Aesop, the Greek philosopher & writer of the 6th Century BC, wrote the fable of the Turtle and the Rabbit, a story universally popular with children of every era and country. Aesop often used the number five “5” as a lucky number and good fortune for the characters in his many fables such as The Ants & the Grasshopper and The Dog & the Wolf. On September 4th, the Center for Ignatian Spirituality of the Jesuit Vietnam Province celebrated its “5th” year of service with a Mass and welcome ceremony with new program participants at Peter Favre retreat center in Ho Nai. The 5th year event provided a prayerful and joyful start to the new academic year. And we hope, a year of good fortune!
Attending the opening were the 40 new participants in the two multi-month programs at the core of CIS’s service to the Vietnamese Church. The two programs, each consisting of 20 participants ideally equally divided between men and women, are:
The Program in Spiritual Accompaniment and Giving of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, which includes 7 priests from 5 dioceses and 13 nuns from 10 congregations, and
The Ongoing Formation for Formators, which includes 7 priests from 5 dioceses, 2 priest from a congregation, 1 layman from Focolare, and 10 nuns from 10 congregations.
Bishop Joshep Tran Van Toan of Long Xuyen Diocese and Bishop Joshep Nguyen Tan Tuoc of Phu Cuong Diocese with CIS staff. Superiors of male and female religious communities also attended.
Some dioceses are sending their priests to CIS for the first time, including Fr. Tran Van Tri of the Diocese of Thai Binh, standing with Fr. Julio Giulietti, SJ, of CIS.
The Program in Spiritual Accompaniment and Giving of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises runs for eight months program and On-going Formation runs for four months. Both are full time and centered at CIS at Dac Lo Center. Participants of both programs – diocesan priest, members of religious communities and lay persons live in Saigon for their time at CIS.
Video of the event:
- A TRAINING PROGRAM IN SPIRITUAL ACCOMPANIMENT AND THE GIVING OF THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES – The Center for Ignatian Spirituality (trungtamlinhdaoinhadaclo.com)
- A PROGRAM OF CONTINUING FORMATION FOR THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FORMATION OF THE YOUNG RELIGIOUS (Formation for the Formators) – The Center for Ignatian Spirituality (trungtamlinhdaoinhadaclo.com)