The Dominican Family, composed of clerical and cooperator brothers, nuns, sister, members of secular institutes, and fraternities of priests and lay members, as defined by the Constitution of the Order, share a common vocation, each serving the mission of the Order in its own distinctive ways.
Here in Macau, there are Dominican Fathers and Sisters and for the last three years, there is a lay Fraternity of Saint Dominic, The torch of Macau. As for the fathers, some are dedicated to their permanent tasks as formators of the Dominican Students, their brothers; several of them are teaching at the University of Saint Joseph. Some are following superior studies at the University, and others are fully involved in different offices of the Province, etc. Aside from that, some of our fathers are doing their ministry at the service of the Diocese of Macau. The sisters do more or less the same, fully involved in their own apostolates.
Our lay Confraternity, The Torch of Macau, founded in 2016, is presently composed of thirteen members, practically all of them from the Philippines.
As lay people and working, they have their different tasks to attend to, and different schedules to carry out. Therefore, it is not easy to have their activities and meetings as a group in formation needs to. However, as part of their formation, they meet together twice a month with their spiritual councilors Father Jose Luis de Miguel Fernandez and one of the sisters, to pray, to become more familiar with one another and with the Dominican saints and most prominent representatives of the Lay Dominicans in the history of the Order. And above all, to receive an initial formation on the spirit of the Dominican Family, and an initial formation regarding the Word of God. From time to time, other members of the community are invited to give a talk or a retreat to our Lay members of the Dominican Family.
On the occasion of welcoming the five aspirants to join the Confraternity as novices, and simultaneously, for the celebration of the feast of St. Catherine of Siena, OP(29 OF April), patroness of the Dominican Laity, we took advantage of the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, to celebrate this Joyous event. At the same time, the other batch of four Novices made their first promises with the presence of the other four who professed two years ago.
It was indeed a blessed, meaningful day for them and a very fraternal and joyous day for us. As the members of the fraternity, the novices will come to experience together with the professed ones and if it is what they look and long for, they will be making their first promise in one year. However, for the ones who just made their first promise, they have decided and they are willingly dedicated themselves to live according to the profession of the evangelical way of life, adopted by the Order to their secular status and by this they are drawn together by a special gift of God in the apostolic spirit of Saint Dominic, to announce the Good News to this present World, and to seek their own salvation and that of others.
We thank God for all the blessings that He has bestowed on our Sister; for being chosen to form a Lay Fraternity of Saint Dominic; for the gift of the Dominican vocation; for the loving-kindness and mercy which He has bestowed on them, to be His witnesses, and to bring His Good News to others by what they preach and by what they are. Dear Sisters, welcome to the Dominican Family!
The University of Saint Joseph (USJ), in Macau, previously known as Macau Inter-University Institute, was founded in 1996. It was jointly organized by the Catholic University of Portugal and the Diocese of Macau. It is also connected by structural, academic, and social bonds to the Special Administrative Region of Macau, to Portugal, and to mainland China.
The University has three campuses: one is located in NAPE, where Master’s degree courses are offered and laboratories are located, another is in the Seminary of St. Joseph, where our Dominican brothers are taking their institutional studies at the Faculty of Religious Studies, and the third one is the Ilha Verde campus, which is the main, newly blessed campus of the USJ.
The main campus in Ilha Verde had not yet been blessed until now despite that it started operating on September 11, 2017. This is why such a blessing took place now, on the 4th of March, 2019. The occasion was graced with the presence of His Eminence Cardinal Fernando Filoni, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, who had been invited by the University to preside over the ceremony, which consisted of a votive Mass in honor of Saint Joseph and the blessing proper. On this day the morning classes and activities were suspended by the Rector of the University in order to facilitate the participation of the students, professors, staff and friends in the ceremony.
Concelebrating with Cardinal Filonni were two bishops, namely, D. Stephen Lee, the bishop of the Diocese of Macau, and D. Jose Lai, his predecessor. Joining them was Archbishop-elect Msgr Ante Josic, the Delegate of the Holy See in Hong Kong for the past ten years, who has recently been named Nuncio in Ivory Coast. Likewise, Fr. Peter Stilwell, the Rector of the University, and a good number of priests-professors and priests from different Congregations settled in Macau diocese were also around the altar. At the very start of the Mass, the bishop of Macau, D. Stephen Lee, had some welcome remarks and words of gratitude towards those attending the blessing ceremony.
In his homily, Cardinal Filoni highlighted the importance of the University of Saint Joseph in Macau. This institution, according to him, not only offers, like any other university, a wide range of programs across different fields of knowledge, but, as a Catholic University, is also called to be a leading center for the study of Catholic Theology and related disciplines in East Asia, attuned with Macau’s unique historical position in the Church in this part of the world. In addition, Cardinal Filoni spoke beautifully of St Joseph as Jesus’s teacher by word and by example. This same pattern he applied to the professors and the students of this University named after him.
Our Dominican brothers from St. Dominic Priory contributed with their voices to make this celebration more solemn and prayerful, as they sung during the Mass.
Before the end of the Mass, Cardinal Filoni, the bishop of Macau D. Stephen Lee and the Rector of the University, Fr Peter Stilwell, proceeded with the blessing of the USJ Ilha Verde campus. It took place through the prayer and the sprinkling of holy water of a commemorative stone, a landmark of the University placed under the special protection of Saint Joseph and of Our Lady of Fatima. All those attending the ceremony were reminded that the blessing was not mainly for the stone for the material structures, but rather for those who would study, teach and work at the University. As a fitting end, there were some exchange of gifts: the Cardinal gave the University a chasuble for its chapel and a silver medal commemorative of His Holiness Pope Francis.
Finally, after the ceremony, there was a meeting of the Rector, Deans, Faculty members and representatives of the student Association of the University with the Cardinal at Saint John Bosco auditorium
Every year, towards the end of
December, the group of men religious residing in Macau gather together to have
some moments of prayer, partake a meal and sing some carols in the spirit of
Christmas. This year 2018 the gathering took place on the 26th of
December at Saint Joseph the Worker Parish, run by the Comboni Fathers. Around
50 religious men from different Institutes and ages were present. Some of them,
veterans in religious life; others, still in the stage of institutional
formation.
To
begin with, at 6:30 pm and following the program outline, the local parish
priest, Fr. Manuel Machado MCCJ, gave to everyone a warm, fraternal welcome.
Then, the evening Prayer began, led by Fr. Fausto Gómez OP. The psalms and the
gospel canticle were chanted. During the intercessory prayer, there was also a
short moment to pray for those who had entrusted themselves to our prayers, for
the poor and for the victims of the recent natural disaster in Indonesia. The Vespers
ended with the singing of “Salve Reginaâ€.
Afterwards,
all present there proceeded to the parish hall for communal gathering and the
singing of some Christmas songs together before the fraternal agape. It was
beautiful indeed seeing people from different countries in the world together
in the name of the One who came to redeem the world. Time to share with others
one’s life as religious, one’s experiences in the mission and spending some
moments listening to one another.
After
the meal, the program continued with the singing of the most renowned Christmas
song, the “Silent Nightâ€, in the different
languages of those present. The very occasion was closed with the powerful singing
of “Gloria in Excelsis Deo†by our
Dominican brothers, and the final blessing by Fr. Mario Bonfaini CMF. An
evening to remember in our journey’s life.
With the main purpose of meeting the Students, Fr. Pablo Sicouly, Socius of the Master of the Order for the Intellectual Life, paid a three-day visit (5 to 7 of January) to our Priory in Macau. The occasion was also propitious for him to meet the entire Dominican Family in Macau (Friars, Sisters and Laity). And so it happened: An extraordinary gathering was convoked at St Paul School in the afternoon of January 6, Epiphany Sunday.
           The program consisted of three parts. In the first one, we listened to a lecture on “The Challenges of Dominican Study†delivered by Fr Pablo. He based the talk on the first part of the Ratio Studiorum Generalis. Then a friendly dialogue followed between the Socius and the participants. Some student brothers and some Sisters, too, had the opportunity to share with the socius about their institutional study. Fr Pablo answered from his own experience and current position, to the points in questions; and he ended up encouraging all the Students to cultivate the habit of study, something essential for a Dominican.
           After the academic part, the participants moved to the School Chapel where we prayed Vespers together. It was indeed meaningful that the Dominican Family in Macau prayed together. The singing of the Salve Regina and the O Lumen was the crowned those liturgical moments.
           The last part of the program took the form of agape. Having dinner together is another way of sharing. In blessing the food we prayed that “partaking from the same table may help us grow always in brotherhood.†Indeed the agape dinner was the way for us, Dominicans, to share our brotherly and sisterly love as one family in Christ Jesus.
Fr Pablo left for Hong Kong in the afternoon of January 7. Since it was his first time in Macau, he treasured a lot of memories of persons and places. One thing that impressed him was the joyful and harmonious community life lived at St Dominic’s Priory. He enjoyed also his visit to the University of St Joseph, to St Dominic’s church and the other emblematic places Macau offers to visitors. We thanked Fr Pablo for his visit
By:Brs Stehen Saw Lej Kapaw Htoo and Andre Pereira
The Faculty day is an annual commemorative event held by the Faculty of Religious Studies of Saint Joseph University, in Macau. It takes place normally around the feast of St Francis Xavier in the first week of December, and it usually brings together all the members of the Faculty i.e. professors, students, staff, alumni, and friends to join in a whole day program of activities. This year, in 2018, the event took place on the 4th of December at Saint Joseph’s Seminary campus.
With the advanced invitation, the Rector of the University, some other Deans and professors from the different faculties, officers of the University, and Superiors of Religious Congregations were also present. The program began at 10:00 am with a morning coffee and friendly conversation among the participants. It was followed by a Lecture delivered by Reverend Dr. Stephen Morgan, the new Dean of the Faculty. In his lecture, entitled The Word was made flesh, the Dean zeroed in mostly on the Mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Right after the lecture, the participants proceeded to Saint Joseph’s Church for the Eucharistic celebration. Some professors and guest priests concelebrated with the Bishop, who was also assisted by the newly ordained Deacons Ignatius Ngo and Francis Nge Nge. In his homily, Bishop Stephen Lee emphasized the importance of prayer for the sake of enhancing a better relationship with God. Furthermore, he also encouraged the students to study seriously with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the source of all understanding. After the homily, Reverend Dr. Stephen Morgan made his profession of faith and oath of fidelity in the presence of the bishop and of the faithful, as he took the office of Dean of the Faculty of Religious Study of the University of Saint Joseph.
Once the Mass was ended, the participants gathered together again in the seminary hall for the partaking of lunch, by now readily set on the table. Since it was also the birthdays of the Rector of the University, Fr. Peter Stilwell, and of our Dominican brother Fr. Fausto Gomez, we all shared a birthday cake jointly cut by both of them after blowing the customary candles and the singing of “Happy Birthday by all those present. The lunch, graced by the bishop, was a great moment in which we continued sharing from the Eucharistic table of the Lord to the daily material food received from His Providence, which keeps us united in brotherhood. In our prayer, we expressed our gratitude to God and remembered those who had prepared the meal for us.
In the afternoon, the program continued with outdoor activities organized by the students of the Faculty consisting of games and soccer competitions. We all took part in them with enthusiasm and indeed, it was very enjoyable. The whole activity was great for the interaction between the professors and students and among the students themselves, for all worked together in groups competing to achieve one goal: to win.
The Faculty Day closed with the awarding of prizes to the winners and lots of picture taking.
A lay group composed of eighteen members, led by Professor Jenny Lao Phillips, paid a friendly visit to the St. Dominic’s Priory of Macao on the 1st of December, 2018 from 3:00 to 5:00 pm. They are members of the Macau Catholic Lay Association. With their spiritual growth in mind, the main objective of this visit was for them to know more about the presence and life of the Dominicans in Macau. In fact, it was the first time for this Association to officially visit our community since its foundation in 2006.
The most solid number of it was Fr Fausto Gomez’ short talk on the presence and life of the Dominicans in Macao. He focused on who the Dominicans are, what they are doing here in Macau, where they did come from and where they are heading to. He mentioned also the history of this Priory and of the studentate and the life of the friars. He concluded by remarking also the presence of the Dominican Family in Macau: Friars, Sisters, and Lay members.
As ‘intermission’ number the brothers sang “O Sanctissimaâ€, a traditional Latin hymn addressed to Mother Mary. A brief sharing by four student brothers, the representative from different countries, followed up the singing. There was also a short time for an open forum, with questions and answers on both sides. Then, some refreshments, courtesy of the Association, were friendly shared with all the participants while engaging in joyful and informal conversation.
The encounter was ended by gathering up together in the chapel of the Priory for the singing of “Salve Regina’’ and final blessing.
A group picture and the distribution of some souvenirs rounded off this pleasant and fruitful visit.
