We Would Love
to Keep in Touch!
Marvellous Myanmar
Yangon (Rangoon)
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| Shwedagon Pagoda |
Having celebrated with my fellow La Salettes for their our 75th anniversary of ministry in Myanmar, we also took some time to experience and learn more about this marvelous country.
Yangon, a former capital of Burma, is in the southern region of this vast country and, with a population of over four million, is the country’s largest city and an important commercial center. Remarkably it is an incredibly safe city but the entire city closes down by 9pm.
On the edge of Yangon we visited the Shwedagon Pagoda by night – spectacular. There is no more stunning monument to religion in Southeast Asia. The sheer size (326 feet high) and the mystical aura of this gilded masterpiece stands out among thousands of pagodas throughout the country. What a great introduction to the famous pagodas!
Myanmar – A World Apart
Justice and Peace in Myanmar
Editor: From the very beginning of our ministry as La Salettes in Burma, we have stood by the people in their quest for freedom and justice. Presently one of our Myanmar La Salettes, Fr. Thomas Mong, is the coordinator of the Justice and Peace Office of the Diocese of Yangon, Myanmar. We share his first newsletter with you in order to inform you about some of the challenges facing the Catholic Church in Myanmar, now that the government has somewhat loosened their grip on their people.
Fr. Thomas Htang
Shan Mong, M.S.
The Justice and Peace
Commission of the Diocese of Yangon
It is a Catholic Peace Network working to support the Church and the people of Myanmar in promoting peace and solidarity among and between various ethnics, faiths, cultures and environments in the country. Justice and Peace commission undertakes initiatives of capacity building skills to enable people in promoting peace and development in respective areas.
Mandate for the Justice and Peace Commission
The Commission assists the bishops, both collectively and individually, in advancing the social mission of the Church on national justice and peace through policy development, advocacy, education, outreach, and acts of solidarity. The Commission makes the recommendation to the bishops on State and Region public policy issues, especially integral human development, human rights, Catholic Social Teaching religious freedom, Justice and peace.
La Salette Myanmar Celebrates
As the news was spreading about the 75th anniversary celebration of the presence of La Salette in Burma in November of 2012, I was hoping to be part of this historical event as Mission Procurator of our Province – and so I was.
The Weeping Mother statue
in our Shrine in Chanthagone
is decorated for the anniversaries
An International Gathering
Very Rev. Fr. Silvano Marisa, the General Superior and two of his councilors, Fr. Joseph Bachand and Fr. Efren Musnji represented the General Administration of the Missionaries of La Salette from Rome to take part in this solemn celebration. Frs. Jack Nuelle, Pete Kohler, Bill Slight and myself travelled to Myanmar from the United States. Frs. Rosanno Sorriano and Sal Pico came from the Philippines. Also there was a group of about 20 Filippino friends of Fr. Bernie Taylor, the first Burmese La Salette, that came to witness be part of this celebration.
Fr. Bernie Taylor’s 40th Anniversary
On November 8th, we gathered with more than 50 priests from the area-dioceses and hundreds of people in an open pavilion adjacent to the Marian Shrine of the Our Lady of the Rosary in Chanthagone, where the Burmese La Salettes started to minister in 2005. We celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Priesthood of Fr. Bernie Taylor (his Burmese name: U Mya Then). In his homily Fr. Bernie said that the essence of priesthood is to be of service to others. He continued,
La Salette Education in Philippines
Our Challenging Beginnings
Acutely insightful and wise, four La Salettes began the groundwork in establishing private Catholic Schools in the southern and western part of Isabela Province as venues for evangelization especially of the young and provision for affordably quality basic and tertiary education.
The first school to be established was La Salette of San Mateo in 1949, followed by University of La Salette High School Department in 1951, the University of La Salette and La Salette of Aurora in 1952, La Salette of Roxas in 1957, La Salette of Quezon in 1960, La Salette of Jones in 1961, La Salette of Cabatuan and La Salette of Ramon in 1967. The educational institutions under the care of the Missionaries of our Lady of La Salette through the Ina ng Pag-asa (Mary, Mother of Hope) Province consist of the following: one University, eight High Schools and eight Elementary Schools.
Building Communities
Before Bishop Donald Pelletier, M.S, retired as Bishop of Morondava, Madagascar, he went for one last pastoral visit to the district of Mandabe, where for many years Fr. George Repchick (+1998) ministered lovingly to the people. Bishop Donald writes:
children in the remote village
of Mandabe, Madagascar
“I just returned from a five-day visit to Mandabe. The road has not gotten any better since the times we traveled it together years ago. How many years is it now – 5 or 6 – since the approaches to the bridge at Dabara were washed away? The bridge still sits in the middle of the river with no way to get on it. Meanwhile we have to plow through about two miles of shallow water and deep, fine sand to get across.
“As always it was a very sentimental trip as I can’t but think of George and pray for him when I am there. An enlarged photo of him adorns the back wall of the church. Fr. Richard – an Italian priest incardinated into the diocese and who is presently director of that missionary district – says that George’s presence is still vividly felt. I am amazed to see the continual growth of this Christian community. I think it is the district that has shown the most progress and growth in the last six years.
Our Burma Heroes
As the saying goes, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” I remember those days as a young student in the La Salette Seminary High School in Hartford, CT., in the late 1950’s. I often heard our returning missionaries from Burma share their fascinating stories of their ministry in what seemed to me to be another world. As they gave their testimonies to us 100 teenagers, despite the early hour (7AM), we were transfixed by their stories of faith in that very challenging and remote part of the world.
Many of our Burmese Missionaries
As years passed, I fortunately got to meet or hear about every La Salette that served in our Burma Missions. Our very active Hartford Mission Circles in our seminary as well as those La Salette Mission Clubs scattered across New England, were tremendously supportive of our “Burma Heroes”, those La Salettes who left family and country to serve in that far away vineyard of the Lord. These were impressive men of faith and I was proud to be connected to and supportive of their efforts to spread the Catholic Faith.
Meeting Pope Francis
It was a special moment on Wednesday afternoon, March 13, 2013. A vast crowd had gathered in dark and rainy St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. The white smoke rose from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel. The bells rang and the crowd cheered in delight.
When the curtains opened on the center balcony of St. Peter’s and the formal announcement was made, “Habemus Papam (We have a Pope)”, the excitement built still more.
This was to be an event of firsts. His name was to be “Pope Francis”, never before used by a Pope. From the announcement we learned that his name was Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, the first non-European ever elected Pope.
When he came out to greet the cheering throngs, he wore his simple white cassock and cape. His gentle smile was assuring; his brief word and actions were also precedent setting. In his brief sharing, he asked those gathered before him to pause in silence and pray for him. What a lovely change of expectations. He needed our prayers!
We Pray for Peace!
Editor: These are reflections from a participant of our 1991 Council of the Congregation held in Antsirabe, Madagascar. When Fr. Franz wrote this, his Province’s mission in Angola (now a Province) was still in the midst of a seemingly endless civil war and he sees the ongoing reality of life in his Madagascar surroundings.
Woman planting potatoes
Around us life goes on: They are walking through the many fields, quietly, in rhythm. They bear under their arms baskets that they have woven themselves. They walk together, side by side. Two more come behind. They are sowing potatoes in the red earth of the highlands of Antsirabe. They work carefully. Their hands are like opened shells. Their feet don't trample the furrows, but move along the narrow strips of elevated earth.
The two women who follow behind use their bare feet to cover with earth the freshly sown potatoes. They tread the soil lightly. They are working with confidence in their hearts. The potatoes will grow and multiply, and there will be food for many.
La Salette in Spain
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| Fr. Gerry Comeau, M.S., longtime minister in Spain |
At the end of her message, Our Lady of La Salette asked the two children to make her message known. Later Bishop de Bruillard extended this mandate to all who hear Mary’s message, her wonderful message eventually did reach the four corners of the world. I’d like to share with you, in particular, how it reached the Church in Spain, my place of ministry for these past fifty years.
La Salette Devotion Reaches Spain
Once the Church approved the Apparition of Our Lady at La Salette, France, the devotion quickly spread through all of Spain. The most important apostles of Our Lady were Count Narciso de Peñalver, Catalán, from Northeast Spain (who became Maximin’s very good friend and paid for the nine bronze statues depicting the Apparition on the Holy Mountain) and Don Florencio Sanz from Pamplona in north central Spain. In 1863 the latter published a Spanish translation of Canon Rousselot’s book on the “Truth of the Apparition”. Both men heartily supported and propagated the devotion and the response was immediate.
Fr. Jean Berthier, M.S.
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| Father Jean Berthier, M.S. (1840-1908) |
On October 23, 1858, at the age of 18, he entered the seminary in Grenoble with an ardent desire for holiness. His attraction toward a life of humble service and attention to the poor was strengthened during a visit to the Grande Chartreuse. From then on, he wanted to be a religious.
During his vacation in 1861, he went to La Salette with six other seminarians. He already knew all about the apparition, having heard the story from his grandmother since he was six years old. "Once on the mountain," he writes, "the eyes of my head saw nothing special; but the eyes of my soul saw plenty. The thought that Mary had graced this place with her presence, that her tears had watered the ground on which I walked. The missionaries who, with unequaled fervor, were reciting their breviary. I was taken up by all this and, when it came time to leave, I said to myself: I shall come back here."