198th Foundation Day of the Stigmatines

198th Foundation Day of the Stigmatines (Congregation of the sacred Stigmata of Our Lord Jesus Christ)

Wattanasak welcomed and celebrates the 198^th Anniversary of the congregation, the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata of Our Lord Jesus Christ or popularly known as the STIGMATINES. This said celebration also serves as a welcome remark to Fr. Paul Jumjan, the spiritual director of the novices. He was away for six months due to a mission appeal in United States, Holy Spouses Province.

The said celebration attended by some stigmatine priests from different provinces of Thailand. Fr. Raphael from Phangnga, Fr. Pakpoom from St. Joseph Church at Chaeng Talay, Laguna, Fr. Michael Jirasaak and Bro. Sujin from the other house, Dowroong Wittaya School. 

Veneration of the relics of St. St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II.

The novices together with Fr. Joseph, novice master, and Fr. Jim, assistant novice master, went to Krabi at St. Agnes church last September 20, 2014 for the veneration of the relics of the two newly canonized Pope, St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II.

The veneration of the relics started with a procession around the church led by Stigmatine priests and some diocesan priests. The mass started at 10:00 a.m in the morning presided by Fr. Nati. 

Spirituality and Sexuality

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19^th of September 2014, Friday, Mr. Bryan Crucis Shen Shuyliang, a Psychologist from Singapore, arrived in the Stigmatine Interprovincial-Novitiate, Phuket Thailand, to talk about Spirituality and Sexuality to the Novices. His talk started in the evening which was the Introduction to Psychology and afterwards followed by Psychology Test.  There were group sessions and also personal talks with the speaker. The personal talk started Sunday and finished Tuesday. After the personal talk, Mr. Bryan started the topics on Spirituality and Sexuality. 

  The topic on Spirituality started at 3:00 pm 23^rd of September. In this topic Mr. Bryan talked about spiritual realities such as God, angels, and fallen angels. He talked also about the temptations of Satan to man and how to overcome them. In the evening the topic on Sexuality began. In this topic Mr. Bryan talk about homosexuality, the causes of homosexuality, and the positive and negative characteristics of a homosexual. The two interesting topics gave the Novices more Knowledge about spiritual and physical realities.

In the following morning, Wednesday 24^th of September, Mr. Bryan asked the Novices if they wanted to talk to him for the second time. Majority of the Novices decided to talk with the speaker and the second personal talk ended at almost 10:00 am in the following day.

Before Mr. Bryan went back to Singapore, the Novitiate Community prepared a simple and memorable dinner and offered a song for him. In the following morning Friday, Mr. Bryan Crucis Shen Shuyliang went back to Singapore at 7:30 in the morning.

Stigmatine Interprovincial-Novitiate Monthly Recollection September 17, 2014

17^th September 2014 at 10:30 am, the Novices had their monthly recollection which was held in the Stigmatine Interprovincial-Novitiate Phuket Thailand. The Novice Master, Fr. Joseph Wattanasak, invited a couple to be the speakers namely Mr. Wutthikhai Cheewamaitneewong (Known as Mr. Roy) And Mrs. Julie Cheewamaineewong. The topic of the recollection was “God experience in life” which was shared by the couple. The recollection was ended in the same day at 11: 30 in the morning.

Brief information About Mr. Wutthikhai Cheewamaitneewong:

           

          Mr Mr. Wutthikhai Cheewamaitneewong was born in Thailand in a Chinese family. He studied college in the Philippines, during the time of President Marcos, in San Carlos University Cebu and finished Pharmacy. He went to Davao where he met Julie, a Filipina, who become his wife. From a Chinese Buddhist religion, he was converted to Catholicism and baptized in Davao. He went back to Thailand and started a business. He is presently living in Phuket Thailand together with his wife and their children.

The sharing:

Mr. Roy was the one who shared first his life to the Novices. He told them that God is very important in life. He said that if we have God, we have peace in the midst of trails and sufferings. Mr. Roy concluded his sharing with these words, “Serve the Lord with all your heart and everything will be good.” After his sharing, his wife took the last sharing. The first sentence that Mrs. Julie uttered was, “We can feel God through miracle and the first miracle is breath.” She shared to the novices that they pray the chaplet of the Divine Mercy every 3 o’clock in the afternoon. According to her, she can make God proud of her through doing good works; moreover she said, “We got good things from God, we should give good things too.” For her the greatest thing is to help people. She ended her sharing with the sign of the cross.

The Novices visits the Stigmatine Catholic Cemetery- Stigmatine Catholic cemetery Phuket

August 22, 2014 the novices together with their formators Fr. Joseph Wattanasak and Fr. Jim Pura made their first cemetery visit. The purpose of their visit is to offer prayers for all the souls in the purgatory especially the souls of their deceased confreres were three of them buried in that said cemetery.  

Bishop Joseph Prathan Srindarunsil SDB headed the mass celebration of the Feast Day of Our Lady of Assumption- Parish Church of Our Lady of Assumption Phuket

August 17, 2014 Bishop Joseph Prathan Srindarunsil SDB headed the mass celebration of the Feast Day of Our Lady of Assumption. Fr. Winai CSS the provincial superior of the Stigmatine and Fr. Apisit the provincial superior of the Redemptoris and other Stigmatine and diocesan priests also concelebrate during the mass.

Many parishioners of that said parish together with some visitors from the other parishes attend the celebration. The Stigmatine novices together with the other parishioners handled the songs in the mass that makes the celebration more solemn. The said celebration lasted for almost two hours and ended with community lunch.   

Tree Planting in Novitiate House

July 17, 2014

Fr. Joseph Wattanasak, CSS leads the novices in planting different kinds of fruit bearing trees.  They plant two rose apples, two mangoes, two black berries, avocado and orange. The space on the right side of the house accommodates the trees.

The procedure of putting the plant on the soil is not just a piece of cake the hole must have the radios of 50 centimeters and the same measure of its depth. A fertilized soil will be poured on the hole until half deep and put the tree and cover with another fertilized soil. Then put a brace to make the plant stand straight and watered it.

Activity adds beauty to the house. On the other hand, the novices don’t know if they can taste the fruits of these trees someday. Nevertheless, the presence of happiness among them, was founded on the day of sowing no less than the day of reaping.

Fr. Ferdinando Ronconi, CSS administers the novice’s recollection

July 15, 2014

The novices, as part of their spiritual activity, have their monthly recollection in the novitiate house. Fr. Joseph the novice master invited Fr. Ferdinando Ronconi CSS, an Italian missionary priest in Thailand, as the speaker. The recollection started at 9:00 o’clock in the morning with the beautiful reading taken from Ephesians 4: 11-16.

He shared about the Stigmatine congregation and the founder. First, he presented the history of the congregation followed by the Stigmatine way of life, the charism, the spirit of the congregation and the short family background of St. Gaspar Bertoni the founder of the congregation.

He asked many questions to the novices particularly about the congregation and about their vocation. Some querries were these: why we are called Stigmatines? Why do you enter the Stigmatine congregation and why St. Gaspar Bertoni chose Mary and Joseph as patron saints? and a like.  

The importance of Paschal Mystery was also discussed, which the solemnity of the Five Wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ, follows.  This celebration is the radical reason why the congregation’s confreres are called Stigmatines(from latin word “stigmata” which means wound).

After the talk the novices went to the sacrament of confession having Fr. Ronconi as their confessor.