![](\"https:\/\/padrimariani.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/08\/call-them-brothers-001.jpg\" "\\"call-them-brothers-001\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div>Committed to Christ and service to the Church, three young men who have a love for Mary Immaculate and zeal to spread the message of Divine Mercy professed their first vows as members of the Marian Fathers during Holy Mass on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother into Heaven, Saturday, Aug. 15, at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe feeling is just amazing,\u201d said Br. John Patrick, MIC, of Angola, Indiana, following the Mass. \u201cThis is a tremendous grace. Obviously it\u2019s a calling, and I am not worthy of this. It\u2019s all God.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m ready,\u201d said Br. Ryan, MIC, of\u00a0Lisle, Illinois. \u201cI was born for this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so grateful to God for all the blessings He has given me,\u201d said Br. Harrison, MIC, of Dunmore, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
The three men will now continue their religious studies toward the priesthood.<\/p>\n
The Very Rev. Kazimierz Chwalek, MIC, provincial superior of the Marians’ Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy Province, was main celebrant.<\/p>\n
With friends, family, and fellow Marians proudly looking on \u2014\u00a0both in person and via livestream \u2014\u00a0John Patrick (known as “JP), Harrison, and Ryan each stepped forward to recite the moving words of profession:<\/p>\n
I, (name), for the glory of God and the honor of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and all the Saints, in the presence of the entire Community, through your hands, most Reverend Father, vow to Almighty God in the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, according to its Constitutions, the three vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience for one year. So help me God and this holy Gospel.<\/em><\/p>\n With the vows, they officially became religious brothers, with the suffix \u201cMIC\u201d indicating their membership in the Marian Fathers\u2019 religious community.<\/p>\n Father Kaz accepted and confirmed their one-year vows on behalf of the Marian Fathers and the Church. Following the profession, Fr. Kaz proclaimed, \u201cI earnestly commend you to God Almighty and to Mary Immaculate, our Mother and Patroness, that you may be able to joyfully and faithfully carry out your vows, unite with God, [and] attain holiness and eternal life.\u201d<\/p>\n Father Kaz then presented the new brothers with\u00a0the\u00a0<\/a>Blue\u00a0<\/a>Scapular\u00a0of Our Lady, which\u00a0serves\u00a0<\/a>as\u00a0a<\/a>\u00a0sign\u00a0<\/a>of\u00a0<\/a>honoring\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0<\/a>imitating\u00a0<\/a>Mary, and an invitation for the wearer \u201cto give Christ … your undivided service in the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n The three new brothers then processed to the sacristy where, for the first time, they donned ecclesiastic garments. The change of clothing \u2014 from the white shirts and black pants of novices to black clerical garb \u2014 symbolizes the putting away of the old life and the taking up of the new. Father Kaz prayed that God \u201cremove from your heart the vanity of this world, which you renounced at your Baptism. May the Lord vest you in \u2018the new man,\u2019 who was created according to God in justice and true holiness.\u201d<\/p>\n Father Kaz then presented a related reflection on the meaning of the Solemnity of Mary\u2019s Assumption into Heaven.<\/p>\n He noted that the Church views Mary\u2019s Assumption, body and soul, into Heaven as \u201ca singular gift\u201d by which Our Lady was given the grace to participate in her Son\u2019s Resurrection. \u201cTo honor [Mary],\u201d said Fr. Kaz, \u201cis to reflect on our own life and our future glory\u201d since God has made all of us to be holy and immaculate.<\/p>\n \u201cShe is the sign, the realized sign, because where she is, we shall be,\u201d Fr. Kaz said.<\/p>\n Noting the courageous and momentous step the three men have made by professing religious vows, Fr. Kaz explained the solemn intention at hand. The three vow \u201cto be like Christ\u201d without counting the cost \u2014 to be obedient as Christ was to the Father, poor like Christ, and chaste like Christ.<\/p>\n Yes, it\u2019s a tall task. Still, vows are a special gift whose fulfillment is made possible by the grace of God. When we cooperate with God\u2019s grace, we become more free, Fr. Kaz said, \u201cmore giving of ourselves, more obedient, because the grace is at work. \u2026 The Lord promises that He will be with us, and He will feed us. He will nourish our hearts, our good intentions, our will.\u201d<\/p>\n How? By the Eucharist, and by His Word, which allows us to see all of God\u2019s creation and our Christian mission by the light of His truth \u201cand the light of our eternity,\u201d said Fr. Kaz.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so we look to the future not with fear, but with joy and confidence,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause we know what God has prepared for those who love Him.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch the full broadcast:<\/p>\n<\/div>