Every year, around January 28, the Dominican Family in Macau gather together to celebrate the feast of our brother St Thomas Aquinas. The program normally consists of a lecture, Mass and a lunch together. It is organized by our Centre of Studies, and the venue has normally been St Paul’s School. This year 2024 the celebration took place on the 27 of January, Saturday. The guest lecturer was our Chinese Dominican brother Martin Bai Ziqiang, who graciously accepted our invitation. The chosen topic for the lecture was on St Thomas’s concept of integral education from a metaphysical point of view. It was a very appropriate theme for the audience whose majority were brothers and sisters in formation. Perhaps for this reason its contents were easily understood by all, as shown in the lively exchange of questions and answers during the open forum that followed the lecture. It was a fortunate coincidence that this year we had with us our Provincial Regent of Studies, Fr Mario Jabares, who willingly took an active role in the program: he introduced the lecture and the speaker, coordinated the open forum and closed the academic part of it. He also presided over the Mass and gave an inspiring homily related to the relevance that the figure of St Thomas Aquinas has in the Church today. A lunch crowned this activity, putting a joyful tone to the occasion and giving us the opportunity to share the joy of being together as a family. As Dominicans, we are proud to have St Thomas as our brother and we are grateful to God for having giving him as a gift to the Order and to the Church.
On 20th January 2024, seven young friars made the renewal of their religious vows at the Chapel of St. Dominic in Macau. The Prior Provincial of Our Lady of the Rosary Province, Fr. Rubén Martínez Ortega, O.P, received their vows in place of Fr. Gerard Francisco P. Timoner III, O.P., Master of the Order of Friar Preachers. The solemn celebration was integrated within the conventual Holy Mass. Let us remember them in our prayers!
May the Lord continue His work till the end!
This year 2022, the Ash Wednesday, which in the liturgical calendar marks the beginning of our Lenten journey towards Easter, was a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace in Ukraine, as requested by Pope Francis.
Here at St Dominic’s in Macau, the community Mass was presided over by its Prior, Fr Javier Gonzalez, during which the ashes were imposed on all its members with the customary words “Repent and believe the Gospel.” The Mass readings of that day highlighted the Lenten itinerary in expressions such as “Return to the Lord…” (prophet Joel), “Be reconciled to God” (St Paul), “When you pray…When you give alms… When you fast…” (Jesus). Our response both as individuals and as a community could not be other than “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned” (Resp. Psalm). We continue praying for our personal conversion and for peace in the world.
On Friday, 18 March 2022, the University of Saint Joseph in Macau celebrated its 25th Year Anniversary with a Mass in the Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady, presided over by the diocesan Bishop, D. Stephen Lee. The Rector of the University, Rev. Deacon Stephen Morgan, assisted the main celebrant as Deacon. Likewise, our Dominican community was actively involved in the liturgical celebration: some priests-professors concelebrated with the bishop, and our student brothers assisting also during the Mass, some as acolytes and the rest in the music ministry as members of the choir. Other members of the assembly participated in different ways, from proclaiming the readings to presenting the intercessory prayers on behalf of the entire community. USJ administrators, professors, staff members, alumni and students alike were also present.
It was a Thanksgiving Mass to commemorate the important landmark of the USJ Silver Anniversary of the USJ, which under the motto “Tradition, Innovation, Vision” continues committed to play a significant role in the evangelization in this part of the world. Bishop Lee, during his homily, highlighted the meaning and relevance of the event. As it coincided with the festivity of St Joseph, the bishop cited the Holy Father’s Pastoral Letter Patris corde (“With the heart of a father”) and encouraged everyone to imitate the fatherly virtues of the Holy Patriarch Saint Joseph. He ended by giving thanks to the Lord for the growth and development of USJ in the past 25 years and requested the academic community present, students and teachers alike, to ask for grace for the next 25 years.
After the Mass, invited guests and participants took a group photo at the nearby Ruins of Saint Paul’s, a place where Catholic Higher Education began in East Asia and a reminder of how the University is rooted in a long tradition of intercultural exchange that has been the hallmark of Catholic higher education in Macau since the College of Saint Paul, founded in 1954.
