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Serenade & Prayer Opportunities
What is Serenade?
(Save the Date: October 18, 2008)
“Serenade” is a tradition that evolved
in the late 90's and takes place during the Saturday evening portion of the
Alpha Retreat. The “candidates” are surprised by a visit from alumni and any
current students in the Alpha Community who gather first at St. Augustine
Church and then carpool to the Camp. Our main purpose is to sing a few
peaceful songs to help the candidates quiet their minds and prepare for the
Sacrament of Reconciliation. In this way we are a special witness to the
history of the retreat and the size of the faith community these students
can now call family. The event not only provides an opportunity for alumni
and students in the Alpha Community to catch up with one another, but also
allows us to show the candidates that they have a large network of people
praying for them. Which brings me to...
They need your
prayers!
(Palancas and Prayer Vigil):
Each semester during the preparation
period before the retreat, we ask the community at large to pray for the
team of students that will be leading the retreat and most importantly for
the “candidates” – the students who will be attending Alpha for the first
time. Many of you have served on Alpha Teams and remember what it was like
to prepare for 5-6 weeks before the retreat. We encourage you to share your
memories and words of support by writing "palancas" (letters of support and
encouragement) to the current Team. We usually send an e-mail with the list
of the students' names, but if you don’t know the students personally, you
can mail or e-mail a note and ask that it be copied and given to each of the
team members. You can also do this for the candidates. E-mail your notes to
alphapalanca@gmail.com
placing in the subject line the name of the student or All Candidates or All
Team.
We also holding a prayer vigil over the course of the
Alpha Retreat weekend. All around the world members of the Alpha community
will be praying. We invite you to sign up for one ½ hour time slot between 5
p.m. Friday, Oct. 17 and 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19. The goal is to ensure there
is at least one person praying for the students at all times during the
weekend. E-mail your name and ½ hour time slot request to
AugustineAlumni@yahoo.com
Return to the Alpha Alumni Page.
For more information on alumni events, contact Kathleen Cole,
Director of Stewardship & Development, at (352) 372-3533 or
Kathleen@staugustine-uf.org
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