Starting January 5, two Colombians, two Peruvians and three Brazilians devoted themselves in an intense moment of prayer, common life and meditation in order to reaffirm and confirm their vocation to the religious life and consequently make their solemn profession. Such serious preparation lasted for four weeks.
Responsible Team
The realization of the course of preparation for solemn preparation is entrusted to a team which works along the ideal of St. Augustine ’s “one heart and one soul intent upon God”. Fr. Bernardo Cerda, the director of the course defines it as a “time for the candidate to be totally aware of the importance and significance of solemn profession”. The main responsibilility was assigned to Bernardo Cerda from the General Curia and Sergio Bonadiman of the Province of St. Rita . Collaborating with them are Antonio Jacintho Gomes Junqueira and Jose Alexandre de Matos from the same Province of St. Rita .
Program of the Month of Preparation
The first week dealt more on the History and Spirituality of the Order of Augustinian Recollects. The speaker was Sergio Peres de Paula. During the second week, Richard Ernest Castro shared the Anthropology of Religious Life. On its third week, the Ministerial Apostolate and Charism was expounded by Mario Aparecido. In its final week from January 26-31, Fr. Bernardo Cerda guided the participants on “Lectio Divina” and God’s Word in St. Augustine .
To help the participants attain the goal of the course of preparation and to have a fruitful and profound experience in helping them in the discernment process, ample time was given to personal and common prayer, fraternal togetherness, reflective meditation, spiritual reading, lectio divina, silence and recollection, the experience of one’s calling and communitarian discernment…
Participants
From the Province of Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria: Aleycer Vivas and Dario Vanegas.
From St. Joseph Province : Jose Norberto Tarrillo and Mario Fernando Mestanza.
From St. Rita Province : Jose Roberto Mason, Josimar Nunes Da Silva and Wesley Silva Rosa.