Brazil: Religious profession of ten young novices

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On Sunday 5, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer celebrated the religious profession of ten young novices. For the first time, they professed the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in the Congregation founded by St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori. The theme chosen for the profession was: ‘Persevere in prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus’ (Acts 1:14) (Const. 26).

For the Province of Our Lady of Aparecida, the following novices made their vows: Marco Aurélio da Silva, Jorge Américo de Oliveira Júnior and Hítalo Henrique de Jesus Moreira. During the same celebration, novices from other Redemptorist Units were professed: Francisco Daniel Souza Lopes and Neilson Silva dos Santos (Province of Brasilia); Thiago de Souza Baía (Province of Curitiba); Alex Yovanny Durán Rangel, Jorge Luis Quispe Cañaveral and Mario Alberto Bustamente Garcia (Andean-Caribbean Province); and Nahuel Jonathan Lezcano (Province of Pedro Donders).

The Mass was presided over by Fr. Marlos Aurélio da Silva, C.Ss.R., Provincial Superior of the Province of Our Lady of Aparecida, concelebrated by Novice Master Fr. José Martín Medina, C.Ss.R., and by the Master of Novices Fr. Pedro Paulo Dal Bó, C.Ss.R. The celebration was attended by Mgr. Darci José Nicioli, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Diamantina (MG), and men and women religious of different orders and congregations.

The vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience express a way of giving oneself radically to God. From then on, one’s whole life is fully available to follow Christ.

Father Marlos Aurélio emphasised the formation phase of the Novitiate in the Congregation:
‘The Novitiate is an intense and fruitful time. A time of contemplation. There is no other concern than this, to understand better what it means to be consecrated and reserved for God. If you have decided to follow this path, it is because something has touched your heart. So do not let this identification, this joy that you have experienced, be taken away from you or stolen by secondary things’.

In his reflection, the Provincial Superior of the Province of Our Lady of Aparecida emphasised the Jubilee Year of Hope and the commitment of Redemptorists as ‘Missionaries of Hope’:

‘What makes us hopeful? The certainty of the Redeemer in our midst. We want to continue to follow the Redeemer; he is our hope. As Pope Francis teaches us: hope is bold, it knows how to look beyond personal comforts, small securities and compensations that narrow the horizon, to open up to the great ideals that make life more beautiful and dignified. For this reason, a Redemptorist without hope is already a dead Redemptorist. Young people, above all, must have hope and ideals in their hearts. Our Redemptorist hope is that you are passionate missionaries, close to the Redeemer and the people and willing to offer your energies and your lives for the redemption of the abandoned’.

On the same day, but in Bella Vista, Argentina, and in Piedecuesta, Colombia, the novices of the Province of Our Lady of Aparecida made their first vows: Cauã Anderson Aparecido Pereira Santos (Colombia) and Rafael Júnior de Lima (Argentina).

Blessed be God who calls, and happy be those who respond generously to the service of the Kingdom!

Mário Pereira, a12.com