Great turnout on Thursday June 27, at the Diocesan Ministers’ Day, organized by the Diocesan Episcopal Seminary. The event saw over three hundred young altar boys from all over the diocese reach the town of Sant’Alfio, together with their priests and leaders. The theme chosen for this year is “parish as a house of God and of the community” which aims to make the protagonists of the day the children involved in the service at the altar in which Jesus makes himself a gift in the Eucharist.
After the registrations and the opening greeting by mgr. Giovanni Mammino, rector of the Episcopal Seminary, the young people, divided into groups, were guided with reflections, in particular through some figures of modern sanctity, such as Carlo Acutis and Don Pino Puglisi. Then began the procession that took them from the institute of the Daughters of St. Camillus to the Mother Church. Here the solemn Eucharistic concelebration presided over by the bishop, Msgr. Antonino Raspantiwho addressed those present with these words during his homily: “Dear altar boys, faith and listening to God’s will are essential to finding the right path and building our lives on solid foundations. Listen then, dear children, to the Word of God, to your priests, educators and parents. We ask the Lord to grow firm in his will and courage to follow the path that God has established for each of us. Lord, help us to do your will, show us the way and support us on our journey.” The bishop of Acireale also took the opportunity to invite the altar boys to the next annual meeting, which in 2025 will coincide with the jubilee.
At the end of the Holy Mass the passage of the standard diocesanwho leaves the sister communities of Stazzo and Scillichenti and is entrusted for the current year to the parish Saint Martin Bishop Of Randazzo, led by the parish priest Don Roberto Maio.
The afternoon then continued with moments of play and fraternity, which underlined the importance of relating to other realities in order to experience the service carried out in the parishes in an intense and communal manner.
The occasion of this day, therefore, was a moment of growth and spiritual formation, but also of sharing experiences.
Thus, finally, he expressed himself Don Raffaele Stagnittavice rector of the Episcopal Seminary and responsible for the altar boys of the Diocese: “It was a day of joy, celebration and prayer which involved numerous altar servers from our diocese. Our bishop encouraged us to grow as men and women of strong faith, building our house on the rock, as the Gospel suggests. Let us carry this message with us to be in our life with Jesus to serve”.
(Article by Chiara Costanzo, UCS Acireale)
