As the Pauline Family gathered last Novermber 25, 2012 to celebrate Primo Maestro’s Feast Day, the members of the Institute of Our Lady of the Annunciation (IOLA) held a “soft launching” of the 50th anniversary of the presence of the Institute in the Philippines. The actual celebration will open on January 1, 2013 and will have its culmination on January 2-3, 2014, at the end of the annual retreat of the members.
For the launching, the Annunciationists prepared an audio-visual presentation of the history of the Institute in the Philippines and of the apostolate “in the world” of the members of this Pauline Institute of Consecrated Secular Life. In the name of the members, the Coordinator, Ms. Nelia Tubana, thanked the whole Pauline Family for assisting the Institute from its humble beginnings up to the present time. Special acknowledgement was made of the members of the Daughters of St. Paul and the superiors and delegates of the Society of St. Paul who were directly involved in nurturing the IOLA in its early stages.
The theme of the 50th Jubilee is “Responding to God’s Fidelity.” It challenges the members to recall and thank the Lord for the “abundantes divitiae gratiae suae,” the superabundant wealth of his grace. At the same time, it is a call to respond to God’s faithful love, to repeat in one’s life the“Fiat” that Mary gave to the angel Gabriel at the Annunciation.
The IOLA members will come out with a souvenir publication to mark the Jubilee. Proceeds from this project will be used to help finance an undertaking close to their hearts: the renovation of the IOLA Center in Pasay City.
