MAKATI City, March 5, 2013—A series of Saturday Marian conferences slated throughout the year will help deepen the Filipino faithful’s celebration of the Year of Faith.
Themed “In the Year of Faith, reflecting on Mary in Second Vatican Council and thereafter”, the string of conferences started last March 2 and will end on November 9, 2013.
Giving the opening remarks, Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles called Filipinos ‘pueblo Amante de Maria’ or ‘a people in love with Mary’ and that the Year of Faith represents a time for the faithful to reflect on Mary’s role and what can be learned from her.
‘Full of hope’
Admission is free for the conferences, which will be held every first Saturday of the month from 1 – 6pm at the San Carlos seminary, Guadalupe, Makati City.
The first conference last March 2 featured the showing of “The 13th Day”, a film on the Marian apparitions to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917.
Former ambassador to the Holy See Howard Dee introduced the film saying, “I can’t tell you anything about Fatima that you do not already know.” But he added, the Fatima messages have always been ‘full of hope’, encouraging the attendees to watch the film.
What Vatican II says about Mary
The next conference on April 9 will be a video lecture by Fr. Robert Barron on ‘Mary in Catholicism’.
Fr. Catalino Arevalo, SJ will talk about ‘Mary, Model of Faith in Benedict XVI’ in the next conference on May 4.
‘Devotion to Mary after the Second Vatican Council’ will be tackled by Bishop Teodoro Bacani on June 1.
Archbishop Arguelles will discuss ‘Mary in God’s Plan of Salvation in the Second Vatican Council’ on July 6.
On August 3, the topic, ‘Mary, Figure of the Church and Virtuous Model of the Church in the Second Vatican Council’ will be given by Bishop Bernardino Cortez.
Bishop Broderick Pabillo will give a talk on ‘Mary, Mother of the Church and Disciple of Christ in the Second Vatican Council’ as the October 5 topic.
Lastly, on November 9, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle will give a timely talk on ‘Mary, Star of the New Evangelization for the Transmission of Christian Faith’.
For inquiries, email valuesmetric@gmail.com or call (02) 403-4534, (02) 895-8855, +63917-5966031. [Nirva’ana Ella Delacruz]
