‘Soy de Colombia’

MADISON  Deacon Michael Allgaier of St. Mary Parish in Denville has never lived in Colombia. But here he was in a class of fellow permanent deacons, holding up an image of the Colombian flag and declaring, “Soy de Colombia” — “I’m from Colombia” in Spanish.

Then, the class with 13 other deacons of the Diocese smiled and clapped in approval at Deacon Allgaier’s correct Spanish — along with “Senora” Claudia Perez, who has been teaching them the language in a pilot program, “Conversational Spanish for Deacons” at St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization here. She has been instructing the small group of eager deacons on how to engage in simple conversations and say parts of the Mass in Spanish that they recite — ways to help them welcome the growing Hispanic populations in parishes of the Diocese. Sponsored by the diocesan Permanent Diaconate, the program —a first for Diocese —consists of eight, two-hour classes on Saturday mornings that started on Feb. 1 and will end on April 18.

“This program will get our deacons more comfortable speaking Spanish with short greetings, such as ‘hello,’ to recite parts of the Mass and common prayers like the ‘Hail Mary’ and ‘Glory Be’ ” said Deacon Peter Cistaro, director of the Permanent Diaconate and a permanent deacon at St. Peter the Apostle Parish, Parsippany, noting that the Spanish instruction is part of his Office’s continuing education for permanent deacons. “The program has been great so far. All the deacons learn at different paces. ‘Senora’ Perez makes it easy for them,” he said.

For the first session on Feb. 2, Perez, Spanish teacher for all grades at All Saints Academy in Parsippany, taught the very basics: greetings; how to introduce themselves to parishioners before or after Mass; how to ask them about themselves; and how to ask them personal information so they can fill a parish registration form. They learned useful phrases, such as “¿Como esta?” or “How are you?”; “Mucho gusto” or “Nice to meet you”; and “Hasta pronto” or “See you soon.”

The Beacon caught up with the class at the second session on Feb. 8, when the deacons were learning basic Spanish words about nationality, capital cities of their countries of origin and parishes that they serve. Along the way, Perez is teaching the deacons words related to liturgy, such as “sacerdote” for priest, “iglesia” for church, “Eucaristia” for Eucharist and “oracion” for prayer.

In that class, Deacon Allgaier, who also serves as assistant to the director of the Permanent Diaconate, held up the image of the Colombian flag — among several made by All Saints’ students that deacons used in class — to declare, “Su ciudad capital es Bogotá” or “Its capital city is Bogotá.” Then, he brought the lesson closer to home, declaring, “Mi parroquia es Santa María en Den­ville” or “My parish is St. Mary’s in Denville.” Later, Deacon Allgaier told The Beacon that he discovered a need to become more familiar with Spanish in his chaplain duties.

“I use crude Spanish and say the ‘Our Father’ in Spanish from a Holy Communion pamphlet and my pronunciation is not great,” said Deacon Allgaier, who learned a few Spanish words and phrases from a Mexican step-grandfather as a child and from serving in Spain in the U.S. Navy. “With these classes, I want my greetings to become less awkward and my language to become more accurate. When Hispanic Catholics see that you want to learn their language, they also see that you want to pray with them,” he said.

This coming week, the deacons will attend their third class, where they will learn basic vocabulary of family members, including importance of godmothers and godfathers in Hispanic culture and how names are written — first name, middle name, father’s name and lastly the mother’s name. They also will learn more liturgical terms. In the fourth class, they will be able to speak useful sentences that express what they like about their ministry, the Church and the community, said Perez, who came to the U.S. from Mexico 17 years ago.

In the fifth class, the deacons will able to talk about their weekend and ask others about their weekends to interact with His­panic parishioners. They also will review sacramental terms in Spanish for the Penitential Rite, Gloria, Creed and the Gospel. In the sixth class, they will be able to speak about their plans for the week. The deacons also will review more liturgical terms and prayers and responses associated with the Mass, such as “Pray, Brethren”; The Preface; The Mys­tery of Faith; Lord’s Prayer; The Sign of Peace; and Dismissal, said Perez. She previously had experience teaching Spanish in Berlitz language classes and earned an international master in teaching the Spanish language and culture two years ago.

The seventh class will enable the deacons to be able to identify different places inside the church and give directions to parishioners. In the eighth and final class of the series, they will review more vocabulary related to liturgy and have more practice. Always active while teaching, Perez, who is also involved in the Hispanic community at St. Peter’s in Parsippany, keeps the deacons engaged through several different methods, including working from materials that she assembled, on a white board, in activities at their seats and with videos. On the desk in front of each deacon sits a cardboard sign that bears his Spanish name, such as “Miguel” for Deacon Allgaier.

“I try to put the deacons at ease. I’ve been in their shoes, learning another language,” said Perez, who teaches the classes almost entirely in Spanish. She often encourages deacons who are learning at different paces than others by telling them, “Don’t worry.”

At the conclusion of the Feb. 8 class, Perez led the deacons in praying the “Our Father” in Spanish and urged them to try the phrases in Spanish that they learned on people during the coming week.

Before leaving the classroom at St. Paul’s, Deacon Allgaier, said, “These classes are worthwhile. ‘Senora’ Perez is a good teacher. She works with those who are taking some time to learn the language and encourages those who are doing well.”