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 17, 2013 Fr. Lancelote, a very popular priest of Macau was taken by the Good Lord to heaven. He was ninety years old. On June 22, His Funeral Mass was celebrated at the Macau Cathedral with participation of priests, relatives, friends and hundreds of ordinary lay faithful that filled the Church. The Bishop of Macau, the Most Reverend Joseph Lai presided over the Eucharist and over thirty secular and religious priests concelebrated with him, including some Dominicans. After the Mass, the burial took place at the St. Michael Archangel Catholic Cemetery.
Of Portuguese descent, Fr. Lancelote was born in Malacca, Malaysia on December 21, 1949. He was ordained priest in Macau on October 6, 1949. As the Macau delegate of Catholic Social Services-USCC and Director of the Secretariat of od the Diocesan Services for Social Welfare Macau, the good priest dedicated himself for nearly six decades to social services not only in Macau but also in Mainland China and other neighboring countries.
Fr. Lancelote is a household name in Macau, where he served the Diocese and the people with competence, dedication and great generosity. He was well-known for his total commitment to refugees, the poor, the disabled and other disadvantaged minorities.
Fr Lancelote was a close friend of the Dominican in Macau. I fact, he was for a long time the only Dominican Tertiary in Macau.
Well done, brother. May you rest in peace!Â
On May 11, 2013, Our Priory of St. Dominic honored one of its members on his Golden Jubilee as a Dominican Priest. The joyful celebration began with a solemn Mass and continued with a fraternal agape in a Macau restaurant.
The Eucharistic celebration took place in our chapel in the evening and was also attended by Dominican brothers from our communities in Hong Kong and the Dominican sisters Missionaries of the Rosary and their postulants. Presided by Fr. Jose Luis de Miguel, OP, our dear Golden Jubilarian as a Dominican priest, the Holy Mass was concelebrated by about twenty priests, most of them our Dominican brothers, and animated with appropriate songs and hymns by our student brothers and the postulants of the Dominican sisters. A few lay friends of the community accompanied us. In his moving homily, Fr. Jose Luis voiced his boundless gratitude to God for the unmerited gift of vocation.
During the banquet with exquisite Chinese food, which followed the religious celebration, our students with the Dominican sisters and their postulants presented an entertaining program of songs. Our Fr. Provincial Javier Gonzalez, OP, congratulated Fr. Jose Luis for this great milestone and thanked him for his continuing apostolic work in our Dominican Province of Our Lady of the Rosary. Likewise our Bishop of Macau, the Most Rev. Joseph Lai, DD, thanked the Golden Jubilarian and the Dominicans for their appreciated work in his Diocese. The thanksgiving was concluded with the simple and heart-felt gratitude of the honoree.
The celebration continued the next day, May 12, Ascension Sunday and Mothers’ Day, which happened to be this year the birthdate of Fr. Jose Luis. The Eucharistic celebration, attended by our friends and faithful participants in our Sunday masses, was followed by a simple lunch for all.
Fr. Jose Luis, congratulations, more years to your life in our community, and … the journey continues!
On April 21, 2013 the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday, the Diocese of Macau honored priests and religious men and women who celebrate their respective anniversary: the Diamond, Golden or Silver Jubilee. The highlight of this especial celebration was the Solemn Mass presided by the Bishop of the Diocese, the Most Rev. Joseph Lai, DD, and concelebrated by thirty secular and religious priests. The Rite of Recognition and Gratitude, held after Communion, was led by the officers of the Serra Club of Macau that sponsored and organized the whole celebration. After the Holy Mass, the participants were invited to a simple and joyful agape.
This year the number of Jubilarians was sixteen: four priests Golden Jubilarians and twelve religious women – three Diamond, five Golden and four Silver Jubilarians. The priests as well as religious sisters came from different countries to work for the Kingdom of God in Macau. One of four priests is our own Fr. Jose Luis de Miguel, OP.
In his homily Bishop Lai underlined the significance of the Good Shepherd Sunday, which is the Vocation Sunday in the whole Church. He invited all the faithful that filled the Cathedral of Macau to pray for vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. He also remembered the victims of the recent earthquake in the Sichuan Province, China, of the Boston Marathon Bombings and the Fertilizer Plant explosion in West, Texas.
During the Rite of Recognition of and Gratitude to the honorees, the jubilarians received some tokens, including a cross and a diploma. The best and most appreciated gift was the enthusiastic and grateful applause of all the faithful, the laity, religious men and women and our Dominican students.
The Serra Club of Macau took care of all the details of the very successful and joyful celebration. The Serra Club is an association of Catholic lay men and women dedicated to foster and promote vocations to the priesthood, the religious life and to the lay ministry. There are about 670 Serra Clubs throughout the world. Its name refers to Blessed JunÃpero Serra, the great Franciscan missionary.
Our warmest and fraternal congratulations to all the jubilarians, our brothers and sisters in Christ! Our sincere gratitude to the Diocese of Macau and to the Serra Club!
Fr. José Luis, our dear Golden Jubilarian was ordained in Valladolid, Spain on June 30, 1963. He joined our Priory in January, 2012. He is the Moderator of our Center of Institutional Studies and the Assistant Master of Students. Our Macau Dominican community will celebrate Fr. Jose Luis’ momentous event on May 11, 2013 with a Solemn Mass in our Priory and a formal dinner in a Macau restaurant. By the way the classmates – all golden jubilarians – of Fr. Jose Luis are eleven Dominicans, including our dear Fr. Lucio Gutierrez, OP. who lived in our community for two years and is now confined at the St. Martin de Porres Hospital in Manila.
Dear Brothers,
Easter brings us hope of a new beginning. May your life be full of joy and a fresh new start.
Wish you a very happy Easter.
Fr. Alejandro Salcedo
Prior
Saint Dominic’s Pripry
On March 10, 2013, Brother Sebastian Lee Skang Hoon, O. P., made his Solemn Profession within the Mass of the Fourth Sunday of Lent at our St Dominic’s Priory in Macau. Bro. Sebastian is from Korea.
The main celebrant of the Eucharist was Fr. Javier Gonzalez, O. P., Prior Provincial of the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary. Ten Dominicans and two secular priests concelebrated with Fr. Javier. The Chapel was fully packed. The faithful were members of the the Korean Community in Macau, the participants in our Sunday Masses, our Dominican Brothers and Sisters including the postulants, and friends of Bro. Sebastian and of our Priory.
Bro. Sebastian made his Solemn Profession for life before Fr. Javier, promising obedience to the Master of the Order, Fr. Bruno Cadoré, O. P. It was a joyful celebration animated by meaningful songs and prayers led by our Dominican brothers and Sisters.
The Province of the Holy Rosary rejoices! Little by little and consistently the number of brothers getting ready to be missionaries is growing. This month of March 2013, the Province rejoices also for the Solemn Profession of our Brother Paul, member of St. Albert Convent in Rosaryhill, Hong Kong; for the Ordination to the Deaconate of our brothers Philip Soreh and John Bosco, members of the House of the Most Holy Trinity in Rome, and Brother Juan Franco Pérez, O. P., member of the House of St. John Macias in Cáceres, Spain.
For so many blessings – and more to come -, thanks be to God!
