My name is Mark Pena. I was born in a little town north of Burgos called Villamediana de Lomas, Spain.

Because I wanted to be a missionary, I decided to enter the novitiate to become a Roman Catholic priest.

I began the novitiate July 24, 1949. After a year and a day we had to swear and promise to God before the Holy Community to observe for one year the vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience. With this ceremony we began to be members of the Congregation of the Oblate Missionaries of Mary the Immaculate. After this, we moved to Madrid to the Seminary Major that the Oblates have in Pozuelo de Alarcon. There we had to study two years of Philosophy and four years of Theology to be priests.