A faith born in the shadows cast by a single candle in a tightly curtained room of a small farming village in China emerging from the repression of the Cultural Revolution in the early 1980s blossomed on February 4 in the chapel of the Columban Seminary in Manila, as Peter knelt before Bishop Honesto Ongtioco to be ordained a deacon, becoming a minister of the word of God that he had imbibed in the clandestine darkness of his home so many years before.
Peter Dong, from China, was ordained as deacon by Most Rev. Honesto F. Ongtioco, Bishop of the Diocese of Cubao, on Sunday, February 4, 2018 at the Columban House of Studies in Cubao, Quezon City. Included in this article is an excerpt of Bsp Ongtioco's homily.
The newsletters continued to come to the house. So I started reading them and got to know about the Columban Missionaries. I was inspired to learn how they cared for my countrymen; for the many years of sacrifices they had made to help the poorest of the poor. I had probably been to these far distant places where the Columban Missionaries went. It made me realize the difficulties that these missionaries experienced and yet they gave their lives and their hearts to serve the people. How noble it is!
“Is it not a kind of martyrdom that in the midst of all his sufferings, he was not seen with a bitter face? With blood gushing out from his face but lips moving as he was praying the holy rosary – in the face of extreme violence and cruelty is the serenity of the suffering servant."
On behalf of the Missionary Society of St. Columban, Fathers Rolly Aniscal, John Keenan and Christopher Kaamiño received the Plaque of Appreciation from San Ildefonso College, Tanay, Rizal on February 2, 2018 for the meritorious contribution of the Columban Society to the school. The Columbans served in Tanay from 1937 until 1966
