On December 23, the friars of the Community of St. Joseph’s House, went on a one-day pilgrimage during the season of Advent, led by Fr. Provincial, together with other friars and pre-novices. We visited five places all in all. We leave the house at 9 a.m.
The first place we visited was the Franciscan Convent on Waterloo Road, where we were warmly welcomed by Brother William, who took us to their beautiful chapel and explained to us the structure of the chapel, the Franciscan Cross, and the relics of the first soon-to-be saint in Hong Kong, Blessed Gabriele Allegra, OFM, who translated the Chinese version of the Bible from Hebrew and Greek. His relic was kept in the chapel. Fr. Provincial thanked him and the community for welcoming us and also for the long tradition of good relations between our Founding Fathers, St. Francis and St. Dominic. After his remarks, we prayed to the Office of Readings in the chapel. Then we wished them a Merry Christmas by singing Christmas carols and they gave us the key change of St. Francis and St. Clare as a token.
Then we continued our journey to the parish church of St. Teresa. When we arrived, the church was peaceful and serene with beautiful Christmas decorations both inside and outside the church. The parish priest, Fr. Moses, came to welcome us to his parish. We were happy to see him and his assistant priest who is from Vietnam. Then, after a moment of silence, we prayed the Most Holy Rosary, then we saw the relics of St. Teresa and her parents.
After the rosary and taking some pictures around the church, we continued our journey to St. Teresa's Hospital, which is a ten-minute walk from St. Teresa's Parish Church. We went up to the chapel of the hospital on the fourth floor and we prayed for the sick, for those who were lonely and sick in their rooms in the hospital. We prayed for them and sang a song for all the sick because we couldn't visit them in their rooms.
Then we visited the Holy See's Delegate Office in Hong Kong, where we met the Delegate, Fr. Jose Maria from Spain, and Fr. Francis from Nigeria, his secretary. We prayed the noon prayer together. Then we wished them a Merry Christmas and sang some Christmas songs. Then we had a long talk with Fr. Jose, and he asked us about our experience in the Philippines and our life here in Hong Kong. He shared with us his vocation story and how he started to join this diplomatic office of the Holy See. He advised us to be grateful for everything in life and asked us to pray for him and his mission. Then he generously offered us pizza and fried chicken with some soft drinks for lunch at his house. After lunch, Father Provincial gave him a gift on behalf of our community and then we took a group picture with them.
Finally, we moved to the end of our one-day pilgrimage to St. Patrick's Parish Church where we prayed the afternoon prayer and then we went to the front of the Lokfu MTR exist, we sang some Christmas songs in English and Burmese to bring the good news of the birth of the Savior of the world to all the people, at the same time we shared some candies, chocolates, and snacks with the people, especially the children.
All in all, I believe it was a wonderful experience and an unforgettable moment for all of us. We completed successfully each part of our program without any interruptions or difficulties. Therefore, we are happy and grateful to God and the Fathers for giving us this opportunity to experience the joy of Christmas.
May the peace brought by our Savior Jesus be always in our hearts and our daily lives.
Bro. Philip Gei Ling Maung
pre-novice