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.

ALD Launches Handwritten Unity Bible in Pangasinan

by Shirley Tersol

11 June 2011 – Dagupan City. The Biblical Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan in cooperation with the Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate (ECBA) and the Philippine Bible Society (PBS)  recently launched the Pangasinan Handwritten Bible last 11 June 2011 at the Sanctuario de San Juan Evangelista, Dagupan City.

The handwritten Bible has been conceptualized to unite Filipinos in a “Bayanihan” effort with other Christian groups toward national transformation through God’s Word. Lingayen-Dagupan Auxiliary Bishop Renato Mayugba, Vice Chairman of ECBA and Chairman of the John Paul I Biblical Center of Northern Luzon has presented the context of the first handwritten Bible to the Catholic Bishops during the 101st Bishops Plenary Assembly at the Pope Pius XII Center in UN Avenue, Manila in July 2010.

Besides Bishop Renato P. Mayugba, the launching was attended by Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, the Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, Msgr. Jesus A. Cabrera, Bishop-Emeritus of Alaminos, civil and religious leaders and representatives from the different Protestant denominations.


Handwritten Unity Bible
 
The Handwritten Unity Bible (HUB)  will need around 35,000 individuals to write each verse of the Bible in English and the same number for the Pangasinan language.

A total of six or seven sessions will be conducted until the Bible is completed. The manuscripts are expected to be finished by 2013 and will be reproduced for distribution, while the original copies will be stored in a museum in Manila for posterity.

The May They Be One handwritten Bible will be divided into two columns. The first column will be the English version while the second column will be in Pangasinan.

The English version of the handwritten passages will be based from the published Catholic edition of Old and New Testaments while those of the different languages will be copied from the Popular Versions or the New Testament Books of the Philippine Bible Society (PBS).

“The Handwritten Bible will include interspersed Deuterocanonical books,” organizers said.

35,656 verses to raise funds for a Bible Campaign

The 35,656 verses from 78 books of the bible will be written by hand by representatives from various sectors such as the Church, urban/rural poor, OFWs, youth, farmers, government offices; schools, indigenous people, and the fisher folks.

The project targets to collect a minimum contribution of PhP50 for each written verse amounting to a minimum of PhP 3.565 million which will go to the May They Be One Bible Campaign.

Motorcade Launching

The project was launched in Dagupan City with a motorcade on 10 June 2001, a day before the formal launching,  from the St. Therese Church in Rizal St. to the Sanctuario de San Juan Evangelista where the transcription took place.

A Bible Enthronement celebrated through a Bibliodrama by the ALD Biblical Apostolate opened the formal campaign.

The Handwritten Unity Bible will also be launched in the other three Vicariates of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan.

(Ms. Shirley Tersol is a regular contributor to the website. She is a member of the Union of Prayers for Vocations  (UPV) as well as of the Ministry of Social Action (MISA) of the parish. She is at present the teacher-in-charge of Jose N. Juguilon Elementary School, Colisao, San Fabian, Pangasinan)

Ad Limina Visit of Archbishop Soc and Bishop Rene

Ad Limina Visit: 27 November 2010

The visit ad limina means, technically, the obligation incumbent on certain members of the hierarchy of visiting, at stated times, the "thresholds of the Apostles", Sts. Peter and Paul, and of presenting themselves before the pope to give an account of the state of their dioceses. The object of the visit is not merely to make a pilgrimage to the tombs of the apostles, but, above all, to show the proper reverence for the Successor of St. Peter, to acknowledge practically his universal jurisdiction by giving an account of the condition of particular churches, to receive his admonitions and counsels, and thus bind more closely the members of the Church to its Divinely appointed head. (From The Catholic Encyclopedia)

Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, DD and Bishop Renato P. Mayugba, DD with Pope Benedict XVI

 

Photos from Servizio Fotografico L'Osservatore Romano

Bishop Mayugba invites devotees to the 2nd Archdiocesan Congress on Divine Mercy

In a circular letter addressed to the parish priests and chaplains of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan, Msgr. Renato P. Mayugba, DD, the Auxiliary Bishop, issued an invitation to the devotees of the Divine Mercy to the 2nd Archdiocesan Congress on The Divine Mercy. In his letter, the bishop, to show the significance of the octave of Easter, wrote that “on the octave of Easter, Christ appeared again to the eleven and, calling the attention of Thomas, showed his wounds that wrought our redemption”.

The 2nd Archdiocesan Congress is to be held at the St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Mangaldan, Pangasinan on 4 April 2009, Saturday from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM. The First Archdiocesan Congress on The Divine Mercy was celebrated last year at the Parish of St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr.

The program will have three major talks on the Divine Mercy. The first talk on "Divine Mercy in Scriptures" will be given by Fr. Oliver E. Mendoza. "Pastoral Implications of the Divine Mercy Devotion" will be shared to the participants by Most Rev. Jesus A. Cabrera, DD. The third talk on "Celebration of God's Mercy " will be given by Most Rev. Renato P. Mayugba, DD who will also celebrate the Mass on that day at the Parish Church of St. Thomas Aquinas.

The message and devotion to Jesus as The Divine Mercy is based on the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska, an uneducated Polish nun who, in bedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God’s mercy. Even before her death in 1938, the devotion to The Divine Mercy had begun to spread.

St. Faustina, the Secretary of Mercy

St. Faustina has been called the “Secretary of The Divine Mercy”. On October 5, 1938, Sister Faustina (Helen Kowalska) died in a convent of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Cracow, Poland. She came from a very poor family that had struggled hard on their little farm during the terrible years of WWI. Sister had had only three years of very simple education. Hers were the humblest of tasks in the convent, usually in the kitchen or the vegetable garden, or as a porter.

On February 22, 1931, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ appeared to this simple nun, bringing with Him a wonderful message of Mercy for all mankind. Saint Faustina tells us in her diary under this date:

"In the evening, when I was in my cell, I became aware of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From the opening of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays, one red and the other pale. In silence I gazed intently at the Lord; my soul was overwhelmed with fear, but also with great joy. After a while Jesus said to me, 'paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You.'"

Some time later, Our Lord again spoke to her:

"The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous; the red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My most tender Mercy at that time when My agonizing Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross....Fortunate is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him."

The Second Archdiocesan Congress on The Divine Mercy

The theme of the 2nd Archdiocesan Congress is “The Flames of Mercy are burning!” It is a proclamation of the unfathomable mercy of Jesus on the whole world, and the need for us to propagate the message and devotion of the Divine Mercy. It also will help the devotees in the proper celebration in the parishes of the Divine Mercy Sunday which will be celebrated this year on 19 April 2009, the First Sunday after Easter.

Members and guests of the Apostleship of Prayer celebrate the 100th Year Foundation Anniversary of the organization with Msgr. Renato P. Mayugba, DD, Auxilliary Bishop.

Msgr. Renato P. Mayugba receiving the gift from the youth ministers of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan during the mass last 5 December 2008.