Construct a Formation House for Sisters in the Philippines
Thursday, December 17, 2009

Project Code: 329-05-19

In many countries of the Western world, convents are being closed for lack of new vocations. In the Third World, things are often quite different, for here there are many young girls and women who wish to serve God and their fellow man in the religious life. Instead the problem is often that the religious houses are too small to accommodate them all. This is the situation for the Holy Spirit Sisters in the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.

The sisters do valuable work in almost every conceivable field, for they do not want to restrict their apostolate to any specific area. Instead, as they tell us, "We extend our apostolate whenever we see a need and whenever the Holy Spirit calls us to a particular service."

In Maddarulug the Sisters run a pastoral center that offers a wide range of programs. These include training courses for catechists, marriage preparation courses, instruction in the Faith, special support for those who leave school early so that they can gain an educational qualification, retreats – especially for nurses and doctors – and much more besides. Additionally, the sisters visit poor families and support them, give basic religious instruction to children in the parish, prepare children for their First Holy Communion and young people for Confirmation. They distribute Bibles to the families and encourage people to improve their lives, both spiritually and socially.

There are many girls and young women who would love to join the Holy Spirit Sisters, but the house is too small. The earliest young sisters had to share their living space, three to a room, but the vocations continue to increase and the young candidates also need space for study and silence in which to grow in their spiritual life. Canon law also requires that young novices and aspirants should be trained in a proper formation house.

Archbishop Diosdado A. Talamayan of Tuguegarao has the highest regard for the work of the sisters and is delighted to have them in his diocese, and he has provided them with a plot of land where they can build a formation house. Unfortunately, the archdiocese does not have the resources to fund such a building, and so he has laid the sisters' needs before us, in the hope that we can help. ACN has now promised the sisters $9,100, so that they will not have to turn away any young women who feel a vocation to the religious life. Will you join in supporting these Holy Spirit Sisters in the Philippines?

Progress: 2% Raised: $ 160     Goal: $ 9100

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