The Way of the Cross can be traced to St. Francis of Assisi, who lived at a time when Christian pilgrims could not travel safely to the Holy Land. Francis brought the experience of the Holy Land home, as we bring the Way of the Cross home to our local place of natural beauty. Reflecting on the sufferings of Jesus at each station, we raise the Cross of Christ to remind us that our sister, Mother Earth—our common home—belongs to God, and we ask for strength and unity to care for God’s creation.

February 19, 2023: Our Lady of the Angels Province friars, Fr. Dennis Grumsey, OFM Conv. (at left – pastor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore pastorate including St. Casimir Church and St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church) and Br. Ed Handy, OFM Conv. (middle – Friar in Residence at St. Casimir Friary) joined parishioners from around the Archdiocese of Baltimore, at The Basilica of the Assumption, the first Catholic Cathedral and a Marian National Shrine in the United States, which is still a flourishing Roman Catholic parish, for Sunday Night Vespers and Talk with Sister Rita Michelle Proctor, OSP, who serves as the 20th Superior General of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, on Servant of God – Mother Mary Lange, O.S.P. and the Oblate Sisters of Providence.

For the past few months, students at UNC Newman Campus Ministry in Chapel Hill, NC have been, on their own initiative, organizing, planning, and practicing for a benefit concert to help defray the costs of campus ministry. The festive evening occurred on February 16, 2023, in the Activity Center, before a crowd of 75 – mostly parents and supportive parishioners. The first half’s program of classical instrumental music included works by Telemann, Burgmüller, Mozart, Elgar, Fauré, Ewazen, Chopin, and Gillock, performed on piano, flute, horn, violin, viola, cello, and basso continuo. After intermission the program switched to choral popular fare, featuring works by Loewe and Lerner, Finzi, Porter, Sondheim, Menken and Ashman, and Lighfoot, accompanied by piano, saxophone, cello, guitar, and violin. The program concluded with a selection of a cappella music, featuring a spiritual, Gregorian chant, and works by Gawthrop and Manibusan/Hart/Angrisano.

To be live streamed on February 21, 2023, a ‘Digital Reception, in Honor of Righteous Among the Nations ~ Monsignor Giuseppe Placido Nicolini’ will be a celebration of Bishop Nicolini’s heroic actions in saving hundreds of lives during the Holocaust. This Combat Antisemitism Movement virtual reception will highlight the Yad Vashem ‘Righteous Among the Nations‘ recipient’s story and role in establishing a rescue network in Assisi (later known as the “Assisi Network”). During the Holocaust, Bishop Nicolini rallied Assisi’s citizens and clergy to come together and save the lives of their Jewish brethren, being hunted down by the Nazis. This included Fr. Aldo Brunacci, the Canon of the Cathedral of San Rufino, who served as the head of the Assisi Network – arranging sheltering places for Jews, in some 26 monasteries & convents, and Friar Rufino Niccacci, OFM, [pictured below] the Guardian of the San Damiano Friary, who helped to provide false identity papers and also provided protection and sanctuary in the friaries and convents under his direction, disguising the Jews as friars and nuns. Read more about them and others who worked through the Assisi Network and have been recognized as ‘Righteous Among Nations.’

The link to register for the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) Virtual Reception.

Father Rufino Nicacci, OFM pictured with Holocaust survivor, Hanna Hirsch.

“The program may help inspire current leaders, and everyone, to confront hatred & bigotry in today’s world.”
~ Fr. Russell Governale, OFM Conv.

Originally filmed in 2021, by the friars who were at the time living in the St. Bonaventure Friary, in Toronto, ON.

July 21-23, 2023: For anyone ages 13-18 can participate! Each person should be associated with a parish, school, or campus ministry
group. Each ministry needs to send chaperones to accompany its group: one (1) adult for every twelve (12) youth.
The retreat is limited to 150 participants, so register early! 

Excerpts from
Message of His Holiness Pope Francis, for the 31st World Day of the Sick:

To the intercession of Mary,
Health of the Sick,
I entrust all of you who are ill;
you who care for them in your families,
or through your work, research and volunteer service;
and those of you who are committed to
weaving personal, ecclesial, and civic bonds of fraternity.
To all, I impart my heartfelt blessing.

“The Encyclical Fratelli Tutti encourages us to read anew the parable of the Good Samaritan, which I chose in order to illustrate how we can move from the “dark clouds” of a closed world to “envisaging and engendering an open world” (cf. No. 56). There is a profound link between this parable of Jesus and the many ways in which fraternity is denied in today’s world. In particular, the fact that the man, beaten and robbed, is abandoned on the side of the road represents the condition in which all too many of our brothers and sisters are left at a time when they most need help. It is no longer easy to distinguish the assaults on human life and dignity that arise from natural causes from those caused by injustice and violence. In fact, increasing levels of inequality and the prevailing interests of the few now affect every human environment to the extent that it is difficult to consider any experience as having solely “natural” causes. All suffering takes place in the context of a ‘culture’ and its various contradictions…”
“…The Samaritan calls the innkeeper to “take care of him” (Lk 10:35). Jesus addresses the same call to each of us. He exhorts us to “go and do likewise” (Lk 10:37). As I noted in Fratelli Tutti, “The parable shows us how a community can be rebuilt by men and women who identify with the vulnerability of others, who reject the creation of a society of exclusion, and act instead as neighbours, lifting up and rehabilitating the fallen for the sake of the common good” (No. 67). Indeed, “we were created for a fulfilment that can only be found in love. We cannot be indifferent to suffering” (No. 68)..”

__________________

World Day of the Sick began in 1993 as an observation introduced in the “Message of the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, for the First Annul World Day of Sick,” on October 21, 1992. In that message, he stated “This day, which, beginning in February 1993, will be celebrated every year on the commemoration of Our Lady of Lourdes, for all believers seeks to be ‘a special time of prayer and sharing, of offering one’s suffering for the good of the Church and of reminding everyone to see in his sick brother or sister the face of Christ who, by suffering, dying and rising, achieved the salvation of mankind.'”

In the words of Saint Pope John Paul II:
May the Blessed Virgin,
“Health of the Sick” and “Mother of the Living,”
be our support and our hope and,
through the celebration of the Day of the Sick,
increase our sensitivity and dedication to those being tested,
along with the trusting expectation of the luminous day of our salvation,
when every tear will be dried forever (cf. Is 25:8).
May it be granted to us to enjoy the first fruits of that day
from now on in the superabundant joy
— though in the midst of all tribulations (cf. 2 Cor 7:4)
— promised by Christ which no one can take from us (Jn 16:22).

If you want to provide a more tangible prayer expression to someone for whom you care, who is in need of healing, our province’s Companions of St. Anthony ministry has Perpetual Mass Enrollment Cards available through our online Friar Shop. Offerings for these cards, help support the Evangelization efforts of the Companions of St. Anthony, as well as education and formation of our student friars, care for our aged and infirm friars, and the continued apostolic works of all of our province friars in the United States, and our efforts around the world. To obtain the card shown above, visit: St. Anthony Healing & Hope [Mass Enrollment Card] for more details.

Our confreres serving at the Basilica of Saint Anthony in Padua, Italy, also created an English Version of a Downloadable Prayer Card, with a St. Anthony’s Prayer for the sick and suffering.

[Note: the photo is not of one of our parishes. It is a graphic from popesprayerusa.net, using a photo of Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Monserrate, (Our Lady of Montserrat), in Havana, Cuba]

February 2023 – Prayer of the Month

Almighty and everlasting God,
Who through your Son, the cornerstone,
has joined these people, coming from diverse places,
and has joined this flock under one and the same Shepherd,
give to Your servants, the indissoluble bond of charity,
that there be no division of minds.
And let us, who are all one flock
under the guidance of one Shepherd
and are enclosed in one fold under Your protection,
never be separated.
Through the same Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.

This month’s intention is “For Parishes.” Among the 72 ministries served by our province friars, we have friars serving in pastoral ministry in six parishes of our Province Delegation of St. Francis of Assisi (Ontario, Canada), and thirty parishes, along the East Coast of the United States. In addition, the friars of our Province Custodies also serve in varied ministries with a large group of them serving in parish communities. Please keep our friars, and the parishes they serve in your prayers, as you join in praying for the Holy Father’s intention this month.

• If you are a young man, living in the USA or Canada, and you feel you may be called by God to serve His people as a Franciscan Friar Conventual of Our Lady of the Angels Province, email our Province Vocation Office at vocations@olaprovince.org.
• If you would like more information on life as a Franciscan Friar Conventual, please explore the other pages of this website and then visit FranciscanVoice.org.
• For men who do not live in the USA or Canada, who would like more information on vocations with our Order, and the Order’s presence around the world, please visit our Curia’s website, for contact information on a province nearest to you.