Vol. o1 : Issue. 03 Abide in love October 2014 – January 2015 From the Editor’s Desk This bulletin carries a series of significant events both in the Priory and the Church at large. The dawn of New Year 2015 brings along renewed hope and vigor among all Christians in Sri Lanka. More importantly, the Pastoral Visit of Our Chief Shepherd Pope Francis combined with the long- Quarterly of the Sylvestro-Benedictines awaited canonization of our Apostle; Blessed in Sri Lanka Joseph Vaz gives us a new impetus for a renewal October 2014 – January 2015 within. Pope Francis in all his messages urged all Editor Sri Lankans to build peace and unity among all Rev. Fr. Soosai Nathan OSB religions and races. In addition, our Holy Mother Church declaring this Year as the “Year of Editorial Board Consecrated Life” makes yet an intense call for a Rev. Fr. Tyrell Alles OSB Rev. Fr. Araliya Jayasundera OSB review of monastic life within the context of the Rev. Bro. Kanishka Perera OSB Church in Sri Lanka. Let us hope that these Address: historic events calling for renewal may not go unheeded on the part of the Faithful. Let me St. Sylvester’s Monastery, Monte Fano also thank all those monks for their goodwill in Ampitiya (Kandy) sending their contributions by way of news Tel: (+94) 81 222 36 84 items. Email: [email protected] Fb:https://www.facebook.com/sylves trobenedictinessrilanka Web: www.osbsrilanka.org From our Conventual Prior Dear Friends, As we begin a New Year we are filled with hope and enthusiasm. The name "January" comes from the Roman god Janus, the god with two faces, one looking to the past and the other looking to the future. This is indeed a time to look back at the year that has just ended and to look forward to the New Year ahead of us. How did I spend this one year of my life that has just passed? Did I use it to advance my goals and objectives in life? Did I use it to enhance the purpose of my existence? Could I have done better last year in the way I invested my time between the demands of work, community, friends and society, and the demands of my spiritual life? What things did I achieve last year and what did I fail to achieve? How can I consolidate the achievements of last year while reversing the failures and losses in this New Year? Through soul searching questions like these we find that a review of the past year naturally leads to setting goals and resolutions for the New Year. There are people who tell you that there is no point making New Year resolutions. Do not believe them. We must set goals and make resolutions as a necessary conclusion to our review of the past year. And we do need to review our lives from year to year because, as Socrates says, the unexamined life is not worth living. This year is a year of blessings to all of us Christians as we welcomed the Holy Father, Pope Francis and witnessed the beloved Apostle of our Island, Bl. Joseph Vaz being canonized. We remind ourselves that we are in the Year of the Consecrated Life. Let us never forget the 3 aims of the Year of Consecrated Life proposed to us by the Pope: to look to the past with gratitude, to live the present with passion and to embrace the future with hope. The three key words are “Gratitude, Passion, and Hope”. A religious and a monk should be a man of gratitude, a man of passion, and a man of hope. Let us make it our primary goal during this year. From these key words I have taken the word “passion” to guide us during the year 2015. Let us be passionate to follow the Lord, passionate to be like Jesus, passionate to spread his love, passionate to evangelize, passionate to be grateful and passionate to be hopeful: “nothing great can be achieved without passion” (Paschal). May God bless you! Fr. Shamindra Jayawardena OSB Formation Apostolate The Vision and Mission Statement of the Sylvestro Benedictine Monks in Sri Lanka Charism - Quaerere Deum: We seek God through Solitude, Community and Ministry Motto - Ora et Labora Vision Statement - Seeking God, Serving the Church. This means We are monks whose calling is to seek God alone with the most absolute and uncompromising singleness of heart. As the word (monachus) implies, we have one and singular purpose: God, and to remain for Him alone. Therefore we desire only one thing: to give God glory in all things (Ut in Omnibus Glorificetur Deus) We are united by our monastic profession of Stability, Conversion of Manners and Obedience (stabilitate sua et conversatione morum suorum et obedientia) according to the Rule of Saint Benedict as lived by St. Sylvester and the tradition of the Sylvestrine Congregation. We create space for God to act through Solitude, Community and Ministry while endeavoring at all times to ‘start afresh from Christ’. We wish to ‘wake up the world’ by sharing with others the joyful experience of meeting the Lord and by striving to respond to the needs of the Church and challenges of our times while being rooted in the living tradition of St. Sylvester’s Priory of Sri Lanka. We stand in awe as we recount the magnificent work God has wrought through the achievements of our pioneering monks now written in glorious pages in the history of the Church in Sri Lanka. We look at the future full of hope and faith in the Lord who invites us to “put into the deep” (Duc in altum). Our hearts burn with zeal to go forth and evangelize as we look forward doing even greater things with an unwavering eagerness towards a history still to be accomplished. We are committed to the quest for peace, often achieved at a greater cost: ‘through a crown of thorns’ (pax inter spinas) We are happy to remind ourselves that as monks “we are lovers of God, brethren and place” (amatores Dei, fratrum et loci) Mission Statement - To spread the Joy of the Gospel through Prayer, Work and Common Life This means We are faithful to the Benedictine Triplet of meditation on the Word (Lectio Divina), Celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours (Opus Dei), and daily work (Opus Manuum) while centering our lives on the Celebration of the Eucharist We aspire to be a caring, a hospitable and a witnessing monastic community by creating stronger bonds of fraternity, mutual respect and forgiving behaviours. We want to be committed educators, inspired by the Benedictine culture of education, empowering the young to appreciate the value of learning and the pursuit of the truth while striving for excellence in all endeavours: academic, sporting and cultural. We wish to be zealous pastors through the ministry of worship (dignified and solemn celebration of the Sacred Liturgy), the ministry of the Word (communicate God’s Word) and the ministry of shepherding (evangelization) by refashioning of the Christian community to form a participatory Church which is a new way of being Church that reaches out in love to the fringes (periphery and frontiers) of the human society in search of the lost, the down-trodden and the marginalized. Education Apostolate Felicitation of Five Soldiers at St. Anthony’s College St. Anthony's College, Kandy recently felicitated five of their old Antonians who have risen to the rank of Major Generals in the Sri Lanka Army. The felicitation ceremony was held on 30th September at St. Anthony's College, Kandy. The event was organized to recognize the yeomen services rendered by them to our nation, especially during the war in the past three decades. They were Maj.Gen. S.W.L. Daulagala, Maj.Gen. M.A.M. Dias, Maj.Gen. K.M.U. Wijerathne, Maj. Gen. K.C. Gunawardena and Maj. Gen. P.W.B. Jayasundara. A special guard-of-honour was accorded. It was followed by a special ceremony at the College hall. Mementoes too were presented to the five distinguished Old Antonians by the Rector Rev.Fr. Henry Bernard Wijeratne. A large number of students, special invitees, family members of the five generals, parents, teachers, priests and Old Antonians were present at the function. Parish Apostolate Feast of St. Jude, Galewela The Annual Feast of St.Jude Thaddeus in Galewela, a substation of the parish of Wahakotte was celebrated on 4th and 5th October 2014 beginning with four-day preparatory novenas. With the view of enhancing religious harmony among major religions, Fr. Suren Peter, the Priest in Charge organized an ‘Utsava Sabawa’ (Religious Leaders’ Get-Together) in which a sizable number of participants were in attendance. The Vespers was presided over by Fr. Yovan Saverimuttu OSB, Parish Priest of Wahakotte and the Festive Mass, by Rev. Fr. Shamindra Jayawardene OSB who was also welcomed by the parishioners as Prior Major of the Sylvestro- Benedictines. Feast of Our Lady of Rosary, Mahawela The church of Our Lady of Holy Rosary, Mahawela, a sub-station of Wahakotte parish celebrated its annual feast on 11th & 12th Oct 2014. This architecturally imposing little church, located at an elevated position, is the envy of many specially the Buddhist community in the vicinity. The church consists of a catholic community of 70-80 families, mostly occupying the church land and others in little pockets scattered in not too far distance. The Vespers was officiated by Rev. Fr. Yovan Saverimuttu OSB, the Parish Priest of Wahakotte Shrine and Festive Mass by Rev. Fr. Araliya Jayasundera OSB, Rector of the primary department of St.