“It is the nature of love to lower oneself.”
Great celebrations took place for the diaconal and priestly ordination of five of our young Brothers in Vohemar in the north of Madagascar from 6 to 8 of September. The three days were filled with prayers, thanksgiving and fellowship among confreres and the faithful. It is not easy to briefly describe the feelings aroused by so much grace in these days.
Admiring these five young people and asking why they decided to answer yes with their lives to the call has no exhaustive answer capable of solving the “why” our Lord calls some and not others to follow him. Saint Augustine would say that Jesus does not call the best, the most talented and the most holy, but so that those who are called become so. Saint Teresa of Avila, for her part, said that “every choice corresponds to a renunciation” and she continued: “The more a choice costs, the more it is worth”! I am certain that these young people have chosen the best part, which will never be taken away from them.
Now, talking about these days, I was saying, is quite an undertaking. So, I will move in chronological order, since everything began with the day dedicated to the blessing of the tomb in Vohèmar, in the presence of a large number of confreres (over 30) who work in the 8 communities existing in Madagascar.
This first celebratory moment (September 6th) saw the blessing of the first tomb of the Vice-Provincial superior of Madagascar.
The solemn rite took place in the presence of the Archbishop of Antsiranana, Benjamin Marc Ramaroson, dozens of Brothers and hundreds of faithful. The mortal remains of the first Malagasy Brother, Father Pascale, were placed in the new tomb, after the famadihana (“exhumation”) was celebrated in Andempona in Tananarivo with a great celebration for the community (music, food…).
The second celebratory moment (September 7), the following day, was marked by the religious profession with perpetual vows of three young students RAKOTOMENA Tokimalala Franco, SAIDY Fernando Lucas and RAVALOSON Sitrakiniaina Jean Landry, in the hands of Vice-Provincial Fr. Theophile Bary.
The third moment, the great celebration of Ordination on Sunday 8 September, was the culmination of these three days.
The Eucharist presided over by the Archbishop of Antsiranana Benjamin Marc Ramaroson and concelebrated by the Provincial of Europe South, Fr. Gennaro Sorrentino, and by the Vice-Provincial of Madagascar, Fr. Theophile Bary, saw the participation of thousands of faithful who, having come from near and far, attended the mass under alternating sun and rain, mixed with strong winds, at the end of which the Church and the Congregation were able to give thanks for the three new deacons (the three newly professed Tokimalala Franco, Fernando Lucas, Jean Landry) and two new priests, the deacons BEMIHAJA Jean Roméo and RAMAROLAHY Andriamirimisedra Toussaint.
To these five young Brothers, we can only wish much faith, in the spirit of our Founder, and to never be nostalgic for the past!
We wish them not to be seduced by what they have left behind, knowing how to rejoice for what the Lord gives, following the example of Mary, mother of Jesus!
May they be for everyone and everywhere, like the city on the hill and the torch lit on the candelabrum (Mt. 5. 13ff.)
Fr. Gennaro Sorrentino. CSsR.
