The Grand Solemnity Of Our Parish
It's the most wonderful time of the year. Yes, it's that time of year when we celebrate the feast day of St. Vincent Ferrer with a solemn proclamation of our parish as an archdiocesan shrine. A glorious day, indeed!
Every year, our town celebrates the feast of St. Vincent Ferrer and but it was only this year that we celebrate the solemn proclamation of our parish as archdiocesan shrine. The whole town is filled with joy as we celebrate this momentous occasion. People from all over the country came to join us in our festivities.
It was such a beautiful day—the sun was shining brightly and the air was cool, but not cold. It's a full day of activities. The celebration begins with the 1st mass at 6:00 am followed by the 2nd mass at 7:30 am. Afterwards, there was a concelebrated solemn mass, presided over by Fr. Felicisimo A. Ferrer, our Parish Priest, at 9:00am. After the mass, there was a motorcade procession around the town where all people from different places participates. The procession includes some people carrying candles and walking around the town where then they will proceed to go back to church for another mass.
The Life of St. Vincent Ferrer
St. Vincent Ferrer was a Dominican friar who was born in Valencia, Spain in the year 1350. As a child, St. Vincent had a vision of angels proclaiming him a savior of souls and an apostle of the end times. Because of this vision, he decided that he must dedicate himself to preaching repentance so that people could be saved from sin and eternal damnation.
In his early years he studied to be a lawyer because his father wanted him to be one. However, he soon turned to religious life and joined the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). He was sent to various places in Europe and became well-known for his preaching.
During his time many countries were divided by religious conflicts and two rival popes claimed leadership over the Catholic Church. This division is known as the Great Schism of the Western Church. St. Vincent travelled to France to preach and reconcile the people during this time of conflict.
St. Vincent died on April 5, 1419 while on his way back to Spain. It is said that his body remains incorruptible at his tomb in Vannes, France. His feast day is celebrated on April 5th.
It was a day I will never forget because of so many things happened on today. First, we were able to honor the legacy of St. Vincent Ferrer who was considered one of the greatest evangelizers in history; second, our parish has been proclaimed as an archdiocesan shrine by the church leaders; third, many people are here to witness everything that happened today. Here are some photos during the mass and celebration (all were taken from the facebook page):
I want to take a moment to thank everyone who made this possible. First, Fr. Felicisimo Ferrer who is always there for us when we need him and has truly transformed our parish into a place where people can come together and feel at home; secondly, all those who donated their time and money to help with this special day; thirdly, the Priests from different places for their powerful words about our community; and lastly, all of the people who were there. There's no way we could have celebrated any of this without their support!
As we all know that each day is a blessing, but today was more than that because it's a gift not just for us but also for our patron Saint and also for our town especially to our Church. I really felt that I'm lucky enough because I am one of the chosen people who experienced this wonderful event even though it's just in front of me and my family but still, I consider myself blessed because of the joy that I felt within me after witnessing everything that happened there.
This celebration made me more aware of how blessed we are to have these saints in heaven who are always taking care of us here on earth and especially in heaven, it really shows how blessed we are and how lucky we are because not everyone gets a chance like this one where we can see our heroes every day without them knowing about it.
I think it's very important for everyone to be here at this time because we have proven that our devotion and faith towards God is very strong and genuine. As we all know, Saint Vincent Ferrer helps us in many ways so as a prayerful person I prayed to him that he will continue to help us not just financially or in other aspects but also spiritually because if we lost in faith then everything is gone. Many people came here today and it means a lot to us because they have seen how strong our faith is as a community. That's why I wanted to thank him for his blessings especially on this very special occasion.
St. Vincent Ferrer, pray for us all!
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Thank you and keep safe always!
Indeed, a glorious celebration! I wish I was tere too!