austraLasia #2891 ADMA reforms in earnest in Japan
TOKYO: 18 July 2011 -- Sunday 17 July was an
especially fortuitous occasion in Salesian Japan. The first
17 members of ADMA (the Mary Help of Christians Association)
made their promise. The ceremony was simple but heartfelt,
and was held in the Provincial House chapel. Two aspirants
and the ecclesiastical assistants for ADMA were also
present.
Fr Mario Yamanouchi, Salesian Vice
Provincial, and Sr Teresina Matsumoto have accompanied and
guided the group zealously, through monthly well-prepared
and well-attended meetings.
The ceremony was presided over by the
Provincial, Fr Aldo Cipriani who, at the beginning of his
mandate in 2009, had asked and urged confreres to do their
best to form the ADMA group once again. 'Once again',
because at the beginning of the Japanese mission, in the
times of Mons. Cimatti, there were various ADMA groups.
Unfortunately the groups were abandoned during the heady
days and changes of the 1960s and 70s.
The Rector Major sent a message for
the occasion, recalling, amongst other things that this is
"and extraordinary event and concerns the entire ADMA
Association throughout the world". "It represents", he said,
"a great sign of hope, inasmuch as devotion to Mary Help of
Christians fostered by our Father and Founder Don Bosco, and
a vital element in in our charism, has taken one its most
significant forms in this Association".
Four of the new members, accompanied by
Fr Mario Yamanouchi, will take part in the 6th International
ADMA Congress to be held at Czestochowa later this year.
It is our fond hope that this will be the
first of many ADMA groups to emerge in the future, alongside
the various Salesian Family works in Japan. _________________ AustraLasia
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