Thanks be to God!  It was a fair day.  The weather was good though dark specks in the sky were seen.  It was September 5, 2008.  This day marked the beginning of new hope for Camillus Medhaven and the entire Philippine province. It was the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of a two story building with a sixty bed capacity.

The ceremony began at 4:00 in the afternoon.  At the middle of MedHaven’s open space was a huge tent.  Chairs and snacks were prepared for more than a hundred visitors.

The whole St. Camillus College Seminary Community came and filled up the space.  The St. Camillus Novitiate community and the Blessed Luigi Tezza Community were also present.  And of course the whole Camillus Medhaven Community and some of their benefactors were there too, as well as the construction workers.

The ground breaking ceremony was graced by the presence of the Provincial Superior, Fr. Ivo Anselmi, and other Camillian priests: Fathers Rolly, Gabby, Meng, Ruben, Rey, Rodel, Nato, Bien, Wilson and of course, Fr. Sam, Camillus Medhaven Director.  The presence of Architect Santiago was also much appreciated.

The program started with a prayer by Bro. Bernard. Fr. Sam then gave his opening remarks. This was followed by a song rendered by Medhaven’s pioneer residents and then by the presentation of the plan by Architect Santiago.  A meaningful message from the Provincial Superior capped the short program.  The ground breaking ceremony then followed promptly.

To everyone’s surprise, the ceremony turned out to be a mixture of Catholic and animistic rituals.  Besides the traditional Catholic blessing, there was also a ritual of blood (from six chickens) being sprinkled on the ground.  This expressed the belief that the animal’s blood will help provide the building with a strong foundation. It called to mind the image of those martyrs who shed their blood for the sake of the kingdom of God.  Pity those innocent chickens, however!

The celebration was indeed successful.  We were filled with excitement as we imagined what it would be eight to ten months from now – when the seed of a new building that has fallen to the ground would have sprouted into a complete edifice in the grounds of Camillus Medhaven.