Antonio Ibáñez Santos, CSB Professes Final Vows

Many gathered to celebrate as Antonio Ibáñez Santos, CSB, Basilian scholastic, professed his final vows on Saturday, July 3. The celebration took place in the chapel of the Hermanas Instituto de Coadjutoras del Apostolado Social (ICAS) in Ocotlán, Tlaxcala, Mexico. It is a religious community that Antonio credits with moving him in the direction of religious life, especially as it is a community where his sister, Guadalupe, is a member. The chapel is situated across the street from the Basilica of Our Lady of Ocotlán, a famous place of pilgrimage in Mexico.

Over 100 people were in attendance, including the Basilian community in Mexico, the Hermanas ICAS, the Misioneras del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús de Xalapa (the community of sisters with whom the Basilian community work in San Lorenzo), Antonio’s family, parishioners of San Lorenzo in Tehuacán, as well as many friends. Father Paul Walsh, CSB, superior in Mexico, received Antonio’s vows. The ceremony included a very moving Litany of the Saints in which Antonio lay prostrate on the floor and was covered with a sheet as a way of symbolizing anew his baptism when he died to Christ to be reborn as a member of his body, a baptism which he renewed in his vows. His brothers lay the sheet over him.