. In a very short time Fr. JAVIER GONZALEZ IZQUIERDO obtained a vast majority of votes. It is a re-election. Fr. Javier is conscious that it is God who acts through man. As he is not an orator of long discourses, he expressed his feelings in brief words:
a) Thanks. The votes indicate that you have confidence in me. It is nice and positive.
 b) Everything that is coming upon me, the responsibilities, the works, the unhappiness are not pleasurable. I accept before God and promise with my best desire to serve the Province and each of her members.
The Holy Spirit had realized His first task: to give us clairvoyance to choose the candidate. We ask him not to forget the fourteen gifts which Fr. Javier needs.
Complementary Notes. The provincial chapter has visible actors: those who figure in the official list: 35 friars. There are two or three friars who without being officials are indispensable. Mario Jabares, the translator. In the last session, he came out with difficulty with the word “corajudoâ€: full of corage. To the Hispanic (speakers) another word with the same meaning would have been more familiar. Brother Andrés (Garcia), the chief of the secretariat, who transcribes my chronicles and the documents of the archive with admirable efficacy. Without these underground work the institutions do not function.
There are other “absences†with specific weight. I allude to two: The active friars of the Real Monastery who together with the service personnel are all in their toes, from food to the requirements of the liturgy. And the friars of the infirmary. We remember them in all our celebrations, though we only visit them when we are free. The eight are: Donato (Gonzalez), (Roman) Carter, Jesús Santos, Ezequiel (Garcia del Pino)Noblejas, MartÃn Arroyo Pino, Teodoro DÃez, (Pedro) Escudero and José Delgado, who recently arrived from the mission of Japan. Those who are lucid were very interested for the Chapter. Carter left his coffee to thank (me for) the chronicles which reach him in the computer.
A few moments ago I commented with my co-novice Fonso (Gonzalez Cobreces) saying: “the Chapter lacks humor!â€. There are no historical phrases, no equivocations that may provoke hilarity. There is a friar … who “talks by the elbowsâ€, that is, he does not stop talking…. (perhaps ) in Taiwan, the Chinese had him silenced (that is why!) After using so much English, the tongue of Mario (Jabares) seem to have lost its “purityâ€. The Asians are limited in their own languages. In the end, there is an absence of a comic note to alleviate the tedium of the long sessions.
I leave for another day to speak of the Egyptian girls who are with us in the Residence because the friars are not alone. I leave to the reflection of the readers this thought of a French philosopher: “the future is not what is to come, but what we are going to do†(Henri Bergson).
 BenjamÃn GarcÃa Fernández, O.P. (chronicler and nothing else)
PROVINCIAL CHAPTERÂ CHRONICLE NUMBER FIVE
After the election of the Prior Provincial, which took place on the 26, Monday, the result of the election was sent to the Curia in Rome. It was necessary that the Master of the Order confirm the election. Meanwhile, secret was demanded. It was five in the afternoon, it was late and by night the confirmation had not arrived, and this happened even though in Rome were informed of the Chapter. The Provincial-elect gave us the first gift: “Let us pray the rosary together before Vespersâ€. And this we did.
These were the best Vespers. Fr. Agripino recited the final antiphon dedicated to a Maracucho friar: “Do not be Juan Palomo, I cook it myself and I will eat it myselfâ€. Things of liturgy! It is because this maracucho brother had the only breviary, and intoned the Salve and the O Spem miram in Gregorian and recited by heart all the Latin prayers that exists. ( But was he Juan Palomo or Ãngel Gabriel?)
 In the afternoon the Commissions met. The work was tedious aggravated by the conviction that the Acts of the Chapters were not even read by the friars. In my commission of Dominican Apostolate we were guided by the Acts of the Provincial Chapter celebrated four years ago. In the past the Spanish missionaries were asked to have an open mind to other cultures. With the presence and action of the Asian friars, there is now a need to insist on mental openness of the Asians themselves to the different cultures of their neighbouring countries. The Chinese, the Koreans, the Burmese are all sons of the Province of the Rosary, which is beyond and above national frontiers. The Spanish missionaries in the past carried the Gospel to all these peoples. They did not speak of multiculturalism but they lived it.
 I commented in my previous entry that we are not alone in this cage in Avila. Beside ourselves we have a group of young Egyptian girls, some crazy, some liberated, whether they are veiled or not veiled. But none had the “shorts†as all Spanish girls wear during these hot days. The Egyptian girls attend a School of Languages. Some of them seem to be Coptic Christians and had greeted us in Spanish. We do not know if they are scholars or fled from the boiling situation which consumes their country in these moments.
 There are many people in the Residence, our old seminary. Remember that it has four floors with rooms almost luxurious. The building has almost a hundred meters long. There are students who are preparing for examinations for working positions. Other young people seek a propitious refuge for reflection, silence, the search for meaning for their lives. The residence continues to be useful.
 That same afternoon the election of Fr. Javier González Izquierdo as Prior Provincial has been confirmed by the Master of the Order. Our greetings and desires for success in his new period of service to the Province.
 BenjamÃn GarcÃa Fernández, O.P. (chronicler and nothing else)
 (translated by J. S.)
“No one likes beautiful eyes on a neighbour’s face†(“Nadie quiere ver ojos bonitos en cara ajenaâ€). I remember this Venezuelan refrain when listening to the report of Fr. José Salas on the economy. The province of the Rosary is known for being well-off. These are the “beautiful eyesâ€. But it does not speak of the reasons that brought about this well being. The reasons are simple: spend less than what is gained, centralized fraternal economy, to work beyond the limit of retirement.
Brother Salas synthesized the information. The world financial crisis affects the Province of the Rosary. Some traditional sources of income had since evaporated. The new missionary foundations are maintained with the help of the Province. The expenses in health care and the attention for the elderly, which is a priority among the Dominicans, has elevated greatly, since (the friars) are living longer. A concern of our administrators is what we now call “money laundering†because the globalized economy is a phenomenon so complex that only the greatest economists can understand.
The syndic suggests and prays that young friars should be formed in order to asume the task of administration, substituting those in office, for life does not detain itself. Perhaps we are not convinced that the costs of formation are very high. Studies in Bogotá, for example, are very expensive. It is evident that money is at the service of the mission. And the syndics are not the ones who have the last word in taking decisions. The syndics are also apostles and missionaries. The questions raised after the repport were squalid. A Sign that the friars are interested more of their habitual work than in the credit cards and bank accounts. It is a positive sign.
In the afternoon of the 23 August and the morning of the 24 August we dedicate them to listen to the reports of each Vicariate. If I would try to presume in summarizing what had been said of the five Vicariates, they reminded me of this refrain: “This is too much for oneâ€. I shall do so as a hair- pulling lunatic. Well this is the society where we live. The means of communication will not say not even a word in order to revive our Chapter of Avila, although it may be infinitely more humanizing, important and evangelizing that political.
The Vicariate of Spain is the most numerous, the most complex and most conflictive; it is also the most endearing. I have visited the restored Infirmary in this Monastery of Santo Tomás. It is a work worthy of its function in which it was destined. The physical work is a marvel. The human content can snidely tell us: “What I have been and what I am nowâ€, said one of the sick. The physical ruin leads us to desire for the resurrection of Christ which we deserve. But one thing is certain: “real†death comes before the biological death.
The reports from the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan repeated the same chorus line with this supplication: WE need more missionary brothers, the task is overwhelming us. The report from Venezuela was more optimistic. The socio-political situation of the country is of great concern. The integration of the Vicariates of the Betica Province and that of the Rosary is as urgent as it is inevitable. The process is blocked not due to the fault of the Vicariate of the Rosary Province. The fact that there are three Venezuelan friars in the Chapter is significant.
It is narrated sotto voce that a friar (of French cultura (sic), Francophone) was elected as prior by his community. He declined the appointment with a very simple argument: “I shall accept when the house be a community and not a hotelâ€. This is not the case of our Vicariates. In the meetings of the Spanish friars would create some “holy argumentsâ€. Brother Kleyver, who is young, Venezuelan and from Maracaibo, aside from being the Prior, smiles to see our belligerency and our hot-headedness. He knows that these boiling sentiments end with the meeting. Thanks be to God!!
I would like to think that the conflicts in the different Vicariates of the Province of the Rosary are as they alluded in these lines, are not that sour, not that deep nor not that permanent. Amen. The state of the Province is good. The young friars of the Far East give continuity to the work done for many centuries by other friars. There are reasons for optimism.
BenjamÃn GarcÃa Fernández (chronicler, and nothing more than this)
CHRONICLE NUMBER 1
 The chapter brothers are now gathered in Avila since Wednesday, 21 August. The afternoon was ending on a very warm day, a strange thing in Avila. The time for greetings was also a time of surprieses. Some os us met once again after twenty years of absence, and with 20 kilos of extra weight. With more years and less hair. It was a moment thus, of surprises and of fraternity. 35 friars of the Province of the Rosary working in the Far East, in Italy, in Spain and in Venezuela arrived.
The provincial who is ending his term, Fr. Javier Gonzà lez, underscored the importance of these data: five Asian and three Venezuelan friars are attending the Chapter. Everything is symbolic of what is and what shall be the multiculturalityof the Province of the Rosary. For the first time, we needed the services of an official translator, Fr. Mario Jabares. The dean (or the eldest) of the friars is 82 years old, Fr. Agripino Franco, and the youngest is an Asian student brother who is not yet ordained.
In this first day of the meeting we dedicate it to reflection and prayer. The Vicar of Spain, Fr. Pedro Juan fixed our attention in the situation of the (Convent of) San Pedro Mártir, in Alcobendas (Madrid): The foundations of the principal building slowly giving way, to repair it would be a very costly task. He invited to revise the spiritual “foundations†of the Province and of the friars who form it. The foundation is Jesus Christ and His gospel. In his biblical dissertation he even led us to the well of Sicar, he made us feel the thirst and the weariness which in other times Jesus and the Samaritan woman experienced. The central theme is this: only the Gospel of Jesus can restore, consolidate and regenerate.
The second meditation was directed by Fr . Agripino Franco. His word was well grounded: if one does not care for personal prayer, it weakens community prayer. Both nurture each other. One should not suppose faith, it should be cultivated. Otherwise we lose everything. Pastoral work of a Dominic is centered in Jesús Christ and in his Gospel.
The reflection and conference in the afternoon made by Fr. FelicÃsimo MartÃnez. He situated us before two more frequent questions of religious life today. One, the future of religious life. Today no one dares to make a prophesy the future. The cultural changes of the last fifty years had been so profound and at the same time confusing. No one can imagine the extent of secularization. No one can imagine that the seminaries and religious houses would be left empty in so short a time.
The second question is more compromising: the identity or essential elements of Religious Life. Fr. FelicÃsimo made a magisterial synthesis on the contents of this question. I do not wish to frivolize his deep reflection and I remit to the text that shall be published in full. The day ended in Church: The chapter brothers concelebrated the Eucharist together with the friars of the community of the Royal Monastery. The Prior, Fr. (Rafael) Laya, invited us to trust in the protection of the Virgin Mary, the Queen and Lady of the Church.
Fr. BenjamÃn GarcÃa Fernández (chronicler, and nothing more than this)
 CHRONICLE NUMBER 2
We remember the thought of Ortega y Gasset: “I am and my circumstanceâ€. The context in which we initiate the Provincial Chapter is conflictive: the massacres in Egypt and Syria, nostalgic skirmishes in Gibraltar, some holdups in Spain. These factors did not have any repercussion whatsoever in the dynamics of our Chapter for one simple reason: The contexts of the Far East and Venezuela are different. Meanwhile to speak about the social security, the shortages, the ethnic inequalities, yes they are topics of our context.
WE began the chapter activity on 23 August with a Eucharist that is quite hybrid. We are gathered to the Holy Spirit with Saint Rose of Lima. To the Spirit we asked for light and courage for the task that awaits us. To Saint Rose, to whom we simply watched lovingly: a woman, young, contemplative, continues to be the mirror of all Dominican apostle.
Fr. César Valero in the “Sermo ad Fratres†transported us in almost 18 minutes to the core of the preacher. He reminded us of the four words with with a medieval Cardinal used to convince the Pope so that he would approve the Order founded by Saint Dominic: He said “they are studious brothers of Christâ€. It is a proper definition of a Dominican. Theology, sensibility in the face of the absurd in present day Europe and the poetic wings to raise the spirits of the thirty-five chapter brothers gathered in Avila. Thus it was the Sermo ad Fratres.
To a Dominican, it is expected of him to be clairvoyant for himself and for the task of preaching: we cannot fill life with substitutes of God and of the Gospel of Jesus. Having beside the brethren with such a reflexive capacity and spiritual honorability, the Provincial Chapter is saved.
In the hours of the morning, the superior end his term (of office).. Fr. Javier González, reported on the state of the Province. Something similar done by presidents of countries, yet with a small difference. They either dissimulate or lie. Fr. Javier intensified the rosy color when speaking of Hong Kong and Macao, of China and Corea, of Singapore and Myanmar, of Timor (Leste) and Venezuela. The Province of the Rosary is in the peripheries. Vocations to the religious life emerge in countries that do not have Christian traditions. Europe is a desert..
For the Spaniards, it is easy for us to calculate distances within the national territory; for the Venezuelans, they make it easier by calculating the hours on the road that separates Caracas from Táchira or from Maracaibo. But we are lost when we situate ourselves in the Far East. This geographical absence of mind is similar to cultural and idiomatic. Some countries do not receive foreigners. The relation Church-State in China are thorny. The Province has 267 friars, 10 convents and 26 houses. There are 84 young (brothers) in the period of priestly formation. All of them are Asians. There is an abundance of aspirants but professors and formators are lacking.
Fray Javier exhorted (us) to open the heart and mind to the future in what can se seen in the East. To live in unity, though there might be diverse opinions. To maintain ourselves at the service of the Church. To collaborate with rest of the Province. To maintain a fidelity to the proper vocation. Fr. Javier thanked the friars for the help he had received in these four years of service as provincial. He also asked for apology and forgiveness for the failures he have had. The session ended with a grand applause.
Fr. BenjamÃn GarcÃa Fernández (chronicler and nothing more than that)
(English translation by JS)
Three Dominican brothers are accepted to the Holy Orders: two for the deaconate, and one for the priesthood.
On June 29, 2013, the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul three brothers received sacred orders. The place of the ordination: Macau Cathedral. The ordaining prelate: the Bishop of Macau, Joseph Lai, DD. The concelebrants with the Bishop: about forty priests, Dominicans from the communities of Hong Kong and Macau, religious men from the congregations of Macao, and secular priests. Our Dominican brothers were the acolytes. An excellent choir composed of the aspirants of the Dominican Missionaries of the Rosary and the Dominican brothers of our Studium Generale of St. Dominic’s Priory. The faithful that filled the Cathedral were the families and friends of the three ordinandi, religious women of different congregations and some lay faithful from Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau
The celebration of the Mass and the Rites of Ordination were conducted devotedly and joyfully. The choir animated the celebration with appropriate songs. Among the moving moments of the celebration were the Laying on of Hands by the Bishop and the concelebrating priests, and, as it usually happen in all ordinations, the challenging words of the Bishop to the brothers being ordained that are said first in the Homily and second in the Presentation of the Book of the Gospels: “Believe what your read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach.â€
After the solemn liturgical celebration, Fr. Javier Gonzalez, OP, Prior Provincial of the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Province of the two new deacons and the new priest, gave words of thanks to the Bishop, to the parents of the three newly ordained, to all who prepared and executed superbly the program of the enchanting liturgy, and to all present.
After the Mass, all the people present were invited to a simple reception at the neighboring School of St. Joseph. From there, the special guests were led to a good nearby restaurant to continue the celebration with a light program of songs and speeches that took place while the guests enjoyed tasteful, varied and plentiful Chinese food.
June 29 is a historical day for the Dominicans and for the diocese of Macau! Indeed a red-lettered day to remember.
Thank you, Lord!
 BROTHERS RENEW PROFESSION
Four student brothers just renewed their simple profession on the hands of their Prior Provincial.
On June 29, 2013 Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul four Dominican student brothers renewed for the first time their simple profession as members of the Order of Preachers. Fr. Javier González, OP, Prior Provincial of Our Lady of the Rosary Province took their promise on behalf of Fr. Bruno Cadoré, OP, Master of the Order. The profession renewal was held at St. Dominic’s Priory during the Morning Prayer of the community.
The four joyful brothers are: Bro. Pius Yu Yo Sin, from Korea; Bro. Antoninus H., from China; Bro. Joseph Tran Van Huong, from Vietnam, and Bro. Luke Tran Van Tam, also from Vietnam
 On June 24th 2013, we have been witnesses of the renewal of the simple profession of Fray Jordan, and the first religious profession of: Fray Bosco, Fray Michael, Fray Anthony, Fray Martin, Fray Christopher, Fray Ignatius and Fray Francis. Likewise, we attended the ceremony of the clothing with the Dominican habit of the new six novices: Raphael, James, Gregory, Albert, Abraham and Peter.
 The ceremony was held at the Chapter of Rosaryhill School and it was presided over by Father Javier González, Prior Provincial. Most of the members of the Province residing in Hong Kong and Macau, were present at the profession and vestition.
 After the religious celebration all those in attendance were invited to share a simple and fraternal dinner at the canteen of the School. (From Secretariat of the Province)
