First ordination for bishop, 49th for parish

Last Monday, 17 August, I attended the ordination of Fr Lazaro N. Ervite OSA by Bishop Gerardo A. Alminaza, auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Jaro, at the Extension Campus Chapel of the University of San Agustin, Sambag, Jaro, Iloilo City. Father Roy, as he is known, spent five years as a Columban seminarian but realized that God was calling him to be an Augustinian friar.

This was the first ordination to the priesthood by Bishop Alminaza he became a bishop on his 49th birthday, the 149th anniversary of the death of St John Vianney, 4 August last year. and the 49th of a priest from the parish of Igbaras, Iloilo, a town of less than 30,000. Its patron is St Rita of Cascia, and Father Roy’s ordination took place on the feast of another Augustinian, St Clare of Montefalco.

Father Ervite is assigned to Colegio San Agustin – Bacolod (CSA-B) as Director for Human Source Development.

Thanks to Elvira 'Babes' Paz for the ordination photos.