Capítulo General 2007. Orden de Predicadores. Bogotá 2007.

Bogotá, D.C. 5 August, 2007

THE GENERAL CHAPTER TRAVELED TO THE NATIONAL SANCTUARY OF THE LADY OF THE ROSARY

All the capitulars, including the group of the staff of the General Chapter traveled today to the Religious Capital of Colombia: Chiquinquirá. There, the friars of the Convent of Our Lady of the Rosary were waiting for us, the apostolic groups, the inhabitants and pilgrims that each Sunday go to this National Marian shrine, located in the Department of Boyacá, approximately 100 km of Bogota.

The capitulars were surprised by this welcome. Flags from all the countries of origin of the capitulars, handkerchiefs, songs, working, humble and plain people, peasants from different places of the region, religious from other communities that live and carry out an apostolic work in this place.

At noon we celebrated mass at the basilica (www.virgendechiquinquira.com), presided by the Master of the Order, along with Fr. Tito Belisario Murcia Florián, Provincial of Equator and Fr. José Gabriel Mesa Angulo, Provincial of Colombia. The mass was cheered up by the choir of the Basilica that each day sings its songs next to the renewed cloth of the Virgin Mary in its dedication to the Rosary.

These were very exciting moments because of the greeting and the welcome by the people by the religious community directed by the Prior Fr. Omar Alberto Sánchez Cubillos and by the His Excellency the Bishop of the Diocese of Chiquinquirá, Monsignor Luis Felipe Sánchez Aponte. In the convent there is the San Luis Bertrán de Colombia novitiate, where we can find novices from Puerto Rico, Chile and Colombia: all in all an international novitiate.

This mass was attended by civil authorities and soldiers led by the Mayor of the City José Alberto Dark Villamil, who was very pleased with the visit of the General Chapter and declared the capitulars "Illustrious visitors of the City"; granting the Master of the Order a special decoration for this visit.

Afterwards, a brotherly lunch was shared in the premises of the original Dominican convent, where today the headquarters of the Universidad Santo Tomás are located with distance and attending courses that are given to this region of the southwest of Boyacá. There, a group of Colombian music livened up the meeting with a special repertoire of songs accompanied with tiple, mandolin (typical instruments of the region) and guitar.

UNIVERSAL MONUMENT TO SILENCE
“THE ECCE HOMO MONASTERY”

It was built in 1620, and nowadays it is a center of retreats, managed by the Dominican friars of the House San Martin de Porres in Villa de Leyva. It is truly a place to contemplate quietly the God’s wonders, a reunion with oneself and a favorable space for reflection and meditation.

We visited this place in the afternoon. Images describe everything; it is a place surrounded by vegetation and by some desert places, a blending pleasant for the eyes and fortification for the spirit. Its architectural details have a nuance of Mudejar art, it has the typical elements of a Dominican convent: chapel, cells, refectory, capitular room, classrooms and patio, among others. It was recently restored by the Province of Colombia and it is a places visited a lot by pilgrims, artists, groups in spiritual retreat and tourists. Generally the friars that are going to take the Dominican habit in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Chiquinquirá attend their retreats during a week in that place. It is considered one of the most beautiful architectural works in Colombia.

A COMPLETELY PAVED VILLAGE

After visiting the "monument to silence", we moved 15 kilometers to arrive at Villa de Leyva. A Village founded on June 12, 1572 by Mr. Andrés Díaz Venero de Leyva, first president of the New Kingdom of Granada (nowadays Colombia).

It is one of the most beautiful colonial towns in the country. It is located 2.145 m above sea level "more or less near the stars of Bogota", with an average temperature of 18°C. It has a quite large main plaza and its streets completely paved are flanked by old colonial buildings and by old walls of clay. Inside the Village there is great variety of colonial large houses that have become hotels for families.

We find the church of Nuestra Señora del Rosario in the main plaza; that it is used for encounters for all the parishioners and tourists who visit this place. It is a parish managed by Fr. Iván Garzón Rojas. The house of the friars is located next to the church. There we were welcomed by the Superior of the House Fr. Rogelio Cano Marín and the community constituted by four priests.

It is a place that has an incomparable architectural wealth, its classrooms are decorated with beautiful plants: geraniums and buganviles; typical flowers of the region. We shared a typical meal with the community and then at dusk we went again to the 2.600 meters closer to the stars!

FROM CHIQUINQUIRÁ I COME AFTER MAKING A PROMISE…

There is a song that is normally sung by the pilgrims when they return from their visit to Chiquinquirá. Well, at night some of the brothers sang the song thanking God for this special day that we have shared as pilgrims to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary.

We return home for supper and be able to rest because tomorrow will be a busy day full of many activities in the last moments of the General Chapter; since we will practice that that our brother Saint Thomas reminds us in the prayer before the study: "… Perfection when finishing”

THE IMAGE OF THE DAY

The Master of the Order holding and waiving the Colombian flag of Colombia, who at the beginning the mass, referred to how the colors of all the flags that were in the Basilica melted in the Colombian Tricolor.

Fray Ubaldo
Chronicler

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