Growing up Dominik Ostrowski wanted to be a professional athlete. He's from Canada. He grew up playing American football. Ivan Demianenko is from Ukraine. For a long time he was convinced that he would not learn the Polish language and would never find his way in Poland. On September 7, they both took their first temporary vows in the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, it took place at the Oblate Monastery of the Holy Cross.

Although they are from such different and distant corners of the world, there is something, or even someone, that has brought them together. It's the Oblate missionaries and the decision to join the Congregation.

Father General's delegate to receive the vows from the young oblates was the provincial vicar, Father Bartosz Madejski OMI. The Mass was presided over and the Word of God was delivered by Bishop Stanislaw Salaterski of Tarnów. The Mass brought together many of the faithful in the basilica. However, above all, the young oblates were accompanied by many nuns and religious, as the first Saturday of September is traditionally a meeting of consecrated persons at Holy Cross.

During the Mass, Dominic and Ivan wore the religious habit and received the Constitutions and Rules of the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate from the hands of Father Bartosz.

- “Learning the Polish language was not easy for me. Even in English, I don't talk much, let alone in another language. It was a challenge for me to find my way around the Holy Cross, a monastery that is constantly visited by pilgrims. It was the first time I had been to one, and I immediately settled there. It wasn't easy at first to also find time in all this to pray and to work on my spirituality. It took a while for me to find the golden mean in this” -  Dominik shares his impressions.

There was supposed to be football, but are oblates.

How did Dominic's family react to the news that he planned to join the Oblate missionaries? – “It was difficult with my family. My dad still somehow accepted it. He may not have fully understood my choice, but he supported me from the beginning. When I decided this, I was at university and playing football. Ever since I was nine years old, I said I was going to be an athlete, and all my life I've been striving for that. When I told my mother and grandmother about my decision, they were not happy. I am the only son of my parents, and my mother really wanted grandchildren. Now things are calmer in our relationship, but sometimes I get the impression that she hasn't quite come to terms with it all just yet” - Dominik admits.

Being on Jesus' team.

Taking first vows, said Ivan, is to give yourself to the Lord God and to emphasize that you want to follow the path of life that the Lord Jesus walked. – “I want to live like Him - the evangelical counsels. And for me it is a great joy to live them and become a religious. Of course, these first vows are just some initial stage. We make them only for a year. We still have time to finally discern our vocation. Today I am sure that I want to be an oblate and that I want to take these first vows. I don't know, however, what will happen tomorrow. I certainly put myself in God's hands and trust" - admits the novice.

Equally important are these vows in Dominic's life. - "I'm grateful that I didn't take my first vows immediately after joining the congregation, but only now. Every year I discover something new in my vocation. I continue to grow in my spiritual life. Meanwhile, vows are not just saying: "Lord God, I will follow you." This is a concrete, serious and important declaration for me".

Dominic admitted that while at Holy Cross - his identity began to change. Already in the novitiate he began to live the Oblate charism. – “I no longer live my own way. Now, and even more so now, after the vows, I will officially represent Jesus. This is something great for me. It's no longer just me - Dominic. But there is also the community in which I live" - he confessed with a smile.

(text & photos: misyjne.pl; translation: TJ/DJ)