My Family and Santuario de San Vicente de Paul
by Mrs. Suzzane Harder
My husband and I have 4 growing children, 2 boys (ages 12 and 10) and 2 girls (ages 7 and 5). We live at Sarmiento Village, a stone’s-throw away from the Santuario, right behind the St. Vincent Seminary. We have been here for 12 years. We moved in when our eldest son was only 4 months old.
Definitely the convenience of just a 5 minute walk to the then St. Vincent’s Seminary Chapel is a plus for us. It allowed us to attend weekly Sunday masses. It was easy for us to herd our family into that small gate leading to the Seminary.
Three years ago, tragedy struck. Heading the list of our many trials, we lost our last baby, our 5th child. She was stillborn. We had her cremated and placed her ashes on our altar at home. During those dark times, we suffered from so much uncertainty, from despair and desolation.
And then something happened. The St. Vincent Seminary chapel soon gave rise to the Santuario. The Vincentians started to build the shrine. The building of the Santuario with its Columbary marked a new beginning for us in a way. A year ago, we moved our baby’s ashes to the Vincentian chapel while the Shrine and the Columbary were still being built.
Just as our baby found a new home in the Santuario’s sacred grounds, we too, found our sanctuary in it. We started attending daily morning masses. We found comfort in God’s Word and His promises during the readings. We found strength and hope in the sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist.
The Santuario turned out to be more than just a church where we could attend Mass. We became more and more involved with it. Our young sons now serve as altar servers during mass. We are thankful for the presence of priests and theologians as spiritual directors and advisers for them. We are acutely aware that soon, our children will be seeking the deeper meaning of our faith beyond rituals, beyond traditional prayers. It is comforting to know that our Vincentian Fathers and Brothers are willing to provide these for our sons and us.
Aside from being a place of worship and spiritual development, the Santuario has become a place of fellowship where we gained new friends among fellow church-goers. The enrichment we gained from learning about living in the Divine Will is something we will always treasure. We found pleasure and fulfillment in serving in the pastoral committee.
Through it all, in the Santuario, we learned that we just have to be more conscious of His blessings and have faith when amidst trials. Our journey in faith as a family is far from over. It is assuring, though that the Santuario is there to guide us through.
