PASAY CITY – The Daughters of St Paul celebrated 75 years of existence in the Philippines on October 13 at 2650 FB Harrison St Pasay City.
Most Rev Jose S Palma of Cebu presided at the 9 am thanksgiving Mass at the Queen of Apostles Sanctuary. The concelebrants included Society of St Paul Provincial Superior Fr Jose Aripio and several Pauline Fathers, Episcopal Vicar for Religious Fr James Ferry, Redemptorist Fr James Keenan and Maryknoll Fr James Kroeger.
The sanctuary was packed with other representatives of the Pauline Family, benefactors, friends and other invited guests, including Mayor Calixto of Pasay City.
The solemn entrance procession was preceded by three incense bearers in native (Ifugao) attire, flag carriers of six nations (Vatican, Italy, Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Thailand), 14 representatives bearing the native products of the communities present in the country and some of the elderly Sisters accompanied by the prepostulants and postulants.
The communities represented were Tuguegarao, Baguio, Lipa, Pasay, Legaspi, Marikina and Naga in Luzon; Bacolod, Iloilo, Tacloban and Cebu in the Visayas; Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Zamboanga in Mindanao.
In his homily, Archbishop Palma stressed on the theme of gratitude and related it to the occasion. The Prayer of the Faithful was done in various languages, emphasizing the unity in diversity of the congregation.
After the Communion Prayer, the message from the FSP Superior General Sr Anna Parenzan was read out by newly-elected General Councillor Sr Shalimar Rubia, followed by a word of thanks and acknowledgement by Provincial Superior Sr Noemi Vinoya. Sr Noemi then called on all the Daughters of St Paul present to render their thanksgiving hymn. Many of the people present were moved by the hymn and broke into spontaneous applause when the song ended.
The mass was aired live over Radyo Veritas 846 and live video streaming was broadcast at veritas846.ph.
A reception followed after the Mass at the Alberione Home Auditorium where the guests were entertained by some musical presentations as well as a video of the congregation’s history.
This celebration was the culmination of a three-year preparation for the diamond jubilee celebration themed Celebrating Fidelity, Counting Blessings, Reinvigorating Service. Among the commerorative activites carried out is the ongoing diffusion of 75,000 Bibles to the faithful living in the poorer areas of both urban and rural towns.
The Daughters of St Paul, founded by Blessed James Alberione in Italy in 1915, came to the Philippines on 13 Oct 1938 after China and India closed their doors to it. It took root in Lipa and soon spread to other parts of the Philippines as well as to other Asian countries after the Second World War. It uses the communications media to evangelize, has a flourishing publishing apostolate and operates a chain of media centers across the country.
