Fr Patrick Vance Nogoy SJ pronounces Final Vows before Philippine Provincial Fr Xavier Olin SJ
Two Filipino Jesuits pronounced their Final Vows within days of each other. Fr Patrick Vance Nogoy SJ professed his Final Vows on 15 August in the Oratory of St Ignatius, Loyola House of Studies at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City. A week later and more than 600 kilometres away, Fr Irmo Francis Valeza SJ made his Final Vows on 22 August at Sacred Heart School–Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-ADC) in Cebu City.
Philippine Provincial Fr Xavier Olin SJ presided over both Eucharistic celebrations. The congregations, which included their brother Jesuits, family, and friends, reflected the communal dimension of their vocation: while the response to God’s call is deeply personal, no Jesuit walks that path alone.
The image of Mary’s Magnificat offered a fitting way to understand the significance of Final Vows. In his homily during Fr Nogoy’s Final Vows on the Feast of the Assumption, Fr Mon Bautista SJ stressed how Fr Nogoy’s vocational journey is not merely a sequence of personal choices but a life shaped by holy obedience and Jesuit availability. His daring yet humble “yes” to the Lord, like Mary’s at the Visitation, became a Magnificat: “The Lord, the Almighty Lord, has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
Fr Valeza’s journey in the Society has likewise been shaped by many moments of discernment, grace, and faithful “yeses” to Christ and to a life of service in the Jesuit mission. His Final Vows were made all the more meaningful by the presence of the wider Jesuit community, including his friends, formators, and fellow Jesuits whose prayer and accompaniment have marked his journey. His family, members of the communities he has served over the years and the SHS-AdC community, also gathered to share in the joy of the occasion.
Just as Mary’s Magnificat leads toward her Assumption, Fr Nogoy’s and Fr Valeza’s Final Vows are not an ending but a new beginning. As Fr Bautista said, another “marvelous, beautiful Magnificat moment” for the Lord to do “more and more great things” for and through them.
Photos courtesy of the Philippine Province Facebook page.
