2025 Star of the Sea Postulancy begins

 On Tuesday 7 January, seven young Timorese men – Agio, Alarico, Angelo Belo, Angelo Soares, Armando, Deolindo, and Jeremias – arrived at the formation house (Casa Marista) in Teulale, Baucau, East Timor, to commence the 2025 postulancy program. The program runs for 14 months with candidates continuing on to the novitiate in Sri Lanka.

Next week the new postulants begin their English studies in earnest. The English program is intensive for the first 6 months and involves learning online using Zoom and Google Classroom with three teachers based in Manila. In 2025 there will be a local Timorese English teacher working with the postulants face to face. Br. Paul Bailey, from Australia, also assists online with reading and pronunciation.

On Monday 13 January, the existing 12 (Stage 2) postulants return to the formation house and enter into the final 7 weeks of their postulancy journey before making their application to enter the novitiate in Tudella, Sri Lanka. So, with 19 postulants and 2 formators (Brothers Matthew Green and Raphael Fakaia), the house is a busy place in 2025!