Years of Study
He entered St. Lawrence friary in Milton on July 31, 1964 to begin an intense study of the life of St. Francis and the Capuchin Franciscan Rule. The life of this novice would be evenly divided over the next two decades – one decade for spiritual formation and study on both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and the second decade for pastoral community activities within the Diocese of Agana for the faithful and the members of the Capuchin mission of the Vice Province.
The life of a novice and religious is marked by a series of milestones on the path to the priesthood. These include the Profession of Vows, Graduation with the awarding of academic degrees, and Ordinations. Throughout this time of preparation he continued to write to his parents affectionately in his native tongue, while he wrote to others in his second language.
The future Bishop made his First Profession of Vows on September 1, 1965 upon completion of his Novitiate year. Reflecting on the experience years later he mused: “We view the world as being both sacred and profane and teach the candidates that in order to be more effective in such an environment one has to become a religious in a secular world.” For the next four years he studied at St. Anthony Capuchin College majoring in Scholastic Philosophy. In the fall of his senior year, four years after entering the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, three years after his first profession, and two months short of his twenty third birthday, he made his short profession on September 1, 1968 at St. Anthony’s Friary, Hudson New Hampshire. The next summer St. Anthony Capuchin College awarded him a Bachelor of Arts Degree on June 1, 1969.
The next five years would be dedicated to the study of theology and liturgy, first at Garrison, then at Maryknoll, and finally at Notre Dame. Sorrow would be mixed with joy in these years as Ana Santos Sablan, his mother, passed to her eternal reward without seeing him reach the altar of ordination. He would share a touch of his closeness with his mother during his first sermon as a deacon and at her burial.
Classes for the first year of theology, starting in the fall of 969, were taken at the Capuchin Theological Seminary in Garrison, New York. For the final three years of theology the Capuchin students went to Maryknoll School of Theology in Ossining, New York. The second year went by swiftly. The third year of theology would mark his ordination after the ancient custom of Religious Orders.
The next milestone on the path to the priesthood would be the deaconate ordinations scheduled for December 4 in New York. The parents of Anthony Sablan Apuron eagerly looked forward to that day when they would be with their son. Before the day arrived his mother Ana was found to be suffering from cancer. The disease followed its course more rapidly than expected, so plans to go to New York were revised and Anthony returned to Guam. He was with his mother when she died at Guam Memorial Hospital on the evening of December 6. Her Capuchin son continued with plans for his ordination, so that he might assist at her funeral as a deacon. While the traditional rosary was being said nightly, her son was ordained to the subdeaconate St. Fidelis Friary on December 11, and the next day to the deaconate at the Agana Cathedral on December 12. The newly ordained deacon spoke about his mother on that day in these words:
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“I believe that my mother who fostered my vocation at home and allowed it to grow in the church is now with the Lord receiving her hundredfold not in this life in her present eternal life. And I will believe that if we too do the will of the Father, we shall also receive that hundredfold if not in this life in the next.She bore and labored to see her son up on the altar some day soon was granted her wish not as she wanted but as God wanted. And so, just as Christ died that others might live, just as my mother died that I might live. May I too lay down my life daily that might live. May I live the trust I show you here today. And may God’s blessings be upon you for the work, the sacrifices you did to see me to this day.”[/block_quote]
On December 14, he delivered the eulogy at the funeral of his mother. He shared his remembrance of his mother as a young boy at home:
[block_quote]“She was a faithful wife to her husband and a devoted mother to her nine children. She knew no bounds to selfless giving and sacrifice – many of which were over and beyond her normal call of duty as mother. She though nothing, for example, of spending hours on ed before her well-used outdoor oven baking her own brand of bread or else roasting pigs all requested by friends and relatives for a festive occasion.Many were the time she accompanied me to weekday masses, walking to church at times amidst pouring rain.”[/block_quote]
As a loving son he remembered her in the final moments:
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“We bring her to church for the last time as we are about to put her body to rest. Our tears are tears of sorrow for we have lost a faithful and devoted and loving mother. But our tears are also tears of joy and hope for we know that she is seeing the Lord, not like in a mirror, as St. Paul says, but face to face. In losing our earthly mother, we have gained a heavenly one.”The young deacon returned to Maryknoll to complete his third year of theology. He was assigned to work at a home for girls staffed by the Good Shepherd Sisters as part of his deacon training. The girls were honest and sincere, asking him at times for proof of what he said. In this apostolate he found the more actively involved he became the more they became interested. For example in Penance Liturgy he “had four girls dramatize a Gospel reading, pick out songs and choose slides for them. They did so well that the rest were to moved they cried during the ceremony and a number went to confession in preparation for Easter.” In reflecting later on this experience he said: “This is one example of how working with people has enabled me to be sensitive to them and not to take them for granted.”
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In May 1972 he received his Master of Divinity Degree from Maryknoll Sschool of Theology, and began preparations for his ordination to the priesthood. His mother had given him her gold ring and a gold piece for his chalice. He asked the other members of his family, including his father, to contribute equally to the chalice. On the ordination invitation was the Jerusalem Cross generally recognized as the Crusader’s Cross. It is composed of four smaller crosslets indicative of the four corners of the world with the larger cross in the center indicating the spread of the Christian Gospel of Salvation.
Bishop Flores ordained him to the priesthood on August 26, 1972 in the Agana Cathedral. The new priest became the first to receive sacerdotal ordination from the hands of Bishop Flores. A little more than a decade later this same priest would be the first to receive Episcopal ordination from the same Bishop.
Fr. Anthony Apuron left Guam for an additional two years of study, the final year of theology and a graduate program in Liturgy. The fourth year of theology again saw the integration of the Apostolate with formal studies. He went regularly on the weekends to St. Barnabas parish, in Bellmore, Long Island, assisting as curate, as moderator of the fold group, and in conducting services for the grammar CCD children. He wrote of this experience:
[block_quote]“My life has been continually renewed because of the many efforts and interests of people I love, know and work with and for all this I am very grateful to God daily. My ministry so far has been enriching and self-fulfilling because of those who continually share their lives with me.”[/block_quote]
During this year the pastoral heart began to grow within the new priest. Over the Christmas holidays he enjoyed the company of the teenagers in the folk group at St. Barnabas, took time to enjoy some four part harmony singing with his fellow friars in the city, then visited with families and former CCD students from Milton. Looking back over this first Christmas as a priest he reflected: “I felt relaxed and self-fulfilled in being able to share my life intimately with some of these individuals and families because they do not realize how much they mean to me, how much they help me grow and mature as I work and pray for them.”
The work of the spring semester for a fourth year theologian at Maryknoll was the preparation and defense of his thesis. Fr. Apruon wrote his thesis on the “Structural Analysis of the Concept of Myth in the Thought of Mircea Eliade.” The successful defense too place over a period of two hours before three examiners on May 15. After it was all over he said: “What an ordeal that was. The one who directed me in the thesis project…was more helpful not only during the defense but during the entire work. I am eternally grateful to him for his patience and endurance.”
A little while after receiving his Master of Arts Degree in Theology from Maryknoll he went to Hudson for the wake of the father of a former CCD student. He spoke a few words of comfort to the family of the late David Snell assembles in the funeral home and later wrote of it this way:
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“I spoke of him simply as a man who in his quiet and simple way was able to exhibit love and concern for his wife and his child, as a good and loving father and husband, was generous of this time and talents to all who came upon him. I called for the faith and support of those present during their period of mourning in the hope that by the consolation and mine we would be able to lighten the heavy cross laden upon them at this time.”
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The young priest left the east coast for the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana to begin an intense year of study in Liturgy. He took up residence at St. Joseph’s High School and served as chaplain to the Holy Cross Brothers and Holy Cross Sisters on the faculty. As he assisted in St. Barnabas parish, Bellmore, while at Maryknoll, he went to Holy maternity Parish Dowagiac, Michigan on weekends. During the year he worked closely with the parish youth and in the spring conducted a retreat for them. At the May Commencement in 1974 he received his Master of Arts Degree in Liturgical Studies from Notre Dame. In a short while he made plants to return to Guam after a decade of preparation for his ministry.
Pastoral Years
The year (literally, to the shores) of return, 1974, marked the first ad limina (to the shores) visit of Bishop Flores to Rome. He returned with the good news that four priests were given Papal Honors by Pope Paul VI. The late Msgr. Jose Leon Guerrero was raised from Chaplain to Honorary Prelate of His Holiness, while Fr. Zoilo Camacho, Fr. Tomas Camacho, and Fr. Vicente Martinez, were also made Honorary Prelates. The Augustinian Recollects returned the same year after an absence of 75 years. For over two and a quarter centuries the Augustinian Recollects had labored in the field of the Marianas. Today a decade later a select group of men serves in various parish ministries on the island of Guam. Two members of the original band to arrive in 1974 continue their apostolic work here today. These men are Re. Julio Espinosa Martinez, OAR of Maina and Rev. Thomas Devine, OAR of Inarajan, now the Superior of the Augustinian Recollects.
The next decade of the life of Fr. Anthony Apuron would be filled with pastoral and community service for the people of the Marianas. Upon his return he received an appointment as Rector of the Seminary at Fr. Duenas Memorial School, and an appointment to the Diocesan Liturgical Commission. He continues to be a member of this committee today. In the same year he assisted with the translation of the Sacramentary and the Lectionary for the first two cycles. Since boyhood he had loved his native language, and as a seminarian and priest continued to write home to his parents using his first language. As a member of the commission he advocated one Mass on Sunday be in the vernacular with Chamorro hymns. During the same year he prepared occasional columns in the vernacular for the Pacific Voice, the newspaper of the Diocese.
In August 1975 he became an Associate Pastor at Mt. Carmel in Saipan with the responsibility for the parishes of San Jose and San Vicente. As part of his pastoral responsibility he took the Militobi on a field trip to the Northern Islands of Anatahan, Alimagan, Pagan, and Agrigan. They journey became an inspiration to him and the natural beauty proved to be awesome. He wrote: “I noticed their yearning for things spiritual because of their closeness to nature and thus to God, grateful to the priest who came to visit them. It made me feel good to be of service to them.”
During the Spring of 1976 the Capuchin Friars of the mission in the Marians held an election. On March 16, Fr. Anthony Apuron became the First Councillor of the mission. Plans were developed to send him to Mt. Carmel in Agat on the first of June. Typhoon Pamela ripped through Guam during May 21 and 22 causing extensive damage throughout the island to Agat as well. Some 14 years before Typhoon Karen became the occasion of his serious of his vocation to be a Capuchin priest, and Typhoon Pamela became the occasion of return to Guam to take up his first permanent pastoral post.
He continued to serve the Capuchin Friars, as First Councillor and the people of Agat, as Pastor, during the next two years. From the start he took an interest in the altar boys. He listend to them, made arrangements for off-island trips during the holidays, and found new ways to demonstrate their importance to the parish.
On June 19, 1978 he became the Rector of the Cathedral in Agana. He brought five years of experience as a priest to this new post. The church in Agana was the place he walked to with his mother, where he served mass, sang in the choir, preached his first sermon as a deacon, received his sacerdotal ordination and in God’s time would receive his Episcopal ordination. From the first moments he coomunicated a deep pastoral love to all he met. They knew they had a pastor who had grown up in the parish. Blessed with a special talent for singing he too a great interest in the choir and in congregational singing. The altar boys experienced his warmth and concern. They also enjoyed going away on trips with him too. The Guam Legislature appointed him Chaplain in July 1978 and he continues to serve in this capacity until the present day.
The people of Agat remembered his deep pastoral love for them. On November 1, 1978 two buses filled with former parishioners came to the Cathedral to celebrate his 33rd birthday. So many were impressed by this genuine display of affection and admiration.
In the Spring of 1979 he completed his first term as First Councillor of the Capuchin mission and continued as Rector of the Cathedral. During 1980 he became a member of the Chamorro Language Commission and began to give a Sunday homily in Chamorro during the Catholic Hour on KUAM and KSTO. The Pacific Voice also published the homily.
For the Papal Visit to Guam in February 1981 he served as the Master of Ceremonies for the Diocese. During the Eucharistic Liturgy he assisted the Pope in practical and helpful ways. Little did he realized that within a year and a half they would meet in Rome for the Capuchin General Chapter and that the year following the same Pope would send notice naming him a Bishop. In the same year word came from Cambridge, England that Fr. Anthony Apuron was placed on the International Register of Profiles for 1981.
The Capuchin mission in the Marianas became the Vice Province of the Star of the Sea in January 1982, and Fr. Anthony Apuron was elected as the first Councillor. He was also elected as to the Diocesan Board of Consultors in the same month. The Capuchins held a General Chapter in Rome to elect the New Minister General during the summer of 1982. One delegate could be sent from Oceania and the new Vice Province would represent the region. They chose their First Councillor to go to Rome for the General Chapter, which elected Very Rev. Flavio Roberto Carraro the new Minister General.
Fr. Anthony Apuron returned home to resume his duties at the Cathedral and in the Vice Province. Late in 1983 on the Feast of Our Lady of Camalin, December 8, Bishop Flores made the announcement that Fr. Anthony Sablan Apuron, O.F.M. Cap. was the new Bishop Elect. He would be an Auxiliary Bishop in the Dicoese of Agana and Titular Bishop of Muzuca in Biscena, an ancient region of Africa. The date of the Episcopal Ordination was February 19, 1984. This day coincides with the eve of the third anniversary of the visit of Pope John Paul II to the Diocese.
Before the end of the year the Pacific Jaycess of Guam recognized his outstanding achievements and named the Bishop-Elect to the list of the 1983 Three Outstanding Young People.
