| 平成29年２月 |
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February 11th was our 6th year of celebrating Our Lady of the Snow Feast Day. We prayed the rosary and offered candles & roses to the Blessed Virgin Mary while singing Ave Maria in English, Tagalog, and Japanese. Then we had a procession to the altar in the snow. This year's candle-lit snow path was so beautiful. Thank you so much to the hardworking staff who made it breathtakingly awesome. To add to all the miracles, by the time we set foot outside, the snow storm stopped even the windy weather had cooperated. And we were able to make our devotion to Our Lady of the Snow more intimate.
This year, we are glad to have the honor to celebrate it with Professor Tekefumi Terada from Sophia University, who studied at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, for his graduate degree, and did field research in a small town in the Province of Laguna. His major areas of research include folk Catholicism and popular religiosity in the Philippines, especially the popular devotion to Sto. Ni?o (Holy Infant Jesus), and Christian churches in the Philippines during the Japanese occupation period. He is currently conducting field research on the formation of Filipino communities within the Roman Catholic Church in Japan. He has served as President of Japan Society for Southeast Asian Studies.
Another honored guest is our beloved Rev. Fr. Dindo Santiago who comes all the way from Nagoya to witness to this wonderful celebration. Thank you so much Fr. Dindo and Professor Terada.
And of course our Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Michiaki Chihara was with us. We hope all of you can participate in it again next year and the years to come.
For me, I attended with a very grateful heart. Grateful that all the ski- competitions in our school and town this year went well. For the wonderful friends who make living in Shinjo fun and help me forget homesickness for their delicious cooking, patience and understanding. And most of all, I am grateful for the blessing of the gift of life. I appreciate that as the years go by, and our stay in Japan prolonged we can say that our parenting job is almost over. Though our "Good- Enough-Parenting" may vary from culture to culture, I'm happy that God blessed me to be able to see a happy second generation of our family. And I pray, that He will continue to give us firm trust in Him and always rely on His empowering love, and to choose wisely between life & happiness. To these, I ask for eternal guidance though Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.( By: Cristine Sato)
