From March 17 to April 15, 2019, six friars of various nationalities participated in a second novitiate experience at the Nuestra Señora de la Asunción friary in Alajuela, Costa Rica. The event was hosted by the Provincial Custody of Mary Mother of Mercy in Central America.

The six confreres were Friars Juan Javier PEREIRA GAONA and Wildo José BOGARÍN from Paraguay; Friars Luis HUARICALLO APAZA and Elvio Saúl CABELLO CORSO from Peru; Friar Oscar Osney RODRÍGUEZ MOLINA from Venezuela; and Friar Henry RAMÍREZ VARGAS from Costa Rica. They were guided by the Provincial Custos of Central America, Friar Jorge Arturo DOBLES ULLOA, and by Friar Marco Vinicio UMAÑA JUÁREZ. The second novitiate offered a variety of experiences—human, Christian, spiritual, Franciscan and missionary—in order to confirm their Franciscan vocation, in view of their imminent profession of solemn vows in the Order of Friars Minor Conventual.
This intensive fraternal experience included time for study, fellowship, prayer and silence. Moreover, the friars had an opportunity to take part in a hermitage experience and to engage in mutual cultural enrichment.
The six friars thank God and their confreres from the Custody for their fraternal and affectionate welcome. May God, rich in mercy, fill them with his blessing.

Friar Elvio Saúl CABELLO CORSO, OFM Conv.