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El PuebloAmante                                                                                                                                                                        Vicente




                                                                               de

                                                                       María                                                 Viva                                                                BY:  SEM.  KEMPEE LLORICO





             BY:  SEM.  KEMPEE LLORICO

                                                                                   care each and everyone’s wishes
             The whole seminary was covered                                      and desires.                                        It was a fine and warm day at St.
          with dread and horror during the last                                                                                   Vincent Seminary last September
          few  days  of  September,  after  some                                   As a Marian devotee, I have                    27, 2018. It was a very fitting way
          brothers reported unexplainable                                        always owed a huge part of my                    before dawn to celebrate the great
          supernatural apparitions. Prayers                                      vocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary,             feast of our founder, St. Vincent de   filling  the  chapel  and  full  of  the
          then poured out for our brothers      This led us then to propose the   whom I believe as the one who first             Paul!                              spirit of Vincent. It was indeed
          who have experienced the said       reviving of the community praying   instilled in me the fruit and gift of                                              a moving and inspiring Mass to
          disturbing and fearful appearances,   of the Holy Rosary in the seminary,   this calling. Until now, the grace of          The day started with a solemn   be so close with the people whom   at least for a day, a part of their
          the formation directors encouraged   for it was seen to be the best and   my faithfulness to this gift I would          prayer of the Lauds with the                                          hunger has been satisfied. Some of
          everyone to go to confession as     most helpful way of coping with    always attribute to our Lady, as I               Fathers and Brothers followed by   we  really  committed  to  serve   them took a break from the hard
          much as possible and to double      stress caused by the said incident.  tirelessly pray to her to continue to          a silent meditation. Meanwhile,    and  love.  Unmindful  of  their   work of selling sampaguita at the
          more of our prayers.                  It was providential that during   sustain  me,  and  as  I  courageously          our masters, the people whom       untidy appearance, caring less     dangerous streets and that day they
                                                                                                                                                                     about  their  odd  smell,  heedless
                                              the culmination of the celebration,   answer the call everyday, for on my           Vincent loved so much, the poor,                                      remembered to laugh and enjoy life
             It was just so timely that,                                         own, my strength is never enough.                were on their way to the seminary.   of their misbehavior, and not    once more. Leaving the burdens of
          October is a Marian month in        the Dominican brothers, who        It has always been her intercession              They were the ‘’Tulay Families’’,   paying attention to their overly   life under the bridge that, this has
          which everyone was encouraged to    are the prime propagators of the   that fueled me to stay faithfully                located under the Munoz bridge,    demanding pride, just purely seeing   challenged them for quite some
          pray more the Holy Rosary. This is   Holy Rosary, made a special offer   in this religious life, despite of the         who were a part of our weekly      them, seeing the good Lord in their
          in response to St. Pope John Paul II’s   of a visit of Our Lady of the Most   many difficulties in this journey. She    Sunday apostolate. As part of our   very raw and uncensored being.    time now.
          strong encouragement in promoting   Holy Rosary, La Naval de Manila.   is my Mother here in the seminary,               Vincentian tradition, we gathered   God is in the poor. God is in them.   I was challenged even more on
          the devotion but much more of       Our seminary would serve for a     who nurtured and cared for me, and               and invited them to celebrate the   The poor have so much of the rich   how I can be ‘’ Vincent’’ or even be
          honoring the Blessed Virgin  Mary   while as her home for some time.   just like any mother, she has been               Mass and meal with us.             stories and life lessons to tell. So   a ‘’ Man’’ of my own time, trailing
          for the many great blessings that her   The  community  grabbed  the   very loving and patient despite her                                                 much inspiration to ponder on and   my own path inspired by Him,
          devotees have received through our   opportunity and we prepared for   wayward son’s giving her pain and                   This is what we call here, the   so much challenge of how we can be   confronted with the situation that
          Lady’s intercession. The intimate   Our Lady’s visit.                  rebelling against her. In the same               “Day with the Poor’’ held every    one with them. We consider them    our masters are suffering into, and
          and personal encounters of the        Carried by a special mobile      way, this might the same love her Son            Feast  Day  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,   our prime formators who can form   ready to ‘’dirty my hands’’ for them.
          faithful through her mediation were   crafted and designed most especially   Jesus received while rearing Him,          Patron of all Charitable Causes.   the very heart and charism of our   Through this small, persistent and
          expressed through their tear-moving   for her, the Blessed Virgin appeared,   through life and that same love from      This was one of the highlights of   congregation.                     consistent efforts, to achieve justice
          testimonials of healing and even awe   so beautiful and laced with her   her mother Mary, inspired Him, to              the many activities we had during                                     and equality, they  will all be freed
          -inspiring miracles.                intricately  designed  golden  regalia   offer His life for our salvation.          the celebration, when we come         I was so affected by the presence   from the ever-dominating poverty.
                                              and glistening diamonds in her                                                      and gather all our masters in our   of this people and the joy they have
             Winning the naval battle with                                         The supernatural apparitions                                                      brought here in the seminary. Often   So I dream of a community that
          protestant Dutch invaders against   crown. But what enthused us was    have  stopped  and  we  would  like              apostolate areas. The program for   times, because of the high demands   is more of a family for the poor,
          the Spaniards was attributed as     the feeling among us like little   to attribute this to Our Lady’s                  that day celebration was scheduled   of formation and academics, I    accepting  and   compassionate,
          the  first of many miracles  of our   children longing so lovingly for their   presence and mediation in the            in such a way that the corporal    already forgot to whom am I really   loving and caring, patterned after
          Lady of the Most Holy Rosary. The   mother.  Her calming and inviting   community. She has delivered every              and spiritual needs of our masters   doing this for. Today, on Vincent’s   the very Heart and Hand of Christ,
          strengthening of the Catholic faith   presence seemed to satisfy our   brother  from  fear  to  joyful  hope            were carefully focused, through the   Feast Day, it is good to be reminded   of which Vincent was once inspired.
          in the country in earlier times and   yearning for her maternal cuddle.   and we are always protected in the            celebration of the Holy Eucharist   that it always and always will be that
          the immense devotion to her were    She then proceeded to the altar    bosom of our Lady, and assured of                together with them, sharing meals   our efforts be dedicated for them.    May the spirit of Vincent live on
          some reasons we eventually called   which was stunningly prepared for   her nurturing presence.                         and  stories  in  the  table  and  fun   I was truly motivated because of   and on! Viva Vicente!
          ourselves as ‘’ El Pueblo Amante de   her, surrounded with lovely flowers                                               and entertainment during our       them. Despite of their deppressed
          María”  (“The  People,  in  Love  with   that complemented her beauty.   Long after, the image Our Lady                 socializations together.           condition in the slums, at least
          Mary”).  As  this  devotion  to  honor   Daily Masses and vigil were   left the seminary, she remained                     It was a beautiful scene to     somewhere, somehow, on this day,
          Mary continued through many         offered during her stay. Everyone   still in the heart and soul of every            marvel our priests who were all
          generations, it has also enriched   was gladdened by her presence and   seminarian.                                     in the Mass celebrating and the    Vincentians  have   remembered
          and expanded Catholicism in many    was stirred to prayerful silence and                                                seminarians enveloped together by   them. For us, it was just a simple
          parts of the country.               meditations, entrusting to her very                                                 a huge number of our ‘’masters’’   act of charity. Without realizing it
                                                                                                                                                                     meant the  whole world  to them,

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