Parish holds BEC Day

26 December 2011- San Fabian, Pangasinan. Various Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) of the Parish of St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, gathered together for a one-day celebration of prayer, unity and fun at the Parish Center, a day after Christmas.

Msgr. Renato P. Mayugba, DD, Auxiliary Bishop of Lingayen-Dagupan and the Archdiocesan BEC Coordinator, celebrated the Mass. In his homily, Msgr. Renato P. Mayugba said that it was very appropriate that the parish is celebrating the BEC Day on the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian Martyr for the faith. He further said that the Basic Ecclesial Communities should emulate the first Christian Communities in their prayer life, and  care and concern for one another.

The parish calls the Basic Ecclesial Communities as Cenacles. The communities have hinged their devotion to the Divine Mercy. They hold bible sharing and pray the chaplet of the Divine Mercy regularly. Some communities have initiated their own livelihood programs.

Bro. Antonio Supremido is the Parish BEC Coordinator.

Msgr. Renato P. Mayugba, DD, Auxiliary Bishop and Archdiocesan  BEC Coordinator, exhorts the communities to emulate St. Stephen, the first Christian Martyr.

The Cenacles of the Divine Mercy and BEC members having fun!

Youth Members from Brgy Lipit-Tomeeng performing a dance number.

Brgy. Gumot hosts Barangay Evangelization Program

28 May 2009 – San Fabian. The Barangay Evangelization Program, or the Visitation, was held in Brgy. Gumot last Thurday, 28 May. Team Three of the Adult Formation Program gave the one-day seminar. The seminar has three main topics: Family Life (including a discussion on the Natural Family Planning Method), Basic Doctrines of the Church and the Bible.

Team 2 is composed of Bro. Leopoldo Manalo and his wife, Sis. Marlene Manalo, Sis. Ma. Rowena Nicer, Sis. Leonora Datuin, Sis. Elizabeth Terte and Sis. Shirley Tersol. Every week, a different team gives the seminar. There are three teams formed by the parish.

Bro. Estephen R. Espinoza was on hand to support Team 2 in holding the seminar.

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To see more pictures of the Brgy. Gumot Visitation, please click HERE.

Barangay Visitation moves to Brgy. Inmalog Sur from Bolaoen

9 May – San Fabian. The Barangay Visitation of the images of the Divine Mercy and the Blessed Virgin Mary held its last day in Brgy. Bolaoen last 9 May, Saturday. The culminating activities began at 9:00 AM with the praying of the Holy Rosary and the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. Bro. Tony prepared the community in the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism with a brief catechism on the sacrament of baptism.

The Visitation in Brgy. Bolaoen, as in all succeeding Barangay Visitations, lasted for a week. A catechism on Family and Life, on Responsible Parenthood, was given to the adult members of the community last 6 May, Wednesday. This was given by Bro. Diosdado Vallejos, the Parish FLA coordinator. He was assisted by Bro. Tony Supremido,the Parish BEC Coordinator.

Typhoon Emong

The scheduled adult catechism on the Basic Doctrines of the Church (Signs and Symbols) on 7 May, Thursday, was cancelled due to the onslaught of Typhoon Emong which ravaged the province of Pangasinan. The residents had to put extra protective covering to the sacred images at the height of the Typhoon Emong’s fury. Some residents had to sleep in the chapel and kept vigil to safeguard and protect the sacred images from the strong winds of Typhoon Emong.

Typhoon Emong also moved the holding of the Youth Encounter a day later. The youth of Bolaoen held their weekend Youth Encounter from 8 May to 10 May, Friday to Saturday. The Youth Encounter was held under the Parish Youth Apostolate Committee under Bro. Marvin Borja, the PYAC Coordinator.

The Friday Adult Catechism on the Bible was held after weather had calmed down. Bros. Estephen Espinoza and Randolph Romero, seminarians of the Archdiocese of LIngayen-Dagupan, gave the seminar.

Farewell Day

On Saturday, 9 May the Visitation ended in Bolaoen. A mass was celebrated at 10:00 in the morning. Fr. Oliver E. Mendoza celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation with the residents before the celebration of the Eucharist. The Sacrament of Baptism was received by six children after the Mass.

Transfer to Brgy. Cosait, Inmalog Sur

At 1:00 PM of Saturday, 9 May, a procession of the residents was held; the images of the Divine Mercy and the Blessed Virgin Mary were brought from the chapel to the river bank where a bamboo raft, locally called “rocket”, was waiting. The raft brought the images to the foot of the hanging bridge upstream on the other side of the river.

The motorcade bringing the images, loaded in a truck, ended in Sition Cosait in Brgy. Inmalog Sur. The residents of Inmalog Sur welcomed the motorcade already at the Mabilao junction and accompanied the truck bringing the images until they reached the chapel of Cosait.

A Welcome Liturgy was celebrated. The Visitation in Brgy. Inmalog Sur has begun. It would last for a week.

To see more pictures, click the following:

• Barangay Visitation in Bolaoen.
• Barangay Visitation from Bolaen to Cosait, Inmalog Sur
• More pictures of the transfer of images from Bolaien to Inmalog Sur

Barangay Formation Program and BVM’s Visitation

San Fabian. As part of the preparation for the parish celebration of Christ the King in which the Parish of St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr is the host of the vicariate celebration, the parish is embarking on an extensive Barangay Formation Program. The program is part of the continuing formation of the Basic Ecclesial Communities in the 34 barangays of the parish.

The program involves the visitation of the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary. The image will stay for one week in the barangay. It is received on a Saturday and will be handed over to the next barangay, and received by residents, after a week. While the image is staying in the barangay chapel, it will be processed to the different poruks or sitios of the village. This will be done for about three days, beginning on the Sunday after it is received by the barangay.

Three talks will be shared to the barangay: Family and Life (Wednesday), Basic Doctrines (Thursday) and the Bible (Friday). The talks follow the three functions of the Church: as King, Prophet and Priest – a Serving Church, a Teaching Church and a Praying Church.

There are four teams of five members who will be facilitating the formation.

On the Saturday before the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is handed to the next barangay, a mass will be celebrated. The Sacrament of Matrimony will be celebrated and received by couples who were married civilly. Baptisms will also be celebrated.

The Family Bible Congress

In a circular letter signed by Msgr. Renato P. Mayugba, DD, the Auxiliary Bishop, an invitation coming from the Biblical Apostolate of the Archdiocese together with the Family and Life Apostolate addressed to the different Bible animators, Family Life workers, Catechists, BEC Coordinators and Youth, and various religious organizations and movements (CFC, WE, ME, CFM and other such groups) of the different parishes and chaplaincies of the Archdiocese to celebrate the First Family Bible Congress. The congress is to be held on January 17, 2008, Saturday. It will start on 1:00 PM and will end at around 5:00 PM. The St. Therese Gym of the St. Therese Parish in Dagupan City will be the venue of the congress.

Fr. Fidelis B. Layog, the Archdiocesan Biblical Apostolate Director, said that about 300 delegates are expected to attend the first Family Bible Congress. The congresss’ objectives and rationale are the following: to celebrate the centrality of the Word of God in the life of the Christian family and that the Word of God will be the bond of unity in the family. Msgr. Renato P. Mayugba DD will the main speaker of the event.

At the same time, the congress will be an occasion for the Archdiocese to celebrate already NATIONAL BIBLE WEEK which has the theme: MAY THEY BE ONE! Msgr. Mayugba also wrote to the clergy in his letter that “this will also be an opportunity for us to work towards a concerted and collaborated effort of building our BECs that have families grounded on the Word of God, with all group working as one.”

In a special note the congress wil also launch availability of the subsidized bible (P50.00 only) for poor families in cooperation with the Episcopal Commission of the Biblical Apostolate (ECBA) in its program of ” 5 MILLION BIBLES for 5 MILLION FAMILIES in 5 YEARS!”

The Parish of St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, welcomes the celebration of the Family Congress as it will strengthen and consolidate its pastoral program in building small communities centered and founded on the Word of God.

A New Sweater

Formation of BECs through the Devotion of the Divine Mercy

Last 19 July 2008, the first neighborhood community consisting of ten (10) families was formed in the parish. The next day, two other communities were formally introduced to the community apostolate program of the parish, the "Divine Mercy Family Evangelization Program". Five more communities consisting of ten families each were formed. Through this program, the parish hopes to strengthen already existing Basic Ecclesial Communities, and form new communities. The program is hinged on the popular devotion of the parish, which has gained a wide acceptance among the parishioners, the devotion to the Divine Mercy.

The basic understanding of the Basic Ecclesial Community falls on the following, as expressed in the Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly (1997): it is a small community whose members are united with each other, and to their pastor; it is a community which gathers around the Word of God and nourished by the Eucharist and the Sacraments. Most of these communities emerge mostly among the poor at the grassroots.  What then is the "Family Evangelization Program" and what role does the devotion to the Divine Mercy play in the formation of these neighborhood Christian communities?

The first community formed called themselves "Kapayapaan Uno" because the families come from a certain geographical area called "Purok Kapayapaan" in Barangay Anonang. The ten families have been neighbors for a long time, bound by blood relations, primarily, and informal association. Hence, they have known each other for quite a while. The underlying factor that would keep the families together, and hence, that will provide a common, continuing activity of the families is the devotion to the Divine Mercy through the "Visitation of the Image" from one house to the next. The image of the Divine Mercy will stay in one family for a week, after which, it will "visit" the next family. While the image stays in one house, the family is encouraged to pray daily the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy and the Three o'clock prayer, both elements of the devotion. 

On the first day, the members of the family welcome the Image. Together with the other families, they pray the devotional prayers welcoming the image, as well as the consecration of the family to the Divine Mercy. After a week, the ten families gather together at the home where the image is. They will hold a Bible Sharing, i.e., they share the Word of God. The sharing of the Word is a basic activity of the community. This is also the opportunity for them to discuss relevant issues affecting their lives. It is also in this Prayer/Bible Sharing that Catholic Doctrines and Practices will be discussed and lived. The parish team provides the families with the catechism and questions to be reflected upon for the week.

The Divine Mercy Family Evangelization Program Pamphlet. (.pdf) in Pangasinan.

Bibliodrama: Creative Use of Sacred Scriptures

13 September 2008, Saturday. The Parish Catechists once again underwent a one day seminar on the Creative Use of Sacred Scriptures as the parish tries to provide new ways and methods of bringing the Gospel message. This time they were given a new and exciting way: BIBLIODRAMA. It was given to them by Sis. Silvana M. de Vera from the John Paul II Biblical Institute of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan. Sis. Silvana atended a six-day training for cross-cultural groups of Bibliodrama practitioners held recently at the Bukal ngTipan at Maryhill, Taytay, Rizal. The practitioners underwent skills upgrading in the use of bibliodrama elements and the preparation of modules commonly used in retreats and recollections, Liturgy and other participative church activities. The Parish of San Fabian, Pope and Martyr, was the first parish in the Archdiocese to hold a seminar on Bibliodrama. -more -