Four Salesians Profess Final Vows

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Four Salesians of Don Bosco made their final vows Aug. 17 during a Mass at the Marian Shrine in Stony Point.

They are Brother Leonard Carlino, S.D.B., Brother Sasika Lokutettige, S.D.B., Brother Ky Nguyen, S.D.B., and Brother Craig Spence, S.D.B.

Father Timothy Zak, S.D.B., provincial of New Rochelle-based Province of Canada and the eastern United States, celebrated the Mass and received the vows in the name of the rector major of the Salesians, Father Angel Fernandez Artime, S.D.B. His homily focused on the importance of the brothers being “ambassadors of Christ in today’s world.”

Brother Carlino, 28, is a native of Hauppauge, L.I., made his first vows in 2013. He is beginning his third year of theological studies at the Jerusalem campus of the Salesian Pontifical University.

Brother Lokutettige, 37, who is from Sri Lanka, was raised in a Salesian parish and completed initial formation there. He studied theology in Jerusalem before transferring in 2015 to the New Rochelle Province. He has been a member of the community at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J., for four years, teaching theology to freshmen. He made his first vows in 2016.

Brother Nguyen, 32, who was born and raised in Vietnam, began his Salesian formation in that country in 2004 and made first vows in 2011. He spent six months with the Salesian community in Orange, N.J., and served at Salesian High School in New Rochelle, 2017-2018, where he learned about American culture and language and did youth ministry. He is starting his second year of theological studies at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.

Brother Spence, 42 is originally from Mobile, Ala., and later resided in Missippi. He joined the Salesians as a lay missioner in 2001, serving first at Don Bosco Tech in Paterson, N.J., and then at Mary Help of Christians parish in Manhattan. Making his first vows in 2013, he completed his practical training at Salesian High School, New Rochelle, 2015-2017, where he taught freshmen religion and did youth ministry. He is starting his third year of theological studies at Salesian Pontifical University in Jerusalem.