CALERUEGA, the picturesque convent of the Dominicans in Nasugbu, Batangas, whose Church of Transfiguration is a favorite of altar-bound couples, will be holding the Holy Week Retreat for Married Couples on March 18-20.
Retreat will have nine sessions from Friday, 6 p.m., until Sunday, 3 p.m.
Speakers/facilitators will be: Fr. Allen de Guzman, OP, of the Caleruega wedding ministry; Fr. Filemon de la Cruz Jr., OP, vice rector for religious affairs of the University of Santo Tomas; Jun and Marion Cruz of the Ligaya ng Panginoon Community; Angelo and Bernadette de la Cruz of the retreat ministry of the Archdiocese of Manila; and Raul Roque of the retreat ministry of the Diocese of Caloocan.
Retreat fee per couple is P7, 000 (early-bird discount is P6,000). Fee covers board, lodging, food and retreat materials. Call 0921-8304226, 0921-2709890; e-mail caleruega_philippines@yahoo.com.
Passport, donations
Pilgrims over 15 years old making pilgrimages until May 15, Pentecost Sunday, in the Jubilee Churches in the Archdiocese of Manila (Manila Cathedral, Santuario de Santo Cristo Parish in San Juan, Archdiocesan Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Mandaluyong, National Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Makati and Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Pasay) will be issued a Pilgrim’s Passport at the first Jubilee Church they visit. It contains the pilgrim’s name and parish and provides a guide on what to do in each Jubilee church. Each pilgrim’s name is entered in a master list of pilgrims to the Jubilee churches.
After each pilgrimage, the Pilgrim’s Passport is stamped. Once the pilgrim has completed all five churches, he or she is presented a certificate at the last church.
Pilgrims will also be requested to give a donation, in cash or in kind. Donations will be used for corporal works of mercy and to support the social service programs of the archdiocese.
Book on Pope, priesthood
Jose Mario Bautista Maximiano’s “Pope Francis, the Catholic Bishop, and the Priest” (2014, Claretian Publications; tel. 9213984) looks at the priestly vocation through the person and ministry of Pope Francis.
“[Maximiano] is able to bring out the old and the new about the priesthood,” said Antipolo Auxiliary Bishop Francis Mendoza de Leon, also the apostolic administrator of Caloocan. “He affirms the Church’s teachings on the priesthood and at the same time presents them in a new way that is understandable and, I dare say, entertaining.”
“[The book],” said Fr. Ernesto Molina Amigleo of the Archdiocese of Makassar in Indonesia, “extols the dignity of the ordained Catholic priest based on the many rich and relevant scriptural passages, Church tradition, writings of the Church Fathers, the lives of the saints, history of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, and papal documents of St. John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict, and especially Pope Francis.”
Maximiano has taught at University of Santo Tomas, De La Salle University, and La Consolacion College.
“Pope Francis, the Catholic Bishop, and the Priest” is available at St. Paul and Claretian bookstores.
E-mail announcements to lzulueta@inquirer.com.ph or noelmogate11@gmail.com.