Photos by Irvin Kenneby Lee

Regents assigned in the Ateneo de Naga University High School renewed their vows in the Society of Jesus during the community mass in honor of the university patron, St. Francis Xavier, on December 3, 2009.

The high school community witnessed the vow renovation of Br. Wilber “Bong” Tobe SJ and Br. Rico Adapon SJ, scholastic and brother respectively in formation in the Society of Jesus. Both read the vow formula which dates back to the time of the first members of the religious order founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola. St. Ignatius and the first Jesuits used the formula in France.

Members of the Society of Jesus renew their vows twice a year. The vows are perpetual and members pronounce their vows after their initial two-year formation in the novitiate.

Br. Bong and Br. Rico read the vow formula in English and Filipino. The said formula, unchanged since the time of St. Ignatius, has been translated in various languages and dialects.