Today we all gathered in Don Bosco Hall to take part in the Oponing Day of the Second Semester. After the words of welcome by Fr. Biju, we were introduced to our new lecturers. Then, having some time to meet each other with the cup of coffee, we all listened very attentively to the to lectures delivered to us by our fellow students. The first one, about Lorenzo Scupolli's book Spiritual Combat was prepared by Emanuele. Then we listened to Sandy who proved, again!, that the Holy Spirit is God. His lecture was based on St Basil’s monumental treatise On the Holy Spirit.

Today the community of Ratisbonne celebrated the feast of St. John Bosco.  In preparation for this great day the community celebrated a triduum of days in preparation.  The focus of these preceding days has been the Stenna of the rector major, asking Salesians to come to great knowledge of Don Bosco as the Congregation prepared to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of his birth.

The Feast itself was made especially beautiful by the ordination of one of our brothers, Nesly Leonard, to the diaconate.  Archbishop Antonio Franco, Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem,  was the ordaining bishop.  He spoke to the community of his love and respect for the great saint and educator of youth.  He stressed in a special way the need of serving and sheepherding the flock entrusted to the care of the ordained.  Concluding a festive meal of gratitude with invited guests, Deacon Nesly expressed his thanks to the archbishop, the superiors, and community. Many of the brothers worked hard to prepare for the liturgy and the celebratory meal afterwards. 

Ps. In PHOTOS you can also fin the pictures from the feast of Don Bosco celebrated during and after the Mass in St Saviour Church. It is our parish church.

From January 19-25 we were on our annual retreat.  This year it was held at the original Carmelite monastery in Haifa in northern Israel.  The monastery sits atop Mt. Carmel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea to the east. The preacher was Fr. Eric Wyckoff who preached on the topic, "The Journey into Jesus with Don Bosco". The talks and reflection time were all most helpful to rejuvenate our batteries in preparation for the coming semester.

Each month the Salesian community celebrates Taize.  All are invited to pray meditative chants and reflected upon scripture.  The aim is always to bring greater Peace into the Holy Land, our own lives and the lives of our families and friends.  The Church is beautifully decorated for these events, and various guests from different nationalities, and Christian denominations join us.

Please check also our poster for the dates of future Taize meetings in Ratisbonne: Poster

On Saturday, December 10th, community of Ratisbonne together with migrants gathered in our weekend apostolates celebrated the anniversary of the foundation of the Oratory of Don Bosco. The event was initiated and organized by the pastoral group of animation.

The celebration began with the common prayer Hail Mary – the same prayer which began everything 170 years ago in the sacristy of the Church of St Francis of Assisi in Turin on December 8th 1841. Young Ethiopians, Filipino children with their parents, Polish Sister of St Elisabeth and Salesians from over 20 countires in this simple prayer entrusted to Our Lady all the Oratories around the world. Everyone received a special T-shirt prepared for this occasion. After a short introduction and some magical tricks like those from Valdocco everyone took part in games and won beautiful prizes donated by Brothers of our Community and Salesian Sisters from Cremisan. No one left without a prize!

As preparation for the Mass we watched a moving play made by the Filipino Kids who attend Saturday catechism. They presented the meeting of Don Bosco with Bartholomew Garelli. In his preaching Fr Ivo reminded us that everyone is supposed to be a witness of Jesus by friendship, joy, prayer and thanksgiving. After the Mass all gathered around the statue of Our Lady from where we released 170 balloons with a poster that read “170… and the dream goes on.” After that we continued our feast at tables set by Filipino friends. There was pansit, Arabic sweets, hot chocolate and of course birthday cake!

In this way Ratisbonne at least for one afternoon became the second Valdocco. On the occasion of the foundation anniversary we wish all the Oratories around the world that they may witness every day fulfillment of Don Bosco’s dreams!

The Latin Patriarchate Seminary in Bet Jala hosted the latest inter seminary meeting for the Salesian, Franciscans and Mudelein theology students from Chicago.  The celebrations began with words of welcome from the Bet Jala students and a football tournament.  Other seminarians also joined the junior (high school) seminarians of Bet Jala for friendly games of basketball, ping-pong and billiards.  Following the sports and games was a solemn celebration of 1st Vespers for the feast of the Immaculate Conception.  Finally the day evening ended with a shard meal together on the roof of the seminary with informal conversations and fraternity among the various students and staff.

Fr. Ric Fernando celebrated his 25th anniversary of priesthood.  The community offered a beautiful celebratory Mass in his honour, at which he presided.  He gave thanks for his priesthood and the kindness of all who he has ministered to over the years.  He displayed a gift chalice and patten received from the Jerusalem Filipino communities, made of very ancient wood.  It was symbolic of the eternity and beauty offered by the Catholic priesthood.  Afterwards a festive dinner was prepared along with entertainment and speeches from the community and guests.

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Dear Visitors of our website, in this section COMMUNITY -> MEMBERS you can find an updated information about our Staff and Students.

Today the Studium Theologicum Salesianum celebrates the Dies Academicus 2011-2012. This year is particularly meaningful because it marks theinauguration of the STS as the Jerusalem Campus of the Faculty of Theology of the UPS.

In attendance were the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Franco, the Auxiliary Bishop of Israel Archbishop Marcuzzo, the Archbishop Srei of the Greek Catholic Church and the Custos of the Holy Land Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa. Representatives of the UPS included the Dean Emeritus of the UPS Theology Faculty Giorgio Zevini, current Rector of the UPS Fr. Carlo Nanni. The Provincial of MOR Maurizio Spreafico was also present. Finally, our most honourable guest, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai who gave today’s Lectio Magistralis: “Theology, Wisdom and Evangelization.”

At the center of the Archbishop’s Lectio Magistralis: “Theology, Wisdom and Evangelization,” is the importance of friendship with Jesus. “Christ is the Wisdom of God,” the archbishop said, “but then as a friend, Jesus calls His followers to share His mission of evangelization.”

All that the bishop said was summed up thus:
“Evangelization is like weaving a soft yellow carpet with one’s own life upon which people can walk towards the immortal perfect splendour of Christ.”

Following the talks, there was a magnificent organ recital Tatyana Yurowski. It was hearty welcomed by all. A fitting musical conclusion to an academically rich day.

The archbishop began the Q&A session with a short personal sharing.  The substance of his sharing revolved around the 3 “F's” of his early life - Faith, Formation and Fervour.  Faith: he spoke about the early experience of religion and conversion in his family, and his own call to the Salesian Priesthood. Formation: he said that formation is about having something deeply meaningful in life. Fervour: he spoke of his mother's advice that if something is worth doing it must be done with enthusiasm, especially in the great commitment of the priesthood.
Here is a selection from the several interesting questions put to the archbishop.

Fr. Joseph Cong Doan, rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute, raised a question about the scriptures of the religions of the East and the importance of the Word of God.  He asked how the Christian Bible find an important place in the formation of clerics in a multi-religious milieu.  The Archbishop replied that the scriptures of the East are treasured by their peoples.  Matteo Ricci even included quotes from Confucius in his own work the True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven. He continued that there is a universal significance to these Eastern texts.  But he also spoke of the importance of knowing and promoting the Word of God in the dialogue with other religions.

Fr. Noel Muscat, Director of Formation for the Franciscans, asked about the Catholic presence in mainland China. His Excellency praised the work of the early Franciscan missionaries who were the first to carry the gospel to China, and also gave some information about the vigorous presence of the Church in China today.

Fr. Gianni Caputa asked a question about the work of the International Theological Commission on the topic of limbo. Archbishop Savio gave a very enlightening reply.Iin substance, he said that the commission had chosen to speak rather of the hope of salvation for infants who die before being baptized, and that this was an important theological step forward.

On Sunday October 23rd the Ratisbonne community celebrated Mission Sunday. The Mass began with a liturgical dance by a group of Indian confreres.  Other brothers helped to serve the Mass. The main celebrant was Fr. Biju.  His homily was on that Sunday's gospel readings - "love the Lord your God."  During the course of the celebration various national songs were sung.  The members of the community dressed in traditional vesture from their nations. .

Yesterday the students of Ratisbonne embarked on their first archeological excursion of the year: exploring the Negev. The Negev is one of the most unique historical and geographical regions in the Holy Land. The word itself means "desert" - but not in the sense of utter barrenness, but in the sense of the beauty of simple sparseness.

The first part of the visit was to see the site of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion's tomb on the kibbutuz of Sde Boquer. The tomb is above a richly picturesque landscape of desert.

The next location was the climb up the mountain formation of Ein Avdat.

In the same region as the climb exists former cities of the Nabateans, Romans and Byzantines. All within the same rock formation existed fortresses, churches, houses, in the same geological locale.

One of the most striking spots was the erosion made valley of the Maktesh Ramon. With 42 km in breadth it is marvelous witness to the power of nature and the vitality (this region, so apparently barren is full of flora and fauna). One naturalist guide indicated this to the group with his explanation of porcupines and snakes of the Maktesh.

On October 13th the Salesian community of Ratisbonne made their annual "pilgrimage" to Bet Gemal for olive picking.  The Bet Gemal house is a large property, believed to be the site of the burial of St. Stephen. More recently it was the house of the Servant of God Simon Sgrugi.  There are many acres of trees on the proptery.  From the morning until early afternoon the community gathered in groups to rake, climb, pluck and sort olives on large tarps beneath the trees.  It was a great experience of fraternal bonding.  In the afternoon, the community was carried back in wagons pulled by tractors for a festive lunch hosted by the Bet Gemal community.

The day before the feast of St. Francis of Assisi the Franciscans celebrate the transitus of their Founder into Heaven.  This was a richly celebrated liturgy presided over by the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. PierBatista Pizzaballa.  After the liturgy, in the courtyard behind Saint Saviour Church all the seminaries in the Holy Land, who attended the transitus had an interseminary gathering.  In a climate of joy and friendship everyone ate a good meal and was entertained by various items from each of the respective seminaries - including the Salesians.

This evening Fr. Maurizio Spreafico, Provincial of MOR , visited the Ratisbonne community.  His visit was to inaugurate the new Rector of the Salesian community - our new Don Bosco!  In a prayer service led by Br. Rooney and involving a number of the brothers, Fr. Ivo Coelho took the oath of fidelity and was official installed in his office.  At the beginning of the ceremony, Fr. Provincial read the decree of Fr. Ivo's new office, sent from Rome.The event of the inauguration was duly celebrated with a feast of a meal provided by Fr. Eric Mairura, and Brs. Giuseppe and Szymon.