Here I am, Lord

With the motto "Here I am, Lord, a Brother among brothers” and in the presence of hundreds of relatives, friends, Brothers, lay people and religious of other congregations, five novices took their first religious vows on 8 December, feast of the Immaculate Conception, in Passo Fundo.

The new Brothers are: Deomar Biondo, of the province of Rio Grande do Sul (PMRS); Gustavo Luis Prado Ribeiro, of the province of Brasil Centro Norte (PMBCN); Jean dos Santos Arcari (PMRS); Jean Marcos Gregol Gwiazdecki, of the province of Brasil Centro Sul (PMBCS); and José Sotero dos Santos Neto (PMBCN). They have taken the first step towards definitive consecration and admission to the Institute of the Marist Brothers.

The ceremony was presided over by the Archbishop of the archdiocese of Passo Fundo, Don Antonio Carlos Altieri, who recalled the year of consecrated life in the Church and the importance of the various forms of vocation offering in the Catholic Church, including being a Marist brother.

Present at the ceremony were the provincials of Brasil Centro Norte, Br Wellington Medeiros, Brasil Centro Sul, Br Joaquim Sperandio, and Rio Grande do Sul, Br Inacio Etges, together with Brothers Josep Maria Soteras and Eugène Kabanguka, General Councillors of the Institute.