Posts
Today, the feast of the Queenship of Mary and the 11th anniversary of our purchasing the island of Papa Stronsay, a new novice was received into our community.
Giovanni Escamilla kneels before the altar, preparing to cast off the old man and put on the new.
Receiving the Holy Habit. Brother is our first vocation from the Philippines.
Brother receives his crucifix. He comes from the Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa. With almost 400, 000 Catholics, there are around 8000 baptisms a year!
Brother takes his rosary in his hands.
His skull cap is placed on his head and he receives his religious name: Br. Alfonso.
Br. Alfonso with the community after his clothing.
We all wish him many blessings and especially the great grace of perseverance.
Our Mother of Perpetual Succour - Pray for him!
34 comments:
God bless Brother Alfonso!
Deo gratias! Wonderful news indeed!
Congratulations to Brother Alfonso and the assurance of my prayers.
I thank you for kindly including me on your list of those who received this wonderful news, from various places around our world.
To Brother Alfonso, I am blessed and very grateful to be given the opportunity to say to you, that I believe you have found your way from afar, to a very hallowed and blessed place.
I am a Canadian widower, who "arrived" unexpectedly at Papa Stronsay a few years ago, and FR. Mary was so gracious in helping me re-establish my failing faith, and in helping me resolve a concern surrounding the death of my dear wife, and too for acknowledging and understanding my somewhat unusual deep historic ties to Papa Stronsay and the old Cathedral in Kirkwall, and the old Holy Catholic Church there to which my ancient family were so devoted. Indeed, the point of all this, is simply to say that in my brief stay there, I encountered a deep and profound personal experience which will be with me for all of my life. I felt very comforted by the power of God's mighty and comforting presence in those clean super natural environs and amidst the solemnity of the powerful prayers of all the Brothers, and Fr. Mary.
I believe that your arrival as now a clothed new Brother, and being from your incredible homeland, you will make the depth and breadth of cultural representation on Papa Stronsay, that much richer. From that tiny island in the North Sea, your prayers will ascend to benefit those for whom you pray, all the way back to the Philippines. I believe that God ultimately rewards those who serve Him, and I celebrate both your achievement and dedication of your life to His service, in the amazingly rich spiritual atmosphere of Papa Stronsay, amidst the fellowship of the Transalpine Redemptorists. That God may continue to bless your life and growing deep faith, is my simple wish from this humbled Canadian .
I look forward to meeting you one day, when I shall soon return to Papa Stronsay.
Sincerely Yours:
Stephen C.G. Davie
Canada
P.S. On a much lighter note, perhaps you bring with you, some culinary skills from your homeland, which I am sure, would be gratefully received by all the good Brothers! With a little work, the menu choices could be as rich and rewarding as the cultural diversity among the Brothers. New Zealand, Africa, France, Germany, Philippines, Eastern Europe...lots of possibilities!
Dear Brother Alfonso
After just finishing reading about the life and trials of Blessed Marcel Van I have come to realise what a privilage and honour it is to be called to be a Brother with The Sons of the Holy Redeemer. It was Our Blessed Mother who personally led him there. She watched over her sons then and I am sure still does. God Bless you on this wonderful journey. Please keep all of us in New Zealand in your prayers.
God Bless you and the whole Community
Lenore
Thanks Be to GOD... God be with you Dear Brother Alfonso..
God bless you all
Gladson
Dear Brother Alfonso,
Deo gratias et Mariæ! I pray that our Mother of Perpetual Succour will obtain for you all of the graces necessary for your state of life, especially that of perseverance.
God bless,
David <><
How wonderful!
I will take Brother Alfonso as my very own monk and I will pray for him every day!
What a glorious day! May Our Lady be ever at your side, that you remain faithful to God and grow in virtue. Our Lady of Prompt Succour and Perpetual Help, pray for him and all of us!
Congratulations and God bless you, Br. Alfonso. Your religious name has, of course, great significance in the Redemptorist family. May it be a source of grace to you.
St. Alphonsus, pray for Br. Alfonso, and for all of us!
In the hearts of Jesus and Mary,
David
God bless you! Brother Alfonso!
May God grant you all the graces you need for perseverance in your holy vocation.
You are in my prayers.
Avila303
Dear Br.Alfonso,
God bless you greatly on this occasion of your clothing,and may Our Lady Of Perpetual Succour obtain for you perseverance in our congregation until death. Please pray for our apostolate here in New Zealand.
Yours in Jesus and Mary.
Br.Paul Mary,F.SS.R.
my heart jumped with joy upon knowing that a fellow Filipino was received in your holy congregation. May you receive more vocations from the Philippines.If possible, bring your congregation here and start a new mission.
I am praying for the whole community, especially Brother Alfonso. God is blessing you abundantly.
Mabuhay!
May God be praise!
Congrats bro. At last your long dream has become finally successful! Brother Alfonso, on behalf of your friends and former fellow altar servers in St. Jerome Emiliani parish, here in Alabang Philippines - of the Diocese of Parañaque, I would like to convey our gratitude and sincere thanks to you, and your untiring devotion in helping us train our priests and us servers in serving in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Tridentine form. Tito George, tita Marilou, Orly, Glenn, Enzo, Jonathan and me are very proud of you. You indeed served as an inspiration for us all here. I can even remembe we were all squeezed in my car racing to catch our second Sunday Mass to the SSPX Chapel, in Our Lady of Victories, New Manila. Those were the days. Anyway bro thank you again and may St. Alphonsus Ligouri bless you.
Nawa'y pagpalaain ka nang Ating Poong Maykapal, kaisa nang ating Panginoong Hesu-Kristo at ng Knayang Inang si Maria. Maraming salamat muli sayo kapatid na Giovanni. Umasa ka kasama ka sa aming mga panalangin. Ipanalangin mo rin ang paglaganap nang Santa Misa dito sa ating mahal na bansang Pilipinas.
Lubos na sumasaiyo,
Kyle
Deo gratias et Mariae!God bless you Br.Alfonso.Vivat in aeternam!May Jesus,Mary and Joseph protect and guide you always.Please pray for us here in New Zealand.Onwards from Pole to Pole!Br.Xavier Maria,F.SS.R
God bless Br.Alfonso!
June 1, 2010
Dear Bro. Alfonso,
God indeed moves in many mysterious ways.
The one year you spent back home waiting for your proper visa to enable you to return to Papa Stronsay was worth everything that transpired during that period – as it was well spent in His service while benefiting our fledgling apostolate in the celebration, propagation and promotion of the Traditional Latin Mass.
You filled in the role of Master of Ceremonies and trainor of our altar servers as well as ably assisted in the training of our priest celebrants. Your determination in getting everyone trained to assume their roles and do it well was inspiring to both the altar servers and the priests.
Of course, as the waiting for your visa dragged on, we were all anxious and worried how you would persevere in your determination to answer His call. He must want you much to serve Him and he gave you the strength and the Faith.
From the time you left for Papa Stronsay (in short notice), we were anxious for developments. We all shared viewing the Transalpine Redemptorist blog for any pictures of you and we were granted our wish when we saw you as a participant at the Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Sunday morning ceremonies.
This news of your “Clothing” is a very welcome and comforting news – that you are finally a novice and on your way to fulfilling the call of the Father in your heart.
How blessed are your parents and family. How blessed are we at Societas Liturgiæ Sacræ Sancti Gregorii to have had you with us as a Master of Ceremonies and for your generous training of our altar servers and assistance to our priest celebrants.
You were an inspiration to all – one altar server has followed your example and has entered the seminary and I’m sure there are others who will answer His call as you did. Your encouragement and having planted seeds of self-confidence in them have borne fruits as we now have 2 Masters of Ceremonies and 2 others in-training. We are currently recruiting as we celebrate at 2 venues – Christ the King Parish in Green meadows on Saturdays, and at our current home base at the National Shrine of St. Therese where we celebrate at the main altar on Sundays. I know you'll be happy to know that we are currently getting requests for training of priests and altar servers.
I will share this news and post to everyone at SocietasLSSG, our congregation and with our priests and nuns in our email network. We are truly proud of you. We hope and pray that you will not be the first and only Filipino who will answer His call through FSSR.
Ad Jesum per Mariam,
Marilou Cortes
Dear Br. Alfonso
May God bless you and may Our Lady of Perpetual Succour watch over you always. Please pray for us here in New Zealand as we will pray for you.
Valerie
Qui audit me, non confundetur, et qui operantur in me, non peccabunt; qui elucidant me, vitam aeternam habebunt.
May our Good God bless you and keep you, Brother Alfonso. We are so very grateful that you have heeded the call and entered the holy vineyard. Deo Gratias!
BRAVO! FELICITACIONES! DIOS LOS BENDIGA. SURSUM CORDA!
Dear Brother Alfonso,
Truly I rejoice with you and for you as you are clothed as a Son of the Most Holy Redeemer. I woke up thinking of you yesterday, the feast of our Lady's Queenship, and prayed for you through the day. Thank you for your prayers and kindness likewise. How happy I am for you, and all the monks!
"Let not mercy and truth leave thee, put them about thy neck, and write them in the tables of thy heart: And thou shalt find grace and good understanding before God and men.
Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not upon thy own prudence.
In all thy ways think on him, and he will direct thy steps."
Your servant in Christ,
Arden
P.S. Will you please pass on this second Scripture passage to Ashley, and give him my warm greetings? I hope he is abiding in peace and recollection.
"Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded: because God hath tried them, and found them worthy of himself." (Wisdom 3:5)
Congradulations Br. Alfonso. May your clothing be a first step of many to our Heavenly home.
My prayers are with you and the rest of the FSSR at Papa Stronsay.
Yours in Christ,
John S.
Greetings and Blessings from Central Oregon, USA. I am so pleased to see another Brother of St. Alphonsus take the Habit of the Redemptorists! It has been some 45 years since I had taken the Redemptorist Habit...and I still wear it in my Heart as I shall always! God Bless you Brother Alfonso as you follow the Master, St. Alphonsus!
Brother Alfonso,
I know that you have waited a long time for this day, and God has finally granted it to you!
May Our Mother of Perpetual Succor be your joy and strength!
Wahoo!! Another Brother, you are in good hands. Please pray for us far away who live in such secular difficult places. May the Mother of Our Lady St Anne watch over you as well and be your grandmama!!
Love from Christchurch New Zealand
Truly wonderful news to hear of your reception as a novice. Be assured of my prayers.
With best wishes
Kate G. ChCh
Any new Vocation, in the dramatic context of the Contemporary Church, has additional significance.
In the time of iniquity,
the transcendent nature of a religious Vocation is exalted.
God bless Br. Alfonso
Yours Ever
A.B.
Congratulations Brother. My prayers are with you and the whole community.
God bless you abundantly, Brother Alfonso. May Our Lady of Perpetual Succour and Our Lady of Combermere obtain for you the graces of Joy, Peace, Perseverance.
What God has begun in you, may He bring to full fruition. I include you in my prayers, especially tomorrow on the Feast of the Ugandan Martyrs.
Sincerely, Diane Lefebvre
Dear Brother Alfonso,
May God bless you abundantly. May He enable you to follow Jesus with the Poverty of St Francis of Assisi, the Chastity of St Thomas Aquinas the Angelic Doctor, the Obedience of St Gerard Majella, and the Perseverance of Our Blessed Lady Herself, who stood at the Foot of the Cross. May she be your perpetual succour.
Study hard and live simply. Do not listen to alien voices. May you have a beautiful life even amid the thorns and then enjoy an Eternity of Blessedness in which you "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth" (The Apocalypse 14:4).
Giovanni now BR. AlFONSO
May the Holy Infant Jesus and Our Mother of Perpetual Succour ever assist you in everything you do for God and for His Holy Church.
I am so much delighted to have known this news and I hope to get some news from you soon.
Words cannot express such happiness that comes from my heart. All I can do is pray, pray and pray!
May God grant you perseverance and show you His mercy and may the FSSR community ever flourish in this time we are needing more holy priests and brothers.
Adding my thanks to the whole community, to Fr Michael Mary and Fr Anthony Mary, to the Desert Will Flower Press, for I have received my copy of CATHOLIC as well as real good Catholic books made from your press.
Rest assured of my prayers to the whole community.
God bless you all and to you Br. Alfonso!
Reinier de Guzman
Dear Fr.Michael Mary/Fr.Anthony Mary in JMJ,
Praised Be The Holy Names of Our Divine Lord and Our Holy Queen.
We, a little fock of Traditional Holy Mass Centre, Trichy, India wish to congratulate you Fathers for your great Apostolate work, which you began after the inspiration you had when you undertook a pilgimage to Fatima approx. 2 decades ago, under the Protection of Our Holy Mother of Perpetual Succour. Kindly Pry for us all so that we have numerous vocations to your great Religious order in the near future from India as well.
With Prayerful wishes,
Yours in JMJ
S.Vincent (Bro.Louis Mary T.O.P)
Dear Bro.Alfonso in JMJ,
Our Hearty Congratulations to you, for choosing this sublime path of life on this earth, under the guidelines of St.Alphosus, the great Doctor of the Church. It is the Religious Order where you can always get spiritual / temporal nourishment directly from Our Holy Mother of Perpetual Succour.
With Prayerful Wishes and Regards
Yours in JMJ
S.Vincent (Bro.Louis Mary T.O.P)
you can t
Deo Gratias! Bro. Alfonso, may God through Our Lady bless you. I shall write to you very, very soon.
God Bless!
Congratulations and God bless kababayan. I hope the Transalpine Redemptorists could come over here to the Philippines and establish a mission!
Thank you so much!
Post a Comment