austraLasia #3381
A
day for China
ROME: 26 February 2014 -- Other than the serious matter of listening to
and digesting reports from sectors and regions, other aspects
of a General Chapter include important liturgical
celebrations, some of which touch directly on particular
provinces. Such as the case yesterday for a day that
would have to be called 'China Day', though it can also be
considered important for ITM since Callistus Caravario, one of
the Saints being celebrated, lived and worked in Timor as
well.
But the day was marked by liturgical celebration that
highlighted the two Salesian protomartyrs in China) and his new council. Exciting days. One
can expect the tempo to match the excitement.
Morning prayer in the
Auditorium was the morning prayer for the Feast of Sts
Callistus Caravario and Louis Versiglia.
Given that Mass was being celebrated in language groups, the
English language Mass was celebrated in the lower church
(there are two major churches which can hold the Chapter
members - at a pinch - the lower church being the
smaller of the two). The main celebrant was Fr Lanfranco
Fedrigotti, Provinical CIN and an 'adopted' Chinese (goes
under the Chinese name of Fr Fei) flanked by Fr Fung, a native
Chinese, and Fr Wong, Filipino but with Chinese ancestry. His
homily, understandably, was on the two Salesian martyrs,
drawing in particular from the Letter
written by the then Rector Major, Fr Egidio Viganò
at the time of their Beatification.
Later in the day, at Evening Prayer time, Fr Fedrigotti gave
the Goodnight and distributed holy pictures of Our Lady of
China with a prayer printed on the reverse side.
----------------
There are other events too, at a General Chapter. A
feature of at least two Chapters now has been a man who goes
under the pseudonym of Papi (his 'clown' name, since that has
long been one of his ways of evangelising - or just livening
up the party!). We are speaking of a man who first attended
the 26th General Chapter as a delegate and is now attending as
the Provincial of FRB (France-Belgium South). Fr Daniel
Federspiel. He is one of those listed to provide a Goodnight
during the Chapter, so we may be able to offer a brief summary
of the contents of that commentary on FRB in due course, but
in the meantime he has another way of peppering events with an
acute sense of humour and perspicacity - cartoons.
And you? Where
do you come
from?
As a Salesian I was born in the
Becchi
I've
already work out that at GC27 you queue up
for everything!
We communicate
with internet, SMS...
And we do it
contagiously!!
Reminder of timetable for 26th February
Thursday 26 February
06.30 Prayer in language groups
Meditation
Mass and morning prayer together
09.00 - 10.30 Aula magna
Economy
10.30 - 11.00 Break
11.00 - 12.30 Aula magna
Interamerica - Italy-Middle East - Religious Discipline
13.00
Lunch
Later in
the day (4.00 p,m, people gather for some time in reflection,
adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. The retreat
begins tomorrow.)
PS: The North American
Provinces are
running a Facebook page which will also help with
information and background.
Terminology
If there is any terminology used that you are unsure of, and
you don't have the app, look it up in the Salesians
A-Z
web page.
-------------
There is another event going on in Rome
at the moment and it too has good Salesian representation. The
SIGNIS World Congress began on 25th February and will continue
until 1 March. It has a theme which is very much in tune with
Salesian youth ministry in a contemporary world: “Media for a
Culture of Peace: Creating Images with the New Generation”. Over
300 delegates are attending from more than 100 nations. Two
Salesian delegates immediately come to mind - Fr Sebastian
Kolyadil from AFE and Fr Joaquim Fernandes from INB. Interesting
to note, too, that one of the films being projected for the event
is by ADB (Audio visuales Don Bosco), Ecuador. "Hombre de
Dios, Apóstol de los pobres" relating the life and images
of Salesian missionary Fr Carlos Crespi, pioneer of the use of
film for education and evangelization in the city of Cuenca,
Ecuador.
