5402(I)_Prayer-Promise of DB Past Pupils in 15 EAO languages
June 17, 2020
By Fr Jose Pastor Ramirez Fernandez, SDB
Former World Delegate for the DB Past Pupils
RMG, 17 June 2020 -- One of the fruits of the recent World Congress of the Past Pupils Don Bosco (October 2015) are the new Statutes of their World Confederation. And in the Statutes among others the new article 5: Commitment to the Sense of Belonging:
"From the moment a Past Pupil freely decides to commit himself in the Association, he confirms and upholds the Prayer-Promise of the Past Pupils (When Past Pupils of other denominations decide to adapt the Prayer-Promise for Past Pupils of other faiths, the Federations are to consult and seek approval from the World Delegate of Past Pupils). The significance and meaning of the Prayer-Promise of the Past Pupils of Don Bosco is to express one's desire to live, every day, in profoundness the role of the laity in society and in the Church, and conserve Don Bosco's charism wherever they are."
There are various motivations for this Prayer-Promise based on the living experience of the Past Pupils of Don Bosco:
# A prayer that was always experience nurtured by Don Bosco and by the World Confederation of DB Past Pupils (e.g. 1957 printed Alumni prayer book, 373 pages)
# A prayer that is the essential element of Don Bosco's preventive system of education and represents also a distinctive characteristic of the Past Pupils Association
# A that prayer creates and nurtures communion with God, communion among individuals and communion with institutions
# A Prayer-Promise that is a wonderful summary and synthesis of the Past Pupils of Don Bosco Association's Statutes
# A Prayer-Promise that is also a public declaration of the Past Pupils of Don Bosco's fidelity to God, to Don Bosco, to the Association and to the Salesian
The Prayer-Promise is composed of four parts:
Thanksgiving to God and to Don Bosco for the education received
Trustful request to live as upright citizens and good Christians
Promise of social, political and economic commitment in the world
Entrustment of each Past Pupil, of the Association and the whole Salesian Family."
With the translations of this Prayer-Promise available in 15 EAO languages our Past Pupils are ready to offer it on their 150th Birthday (June 24, 2020) in Burmese, Chinese, Filipino (Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilongo, Kapapangan), Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Khmer, Mongolian, Samoan, Tetum, Thai, Urdu and Vietnamese.
NB: This excerpt is from the 'World Confederation of Don Bosco Past Pupils - Formation itinerary 2009-2016 for the Delegates and DB Alumni' - Facilitator Fr. Jose Pastor Ramirez Fernandez - Una Preghiera-Promessa per consolidare l'identita', la missione e la comunione (p. 159-172)
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