BAGUIO CITY – The Province of St. Ezekiel Moreno of the Order of the Augustinian Recollects received twenty one postulants last October 12, 2020, at Casiciaco Recoletos Seminary.
On the same day, the seminary celebrated the feast of Nuestra Señora del Pilar, its Patroness.
“Man is Homo Simbolorum (Man of Signs) and the habit is the external sign of your consecration to God,” said Rev. Fr. Dionisio Q. Selma, OAR borrowing the words of St. John Paul II in his homily.
Fr. Selma, the Prior Provincial of the Province of St. Ezekiel Moreno, was the main celebrant of the mass.
The wearer of the habit must be constantly conscious of who he is since the people are reminded of Jesus Christ through the habit.
“Am I staining the habit? How am I behaving when wearing the habit?” These are the questions Fr. Selma prompted the investees to constantly ask themselves.
Fr. Provincial also admonished the postulants of the danger of wearing the habit for the cause of extravagance.
“One of the immature motives of wearing the habit is to boost one’s self confidence due to lack of attention,” he said.
At the end of his sermon, Fr. Selma invited the seminarians to ask God the grace to be grateful to Him.
The 21 investees belong to batch Altruists and Seraphs; Third Year and Second Year College seminarians, respectively. Five of them comes from the Altruists while the other sixteen comes from the Seraphs.
Grateful to God
After the liturgical celebration, a program was held in the refectory exclusive to the members of the community due to health protocol restrictions.
Unlike the past years, the seminary decided not to receive visitors from the family and friends of the seminarians to safeguard the health of everyone in the community.
“Despite the seeming handicap we are still celebrating with a blast. For a long time, it was just until now that the seminary has again invested 21 candidates for the Toma de Habito,” said Rev. Fr. Bernard Amparado, OAR.
Fr. Amparado, Seminary Rector, expressed his hope that may this celebration inspire the postulants to persevere in their vocation “We pray that this memory inspire you all the more to continue on the road to vocation. May you never stop hoping that someday, the white habit will be donned with a chasuble and a stole. Congratulations! Tuloy lang ang laban.”
