His Eminence Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales among members of the Assumptionist Community in Brighton and their guests

The Assumptionist Center in Brighton opens its doors to many visitors. On Saturday afternoon and evening (September 30), we were happy to receive the visit of Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, the Archbishop of Manila, Philippines. The Cardinal was in the Boston area to visit and pray with his brothers and sisters in the Filipino-American community and to promote his Pondo ng Pinoy program to feed the poor and provide for the needs of the disadvantaged.

Brothers Eduardo Molina (Ed), Vo Tran Dinh (Dinh) and Carlos Melocoton

On August 28, the feast of St. Augustine, in the Chapel of the Holy Sprit, on the campus of Assumption College, in Worcester, Massachusetts, two young men made their first profession of vowsin the presence of Very Rev. Richard Lamoureux, A.A., superior general,who was home on holiday. As Father Richard said in his homily, "how unpredictable life is!" Ten years ago, Eduardo Molina (Ed), a Filipino, was working as a businessman in Bangkok, Thailand and Vo Tran Dinh (Dinh), a Vietnamese, who was suffering under the historical situation in his homeland as he began his theological studies.

Sr. Diana Wauters elected Superior General, July 24, 2006.

The General Chapter elected Sr. Diana Wauters as the new Superior General of the Religious of the Assumption. We rejoice and are glad!

Sr. Diana Wauters, A.A.

Sr. Diana is from our North American Province and is the Superior of the Chaparral community in New Mexico. She had just been named Provincial Superior and was due to begin her mandate on August 12th.

Cassadaga Reunion

On Sunday July 9, a large contingent of former staff and students of Our Lady of Lourdes High School Seminary (together with a good representation of spouses) attended the first ever reunion, held at St. Anne’s Shrine in Sturbridge, MA. Our Lady of Lourdes opened its doors in 1960 in the western New York village of Cassadaga, an hour’s drive southwest of Buffalo and remained open until 1967. This seminary continued a long tradition of Assumptionist minor seminaries throughout the world known as alumnates. Fr. d’Alzon himself, the founder of the Assumptionists, was responsible for the very first alumnate, not far from his hometown of Nîmes in southern France, Notre Dame des Châteaux. The originality of these alumnates consisted in several factors: that graduates were free to choose any diocese or any congregation they wished; that they welcomed teenagers with very modest means; that classes were kept quite small; that a strong classical curriculum was offered. In approximately the one hundred years of their existence these Assumptionist alumnates worldwide provided the Church with over 4,000 priests and religious, including more than a few bishops.

By Frances M. Tomczyk

On May 17, 2006, the parishioners of Our Lady of Guadalupe were reunited with their beloved Assumptionists at a special Mass and reception. Religious and faithful had not been together since 1998 when the Augustinians of the Assumption handed over the administration of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the Archdiocese of New York.

Fr. Claude Grenache, A.A., Rev. Msgr. Kevin Nelan,
Fr. Peter Precourt, A.A.

In 2003, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe was combined with St. Bernard's Church (both on 14^th Street in Manhattan) to form the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard's Parish. The merger worked out well for parishioners in both parishes. The former buildings of OLG are currently in use for meetings, classes in English and other subjects for immigrants, CCD, and a residence, as well as for gatherings of South Manhattan Pastors under the Vicar for the area, Monsignor Kevin Nelan, who is the present Pastor of OLG at St. Bernard's. The church at the new OLG at St. Bernard's is open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. for services and for the steady stream of visitors who come to pay homage to the Patroness of the Americas.

Mexico Mission

From May 15-25 Assumption College’s Campus Ministry department organized the 21st version of its perennially popular Mexico Mission. Under the leadership of Mr. John Fleming and Fr. John Franck, AA, twenty students, faculty, and friends of the College, who had prepared for the trip over the previous eight months, left for Mexico the Monday after graduation.

Confirmation at Assumption College

Worcester, MA - The Most Rev. Robert J. McManus, D.D., S.T.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Worcester, confirmed seven Assumption College students on the evening of Sunday, April 30, 2006 at the 7 p.m. mass held in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit.

The seven students confirmed were Kristen Berry ’09, Robert Doyle ’07, Melissa Nally ’09, Susan Palumbo ’06, Eileen Ransow ’08, Cecilia Santos ’09, and Ronald Sibugan.

Front of the building

Assumptionist Center, located in the Brighton section of Boston, is home to a small community of Assumptionist religious. Those religious invite a limited number of young, single men who are studying and/ or working in the Boston area to share an experience in Christian community life. While these young people would be primarily involved in studies or work, they must also choose to share common Christian values in a supportive religious atmosphere. They come together on a regular basis for meals, prayer, recreation and meetings during which they try to discover how God is working through them in their daily lives.

Two Filipino men supported by local Catholics were sent home as missionaries in January
by Tanya Connor

“For us it’s a dream come true,” Brother Alex Castro said after a commissioning Mass at Assumption College, Jan. 15, as he and Brother Clemente Boleche beamed at the thought of returning to their native land the next day. “They’ve been thinking about this for a long time and now it’s becoming a reality.” “They” are the Augustinians of the Assumption, commonly called Assumptionists, who founded and sponsor Assumption College. What they have been thinking about – and working on – is founding their first community in the Philippines. Since 2000, young Filipino men discerning an Assumptionist vocation have come here to live with the Assumptionists and take classes at Assumption College. Those who stayed did their novitiate at St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish in Sturbridge, which the Assumptionists staff. Brother Castro, Brother Boleche and Brother Carlos Melocoton professed their first vows as Assumptionists there. They introduced parishioners to their faith and culture through Filipino festivals and the installation of a statue of San Lorenzo Ruiz – their country’s first saint – in St. Anne Shrine’s votive chapel. The Assumptionists turned to San Lorenzo as the patron for their efforts to establish a community in the Philippines.