Rome, Italy Make text bigger | Make text smaller FROM THE EDITOR:
FROM THE PROVINCES: ALPHONSIANUM: RESOURCES: TRANSITIONS: MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Thirty-four Provincials from around the world came for the first session of the Provincials’ workshop conducted in the English language held from November 11th to 19th. The second session, in the Latin languages was held from December 3rd to 10th. Thirty-four more provincials attended that session. Traditionally, the workshop has been for new provincials, but this year all provincials were invited to participate in order to continue the process of developing the Congregation’s new conferences. For that reason the 5 Coordinators attended one or the other session. The workshop also gave the provincials an opportunity to learn about the various departments and procedures of the General Government and how to benefit from their services. The provincials, led by Father Serafino Fiore, director of the Center for Spirituality, also had the opportunity to explore some of the Alphonsian places of origin and places of interest to Redemptorists in Rome.  The General Secretariat for Formation also met here in Rome for the second time from the 22st to the 25th of November. See below for an account of their meetings.
See below for the Alphonsian Academy statistics of students and professors for this academic year of 2011. The Redemptorist English speaking world has begun using the new English translation of the Roman Missal on November 27, the First Sunday of Advent. The biggest challenge is getting the people to respond to the traditional “The Lord be with you” (Dominus Vobiscum) with “And with your Spirit” (et cum spiritu tuo). After 40 years of routine, most people are still responding with the well-memorized “And also with you.” After the first weekend of use, one commentator measured the ratio of the old response to the new response as about 70% old response to 30% new response! Some people even responded with a hybrid version: “And also with your spirit!” The changes will take some getting used to! The changes are also making many veteran English-speaking Redemptorists feel like newly ordained priests saying Mass for the first time again! The Redemptorist Provincials who came to Rome for the English speaking workshop were also treated to a new musical setting for the new English language Missal. Father Paul Bird, Provincial of Australia has composed a new English language Mass in honor of St. Alphonsus. The Provincials used the sung parts at one of their Eucharists and were pleased. Fr. Bird’s Mass is spreading fast. Fr. John Airey, C.Ss.R., of the Region of Aotearoa writes: This month we had our 2nd South Pacific Retreat consisting of confreres from Australia and New Zealand at the Vaughan Park Center in Auckland, Australia given by Father Tom Picton of the Denver Province´s Desert House of Prayer. The previous retreat was four years ago at the Franciscan Retreat Centre in Auckland when Félix Catalá came from Rome to conduct it for us. The long distances make it difficult for us to hold this retreat more regularly. In attendance was the Canberra Provincial, Fr. Paul Bird, and the members of the Aotearoa Region. Tom Picton chose the Gospel of St John as the theme of his retreat. We paid special attention to the liturgy of each day. This gave us the opportunity to learn and sing the mass that Paul Bird has composed for the new English translation, the "Mass of St Alphonsus" (editor’s note: See more information about this Mass under “resources” in this edition of SCALA).  We have been monitoring the news from Vietnam. The attacks against Thai Ha Redemptorists and parishioners, increasing in frequency and violence, have backfired in the court of world public opinion, causing a wave of solidarity in Vietnam and abroad. For example, the archbishop of Hanoi wrote a letter defending the Redemptorists. Bishop Michael Hoang Duc Oanh of Kontum, did the same. Bishop Francis Nguyen Van Sang of Thai Binh personally visited the church. Prayer vigils have been held across the country, and also in the United States and Australia. An example of this solidarity is this short letter from the Redemptorists from the Vice Province of Fortaleza in Brazil. It sums up the prayers and wishes of support that have been received from many quarters of the Redemptorist world and from many other parts of the world: Dear Confreres of the Province of Vietnam and parishioners of Thai Ha, This is the third and final month we will ask Unit Superiors to forward SCALA to you as a way of making sure all confreres are aware of its availability. If you have not already subscribed to SCALA, please go to the very end of this bulletin and click on the “subscribe link”. Then click on “send” and you will automatically be subscribed in the language you are now reading. We wish all confreres and readers of SCALA a blessed and holy Christmas. Despite the civil, financial and spiritual brokenness of many parts of the world, the Word has been made flesh, dwells among us, and fills us with His peace! For a special Christmas treat in the Redemptorist tradition, scroll down to the end of this bulletin. Grace and Redemption for All!
Brazil: Interprovincial Redemptorist Mission The document General Directives of Evangelical Action of the Church in Brazil 2011-2015, in # 78, recognizes the reality and importance of the missionary method of the Redemptorists – it reads: : It is important to reach out to persons, not only in families and homes, but in all places. The Popular Missions, having its roots in the appeal of the Encounter of the Continental Mission, has proven to be an efficient means of the same. The systematic visits in the workplace, student residences, favelas and barrios, workers’ lodgings, health institutions, prisons, homeless shelters, homeless in the streets, all have given witness to a Good Samaritan Church. Many of the Units of Brazil have remained faithful to our missionary method and continue to cultivate it, despite the grave criticisms and dislikes with which it has been treated in the past, at times by some Redemptorists themselves and those of the wider Church. The Units have invested in the professional training of the confreres, perfecting and updating structures and methods of the entire process of the Mission in all its stages (pre-mission, preached mission, and post-mission. They have maintained strong teams of missionaries, integrating lay missionaries with confreres. They have published new works, and invested in publicity and advertising. For them there is no loss for invitations from parishes and dioceses all throughout Brazil, to come and share this work of extraordinary evangelization. Today the Brazilian Church itself affirms what we Redemptorists have recognized for a long time - that there is no pastoral method more efficient for the message of the Gospel to reach millions of persons, other than ours of preaching parish missions. This method is able to reach persons that ordinary daily pastoral parish ministry does not reach. The Interprovincial Mission in the city of Itabuna demonstrates this success. It is located in the geographic territory of the Vice-Province of Bahia, with some 250,000 habitants. There was a year-long process of preparation, before the period of explicit proclamation of the Word of God, involving 14 parishes of the city. Various meetings and encounters were necessary of the planning and organization of the Mission – the inaugural celebration, three formative missionary training processes for parish laity, and evangelization in the families, during a period of 30 days. Each parish set up missionary sectors, made up of 30 families a piece. In total, 500 missionary sectors were prepared. Almost 1,500 lay missionaries from the parishes of Itabuna, day after day, spread the word in the city squares, streets, buildings, condominiums, and poor barrios and outlying areas, taking the message of the Good News to all. For the second period, the Preached Mission, August 24 – September 4, it was necessary to create almost 60 sites of mission and celebration. In each site, Redemptorist priests, brothers and lay missionaries were present. The Preached Mission involved Redemptorists from all 9 Units of Brazil: the Province of Porto Alegre (8 confreres), the Province of Campo Grande (4 confreres and 1 lay missionary), the Province of São Paulo (20 confreres), the Province of Rio de Janeiro (5 confreres, one lay missionary and one religious sister), the Province of Goiás (4 confreres), the Vice-province of Manaus (1 confrere), the Vice-Province of Fortaleza (2 confreres), the Vice-Province of Recife (7 confreres, 2 lay missionaries and 1 deacon), and the Vice-Province of Bahia (11 confreres, 14 lay missionaries and 2 deacons). Also, 4 religious sisters of different congregations helped in preaching the Word. Redemptorists and Lay Redemptorist teams
The Redemptorists of the Units of Brazil are to be congratulated for the initiative and work that has been done! New requests have been arriving from other dioceses for the preaching of our method of mission.
India Most of the Catholics in Kerala, India come together for daily family prayers before their evening meal. The prayer consists of Rosary, Prayers for the deceased, devotion to particular saints and Bible reading. Of late, the popular TV shows in prime time have affected this pious devotion very badly. In order to keep up the traditional prayers at home the Redemptorist priests who take care of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary at Maloth, in the archdiocese of Verapoly in Kerala have come up with a novel idea. They have decided to attend the evening family prayer at every home. Fr. Paul Pazhangattu, C.Ss.R. and Fr. Ginu Cleetus, C.Ss.R. spend their evenings with the families, joining them in their evening prayers. In the morning the members of the family, where the priests will attend the prayer, come for the parish Eucharist and the priest, mentions their names and prays for them in a special way. The family may do the readings and take part in the offertory. This has resulted in an increase in the daily attendance of the Eucharist. The presence of the priests during the family prayers has revived the traditional family spirit. Parishioners are now eagerly looking forward for their turn. Where only women and children used to be the main participants of family prayers now men and youth all take part. At the end of the prayers the priest reads the Bible portion of the current Sunday and discusses with the people relevant points. This is helping them to understand the Word of God better. This is also strengthening the family bonds. Parents invite their adult daughters and sons and their grandchildren to join them for the prayers when the priest comes. This is an opportunity for the family to discuss with their priest matters concerning their family and clarify doubts regarding their faith. Since only the family members are present there is lot of privacy and confidentiality that encourages discussion of various points. It is an occasion for the priests also, to understand each family’s financial, moral and faith level.
Cuba The Redemptorists in Cuba recently celebrated their 10th anniversary of the return of Redemptorists to Cuba. Redemptorists from Spain worked as missionaries in Cuba from 1927 to 1976 when they had to leave the island. A new phase of Redemptorist presence began in 2001, when two confreres from Paraguay arrived to take over the mission of Nueva Gerona, on the Isla de la Juventud. A few years later, in 2005, the Redemptorists assumed responsibility of Cristo Redentor Parish in Havana. Presently the mission is in a period of transition. At the start of 2011, the Redemptorists of the Sub-Region of northern Latin America and the Caribbean (URNALC) assumed pastoral responsibility. There are many needs and pastoral urgencies in Cuba. Representatives of URNALC visited the mission in the persons of Fathers Jorge Gómez Rueda of Bogotá and Alirio Suárez Velazco of the Vice Province of Caracas. They had an opportunity to accompany the 5 missionaries currently in Cuba and to discern the needs of the mission. This mustard seed of a mission continues to move forward.
The Office of the General Secretary of the Alphonsian Academy has released these statistics for the first semester of the 2011-2012 Academic Year. THE STAFF OF PROFESSORS FOR THE PAST 5 YEARS:
STUDENTS
STUDENTS ACCORDING TO THE VARIOUS LEVELS OF AND YEARS OF STUDY FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS:
STATUS OF STUDENTS:
REDEMPTORIST STUDENTS:
STUDENTS ACCORDING TO CONTINENT OF ORIGIN:
STUDENTS ACCORDING TO NATIONALITY:
NEWS FROM THE GENERAL SECRETARIATS: Rome The members of the General Secretariat for Formation met in Rome for four days beginning the 22nd of November. The Secretariat is made of members from all the Conferences of the Congregation; Consultor Generals Fr. Alberto Eseverri and Br. Jeffrey Rolle (co-chairs), Fr. Luis Alberto Roballo (Bogotá, Executive Secretary), Fr. John Fahey (Province of Denver), Fr. Charles Duval (Province of Sainte-Anne de Beaupré), Fr. Jacek Zdrzalek (Province of Warsaw), Fr. Sahaya Arockiasamy (Province of Bangalore), Fr. Guy-Arnaud Agbossaga (Vice-province of Burkina-Niger), Fr. Marlos da Silva (Province of São Paulo).  Our Superior General, Michael Brehl, joined the secretariat on two separate occasions. He asked the members for their input on a letter he would like to write to formators and formandi. He requested that the Secretariat help him to reflect on the message that he would share with this specific group of confreres. The General also wished to discuss the proper maintenance of boundaries between formandi and those charged with their care. He wanted to be sure that this issue was specifically addressed by the General Secretariat. The Secretariat received reports on the state of formation in each conference. Father Alberto Eseverrí, began this process by offering information about initial formation in the worldwide Congregation. The demographic of the Congregation is undergoing a shift. 69% of students in initial formation are coming from Asia-Oceania and Latin America. Reports were also presented by Conference Coordinators, Jacek Zdrzalek the Coordinator for Europe and Guy Arnaud Agbossage the Coordinator for Africa/Madagascar. There was also discussion of a new addition of the Manuale Formationis, which is a companion volume to the Ratio Formationis. The first volume of the Manuale was very well received and a further volume was planned around topics including sections on, restructuring, healthy boundaries, and the history of the Congregation. Besides a new edition of the Manuale the secretariat discussed the gathering of a collection of resources for formators such as Communicanda and other documents of the General government. The secretariat also discussed the formulation of the Directory, which will guide the work of the Secretariat during the sexennium. Finally the Secretariat discussed the formation of Brothers. This is an urgent topic for us as Redemptorists. There are presently 450 brothers in the Congregation. There are 215 brothers 70 years of age and older and 235 brothers who are less than 70 years of age. In the coming decade we are anticipating a steep decline in the total number of brothers. While the Congregation itself has maintained a more or less even population this is not true for the number of brothers. Latin America has proposed some specific ideas and strategies including an emphasis on becoming a Redemptorist in vocation promotion, highlighting the possibilities for ministry for the brother, and providing a specific place for the formation brothers. The Secretariat committed to an ongoing discussion and strategizing on this topic. It was a very productive meeting and the members of the secretariat feel that they are moving in a good direction. Editor’s note: We make mention here of a new musical resource: A Mass composed for use with the new English Missal in honor of St. Alphonsus by Father Paul Bird, Provincial of the Province of Canberra.
This is a musical setting of some of the congregational prayers from the new English edition of the Roman Missal. There are settings for:
I have composed the music so as to be easily sung by parish congregations. The melodies of all the pieces are similar – to help with easy learning. However, I recommend varying the pace of the pieces. This is one way of reflecting the various kinds of prayer. For example, it would be good to sing the “Glory to God” quickly and brightly as a lively prayer of praise. It would be appropriate to sing the “Holy, holy” at a moderate pace and strongly as a prayer of adoration and blessing. I suggest that the “Lamb of God” be sung rather slowly and gently as a prayer to Christ as the merciful Lamb of God.
Editor’s note: We have made mention of the following resources before, but it is good to remind everyone again of their availability in digital form. We repeat the following announcements previously made in SCALA in case you missed them or to help you recall their availability: All Things Alphonsian For aficionados of St. Alphonsus Liguori and original sources, Father Salvatore Brugnano of the Province of Naples, has created and compiled a comprehensive one stop website service for original language (Italian) information about St. Alphonsus, which loosely translated could be called: "All things Alphonsus and then some."
A collection of photographs has been prepared that offers the Redemptorist world an organized collection of over 5000 images. It is being offered to you as a useful aid for different areas of apostolic activity: publications (print and digital), historical research, pastoral catechetics, formation of new members, etc. It is highly recommended for use in Unit offices and publications because of its breadth of images. This collection, developed through the course of 24 years of work and archival research, allowed for the recovery of numerous instances of photographic documentation that, for various reasons over the passage of time, would have become illegible or anonymous. During this research important discoveries were made: some photographic plates from the end of the Nineteenth and beginning of the Twentieth Centuries, old copper incisions used for printing literary works or for devotional images now lost. In the course of the years, with the completion of the reconstruction of buildings and remodeling of rooms destroyed in the [Italian] earthquake of November 23, 1980, the photographs of original places and houses were updated. The same occurred after the restoration of paintings, sculptures and written documents pertaining to Alphonsian and Redemptorist memorabilia. The computerization of the photograph material, excluding items originally created by digital means, were prepared by scanning negatives, prints and original documents. This collection of images is divided into the following topics: 1. Places: Naples, Amalfi Coast, S. Maria dei Monti, Villa Liberi, Muro Lucano and Capodigiano, Deliceto, S. Agata dei Goti, Airola, Rome, Teano, Foggia. All the images are accompanied by essential captions in which the subject pictured is described and the name of the photographer is given. The paintings, sculptures, engravings and written documents are presented with the name of the author, the title of the work, and the current location where it is preserved.
Each disk contains a list of its contents, repeated in the corresponding index of the topic. The general index of the entire collection is repeated on each DVD. [Editor’s note: The text of captions and the indexes are in Italian only. But in most cases they would be recognizable to a non-Italian reader or by employing the use of an internet translator. This collection would be a valuable and “must have it” addition for Provincial use in newsletters, church bulletins, vocational material -- all things Redemptorist.] This collection of images, although not copyrighted, is prepared mainly for the use of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. The set of eleven DVDs can be ordered ONLY through Materdomini. For twenty euros (€ 20.00) plus shipping and handling. Contact: Padre Antonio Pasquarelli, C.Ss.R., Valsele Tipografica srl – Località Petazze – 83040 Materdomini (AV) – Italy; Telephone: (0039) 082758100; E-mail address: valsele@netlab.it.
Recent noteworthy events in the Redemptorist Family. For a complete record of Transitions visit the Officialia site Ordination to the Priesthood: Jubilees - January 60th Jubilee of Profession: 50th Jubilee of Profession: 50th Jubilee of Ordination: 25th Jubilee of Profession: 25th Jubilee of Ordination: Deaths: Suppression of Houses: Domus Blessed Virgen Mary of Perpetual Help in the Province of Sainte-Anne de Beaupré, in the city of Quebec, Canada. Suppressed November 11, 2011. Redemptorist House in the Province of Vienna, in the city of Katzelsdorf, Austria. Suppressed November 11, 2011.
MERRY CHRISTMAS:
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