On Holy Thursday, we participated in the mass In Coena Domini, which is The Lord’s Supper. Father Javier celebrated the mass at our chapel and he said in his homily “Jesus has given us the most luminous center of our lives.” We also celebrated the Institution of the Eucharist (Institution of priesthood). Father Buela (our founder) says about what a priest should be “Every priest should be defined as the man of the Mass, a man of the Eucharist.” In the mass, two minor seminarians did the reading, Father Javier washed twelve minor seminarian’s feet, one minor seminarian sang the Psalm, one minor seminarian sang, the four Junior minor seminarians sang at the washing of the feet, the choir sang at the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, one minor seminarian played the organ, and a few other minor seminarians served the mass. We even did our own overnight adoration and Father Javier told us why we were doing this. We were doing this because Jesus in the Gospel asked his apostles “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?”(Matthew 26:40) This was the first day of the Easter Triduum.
 
Good Friday was the commemoration of the death of Christ. It was the day when Jesus died for our sins upon the cross. We participated in the Service at three o’clock at our chapel. Father Andrew presided the Service. Father Javier, Father Andrew, and Deacon Alex read the Passion of our Lord according to Saint John. Four minor seminarians served, one minor seminarian sang the Psalm and one minor seminarian sung. On this day, Father Andrew said in his homily “The cross contained the mystery of salvation because love is lifted up.” This is why we commemorated the Passion and death of our Lord on the cross. This was the second day of the Easter Triduum.
 
On Holy Saturday, we celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus. We had our own Easter Vigil at our chapel. Father Andrew celebrated the Mass and blessed the Paschal (Easter) candle. Father Andrew sang three times in the procession with the Easter candle “Lumen Christi,” which is The Light of Christ. We all responded three times “Deo Gratias,” that is Thanks be to God. Father Javier sang the Exult. Eight minor seminarians sang the Psalms, seven minor seminarians did the readings, a few other minor seminarians served, and one organist (minor seminarian playing the organ). In Father Andrew’s homily, he said we should be filled with joy because Christ has risen from the dead (Rejoice and be glad). Also, he said we should always be attentive to the Lord. This was the third day of the Easter Triduum.
 
We give thanks to God for giving us the privilege to participate at all the Easter ceremonies (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday). While many Christians are not able to participate in these masses because of the difficult situation, we, as minor seminarians are blessed by the Lord because we have a chapel.
 
May God grant you a Holy Easter Season and Happy Easter. Our Lord has Risen. “And everyone who has given up houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children, lands for the sake of my name will recieve a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life”(Matthew 19:29).

We give thanks to God for all the ceremonies we celebrated at the minor seminary in this Holy Week (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday). This has never happened at Saint Jose Sanchez del Rio Minor Seminary in Mankato, Minnesota. It was a special grace from God because every year, we celebrate at the parish Ss. Peter and Paul.

In Christ and Mary,
Adrian Almazan

On May 3rd, we celebrated the feast of Cristo de la Quebrada. This is an important day for our Religious Family as I will explain here below.

On May 3, 1981, Father Buela (our founder) received the foundational Grace, that is, while he was hearing confessions as a diocesan priest in his parish (Buenos Aires), an idea came to his mind of forming a community of priests, as a religious community. In the beginning he rejected the idea but then, the idea came back more strongly. So he discerned it prudently, and consulted about it with other priests. He said it was very clear and that he couldn’t hesitate that it was the will of God.

Now, May 3rd is the feast of Cristo de la Quebrada. The history behind this feast is as follows: By the half of the 19th century, a man called Tomas Alcaraz in the province of San Luis, Argentina, was chopping down a tree to get some firewood. In the trunk of the tree, he found a crucifix (Cristo de la Quebrada). The people in the village “La Quebrada” were amazed and many Christians came to the place for veneration.

Father Buela, as a young priest, went out to preach popular missions. He was really happy when he realized that he had the inspiration to form a Religious Family on the feast of Cristo de la Quebrada.

For this reason, every year we celebrate Cristo de la Quebrada because this feast is closely related to the very origins of our Institute.

On this year 2020, May 3^rd fell on Good Shepherd Sunday. So, we prayed for the increase of vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Father Andrew, who presided the mass, said in his homily “Even when we are priests and religious, we should still pray for our perseverance until the end.”

In Christ and Mary,
Adrian Almazan