The month of preparation for Perpetual Vows for our clerical and brother confreres took place in the Major Seminary in Tuchów, Poland.
It began on July 14 and ended on August 5, 2015. The students were from five Units: The Province of Warsaw (5), The Province of Lviv (4), The Province of Madrid (1), The Viceprovince of Bratislava (1) and The Region of Zimbabwe (2).
Also other confreres who are in the Transition to Ministry programme or who are ten years professed or ordained, joined this course for two weeks: eleven from the Province of Warsaw, one from Saint Gerard Region and one from the Province of Lviv and the Major superior of the Vice Province of Michalovce.
The programme included lectures and discussions about pastoral issues, Redemptorist spirituality, and other issues relating to the human dimension of religious and priestly formation.
The month of renewal was possible thanks to the participation of many confreres from different Units, who are sharing in their experiences and knowledge. Fr. Michal Zamkovsky CSsR (Viceprovince of Michalovce) spoke about missions and collaboration with the laity; Fr. Paweł Drobot CSsR (Province of Warsaw) about new evangelization; Fr. Witold Baran (Province of Warsaw) about youth and vocation ministry; Fr. Jacek Zdrzałek CSsR (Coordinator of the CRE) about challenges in today’s religious life and about the situation of our Congregation in Europe, Fr. Mariusz Chyrowski CSsR (Province of Warsaw) about CSsR Constitutions, Fr. Alfonso Amarante (Alphonsianum – Rome) about our spirituality and the moral theology of St. Alphonsus; Fr. Adam Kośla CSsR (Province of Warsaw) and Fr. Ruslan Pikh CSsR (Province of Lviv) about the mission “ad gentes” and the work with immigrants. A lay psychologist presented topics connected to affectivity and human maturity in religious and priestly life.
Community prayer is an essential element of the month of renewal. Each day started with common prayer, centred on the Eucharist and ended with a period of Eucharistic adoration.
The month of renewal was also an opportunity to learn more about the different contexts of Redemptorist life in various parts of the world. Every participant prepared a presentation about his Unit and the specific challenges in religious life in that context.
The participants also had the opportunity to learn about the various important religious, historical and cultural places in Poland, such as Krakow with its monuments and shrines, Wadowice – the hometown of St. John Paul II, Auschwitz – the concentration camp, as well as other local sites.
Fr. Witold Hetnar CSsR, Tuchów (Poland)
