NEW PRIOR AT ST. DOMINIC’S

On November 2, 2014, the new Prior of St. Dominic’s Priory, Macau, started officially his three-year term of office. He was elected, approved and confirmed a few days earlier, on October 28.

Fr. José Luis de Miguel Fernández, OP, made the required Profession of Faith as the new Prior within the Mass of November 2, All Sous Day, which was presided by Fr. Javier González, OP, Prior Provincial, and concelebrated by the eight Dominican priests of St. Dominic’s. The Eucharistic celebration was animated by the songs of the twenty student-brothers and the faithful participating in the Eucharistic celebration.

After the reading of the official letter of the Prior Provincial approving and confirming the election of the new Prior, Fr. José Luis spoke of his gratitude and his hopes. He underlined the Dominican call to fraternity, freedom, solidarity, service and cooperation. Before the end of the Mass, Fr. Javier expressed the deep gratitude of the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary to the new Prior for accepting the office, and to the previous Prior, Fr. Alejandro Salcedo, OP, who ended his second term as St. Dominic’s Prior on October 19, 2014.

Born in Renedo de Valdetuéjar (Leon), Fr. José Luis was ordained a priest in Valladolid on June 30, 1963. He crowned his ecclesiastical studies with a Licentiate and a Doctorate in Oriental Ecclesiastical Sciences at the Oriental Institute in Rome in 1968. Thereafter, he was a professor of theological subjects in the Philippines, Chile and Spain. The new Prior was earlier Prior In San Juan, Metro Manila, and in Santiago de Chile. He has been widely  involved in formation and publications, particularly in the Philippines and in Chile, where he ministered for  25 years. At present he is a member of the Council of the Dominican Province, Assistant Master of Students at St. Dominic’s and visiting professor at St. Joseph University, Macau.

After the November 2 Sunday Eucharist, the concelebrants, the student-brothers and the faithful attending the Mass of All Souls Day shared together a simple meal offered by the Dominican community.

Fr. José Luis, fraternal congratulations! 

Fr. Alex, many, many thanks!

We praise the Lord!

May the Holy Spirit accompany us all

to walk by the path of Dominic, our dear Father!

THREE BROTHERS MAKE SOLEMN PROFESSION

On September 14, 2014, XXIV Sunday of the Year and the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross, three of our student brothers made their Solemn Profession at the Chapel of St. Dominic’s Priory in Macau.

Our Dominican brothers Mario Oo Shwe, Alphonso Bo and Matthew Shing Mang Tun made their promise to God to be obedient until death before Fr. Javier González, OP, Prior Provincial of Our lady of the Rosary Province. The sober and moving ceremony was part of the Holy Eucharist which was presided by Fr. Javier and concelebrated by brother Dominicans from the communities of Macau, Hong Kong and China. Fr. Franz Gassner, SVD, graciously participated  in the Mass. Fr. Provincial in his homily spoke of the significance of the Cross in our lives; of the cross as the icon of unconditional obedience of Jesus to the Father, of doing always God’s will. Indeed, doing the will of God by the way of Jesus unveils the deep meaning of the Solemn Profession: to do God’s will, “nothing more, nothing less, nothing else! The choir sung: “Set apart for You, Lord / I choose to be holy / Set apart for you, my Master / Ready to do Your will.”

The chapel was filled up – many were standing – with the faithful who regularly attend our Sunday Mass, friends of the professing brothers, and the Dominican brothers and sisters in Macau. Our Dominican student brothers and the postulants of the Dominican Missionaries of the Rosary animated wonderfully the whole liturgy. The singing of the awesome Latin hymn to the Holy Spirit while our three brothers prostrated on the ground contributed to the contemplative mood of the celebration: Veni Crteator Spiritus, / mentes tuorum visita,/ Imple superna gratia / Quae tu creasti pectora.

Dear Brothers Mario, Matthew and Alphonso,

our fraternal and warm congratulations. You are most welcome particularly

by all the members of the Dominican Province of Our Lady of the Rosary.

We hope and pray to journey together by the path of Dominic our Father and Founder.

After the liturgical celebration, a fraternal agape, to which all those attending the Mass were gladly invited, followed at the Hall of the convent

As we finish this brief report, lyrics of one of the lovely songs which enlightened the prayerful and joyful Eucharistic celebration keep coming back:

Here I am

And I long to do your will,

Here I am

I follow Your commands,

Here I am

Until my calling is fulfilled,

Here I am, here I am!

NINE BROTHERS RENEW THEIR RELIGIOUS PROFESSION

Fittingly the eve of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, June 28, is a most appropriate moment to once again renew the religious vows, the three evangelical counsels: obedience, chastity, and poverty. In the Office Readings for the Feast of the two apostles, St Augustine says that the sound of these two great apostles has gone out to all the earth and their words to the ends of the world. Reflecting on how these two greatest apostles gave witness to the Good News throughout the world and how they defended their faith in Christ inspired and moved the brothers who publicly and joyfully professed their vows during the evening prayer in honor of Sts. Peter and Paul.

St. Augustine again says that these two martyrs had seen what they proclaimed: they pursued justice by confessing the truth, by dying for the truth. These thoughts remind us of the confession we made in our first religious profession, when we placed our entire life in God’s hands. This remembrance of our first profession as Dominican brothers helps the eight of us to renew our religious profession in the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary. As we renew our profession, we also commit ourselves to confess and proclaim the truth of faith and love. It is for the truth (veritas), one of our Dominican mottos, that these brothers have decided to continue their life as Dominicans promising obedience to God, to Our Lady, to St. Dominic, our Founder and Father and to his successors.

Indeed, these eight brothers expressed their joy and happiness after the ceremony of their renewal. Bro. Joseph joyfully said: “I was really happy to renew my profession again as I love to continue the journey of a Dominican brother. I am very thankful to God for this vocation and to the Dominican Fathers (priests) for accepting me as one of their brothers.”

Bro. Lawrence for his part said: “I am very happy to get such a chance to continue in this life (Dominican life). I believe that it is the grace and the will of God, and I still firmly hope that God will continue granting His blessing to me, because I cannot go on without God.”

Another brother added: “I did feel blest and was indeed joyful when I renewed my religious vow.”

In fact, their joy does not come out of their emotion, but out of their motivation. As we all have our various motivation for something, while seeking God and His mercy in this life, our eight brothers also have their motivation to renew their religious profession, or, so to speak, to continue their search for God and His mercy as Dominicans. One brother expressed his motivation thus: “My motivation is to help the people of God, especially the needy ones and the least ones.” Another brother confessed that “The motivation behind my renewal is to follow Christ in the special manner that St. Dominic has shown us: to be a witness of the words of God and to be part of the building of the Dominican Order in Myanmar as well.”

Hearing their voice, I could not keep silent myself, since I am also one of the brothers renewing the religious vows together with them. It is by the grace of the Holy Spirit that we joyfully renew our religious profession; and it is the thousands of people who are starving for the Word of God that motivate us to carry on our witnessing for the Word of God as Dominicans in the Church.

Let us add that on the same day, in the morning of June 28 six novices made their first religious profession at St. Albert the Great Priory in Rosaryhill, Hong Kong. So from now on, the eve of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul will be really an unforgettable and blessed day for the Dominican Province. By their religious profession in the Order of Preachers, the brothers become Dominicans “fully committed to preaching the Word of God in its totality” so that they live “an apostolic life in the full sense of the word, from which preaching and teaching ought to issue from an abundance of contemplation.”

By the way, another brother from our Priory of St. Dominic, Macau, who had to advance the renewal of his simple profession, made his profession the day before: on June 27, during the evening prayer and after the singing of the Te Deum. He is our Brother Pio Yu You Sin, OP, from Korea.

Bro. Paul Aung Myint Win OP

SEVEN BROTHERS MAKE THEIR RELIGIOUS PROFESSION

Newly Professed – On June 28, 2014, six brothers made their first profession as Dominicans at St. Albert Convent in Rosaryhill, Hong Kong.

They made their simple profession during the Eucharistic Celebration presided by Fr. Javier Gonzalez, OP, Provincial, and concelebrated by Dominicans from the communities of Hong Kong, Macau and China.  A number of simply professed brothers, pre-novices and postulants attended the solemn and festive celebration.

The newly professed are: James Ye Min Tun, Abraham Ning Ki Gei, Peter Kyaw Thinn, Gregory Zhang W., Albert Liu Z., and Raphael Choi Seongho. Three are from Myanmar, two from China and one from Korea.

At the beginning of the ceremony for their first simple profession, the candidates expressed their hopes: “We wish to dedicate ourselves to God by embracing the life chosen and lived by Jesus. By the vow of obedience we bind ourselves to live the evangelical counsels. We embrace Christ’s self-emptying while sharing his life in the Spirit; and by being faithful, we strive to become clearer witnesses in the Church to the values of the Kingdom of Heaven.” May it be so for them and for all the professed.

The next stage for the six newly professed brothers will be to pursue their Institutional Studies: four of them in Macao at the University of Saint Joseph, and two in Hong Kong at the Seminary of the Holy Spirit.

Fraternal and joyful Congratulations, brothers. And most welcomed to the Dominican Province of Our Lady of the Rosary!

Solemnly Professed – Brother John Vianney W., OP, made his Solemn Profession as a Dominican on June 29, during the Eucharistic Celebration for the Feast Day of the apostles Sts. Peter and Paul at the Chapel of St. Joseph House, in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong.

The center of the ceremony was the moment when Brother John Vianney proclaimed in a loud voice and slowly these truly solemn words: “I promise obedience to God, to blessed Mary, to St. Dominic and to Brother Bruno Cadoré, Master of the Order… according to the rule of Blessed Augustine and the institutions of the Friars Preachers and his successors, that I will be obedient to you and your successors until death.” Awesome, indeed! “Obedience … until death!”

Fr Javier González, OP, Provincial presided the Sunday Mass and received the solemn profession of Brother John Vianney. The Holy Eucharist was concelebrated by brothers from the communities of Kowloon and Rosaryhill, Hong Kong. It was attended by the pre-novices and postulants and the faithful who attend Mass on Sundays at the Chapel of St. Joseph House, Kowloon Tong.

Hermano John Vianney, our warmest Congratulations and our continuing prayers for your perseverance!

 

PREPARATIONS FOR THE JUBILEE 800 OF THE ORDER

In a recent meeting, the Provincial Council approved

the following points related to the preparations

for the 2016 celebration of the Jubilee 800

of the Order of Preachers

 

1. Plan of the Order. The Order has drawn a well detailed plan to commemorate the 800^th year anniversary of the foundation of the Order. The Jubilee 2016 is seen as important in our lives. (Cf. Program details in the website of the Order).

2. Provincial Plan. The Prior Provincial informed that recently Fr Fausto Gómez has been appointed as Provincial Promoter or Coordinator for the Jubilee 2016. He is coming out with some particular ways to celebrate that particular event, maybe through some Conferences, etc. He is persuaded that for the Jubilee to be meaningful there must be AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE (of our sources) and METANOIA (interior renewal).

Another important point to remember, and as suggested by the Provincial Promoter of the Jubilee, the preparations for the Dominican Jubilee should include members of the other branches of the Dominican Order, that is, of the whole Dominican Family.

3. Organization of Special Courses and Lectures. As the 2013 Provincial Chapter  recommended, courses similar to those of “Viday Misión” (Life and Mission) and “Predicación dominicana” (Dominican Preaching) be organized at the Provincial level and “be held on the occasion of the Jubilee 2016, so that the friars may enter into contact with the doctrinal and spiritual tradition of the Order” (Provincial Chapter 2013, Acts, 175).The Provincial Council recommended that a Formation Course similar to the one successfully held in Avila in the summer of 2011 be organized for our young Dominicans; this course will be complemented with pilgrimages to landmark Dominican places in Spain, France and Italy.

                                                    

4. A Great History Project. Given the need of a textbook on the History of the Province, Fr Provincial Javier proposed the following:

a) The translation into English of Fr. Pablo Fernández’ Dominicos donde nace el sol (Dominicans Where the Sun Rises).

b) The writing of the History of the Province through the Past 50 Years.

After a sharing on the matter, the Council suggested that before the translation of Fr. Pablo’s book is undertaken, it would be better to review the literary style of the book and to prepare a compendium of the thick book. Fr Ángel Daniel Blázquez could be invited to undertake the role of revising and preparing this compendium.

As for the writers of a short history of the last 50 years of each mission, this Council decided to kindly request it to the following Brothers:

For Venezuela, Bro. Benjamín; for Korea, Bro. Peter Yu; for Taiwan, Bro. Tomás Miguel; for China, Bros. Jarvis and Edmond; for Japan, Bro. Delgado or Bro. Saturnino; for Spain, Bro. Teodoro or Bro. Medina; for Myanmar, Bro. Fernando Muñoz; for Singapore, Bro. Antonio or Bro. Edmond; for the Philippines, Bro. Laurentino and Bro. Prol

Fernando Muñoz, OP,

Provincial Secretary

Kowloon Ton, Hong Kong: April 24, 2014