by Kenji Dominic C. Hasegawa
“Hard, happy, and holy.” Indeed, these words are what we experienced during our stay at Don Bosco Aspirantate Formation House in Canlubang, Laguna.
Br. Roj Mallari, brother assistant of the aspirants, tackled these words by saying that inside the seminary, the young men receive human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formations. Some may think that all seminarians do is pray. Still, during our stay in the seminary, we had ample time to study and learn with the seminarians, play football and basketball with them as it was a part of their regular schedule, and time for doing chores and work inside the seminary and at the shrine, a time to learn an instrument, and of course, pray. Unlike other seminaries, the Don Bosco Aspirantate Formation House does not have siestas or rest times.
As St. John Bosco said, “Idleness is the workshop of the devil.” My experience inside the seminary allowed me to appreciate work, chores, and the structured schedule because I have avoided the temptation to sin.
One thing that I will always remember during my stay there is the community life. In many activities of the seminarians’ schedule, there were many times that we stayed together. The seminarians did it together, from Lauds and Vespers to eating in the refectory, washing dishes, playing football and basketball, and singing as a choir. Of course, as men are formed to become instruments of the Lord, the prayer life is always present.
From waking up in the morning until we rest at night, God is always present in everything we do. For me, it became essential to allow God to accompany me in everything I do because I feel fulfilled every time I accomplish an activity. During our three-day stay inside the seminary, it became more apparent that it was still a part of the discernment process. Though they are still discerning, they already see they are for a consecrated life. For me, it was not those three days that would determine whether someone would already enter the seminary, but rather a peek into the life inside and seeing if it fit them.
At the end of the day, it was the “yes” to God’s call to try the life inside the seminary. As the Salesians said, we are already taking our discernment process seriously when we say yes to opportunities given to us.
It was truly hard because living such a structured life was new for me. I was truly happy because I was in the presence of a happy and fulfilled community. It was truly holy because God was present in every activity we did inside the seminary. The seminary forms these young men to live for the youth.
Truly, Don Bosco’s dream lives on through these young men formed inside the seminary to become men who will save souls.