PROFESSION RENEWAL AT ST DOMINIC’S PRIORY IN MACAU (2019)

PROFESSION RENEWAL AT ST DOMINIC’S PRIORY IN MACAU (2019)

By the religious profession in an institute of consecrated life, one dedicates himself or herself to God freely, without any force or fear, following Christ willingly to live out the evangelical counsels in an institute of consecrated life of one’s own choice. In this way, the baptismal consecration becomes more fully effective.

In every religious Order or Congregation, there are simple (temporary) profession and solemn (perpetual) profession. The former is made for one, two or three years, while the latter is made for life (until death). The length of the simple profession depends on each religious Order’s statutes and norms. For the Dominican Friars in the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary, the first profession is currently made for two years and then renewed either for one or two years until the solemn profession, which takes place within a maximum period of six years.  

Saint Dominic’s Priory in Macau belongs to the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary, which welcomes brothers from the different countries or places where it is present: Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Myanmar, East Timor, Spain, and Venezuela. The Province’s international Novitiate is in Hong Kong; and its main Studentate is here in Macao, where the student brothers course their institutional studies of Philosophy and Theology. We currently are 40 brothers, of which 29 are simple professed. This is why we witness every year either the renewal of profession or the solemn profession of some of its members.

On the 21st of June of this year 2019, five Dominican Brothers, namely, Mannes John Kim, Gabriel Khun Ri, Benedito de Jesus, Francisco Sufa, and Luigi Yu Reh, renewed their profession for one year. Likewise, on the 8th of September, another group of seven, namely, Stephen Saw Lej, Marko Thoe Reh, Francis Bu Ling, Richard Htoo, Gabriel Ko Ko, Justin Saw Kaung, and Fermin Saw Simon, did the same for two years, that is, until 2021. 

The Prior of the community, Fr Jose Luis de Miguel, OP, was the one who received the profession of both batches, during the conventual Mass presided over by him, concelebrated by the other member priests of the community, and witnessed by the student brothers and some lay faithful. In his homily, he congratulated the brothers who were about to renew their profession, and he also reminded them that “the renewal of the evangelical counsels is not mainly focused on the strict observance of the norms, but rather towards letting our hearts be opened to welcome Him whose love and mercy for his people we all are called to preach.”

After the Mass, there was picture-taking, and the brothers who had just renewed their vows signed the corresponding testimonial letter of renewal in the presence of the Prior, the Master of Students (Fr. Javier Gonzalez) and his Assistant (Fr. Lawrence The Reh). Our sincere congratulations to them all.

Dominican Lay Fraternity “THE TORCH OF MACAU” Welcoming the New Members Making the First Promises.

Dominican Lay Fraternity “THE TORCH OF MACAU” Welcoming the New Members Making the First Promises.

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!

Bro. Andre Pereira

BLESSING OF SAINT JOSEPH UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS

BLESSING OF SAINT JOSEPH UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS

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

Lecture in Honor of Saint Thomas Aquinas (University of Saint Joseph, Macao, 21st February 2019)

Lecture in Honor of Saint Thomas Aquinas (University of Saint Joseph, Macao, 21st February 2019)

Every year around the feast day of St Thomas Aquinas, the Dominican friars in Macao organize a Lecture in honor of the Angelic Doctor. This academic activity is normally held at the Faculty of Religious Studies of the University of Saint Joseph, in Macau, and it is open to the public.

This year 2019, Prof. Stephen Morgan, the Dean of the Faculty, was invited to deliver the lecture. Because of the Lunar New Year break, the lecture was postponed until the 21st of February. It took place in the conference hall of St Joseph seminary campus. The participants were mainly the professors and students of the Faculty of Religious Studies. Some interested guests were also present.

The program began at 11 a.m., with the singing of “the Lord Prayer by the participants. Then Fr. Edmond Eh presented the program and introduced the speaker, an expert and a fond admirer of Blessed John Henry Newman. In his talk, Pro. Morgan tried to establish a connection between the thoughts of St Thomas Aquinas and Newman. In fact, the topic of the lecture was formulated in these terms, Was John Henry Newman a Thomist? Was St Thomas a Newmanian? The issues raised by the one-hour-long lecture continued being discussed during the open forum that followed.  The academic program came to an end with some words of appreciation towards the speaker and lunch served to all the participants.

This year commemoration was very meaningful, particularly for us Dominicans. It gave us also the opportunity to gather together and praise God who has made known to us His mercy and wisdom through the teachings of St Thomas Aquinas.

Bros. Agostinho Mendonca and Stephen Lej Kapaw

The Annual Christmas Gathering of Men Religious of Macau (December 2018)

The Annual Christmas Gathering of Men Religious of Macau (December 2018)

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 Regina”.

            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 Night”, 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.

            A Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

Andre Pereira and Stephen Lej Kapaw