Aristotle Miranda Maniago
Back in February, Bishop Bobet Mallari invited me and Donna for dinner in his residence at the Assumption University where he currently serves as President. So, we went there one evening and another priest friend Father Sito was there as well. We had dinner with a seminarian named Aris and he mentioned that he was about to be ordained.
As always Donna and I had a pleasant conversation after dinner with the two priests, extending to Bishop Bobet's room where we had an impromptu counselling session with them - sharing some of our frustrations in our new life here in the Philippines. With our heartaches out of our chests, we parted promising to see each other again.
The day after, we were having lunch at Mangan, a restaurant in the mall. We were quietly having our meal when a young gentleman approached me attempting to kiss my hand (siklod - a traditional sign of respect to the elderly). When he realized I didn't recognize him, he reminded me we had dinner with the priests the night before. He invited us to join him during his ordination. I asked for his name again, he said it's Aris Maniago and that he's from Sta. Ana. You can imagine my surprise upon hearing this - a Maniago and a would be priest, at that! So I told him, of course, we'll be at his ordination.
Which brings us to today, March 4, his ordination. This morning, friend Allan Sanchez sent me a text message wanting to hang out since it was his last day of vacation. I told him sure, but at 3 pm Donna and I have to go to this ordination. He seemed interested so we invited him to come. We picked him up at a little past noon, had lunch at Cely's and then we went to Sta. Ana church. The place was packed when we got there, we barely had room to park.
This was our first experience and for those of you who haven't been to an ordination, it's a really cool ceremony. There were lots and lots of priests including Pampanga's archbishop Apu Ceto and the two auxiliary bishops, Bobet and Ambo.
The ceremony took two and a half hours. It was long but it was never boring. I guess it was considered a high mass - a lot of singing and all of the priests giving their individual blessing to the soon to be ordained priest and giving him a hug once he got ordained by the archbishop. It felt like a special graduation ceremony and/or wedding sort of thing.
Father Aris delivered a speech towards the end of the ceremony and his voice broke when it came time for him to thank his parents and his relatives. He also sang a beautiful song, flawlessly in a beautiful voice, I think dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
A lot of Assumption University students were in attendance along with the school staff probably because Father Aris graduated from nearby Mother of Good Counsel Seminary. We also met former teacher Mrs. Umali there who's a resident of Sta. Ana. By the way, this is Sta. Ana, Pampanga and not Sta. Ana in Orange County!
I'm kicking myself in the butt because I forgot to insert my digicam's memory stick so all I was able to shoot are the six pics from the camera's built in memory.
As always Donna and I had a pleasant conversation after dinner with the two priests, extending to Bishop Bobet's room where we had an impromptu counselling session with them - sharing some of our frustrations in our new life here in the Philippines. With our heartaches out of our chests, we parted promising to see each other again.
The day after, we were having lunch at Mangan, a restaurant in the mall. We were quietly having our meal when a young gentleman approached me attempting to kiss my hand (siklod - a traditional sign of respect to the elderly). When he realized I didn't recognize him, he reminded me we had dinner with the priests the night before. He invited us to join him during his ordination. I asked for his name again, he said it's Aris Maniago and that he's from Sta. Ana. You can imagine my surprise upon hearing this - a Maniago and a would be priest, at that! So I told him, of course, we'll be at his ordination.
Which brings us to today, March 4, his ordination. This morning, friend Allan Sanchez sent me a text message wanting to hang out since it was his last day of vacation. I told him sure, but at 3 pm Donna and I have to go to this ordination. He seemed interested so we invited him to come. We picked him up at a little past noon, had lunch at Cely's and then we went to Sta. Ana church. The place was packed when we got there, we barely had room to park.
This was our first experience and for those of you who haven't been to an ordination, it's a really cool ceremony. There were lots and lots of priests including Pampanga's archbishop Apu Ceto and the two auxiliary bishops, Bobet and Ambo.
The ceremony took two and a half hours. It was long but it was never boring. I guess it was considered a high mass - a lot of singing and all of the priests giving their individual blessing to the soon to be ordained priest and giving him a hug once he got ordained by the archbishop. It felt like a special graduation ceremony and/or wedding sort of thing.
Father Aris delivered a speech towards the end of the ceremony and his voice broke when it came time for him to thank his parents and his relatives. He also sang a beautiful song, flawlessly in a beautiful voice, I think dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
A lot of Assumption University students were in attendance along with the school staff probably because Father Aris graduated from nearby Mother of Good Counsel Seminary. We also met former teacher Mrs. Umali there who's a resident of Sta. Ana. By the way, this is Sta. Ana, Pampanga and not Sta. Ana in Orange County!
I'm kicking myself in the butt because I forgot to insert my digicam's memory stick so all I was able to shoot are the six pics from the camera's built in memory.
posted by reyjay @ 8:34 PM
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