On 20 September, novices Custodio Sikaleta, Deosnes de Jesus Nuno Ndumbo and Anselmo Simão Lima Alberto took their first vows as religious brothers in the sanctuary and parish of Our Lady of Fatima. Father Moisés, a Capuchin and vicar of the diocese for consecrated life, presided over the ceremony. On behalf of the Superior General, Brother Juan Andrés Martos Moro received the vows of the newly professed. The novices’ parents accompanied their sons in the entrance procession and presented them before the altar. We were also accompanied by some priests, family members, members of different religious communities, friends, and guests of the house.
In the ceremony, carefully prepared by our postulants, novices and professed Brothers, we added to the acts indicated in our Rite of Religious Profession the blessing of the habit proper to the Institute in Africa (white cassock, sash and crosses with the corresponding black cord).
The procession of the offerings was significant. Along with bread and wine and various symbolic objects alluding to the feast, the families also offered baskets of fruit, flour, rice, bows and arrows, calabash vessels for various uses, the distinctive sugar cane, half a dozen chickens and two docile goats that we still care for in our yard until they reach ‘their Saint Anthony’s Day’.
We would also like to highlight the musical choir of novices from different congregations for the quality of their voices and their appreciated performance, the result of several rehearsals throughout the month. Also significant was the religious dance of thanksgiving by the relatives of the newly professed and a daring and carefree Brother ‘Roda,’ who deserved the complacency of those in attendance.
After the celebration, the newly professed thanked those present for their attendance and, with gratitude, simplicity and joy, entrusted themselves to everyone’s prayers to remain faithful to their total commitment to the Lord.
This was followed by lunch for the 160 guests at the novitiate of the Consoling Sisters.
For three days, our community’s tent was expanded to accommodate about fifty family members, who were comfortably accommodated on mattresses lent to us by several religious communities and which we were able to set up in our community in the San Juan neighbourhood. On Sunday the 21st, we accompanied the family members on a tour of the new house, and after the general satisfaction, some young mothers expressed that they would be proud if in the future some of their children could follow the vocation of Brother of the Holy Family.
Brother Juan Andrés Martos Moro
