Curia Generalizia CRM, Via Tribuna Campitelli 6A, 00186 - Roma, Italy

Tre Novelli Sacerdoti Caracciolini dall’India

Tre Novelli Sacerdoti Caracciolini dall’India

Con immensa gioia e gratitudine verso Dio, nostra Madre Maria e i santi Fondatori, condividiamo con voi la notizia che 3 diaconi CRM Alex (Francis) Vadasseril, Twinkle (Thomas) Plakuzhiyil, Binoy Kizhakkeparambil per l'imposizione delle mani di S.E. mons. Jacob Muricken, vescovo ausiliare della diocesi di Palai, Kerala sono stati ordinati sacerdoti nei mesi di aprile (nei giorni 23, 25, 27) nei propri luoghi d’origine. Sono stati eventi gioiosi e straordinari per tutto l’Ordine dei Chierici Regolari Minori, celebrati alla presenza del nostro Preposito Generale Rev. Teodoro Kalaw insieme ad altri confratelli ed amici. Noi, continuamente, benediciamo e preghiamo per questi giovani sacerdoti che siano santi per servire la Chiesa e il mondo.

Auguriamo ai nostri novelli sacerdoti una vita sacerdotale feconda nell’amministrare con amore e sapienza i sacramenti e la Parola alla scuola dei nostri Santi Fondatori: San Francesco Caracciolo, Ven. Agostino Adorno, p. Fabrizio Caracciolo.

Testimonianze dei novelli sacerdoti: 

A MESMERIZING DAY

Our thanks first of all to God who called us to follow Him and to continue his mission by being a member of the Order of Clerics Regular Minor. 

The day, that I dreamed a lot, to be in the alter of our Lord till the end of my life has come to true when I was ordained to the priesthood of Jesus Christ at St Joseph Church Kizhathdaiyoor (my parish) on 23rd April 2022.

“By the grace of God, I am what I am,” Those are the words of the apostle Paul. All that he was, all that he did. All that was good about him, wasn’t him, but the grace of God in him. And this is something every Christian here I’m sure acknowledges, and I stand alongside you in that, and I stand here as a testimony of God’s grace. It’s all of grace. God’s unmerited favour.

The ordination was administered by H.E Mar Jacob Murickan (auxiliary bishop of Pala) and Fr. Aneesh Koovallor CRM was the Arch deacon of the ceremony. The ordination ceremony was in Syro Malabar Rite.

Syro Malabar Rite priestly ordination is rich with many beautiful and meaningful songs and long prayers. In the accompaniments of theses prayerful movements, I really experience the touch of God. That’s all I can explain with my limited words. After the laying on of hands was one of the moments that told me things were different, and that now I’m a Priest of our Lord who taught us to serve! I really can’t put into words why I was in a different spiritual saturation state and was moved so much, other than to say it was the Holy Spirit. The day I am standing first time closer to the alter and celebrating Holy Eucharist was an awesome moment and a deep supernatural enjoyment in my life.

Words fail to describe the greatness of the Lord to me this week.  I feel that I can only echo the Psalmist: “How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me? The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name” (Psalm 116:12-13).

 I am still processing the reality that is now my whole life and vocation.  I am incredibly grateful to God for His goodness and grace in my life and I am grateful to all of my family members, friends and my loving CRM family, who have helped me along this path to my priestly ordination.  I could not have done God’s will for me without your prayers along the way. 

I am aware of my limitations and unworthiness same time I am more aware of the compassion and love of our Lord which is my power house. I request your prayers for my journey towards fullness of religious life as well as priesthood. I entrust myself to the prayers of all the saints and especially of our founders and the protection of the St. Thomas the apostle and to the Bl. Virgin Mary, our mother.

A.M.R.G.                                                                           Fr. ALEX VADASSERIL C.R.M.

 

From Love of the Heart of Jesus: The priesthood is the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  From the words of St. Paul, "No one can separate us from the love of Christ," priesthood is the love of Christ. When I was young, I used to go to church every day to participate in the Holy Qurbana as an altar server, and I was terrified that I would be called to become a priest by God.

 

I remember, my family members used to go to attend the Holy Mass every day and prayed in the evening at home. I predictably play football and cricket and I confidently say that I am the best in many things and this carried over to many of my hobbies and pursuits. I am interested in electronics, automobiles, Drawing and programming in computers. These things carried me deeper and I enjoyed them very much. These helped me to study, I would get an engineering degree, get automobile designing, get a job, maybe get married and go through a life of determinateness.

 

In my school days, I remember in my 10th grade my father was teaching me to drive a car. So, as we were going to my mam's house, which is near our Seminary road,  my father told me, 'let's just visit the Seminary'. Then we went and visited the Adorno Ashram and fathers. Later that same year in 2009, I joined the Adorno Ashram. On vacation, When I was attending a retreat,  I started to get little understanding of the call of Jesus.  During the retreat  I realized that Jesus was carrying me to the dignity of my life, my safety, my security, my determinateness in him, in his love, in his call, in his eternity, waiting, hopeful, lovely, and beautiful. I found myself falling deeply and truly in love with such a loving Face. A mere glance at His serene countenance would give me a gentle peace, a calm encouragement in my vocation. Because, in my life, as I experienced loss, pain, struggle and sin, joy remained inevitable because of Christ’s self-sacrificing love made manifest in the Eucharist.  I have come to know that the final word in all our stories is Christ himself. He is still very much working on my heart. So, I found that I was in my home, he was calling me to his house. On Monday 25th April 2022, I was ordained a priest of Jesus Christ, in my home parish conferred by His Excellency Mar Joseph Kallarangatt, Bishop of palai.  It was a blessed, blessed day. The blessing of God and the grace of the Holy Spirit flowed down to me. The gifts and graces of each prayer, confession, and reception of the Eucharist became present at that moment. I was amazed by God’s enduring, relentless love. As pope, John Paul II said, "Once a Priest, Always a Priest”. I give praise to God for the gift of my vocation to religious life and the priesthood, which He granted for my salvation and service to the Church. Saint Pope John Paul II exhorted all of us to open the door of our hearts to Christ. He was inviting us to experience the fruitfulness of living our lives in the presence of God. 

So, Priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus, pray for me to cling to the heart of Jesus. Holy Virgin Mary, pray for me.

A.M.R.G.                                                             Fr. TWINKLE (THOMAS) PLAKUZHIYIL C.R.M.

 

‘Priesthood is the reflection of the mercy of God towards his people as well as to the person who is called.’ I write this with a joyful heart. I am very thankful to the Lord for His great mercy that he showers on me. I am very grateful to the Lord for giving me the greatest gift, a human being can have on the earth: the gift of priesthood. I know that it is a call  to be with Him, to experience Jesus' love and to share it with others. In sacraments, especially in the Holy Eucharist, I experience and share the love of our Lord daily. 

    I went to my own parish just a month before the date of my ordination for doing the ministry at home parish as well as for inviting people for the ordination.  I experienced the providential guidance of God these days. As I was nearing to the day of my ordination, I deeply felt the love of God. I prayed and even now I continue to pray that 'Jesus, help me to love you as you love me.'

There are a lot of people who helped as well as prayed for me for making my special day more beautiful. I remember and thank all of them. I also thank Rev. Fr. Teodoro Kalaw CRM, the superior general of our order, for his valuable presence and prayers. I also remember and thank all priests of our order for their presence and prayers. 

 May Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Francis Caracciolo, St. Michael the Archangel and St. Joseph intercede for me to lead a  life pleasing in God and to do His will till the end of my life. 

A.M.R.G.                                                                  Fr. BINOY KIZHAKKEPARAMPIL C.R.M.