On Pentecost Sunday, June 12, the significant ceremony of the Solemn Profession was held at the Chapel of St. Dominic’s Priory. It took place during the Eucharistic celebration. On this day, Brother Joseph Lee Taeyun, OP, made his final vows (for life) as a Dominican of the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary. Bro. Joseph, from Korea, made his perpetual profession in the hands of Fr. Javier Gonzalez, OP, Prior Provincial of said Dominican Province. Fr Javier represented Fr. Bruno Cadoré, OP, Master of the Order of Preachers or of the Dominicans. The moving ritual of the Solemn Profession was done after the proclamation of the Pentecost Gospel. After asking for God’s mercy and that of the Dominican community, and expressing his intentions and formally promising obedience according to the Rule of St. Augustine and the Constitutions of the Dominican Order, Fr. Provincial accepted Brother Joseph as a full-fledged member of the Dominican Order.
Right after the Solemn Profession, Bro. Joseph also received the ministries of Lector and Acolyte, which enable him to read the Word of God and assist the ordained ministers in the altar. These ministries represent for Brother Joseph a step forward towards the Deaconate and the Priesthood.Before the final blessing, Brother Joseph expressed his humble and deep gratitude to all those who made his solemn profession and this celebration possible. For his part Fr. Alejandro Salcedo, OP, Prior of St. Dominic’s also gave thanks to all those present and invited them to share with us our table after the celebration. The celebration took place at 11 in the morning and the simple lunch about 1:30 PM. It was indeed a moving and joyful celebration of Pentecost, and obviously the Holy Spirit was in our midst and in our hearts!
On this august occasion, the chapel of the Priory was filled to capacity. Ten priests concelebrated with Fr. Provincial, including Fr José Lau, procurator of the Diocese of Macau who represented the Diocese, and seven Dominicans, among them Fr Bonifacio G. Solis, OP, former Prior Provincial of Our Lady of the Rosary Province and Fr. Jose Luis Miguel, OP, a member of this Province working now in the General Vicariate of Chile. Over eighty faithful attended the Pentecost Eucharist and the Solemn Profession: our Sunday Mass participants, sisters from different religious congregations and members of the Korean community. Brother Joseph Lee was born in Seoul on January 19, 1973. He made his first simple profession on June 16, 2007. At present, he is finishing his institutional studies at the Catholic University of Saint Joseph here in Macau.
The St. Dominic’s Priory is presently composed of twenty three members: six Dominican priests and seventeen simply professed theology students. The Dominican priests’ apostolate includes the following: formation of the simply professed brothers, administration of St. Paul’s School, and teaching philosophy and theology at the University of St. Joseph. For St. Dominic’s Priory this great celebration of Pentecost Sunday with the Solemn Profession was a meaningful and historical event. The Priory is proud of its tradition. By the way, the first Dominicans, also members of Our Lady of the Rosary Province arrived in Macau in 1587, the year of the foundation of the Missionary Province of the Dominican Order. (FGB)