About the Salesians / Luis De Prada

I am Luis Javier De Prada Toledo and I was born in Havana City, Cuba on May 31, 1991. My home was very close to a Salesian Church, and my mom decided to take me there for religious education on Saturdays. So I went to Don Bosco Church when I was 5 years old. Everything that I saw was really new and exciting to me. My first catechist was Margarita and she taught me not only the basics of our faith and God’s love for us but also about her favorite saint, Don Bosco. I was raised in the Salesian spirit. I received my first communion in 2004 and after that I joined the Altar Boys’ group. The parish priest at that time was always encouraging us about service to the church and the poor. In that atmosphere I grew up physically and mentally and at 13 years of age I became a part of the teen youth group. I began to think about a possible calling to the Salesians.

Luis De Prada

One summer when my parish priest went on vacation, the Salesian congregation sent another to replace him for a month. His name was Fr. Humberto . One Sunday in 2005 after Mass I decided to talk to him about what was going on inside me. We were talking for only 20 minutes and he already knew what was going on. This very Salesian priest told me “Luis, I am the one in charge of vocations in Cuba, if you want to join us just say it.” And I didn’t take too much time to think about it and eventually said “Yes father, I have so much connection with this feeling and I am sure that God put it there, I want to become a Salesian priest.”

After that, I continued and deepened my discernment. We had a lot of retreats, discernment weekends, and a great time with the Teen Youth Group. I lived in the community with the Salesians and I learned what it meant to live in community. I was made the animator of a group of teenagers in Maria Auxiliadora Church in Old Havana. At that time, I played guitar in the chapels near there.

By April of 2008 my family was notified about a trip to the USA. My mother was really excited about it but I was not. I was very sad because I was only one step away from getting into the Salesian seminary. We finally did all the official paper work to fly to the USA and as a result we arrived to Miami in November 28 of 2008. At that moment I felt like a kid because everything was very new for me, even the smallest detail. I still had that strong feeling in my heart about becoming a Salesian and I just got into the internet and search for a Salesian house around Miami. During that first week here, I received an email from Fr. Humberto telling not to abandon my vocation once I get to the USA because there are Salesians everywhere.

Fr. Humberto also attached to that email the address and phone number of the vocation office in the USA. When I called, Fr. Franco answered. And so we began the discernment process. He also invited me to a “COME & SEE WEEKEND”. So I came to the retreat and I really liked it. As a result, I am here now in the Salesian house of formation. This is an option of life and I think is a good option because I want to give all I can to God through Saint John Bosco’s way as a Salesian. Anyone who feels very strong about follow Christ in this way can do it as I did and as we all are doing in community.

One of Luis's favorite past times is sitting and playing music in the Chapel.

Whenever possible Luis always includes walks around the community in his day to self reflect and praise God privately.