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On Sunday, June 18, the College had its closing event. In it we had the opportunity to enjoy a good meal and then give recognition to all the seminarians who have spent three or more years at Mater Ecclesiae. It was a day of fraternity and gratitude for the end of the course. Seminarians Elkin Jesus Ardila from the diocese of Cucuta, Colombia; Moses Wenengbi from the diocese of Tambura-Yambio,

On Sunday, June 18, we had the visit of Archbishop Jorge Patrón Wong, Archbishop of Xalapa. He accompanied the community in the Eucharistic Celebration. Jorge has been very close to the community of Mater Ecclesiae. He gave the community a relic of Bishop Rafael Guizar y Valencia, which we unveiled at the end of the Eucharistic celebration. Later he accompanied us during breakfast.  

On Corpus Christi Sunday the Mater Ecclesiae community had our procession through the school. It was a cloudy and cool afternoon. The seminarians prepared 3 stations where we prayed and gave the blessing to those present. The altars were prepared by the communities of Africa, America and India. The Lord blessed us with good weather and a fervent atmosphere of prayer. The procession was animated by the different communities.

In today's conference , Fr. Pierre Salabert, LC, shared with us a reflection on the intellectual dimension in priestly formation, which does not consist of a purely academic preparation, because being at the service of pastoral ministry and nourished by the human and spiritual dimension, it necessarily takes place in a formation community. This is why the candidate for the priesthood is formed in the seminary and not only by attending

Today Fr. Enrique Tapia, L.C., rector of Maria Mater Ecclesiae College, shared with us his experience of vocational discernment: his call to the priesthood, his formative journey in the seminary, his ministry as a deacon and as a priest. We thank him for his priestly testimony and for his service as rector of our college.

Today Fr. José Oyarzún, LC, rector of the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum, spoke to us about the relationship between academic studies and evangelization. Intellectual formation is essential in priestly formation because it allows us to better understand the mystery of God and through this understanding the faith can be communicated adequately in any cultural context  

After two months, we restarted the weekly formation conferences, welcoming the first-year seminarians who began the two-year cycle of conferences on formation of formators. Today Fr. Ignacio Sarre, LC, spoke about responsible freedom as an indispensable condition for responding to the priestly vocation, the risks of a freedom not lived in truth, and the external and internal obstacles that limit our freedom.  

Today seminarians, deacons and priests from our College, we took a community trip to the City of Florence, one of the cradles of art and architecture. We spent a beautiful day around the city, Churches and museums. At the end of the day we celebrated Holy Mass in the Church of the Holy Apostles.

As part of our formation program we had the conference "What Church? What Priest? What Formation?" by Card. Lazzaro You Heung-Sik, prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy. Here is an extract of his words: "Three questions: 1) What Church? 2) What priest (for this Church)? 3) What formation (for this priesthood for this Church)? Actually, all three have the same answer: the Church of Christ is fundamentally mystery, communion and mission. Having stated these three

Eucharist of the Solemnity of Christ the King Conferment of the ministries of Lectorate and Acolytate by H.E.R. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Co-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization. May the Lord bless their vocation and the ministry they received today. Here is an extract from the homily: "Today, the Solemnity of Christ the King, the Gospel of St. Luke reminds us that Jesus is not a king who thinks about saving himself, but a