... from Fr. Alberic's office

April 4-11, 2005 In my February update, I mentioned about the monks helping our two workers in cleaning & clearing our modest coconut plantation, which had not been cleaned since the foundation of our monastery in 1972. Thus you can imagine the accumulation of woods & bushes during these years; and how we carried those woods up & down the hills.

Our two workers, Marcelo (wearing red T-shirt) & Mang Roming (wearing blue T-shirt), piled them in certain area and made them into charcoal. In one of my conversations with Mang Roming, he said that he knew how to make charcoal when he was still a little boy and he learned it from his father. This is one of the sources of income for the poor people on this island. After they finished planting and harvesting rice, which depended solely on rainfall, some of them have nothing to do, so they look for woods and make it into charcoal. Mang Roming said that you have to do it properly because if not the whole pile of woods will be burned to ashes, and once you started firing it you have to watch it all night until it is done. It usually takes 24 hours to do it.

These pictures are the 3rd batch the last one. In every batch they made three piles. In that picture you can see Mang Roming piling the woods. It started with small pieces of chopped woods in the center where the fire will be started. Then bigger woods/logs are piled next to it so that it will be burned easily, and so on. The smaller woods are on top since it does not take a long time to burn them. Then it is covered with rice stalks and clay. Underneath, there's a small opening for the wick, made of cloth, and tied at the end of a pole to light those small pieces at the center of the pile.

There were Thursdays, community's common work, that we help them in cutting those woods to different sizes. When they finished those 3 piles, I could not help but think of the 3 tents which St. Peter suggested to our Lord to build on Mt. Tabor during the transfiguration. What St. Peter failed to do, at least Marcelo & Mang Roming had realized. And after a while the imagery shifted to an Igloo maybe because this kind of structure doesn't need nails and hammer to build it. In fact, it really looks like an Igloo. I was really filled with awe & wonder to think how creative these people are and how gracious God is in sharing to human beings the mind to invent and create things.

Aside from their daily wage Mang Roming & Marcelo got half of the total income of these charcoals. They were really grateful for it. Both of them were able to build a new house for their respectively family. Marcelo has his floor in concrete and with corrugated G.I. sheets roofing, and a hardi flex walling. Hardi flex guarantees that termites would no longer have power over them. Mang Roming, on the other hand, prefers his floor to be that of bamboo, but plans to have hardi flex for walling and corrugated G.I. sheets for roofing. This of course was made possible by making a moderate loan from us with zero interest.

April 22-24, 2005 I went again to our Trappistine sisters in General Santos to preside on the solemn profession of Sr. Gabriela on the 23rd. Sr. Gabriela is now the 5th Filipina sister who made solemn vows at the monastery of Our Lady of Mt. Matutum. She hails from Marbel, about an hour bus ride from General Santos. No wonder a good number of her family, relatives, & friends were able to come, besides, it was on a Saturday. Actually, the feast of Blessed Maria Gabriela, a nun of the monastery in Italy where the foundresses of Mt. Matutum came from, was on the 22nd of April, but since it falls on a Friday and the family of Sr. Gabriela would have a hard time to come on that day, the profession was moved to the following, so that her family would be able to attend. The ceremony itself was very simple & beautiful with its proper liturgical decorum plus the lovely & rich season of Easter which sets the atmosphere for a deeper & meaningful reflection on the Paschal Mystery. The sisters really invested time & energy in its preparation. Cebuano songs were sung which the Italian sisters also joined in singing. After the ceremony we went to their guesthouse where the reception was held. All the food & drinks were prepared by the sisters too, and they were really good. At present there 22 sisters in the community 14 of whom are solemnly professed and the rest are in formation. They might have another profession this year, God willing.

This is all for now. God bless you all.

In Christ and Mary,
Fr. Alberic and the monks of OLP

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