Remembering
St. Anthony Mary Claret
in
Brgy. Dalongue, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan:
Commemorations and
Celebrations in the Year 2015
By: Romano
M. Bulatao
President, KCI – Pangasinan Chapter
On May
2, 2015, the people of Brgy. Dalongue, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan, celebrated their
annual barangay fiesta. This particular event was attended by Romano M. Bulatao,
President of KCI-Pangasinan Chapter, and he represented the Kapatirang
Claretiano Incorporated, and the Claretian Congregation – Philippine Province. The
barangay folks, young and old were gathered together in the celebration of the
Holy Eucharist and they also participated in other activities at the chapel
where St. Anthony Mary Claret is the patron saint. The mass was presided by Fr.
Jonathan Dulay, the assistant Parish Priest of the Holy Family Parish, Sta.
Barabara, Pangasinan.
After
the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the people of Brgy. Dalongue culminated
the said event with an agape. Different kinds of food were served and the
residents and other visitors enjoyed the various food prepared. The community
of Brgy. Dalongue helped one another and indeed, they were nourished by the
“fruit of the earth, and work of the human hands.”
Aside
from the barangay fiesta of Dalongue, there are two (2) other important
occasions that the faithful of Brgy. Dalongue are celebrating, namely: the
fiftieth (50th) year or golden anniversary of the statue of St.
Anthony Mary Claret, which was made on April 23, 1965; and the sixty-fifth (65th)
year anniversary of the sainthood of St. Claret, who was canonized on May 7,
1950. It is for this reason that Romano M. Bulatao has requested Fr. Dulay to
bless again the statue of St. Claret in honor and in thanksgiving to our dear
Father Founder St. Anthony Mary Claret.
The
sole copy of the Novena Prayer for St. Anthony Mary Claret which was written in
Pangasinan language on September 30, 1950, will also turn sixty-five (65) years
old towards the end of 2015. Through the collaboration of the KCI-National,
KCI-Pangasinan Chapter, Claretian Publications, Holy Family Parish, with the
endorsement of the Claretian Congregation - Philippine Province, and the kind
approval of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan, may the reprinting of the said
Novena for St. Anthony Mary Claret be realized this year.
May the
spirit of St. Anthony Mary Claret continue to inspire us all, so that together,
we may help God’s people, particulary in Brgy. Dalongue, Sta. Barbara,
Pangasinan. CARITAS CHRISTI URGET NOS!