(ANS - San Pedro Carchá) - The Maya-Q'eqchi indigenous ethnic group celebrate the Feast of Don Bosco every year with more and more enthusiasm. Thanks especially to the first Salesian missionaries who visited these lands, the name of Don Bosco is one of the best known in the land.

The parish of San Pedro Carchá, in the mission lands of Guatemala has about 250,000 people, 95% of whom are ethnic Maya-Q'eqchi. The Salesians have been here for 78 years. Their pastoral missionary work is to visit the 350 villages surrounding the parish, most of which can be reached only on foot.

In view of the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco, the Salesians have started a programme to make the people more aware of the life, pedagogy and spirituality of the Saint of Youth. Among the many new initiatives, the villages will be visited by a group of Maya-Q'eqchi speakers who have taken to heart the figure of Don Bosco and the Strenna offered each year by the Rector Major.

This year the feast was celebrated in the oratories in three stages. The first leg was held Saturday 25 January with the celebration of the feast of St. Francis de Sales, providing young people with a reflection on the spirituality of Don Bosco in relation to St. Francis de Sales. On the same occasion a statue of St Francis de Sales was blessed and inaugurated, the first among the Maya-Q'eqchi and the realization of a long held dream.

The second stage on 31 January focused on the life of John Bosco, while the third stage on Sunday 2 February concentrated on the fruits of Salesian pedagogy: Don Bosco and Dominic Savio.

Fr Vittorio Castagna, SDB, came here as a missionary in 2010. He is in charge of the Q'eqchi speakers who go to the villages. "Before I came here,” he says, “I used to bring people together to celebrate an event, but here what I do is to visit the villages and share the people’s celebration. We had three fantastic days, 31 January, 1 and 2 February, with at least four Masses per day in honour of Don Bosco in villages far apart. It is tiring, but when I see that the people in these remote places want to celebrate the Saint of Youth, it motivates me to make any sacrifice. Don Bosco is alive among the Q'eqchi and they love him."

Published 04/02/2014