(ANS – Rome) – In the month dedicated to the Saint of the young, many novices in various parts of the world have made (or will make) their first vows, the first stage on their journey of being Don Bosco for tomorrow.

America-South Cone
Most of the first professions, already made or to be made tomorrow, 31 January, regard novices from the Salesian America-South Cone Region. 13 from the novitiate at Dourados Indapolis were the first of this group to take their vows; they all came from provinces in Brazil: Campo Grande (6), Manaus (4) and Belo Horizonte (3).

The 13, all clerical candidates, made their vows before the provincial of Campo Grande, Fr Lauro Shinohara Takaki, in a ceremony which took place at the novitiate on 24 January, Feast of St Francis de Sales.

The other novitiate in Brazil, at Curitiba, with novices from Sao Paolo (BSP), Recife (BRE) and Porto Alegre (BPA), will be making their profession tomorrow, Feast of St John Bosco. They will be 20 in all: 10 from BSP – amongst whom 2 are Brother candidates – 7 from BRE, 3 from BPA.

Fr Natale Vitali will preside at this ceremony; Frs Edson Donizetti Castilho, Diego Vanzetta and Orestes Carlinhos Fistarol, provincials, will concelebrate.

Today, 30 January, the novitiate at Alta Gracia, serving the two Argentine provinces and Paraguay, see the first vows of 9 young novices. Of these, 4 are from Paraguay, 3 from North Argentina and 1 from South Argentina. 4 are professing as Brothers, another 5 as candidates for priesthood.

The ceremony will take place in the evening at the novitiate, before Fr Manuel Cayo, Provincial, Argentine North.

Africa-Madagascar
In Mozambique, at the novitiate at Namaacha, 7 new professions will take place tomorrow, including one as a Salesian Brother. They are all originally from Angola, and will make their profession before Fr Guillermo Basañes, Regional Councillor.

East Asia-Oceania
In the novitiate in Fiji, Suva, which is also the novitiate for the Australian Province, there would usually be professions on 31 January, but there were no novices in 2012. Instead the house will reopen its doors for a new group of novices who will then presumably make their profession on 31 January 2014.

It is worth recalling that 29 Salesian novices at La Ceja, Colombia made their profession on 19 January and another 3 novices from Korea on 24 January.

Published 30/01/2013