On November 5, Eight Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration from Baybay and Maasin in Leyte will leave Manila for Paderborn, Germany, where the beatification of their founder, Venerable Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel, will take place on Nov. 10.
First they will arrive in Olpe where the mother house is.
From Brazil will come nine sisters, and from the American West Province, seven sisters and Luke Burgie and his family. Luke is the eight-year-old boy from Colorado who got well through the intercession of Mother Theresia, saving him from certain death.
Arriving on Nov. 7 will be the American East Province with 48 sisters, seven priests and the Bishop of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Vigil, celebration
On Nov. 9, at 7 p.m., there will be a vigil in the Market and University Church in Paderborn. The Girls’ Church Choir of Paderborn will perform songs about Mother Maria Theresia and the Canticle of the Sun.
On Nov. 10, Mother Maria Theresia will be officially accepted in the circle of the Blessed of the Catholic Church in the Cathedral of Paderborn. The Holy Mass will begin at 3 p.m.
The prefect of the Congregation for the Processes of Beatification and Canonization, Angelo Cardinal Amato, will be present.
The beatification will take place after the singing of the Kyrie. Then the Eucharistic celebration will continue with the Gloria.
On Nov. 11, the bones of Blessed Mother Maria Theresia will be transported from the mother house to the Parish Church of St. Martinus in Olpe and buried there in the new sacrament chapel. Vesper service will take place at 5 p.m. with Archbishop Becker leading the prayers.
At 6 p.m., Cardinal Cordes will celebrate the first Mass with the new texts of the new Blessed.
Rosary for Life is 10
For the past 10 years, members of Rosary for Life Philippines have been spending one hour of praying the four mysteries of the Rosary every third Wednesday of the month for the prevention of abortion.
On Nov. 11, they will gather at the Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz (Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish) in Binondo to celebrate their 10th anniversary, with a Eucharistic Sacrifice at 5:30 p.m. to be celebrated by Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes, chair of the Episcopal Commission on Family Life of the CBCP.
Rosary For Life Interational founder and president Winifred Powers from New York City will be in the country for a speaking tour of parishes in the different dioceses.
Physicians for Peace
Maricris Pascua-Lim, an optometrist, sent us information on how the Physicians for Peace have been saving the sight of children through their programs.
She writes: “‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ is the question I commonly ask school kids when conducting our Physicians for Peace (PFP) Save the Sight of the Child missions. Young as they are, their specific aspiration is to secure a good education. To be a doctor, lawyer, artist, ballerina, including president of a company or even president of the Philippines are just some of the general high hope responses they wish to attain. To a child with unchecked and uncorrected vision defect, such dreams may be far from reality.
“Like all the volunteer optometrists of the PFP Saving Sight Mission, I have the opportunity to serve these children in front of me to help them realize their ambitions. The vision screening we do to Grades 4 to 6 students of select public elementary schools in the Philippines allow the children reliable access to vital vision care. The challenge to us volunteers is to interact closely with the kids, to educate teachers to watch out for signs/symptoms of visual anomalies in their students.
“Being able to help poor children with vision defects gives us, volunteers, a joy-filled rush of connection to these kids. We know in our hearts that it is what we really wanted to do, a practical practice of feeling good for doing collaborative efforts to make dreams real.
Fundraising fashion show
Aureo Alonzo, who is known as a caretaker of Our Lady of Manaoag since he dresses her up with new vestments during her fiestas, will hold a fashion show for a cause on Nov. 9, 6 p.m., at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino ballroom on Pedro Gil St., Malate.
Known as the Prince of Philippine Haute Couture, Alonzo or Tatang, as he is fondly called, asked his prominent clientele to model his clothes at the last portion of the show.
Executive producer is Erik Santos, assistant designer. Direction by Veda Bañez Alonzo. For tickets to the sit-down dinner fashion show, call Amy at tel. nos. 4890128 or 0928-6200016. Tickets are also available at the gate.
