Sisters of Mary to hold tribute concert for Fr. Al

The Sisters of Mary of Banneux will present a two-hour concert that will showcase the talents of the Korean and Filipino students and religious sisters of the charitable institution.

The concert will be on March 14 at 7 p.m. at SM Cinema 1.

This concert is a tribute on the 20th death anniversary of the Msgr. Aloysius Schwartz.

The alumni of the Sisters of Mary invite all the graduates and benefactors to watch the concert.

Tickets are available at the Sisters of Mary Schools in Talisay and Minglanilla at P100 each.

The grand alumni homecoming  will be on March 18, Sunday, at the Sisters of Mary School Girlstown, Talisay Campus.

A thanksgiving Mass will be presided by Archbishop Emeritus of Cebu, retired Ricardo Cardinal Vidal at 9 a.m.

The memorabilia statue of Fr. Al will be unveiled after the Mass.

Msgr. Schwartz was born in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18, 1930. He grew up wanting to be a secular priest and missionary among the poor.

In 1994, he entered St. Charles Seminary in Maryland, finished his B.A. degree at Maryknoll College and studied theology at the Louvain Catholic University in Belgium. He used to spend his vacation looking after the French derelicts.

Schwartz developed a devotion to the Virgin of the Poor when he visited Banneux, Belgium. She is believed to have appeared to 11-year-old Mariette Beco on Jan. 15, 1933. He dedicated his priesthood to her upon his ordination as diocesan priest on June 29, 1957.

Father Al began his ministry of  helping poor, abandoned children and orphans go to school in Busan, South Korea, in 1964.

Schwartz died on March 16, 1992, from Lou Gehrig’s disease that left him incapacitated  for years. He died in the presence of his Sisters of Mary and Brothers of Christ, which he founded in Busan, South Korea, and brought to Manila in 1985. /PR WITH INQUIRER