Most Rev.
Marlo M. Peralta installs OAIG and SANGA Class
On November
14, 2011 (Monday) at 9:00 in the morning, the OAIG Class and the SANGA
Class were installed as Lectors and Acolytes respectively at the Immaculate
Conception School of Theology Chapel, with the theme: “Lead a life worthy
and pleasing to Him in every way” (Col. 1:10). The installing Prelate was
Most Rev. Marlo M. Peralta, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Alaminos, with
the seminary fathers as concelebrants.
Northern
Luzon Bishops come together for 2011 meeting
ICST recently
hosted the meeting of the Northern Luzon Bishops as it is held every year.
The bishops started to arrive in the afternoon of November 14, 2011. They
were welcomed warmly by the formators and seminarians. The meeting concluded
on the 15th of November.
In the evening
of the same day, they celebrated the Holy Mass in their respective regional
formation community where dinner was also served. Seminarians of their
regional formation communities entertained them with their songs and sharing.
The bishops too shared their life with the seminarians and everyone enjoyed
the night.
On the 15th
of November, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered and presided by
Archbishop Ernesto Salgado, D.D. Archbishop of Nueva Segovia, Ilocos Sur.
There were 12 attending bishops including college seminary formators. The
meeting started at 8:00 am and ended at 11:30 am. The meeting was all about
the seminary formation, most especially regarding the paradigm shift. Other
concerns were also tackled, such as the Saint Michael’s Building. It was
a successful and meaningful meeting as seen through the faces of the bishops.
A short party
was prepared as a thanksgiving for the bishops. Their coming meant a lot
to the formation team and also to the seminarians as they affirm their
full support to the vocation.
Archdiocese
of Nueva Segovia celebrates Christ the King
“Maymaysatayo
nga ili. Ibiag nanakem a pammati iti sidong ni Cristo nga Ari” was this
year’s Archdiocesan Christ the King Celebration at St. Dominic De Guzman
Parish, Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur. Almost 4000 people from all over the
Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia attended the celebration. The celebration,
dated Nov. 20, 2011, culminated by a concelebrated mass at 2:00 pm presided
over by His Excellence Most Reverend Most Reverend Ernesto A. Salgado,
D.D. the Archbishop of Nueva Segovia assisted by his auxiliary bishop,
Most Reverend David William Antonio, who was also the homilist for the
celebration. His homily focused on sensitivity towards our brothers
and sisters, especially to the underprivileged whom God identifies Himself
as one of them. The clergy also came to concelebrate with the event.
The Holy Mass
ended with a solemn procession of the Blessed Sacrament and benediction
afterwards. Fr. Lovell Soller, the parish priest of Sto. Domingo de Guzman
Parish gave his words of gratitude followed by the announcement of the
next host of the Christ the King Celebration: Tagudin, Ilocos Sur.
ICST seminarians
share Christmas spirit with inmates at I. Sur Provincial Jail
Last December
3, 2011, on the feast of St. Francis Xavier, the OAIG Class (freshmen)
of the Immaculate Conception School of Theology shared the spirit of Christmas
with the inmates of Ilocos Sur Provincial Jail, Vigan City.
The first part
of the Christmas program was a Bible Enthronement which was facilitated
by the class liturgists and sacristans. Parlor Games prepared by the class
sports beadle were met with great excitement, in which the inmates were
clustered according to their respective cells. After the activities, the
awarding of prizes and tokens were done which culminated with a sumptuous
merienda prepared by the seminarians for the inmates.
In this Christmas
season, the first year seminarians were able to shower their blessings
through gift-giving. Most of all, they were able to bring the message of
Christ to our brothers and sisters who were in the prison. There were about
137 prisoners who joined the Christmas party which began at 9:00 am and
ended at 11:30 am.
ICST celebrates
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and Benefactors' Night
The Solemnity
of the Immaculate Conception was a great day for the community of ICST.
In this celebration, we remembered Mary as one of the primary reasons why
we continue persevering in our vocation to the priesthood. She is also
the patroness of the seminary, which was named after her title, Immaculate
Conception. Indeed, Mary plays a very important role in the seminarians’
journey towards the vineyard of the Lord: be it done unto me according
to Your Word.
In the morning,
the ICST community had their “Walk for Mary” (Procession from the seminary
to the Church of Bantay where the Apo Caridad is). On the evening of the
same day, ICST celebrated Benefactors’ Night in which they too remembered
those people who willingly shared not only their time and resources, but
their very selves for the service of God and His Church through the seminarians.
Dr. Benito
Purugannan, one of the benefactors and guest speaker, stated that everybody
has a vocation, though in different forms, charisms and formation. He commented
that even the priesthood is meant only for those who are called for it.
However, there are matters that remain constant in varied manners of serving
other people – matters that we all share in common. Through the analogy
of the Christmas song ‘Little Drummer Boy’, Dr. Purugannan expressed that
the most important thing of all is offering oneself entirely for the Lord.
One does not need to be rich, influential, whatsoever. He needs primarily
to have the willingness to make himself personally available to others;
and it is through this that we account ourselves before Jesus Christ. With
the following stanzas, Dr. Purugannan concluded his inspiring message:
Baby Jesus
. . . I am a poor boy, too. . .
I have
no gifts to bring . . . that’s fit to give our King . . .
Shall I
play for You . . . on my drum?
Mary nodded
. . . the ox and lamb kept time. . .
I played
my drum for Him . . . I played my best for Him. . .
Then He
smiled at me . . . me and my drum.
Seminarians
compete in 2nd Semester Theolympics
Following
the important celebration of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception,
the ICST community held the Theolympics for the second semester with the
Theme: All out, One Heart. The Theolympics is a three-day sports event
in which the seminarians hone their talents and skills in sports as well
as build up their camaraderie with their fellow seminarians and priest-formators.
The event lasted from the 9th to the 11th of December.
The division
for the different teams was done according to year level. The UBBOG class
(SFYers) were distributed to different year levels and the formators joined
the senior class. Here are the names of the teams: OAIG class (Freshmen),
SANGA class (Sophomores), ASINILAW class (Juniors), and SIBOL class (Seniors
with the Formators).
The awarding
ceremony for the sports event was integrated in the Kapihan III program
that occurred in the evening of the 11th of December. The OAIG class was
the over-all champion while the SIBOL Class with the Formators bagged the
1st runner-up followed by the SANGA class, and ASINILAW class. Everyone
enjoyed the camaraderie, brotherhood, and friendship of one another through
sports. Indeed, all participants have given their “all out, one heart”
in every game they played.
Kapihan
goes 3D
For the first
time, KAPIHAN went 3D. The idea came from the third sponsoring community
of KAPIHAN, the Nuestra Señora de Caridad Formation Community. NSDCF
did not change the structure of the KAPIHAN but thought of another way
of presenting it and this was by way of 3D.
The program
included a welcome presentation for Fr. Ericson Josue who recently finished
his studies in Spain. With the spirit of Christmas, one of the programs
provided opportunities for the seminarians to give their gifts to others
and receive theirs as well. Notwithstanding, NSDCFC provided tokens for
everybody.
Part of the
program was the awarding of prizes to the different class teams for their
performance in the second semester’s Theolympics. The over-all champion
is the OAIG Class; the SIBOL Class and Formators placed 1st runner-up;
and the SANGA Class and ASINILAW Class ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively.
The third KAPIHAN’s
theme was SILNAG (light). It was explained by Sem. Marcelo Ballestra, who
stated that it is our time to give light just as Christ did more than two
thousand years ago on His incarnation. We are encouraged to become light
for others not only this Christmas, but the whole of our life. After
the beautiful and inspiring message of our Fr. Lain Mayo, the event drew
to a close with a Marian Hymn.
