In East Timor, on the Feast of Saint Dominic, we, the Dominican family, choose different districts in East Timor to celebrate this solemnity. This year, 2022, we decided to celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Dominic in Hatolia. Hatolia is located in Ermera, one of the districts of East Timor; and it is also one of the places in East Timor where one of the Dominican priests was martyred together with two local catechists.  On August 6th, we left from our respective places (Dili, Aileu, Same, Manatuto, Hato-Udo, etc) for Hatolia. A long hour's journey, the road was bumpy and dusty, but when we arrived there, we were warmly welcomed by the parish priest in his residence.

On the very same day, in the afternoon we went to Leimea-Kraik, a village where Fr. Michael Robert OP was martyred, to visit the cemetery. When we arrived there, local villagers welcomed us with their traditional dance and brought us to visit the said cemetery. Then, we had a Mass in the chapel nearby the cemetery together with the villagers. The mass was presided by Fr. Provincial and con-celebrated by the Parish priest of Hatolia and our Dominican priests. After the mass, we went to pray in the cemetery, then we concluded that day with the fraternal agape with the local villagers in the residence of the chapel, we left for Hatolia Parish with the Parish priest.

The next day, August 7th, we had a Mass of the solemnity of Saint Dominic in the morning in Hatolia Parish and the mass was celebrated by Fr. Provincial and con-celebrated by the Parish priest of Hatolia and our Dominican priests. Moreover, during this solemn mass, three of our Dominican sisters from the Holy Rosary Province also renewed their religious vows.

After the mass, we gathered together in the parish hall with the parishioners to continue this celebration with some performances made by our Dominican youths, aspirants, postulants, and novices from different Dominican communities in East Timor.  After that, we had lunch together with the parish priest and the parishioners in his residence, then we bid them farewell, and we returned to our own respective places.

-Bro. Agostinho Mendonca OP

The Parish of Saint Dominic in Aoya, Kaohsiung celebrated the patronal feast on 7 August 2022. This coincided with the 60^th anniversary of the evangelization of the Aoya District and the foundation of the Parish community as well as the official end of the Dominican Jubilee which the Holy See had bestowed the Church as an extraordinary Jubilee pilgrimage site.

The parish marked a year-and-a-half-long celebration of pilgrimages, special liturgies, and new pastoral and apostolic programs in the midst of the constant threat of the COVID pandemic. Aside from welcoming various communities and entities as pilgrims, the parish had been actively promoting a renewal of pastoral life and catechesis.

The celebration was preceded by the traditional solemn triduum leading up to the parish feast on the 7 August with the solemn mass presided by the Bishop of Kaohsiung, Msgr Peter Liu Chengzhong with various friars from our different communities, from the Vice-Province, and from the Diocese.  Other Christian communities administered by the Province in southern Taiwan also came with a huge delegation of Christians to share the joy of our parish community.

Three moments were given importance in the celebration: the solemn profession of faith in the presence of the Bishop as a symbol of our commitment to continue to live our belongingness to Christ and to the Church; the blessing of the new chalice as the sign of our communion in the celebration of the Eucharist. The new chalice set arrived recently and is the authentic replica of the holy chalice of Valencia, making our Parish community the only Church to venerate and possess this relic in the country and the second one to date in Asia. Lastly, as a collective response of the parish community, we have committed to fully collaborating and assisting the Diocese to organize the famous “Apostles Bible Course” to re-ignite the parochial ministry towards a new springtime of the new evangelization. The course shall begin in September 2022 and will last for nine full months.

To make remembrance of this great event, a commemorative plaque was raised and was unveiled by the Bishop as a testimony of our gratitude for this singular year of grace and for the gift of faith received through the concerted efforts of the missionaries, the lay catechists and women religious as well as the entire parish community.

Fr Jarvis Sy OP

St. Dominic Priory in Macau celebrated the Feast of our Father Dominic with a solemn Mass presided by brother Fausto Gomez, concelebrated by brother Edmond and brother Paul and participated by our student brothers and some members of the lay fraternity.

Within the Mass, our Japanese brother Joseph Gabriel Hyodo renewed his simple profession. The homilist pointed out three stages in the life of our Father and Founder: the contemplative canon regular, the active apostle of Christ, and the contemplative-active Founder of the Order of Preachers. He underlined that St. Dominic was, above all, a preacher: “never asking for reward, he just talks about the Lord.”  “Dominic said that the night is for God and the day for the neighbor because God has made the night for thanksgiving and the day for mercy. Our Father Dominic was, above all, a preacher, whose proclamation of the Word and life were one.”

We are all grateful to St. Dominic: Without him, we would not be here. Without Dominic, brother Joseph Gabriel could not have renewed his profession. We give thanks to God for calling our brother to be a member of our missionary Province. The homilist ended thus: Miguel de Unamuno says that Christ did not write any book or article but gave us the best book: Palabras vivas (living words). St. Dominic wrote no book really but founded a living word: Dominicans. May we try hard and help each other to be “Dominic” today. Imple Pater quod dixisti…! 

The Holy Mass ended with the joyful singing of the O Spem Miram.