We congratulate our brother friars, Frei Ricardo Elvis, OFM Conv. and Frei Jesus Amaral, OFM Conv., from our Immaculate Conception Custody (Brazil), as they Profess Simple (Temporary) Vows on February 8, 2018, at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, in the Rio Comprido neighborhood, at the center of Rio de Janeiro.
Please keep these, and all of our friars in formation, in your continued prayers.
Each year, our Friars celebrate Epiphany Extractions. Franciscans hold great reverence for the saints. We customarily celebrate the Epiphany as a feast for promoting personal holiness. During the para-liturgical ceremony of the Extractions, each friar draws the name of a saint (who becomes his patron for the year) and a short spiritual exhortation (as a focus for spiritual refinement). During Epiphany the community also renews the sanctity of our homes (friaries) by processing to bless each room. Early in Franciscan history, this tradition developed for our friars. We Franciscan Friars Conventual would like to share this cherished tradition with you and encourage you to add it to your holiday celebrations. The ritual is simple. Pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance. Choose a card randomly. On the card will be the name of a saint, a mystery in the life of Jesus or perhaps a particular devotion. Announce your choice to the people praying with you. Some of them may have their own experience with your choice. Read up on it in Catholic literature or on the internet. With the help of the Holy Spirit, look for some direction in your life and spirituality from these “living words of God.”
You may be surprised how your choice touches your journey of faith. Remember too, that we are all saints. Sinners too, but saints nonetheless. What can others see in us that reflects “the living word of God?” Your Epiphany patron may help you plan your resolutions or just be your companion in prayer, in the New Year. Look at this as just one more gift from God on Epiphany, the Feast of Gifts.
Peace!
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Your love.
Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created and You shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us Pray: God, Who instructs the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that we may be truly wise in the same Spirit and ever rejoice in His consolation.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
Dr. Stanley Chai & his wife Sylvia, a Secular Franciscan, joined our friars of St. Mark (Boynton Beach, FL) to celebrating the Extraction Rite on January 1, 2018.
On a bitterly cold evening, the friars from the mid-Atlantic area gathered at Immaculate Heart of Mary Friary (Baltimore, MD) for Evening Prayer and the Extraction of yearly patron saints in celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany. A festive atmosphere and a good dinner was enjoyed by all.
Our student friars and their formators, of the St. Bonaventure Friary (Silver Spring, MD), gathered to celebrate their House Blessing, on January 7, 2018.
Syracuse Volunteers of FrancisCorps 19 celebrated with the friars of St. Francis Friary
Our friars of the Most Holy Trinity & St. Adelbert Friaries gathered in our San Damiano Mission (Brooklyn, NY) to celebrate with The Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Assisi & The Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Our New England Friars, including 36 friars of four friaries and special care residences, were hosted by our friars of St. Paul’s Friary (Kensington, CT) on the 7th of January.
At the North American Franciscan Friars Conventual Novitiate (Arroyo Grande, CA), our friars in formation welcomed our OFM & OFM Cap brothers in formation for the Epiphany Celebration.
On Epiphany Sunday, the Shamokin Friars of Mother Cabrini Friary invited the local IHM Sisters to join them for dinner as well as for their annual “Extraction” Festivities.
January 16th Epiphany Celebration at the Mercy Nursing Facility at OLV where Friar Canice is in residence. Standing – Friar Ken Lucas, OFM Conv., Friar Joe Bayne, OFM Conv., Friar Romulus Rosolowski, OFM Conv., Friar Ross Syracuse, OFM Conv. and seated is Friar Canice Connors, OFM Conv.
December 13, 2017: Our friars serving from St. Anthony Friary (Kingston, ON), Friar Jim Fukes, OFM Conv., Friar David Collins, OFM Conv. and Friar Ed Debono, OFM Conv., were on hand for the blessing of the new St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School. Fr. Jim serves as pastor of Holy Family Parish and assisted The Most Reverend Brendan M. O’Brien (Archbishop of Kingston) and Principal Dan Finn in welcoming the Kingston mayor, the minister of education, the Catholic School Board president, parishioners, and school families to the official school opening. St Francis of Assisi Elementary School replaces Holy Family, St Patrick’s and St. Peter’s Schools where our friars have been assisting the staff and ministering until the recent school consolidation of students and resources. The new school incorporates new technologies, open space education methods and small communities concepts.
JPIC UPDATE December 21st is our National Homeless Persons’ Day of Remembrance. In Chicopee, MA the local friars and the community at The College of the Elms are joining others in praying for +Dakoda and +Ron, both of whom died on the streets this past year.
That evening marks the beginning of the longest night of the year. The friars of our province will join in prayer for the many homeless who die unnoticed, “that the Radiant Dawn, the Sun of Justice, will come and shine on those who dwelt in darkness and the shadow of death.”
JPIC EPISCOPAL “POSTINGS”
(1) In the Savannah newspaper, Our Lady of the Angels Province friar and Bishop of Savannah, GA – Most Reverend Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv. recently wrote about helping DACA dreamers fulfill their dreams. Let us all hope in prayer for Congress to act to protect the Dreamers before the Christmas recess. If you have a moment this week, to pick up the phone and call your representatives. A happier Christmas could be a dream come true for many!
(2) With the help of Franciscan Action Network (FAN) and other partners, Province of Our Lady of Consolation friar and Bishop of Lexington, KY –Most Reverend John E. Stowe, OFM Conv.authored an op-ed in the Lexington Paper concerning the RECLAIM Act in Congress. This legislation, if passed, can help the coal region through its concern for the natural environment and opportunities for employment. Such legislation could be a stepping stone for similar action in the coal region in Pennsylvania, where our friars have served for 117 years!
A message from our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv.: Effective today, the new Central American Custody of “Mary, Mother of Mercy” was born – appropriately on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas.
As Minister Provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province, I was given the privilege of being Principal Celebrant of the Chapter’s Opening Mass of the Holy Spirit. Enclosed is an excerpt from my “final message” to the friars of our former Provincial Delegation of Costa Rica.
Members of the New Central American Custody “Mary, Mother of Mercy” with their former Minister Provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province – Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. (center in red vestments), their new Minister Provincial as they are now a Custody of the Province of Our Lady of Consolation – Very Reverend Fr. Jim Kent, OFM Conv. (top row left), Conventual Franciscan Federation Assistant General of our Order – Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv. (top row 2nd from left) and the Minister General of our Order – Most Reverend Fr. Marco Tasca, OFM Conv. (kneeling bottom far right)
December 12, 2017: Our Lady of the Angels Province Minister Provincial’s Final Message to the Friars of Costa Rica Before the Establishment of the New Central American Custody
Esteemed Brothers:
Sacred emotions fill my soul in this, my final message to you as your Minister Provincial, prior to your transfiliation into the new Central American Custody of Mary, Mother of Mercy. For seventy-one years, we your confreres of North America, first as the Province of the Immaculate Conception which later became the Province of Our Lady of the Angels, have been given by God the unequaled privilege of planting and watering the seeds of St. Francis in the fertile soil of Costa Rica. Now in your maturity, you are entering into a seraphic marriage with our beloved brothers of Honduras.
Three holy and honest emotions in particular are mixed together in my soul these days:
Joyful gratitude as my Province gave you birth, formed you, and has watched you grow to adulthood.
A profound sense of bereavement as the original Mother Province of all Latin America allows our grown child to leave our care.
Confident love as we give you in holy marriage to your Honduran spouse.
United strongly together as equal partners in this holy endeavor, may your new Franciscan covenant of life and live truly become “something beautiful for God.”
(Front) Most Reverend Fr. Marco Tasca, OFM Conv., Friar Carlos Trovarelli, OFM Conv., Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv. (Back) Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., Fr. Jorge Dobles, OFM Conv., Very Reverend Fr. Jim Kent, OFM Conv., Friar Isidoro Mejia, OFM Conv.
December 13, 2017: Friar Jorge Dobles, OFM Conv. was elected to serve as the 1st Custos of the newly established Mary, Mother of Mercy Custody There were 27 voting members in the Chapter (including the Minister General, the Assistant General for FALC, and the Ministers Provincial of the Provinces of Our Lady of Consolation and Our Lady of the Angels. Friar Jorge, the newly elected Custos, was a member of Our Lady of the Angels Province until the day before his election, when all Friars of the former Our Lady of the Angels Delegation in Costa Rica were transfiliated into the newly established Custody if Mary, Mother of Mercy. From 2010 until 2014, Friar Jorge served as a member of the Definitory of the former Immaculate Conception Province (joining with St. Anthony of Padua Province to form Our Lady of the Angels Province in 2014). From 2014 until this week, he served as Provincial Delegate for the Our Lady of the Angels Delegation, in Costa Rica.
Oath of Office: the New Custos of the Custody of Mary, Mother of Mercy – Friar Jorge Dobles, OFM Conv., in received by the Most Reverend Fr. Marco Tasca, OFM Conv. – Minister General of our Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv.)
Adapted from a message by Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv., CFF Assistant General of our Order:
The friars of the Basilica dei Santi XII Apostoli (home of our General Curia in Rome) celebrated a Mass of adieu for Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Donald Kos, OFM Conv. (left), who is heading home to the United States after 59 years of service and ministry in Rome. Friar Donald’s years in ministry, since his December 23, 1961 Ordination to the Priesthood in this very same Basilica, have all been in service to our Order, in Rome.
Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, JCD (center) – Penitentiary Major of the Penitenzieria Apostolica (Apostolic Penitentiary), Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, OFM Conv. (second from left) – Regent Emeritus of the Penitenzieria Apostolica, Most Reverend Fr. Marco Tasca, OFM Conv. (second from right) – Minister General of our Order and Padre Aniello Stoia, OFM Conv. (far right) – Rector of our Basilica dei Santi XII Apostoli were among those present for this celebration, which coincided with the Order’s Novena for the Immaculate Conception. {For more on the Novena}
After earning his B.A. in Philosophy at St. Bonaventure University, in NY (1958) Friar Donald moved to Rome where he earned his S.T.D in Theology at the Pontificia Facoltà Teologica San Bonaventura Seraphicum – 1962, J.C.D. in Canon Law at the Pontificia Università Lateranense – 1966, and Diploma in Canon Law at the Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae – 1970. His vast assignments in Rome through these 59 years have included Assistant General of the Anglo-American Coetus, Postulator General of the Order, Vicar General of the Order, Guardian of the Convento S. Antonio Alle Terme, Referendouro of the Signatura Apostolica, Judge of the First Instance of the Vatican Tribunal, Correspondent on Congregation of the Penitenzieria Apostolica, Procurator General and most recently Judicial Vicar of the Ecclesiastic Tribunal of Vatican City State. Friar Donald is the recipient of many awards including the 2016 Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (Cross of Honor) Award from Pope Francis, in recognition of his 18 years serving at the Penitenzieria Apostolica (Apostolic Penitentiary).
Most of our province friars who live, study and work in Rome were on hand for Friar Donald’s farewell meal: (left to right) Fr. Victor Manuel Mora Mesén, OFM Conv., Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv., Friar Donald, Fr. Tim Kulbicki, OFM Conv. and Friar Christopher Dudek, OFM Conv.
Adapted from a message by the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. – Minister Provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province:
Welcome Home!
Minister General of our Order – Most Reverend Fr. Marco Tasca, OFM Conv.(left) and two Assistants General – Friar Benedict Back, OFM Conv. & Friar Jude Winkler, OFM Conv. (top right) escorted Friar Donald (seated) from Rome to Boston.
After being domiciled in Rome for 59 years – He arrived there during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII – our confrere Fr. Donald Kos, OFM Conv. has returned to his native Province of Our Lady of the Angels, where he will be living at the St. Hyacinth Senior Friars Residence, in Chicopee, MA. Amidst a snowstorm on the 9th of December, Fr. Donald was welcomed to Boston’s Logan Airport by Fr. James, the Minister Provincial. The esteem in which Fr. Donald is held by the Order was evident insofar as his escort party from Rome included the Minister General of our Order and two Assistants General. His welcoming committee from the USA included two of the four Minister Provincials serving our provinces of North America.
We welcome you home to your home province and back to the state of your birth. Pax et Bonum!
Friar Donald is now one of eight of our friars residing in our St. Hyacinth Friary, in Chicopee, MA. He was joyfully welcomed on December 9th by several of his friary-mates, as well as the Very Reverend Fr. Michael Zielke, OFM Conv. (a friar of our province who serves as Minister Provincial of the St. Bonaventure Province) who is recuperating from health issues there.
Adapted from a new series, “Farm Focus” presented by Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Michael Lasky, OFM Conv., who serves as Chairman of JPIC (Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission) for our province, in addition to serving as Vice President of the FAN (Franciscan Action Network) Board:
“It’s like walking on cement!” was the comment made to me by one of the farmers, as we walked our Ellicott City fields, by to our barn. For years we friars would look out of our car windows, while driving on Folly Quarter Road and see the corn or neatly lined rows of soy (adjacent to our province’s Ellicott City, MD complex ~ home of our Shrine of St. Anthony, Carrollton Hall Historic Site, Companions of St. Anthony and Provincial House ministries). We might have even thought to ourselves how nicely the rolling hills of farmland looked, all the while unaware that the type of farming and crops that were being grown were harmful to the environment. The additional use of pesticides has only complicated the dynamic.
Leaning down with a stone, I scratched as deep as possible into the dirt, about 6 inches, and the resulting smell was … nothing. The soil smelled like nothing. It was exhausted.
A similar thing happened on our land during the time of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737 – 1832), one of four Marylanders to sign the Declaration of Independence and the only Roman Catholic. He owned vast agricultural estates and our property is a very small portion of one of his estates which he gifted to his favorite granddaughter, Emily.
In 1772, the Ellicotts – a Quaker family – settled in what is now downtown Ellicott City, building mills along the river. Having sampled the ground in the area and listening to local farmers, they realized that the soil was exhausted, and recommended a switch from farming tobacco to farming wheat. With the support of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the first to make the change, the land and local economy were saved.
History, in a manner of speaking, is repeating itself as we friars, the caretakers of this Folly Quarter parcel of the old Carrollton estate, are changing our farming ways by partnering with our nearby neighbors at Mary’s Land Farm. In the months ahead, our province JPIC Updates will switch from the usual “Friar Focus” articles to a “Farm Focus” series, chronicling this new farm-partnership and the ways we hope we will help to restore the land.
Mike Haigwood, Tom Cunningham & Christian Melendez
Just a little over a year ago Howard Magazine did a feature article about Mary’s Land Farm, located on another part of the old Carroll estate, running along Sheppard Lane (Ellicott City, MD).
It is owned by tech entrepreneur Tom Cunningham, his wife Rosy, and their children; Luis, Maria, Rosy, Lupe, Thomas and Rita. Different from many farmers, even from some others who farm organically, Cunningham has transformed his land into, “an orchestra of water, soils, plants, grasses, and animals to keep each in balance.” He, his family and his staff farmers, Mike & Barb Haigwood and Christian Melendez, have brought about an ecosystem that is a sustainable incarnation of farming, in the spirit of Laudato Si.
Farmer Mike Haigwood has already planted our first cover crop of wheat-rye, which is helping to take the harmful toxins out of the soil, while facilitating the return of the nutrients needed for the soil restoration process. These new farmer partners of our friars are helping us to sing St. Francis’ praises of the Lord for our sister, Mother Earth.
We look forward to eventually using our own “Little Portion” of the land to feed those served at the Franciscan Center in the northern area of Baltimore City (MD). The rest of our farm land will be used to extend the ecological footprint of Mary’s Land Farm.
In the Bull of Pope Honorius III, issued November 29, 1223, the Final Rule of our Order was ratified. The Rule was initially outlined and approved by Pope Innocent III, in 1209, but as the Order grew in those first years, revisions to the initial Rule were needed. After a version prepared in 1221 was seen as too strict, St. Francis of Assisi enlisted the aid of several legal scholars to compose the Final Rule that was approved in 1223. In commemoration of that day, all the saints of the Franciscan (Seraphic) Order are remembered each November 29th. In September of 1224, two years prior to his death, while praying on Mount La Verna, St. Francis received the marks of our Lord’s Passion in his hands, feet and side; a miracle known as the Stigmata, after composing and praying “The Praises of God” (see below). Written on a parchment which is signed and also contains a blessing from St. Francis to brother Leo, it is conserved as a relic in the Basilica of St. Francis, in Assisi. In the Life of St. Francis, Saint Bonaventure states, “while Francis was praying on the mountainside, he beheld a Seraph having six wings, flaming and resplendent, coming down from the heights of heaven. When in his flight most swift he had reached the space of air nigh the man of God, there appeared betwixt the wings the Figure of a Man crucified, having his hands and feet stretched forth in the shape of a Cross and fastened unto a Cross. Two wings were raised above His head, twain were spread forth to fly, while twain hid His whole body.” (pg 139 Vision of the Seraph) Later in the work, St. Bonaventure speaks of the Fulfillment of the Visions (pg 146-147), “Now finally that vision that was vouchsafed thee toward the end of they life, – to wit the exalted likeness of the Seraph, and the lowly Image of Christ shewn in one, – kindly thee inwardly and marking thee outwardly as another Angel ascending from the sunrising, having the seal of the Living God in thee, – giveth a confirmation of faith unto those visions aforesaid, and likewise receiveth from them a witness unto its own truth.”
St. Francis was in intense prayer when the Lord appeared as a Seraph, whose flaming, resplendent wings mimic God’s intense love as it was shared by Christ, as is portrayed in the sanctuary space of our Shrine of St. Anthony (Ellicott City, MD), in the mural by Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Joseph Dorniak, OFM Conv. (see photo). The word seraphic is often used to describe St. Francis of Assisi and his passion for God. In turn it is affiliated with the Franciscan Order, whose members strive to live the charism of our Seraphic Father and founder. This is why it is also referred to as the Seraphic Order. We are comprised of the First Order – priests and brothers professing the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as members of one of three independent branches (OFM, OFM Conv. and OFM Cap.) as well as the Second Order – cloistered nuns professing the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience belonging to the Order of St. Clare (OSC) the Poor Clares (PC), and those members of the Third Order – religious and lay men and women performing works of teaching, charity, and social service known as the priests, brothers and sisters of the Third Order Regular (TOR) & the lay men and women of the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS).
The Praises of God
You are holy Lord God Who does wonderful things.
You are strong. You are great. You are the most high.
You are the almighty king. You holy Father,
King of heaven and earth.
You are three and one, the Lord God of gods;
You are the good, all good, the highest good,
Lord God living and true.
You are love, charity; You are wisdom, You are humility,
You are patience, You are beauty, You are meekness,
You are security, You are rest,
You are gladness and joy, You are our hope, You are justice,
You are moderation, You are all our riches to sufficiency.
You are beauty, You are meekness,
You are the protector, You are our custodian and defender,
You are strength, You are refreshment. You are our hope,
You are our faith, You are our charity,
You are all our sweetness, You are our eternal life:
Great and wonderful Lord, Almighty God, Merciful Savior.
Monday, November 20, 2017: Jubilarians from the Archdiocese of Baltimore were honored for their years of service. Pictured on the left here are Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner, OFM Conv. who has been ordained a friar priest for 60 years (July 14, 1957), at center is Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore and on the right is Fr. John Burkhard, OFM Conv. who on March 11th celebrated 50 years as a friar priest.
Congratulations 2017 Jubilarians serving throughout our province!
The Sultan and the Saint Mark your Calendars and/or set your DVR! National Broadcast: December 26, 2017 at 8PM on PBS stations nationwide
Franciscan Action Network (FAN) collaborated with Unity Productions Foundation (UPF) a Muslim film company dedicated to interfaith dialogue and education through media, to produce a new documentary drama entitled The Sultan and the Saint. This film is the first to tell the story of Saint Francis of Assisi and Sultan Al-Kamil of Egypt, using both Christian and Muslim sources.
-FAN has been asked to help set up over 500 viewing parties nationwide.
–Even if you DVR the broadcast, and view it at a later time, you will count as a viewing party. Viewing parties can be as few as two, and can be registered as open or closed.
–Sign up online to host a viewing party, and invite those in your parish or ministry to do the same. https://franciscanaction.org/article/host-viewing-party-sultan-and-saint
Some Conventual Franciscan Friar Involvement:
World Premier in Washington D.C. – Our Lady of the Angels Province friars, Friar Michael Heine, OFM Conv. & Friar Dennis Mason, OFM Conv. attended and each gave it two thumbs-up!
September Screening in Lexington, Kentucky was hosted by Most Reverend John Eric Stowe, O.F.M. Conv., Bishop of the Diocese of Lexington in Kentucky and a friar of the Province of Our Lady of Consolation.
Roman Premier for the Franciscan Family and the Muslim community – Will be hosted by our friars at the Seraphicum on May 9th in collaboration with our province’s JPIC Ministry, FAN, and the Pontifical Institute for Islamic Studies.
FAN just honored UPF with its annual Cardinal McCarrick Award, given to a non-Franciscan embodies the spirit of St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi. Thank you to Our Lady of the Angels Province friars, Friar Julio Martinez, OFM Conv., Friar Matthew Foley, OFM COnv., Friar Max Avlia, OFM Conv., Friar Manny Vasconcelos, OFM Conv., friar Tim Blanchard, OFM Conv., friar Franck Lino, OFM Conv. and St. Joseph Cupertino friar, friar Chris Garcia, OFM Conv. who all joined Our Lady of the Angels Province Chairman of JPIC (Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission) and member of FAN – Friar Michael Lasky, OFM Conv., in attending the event and showing a strong Conventual support for FAN and this inter-faith project!
Each year, our Friars celebrate Epiphany Extractions. Franciscans hold great reverence for the saints. We customarily celebrate the Epiphany as a feast for promoting personal holiness. During the para-liturgical ceremony of the Extractions, each friar draws the name of a saint (who becomes his patron for the year) and a short spiritual exhortation (as a focus for spiritual refinement). During Epiphany the community also renews the san
The ritual is simple. Pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance. Choose a card randomly. On the card will be the name of a saint, a mystery in the life of Jesus or perhaps a particular devotion. Announce your choice to the people praying with you. Some of them may have their own experience with your choice. Read up on it in Catholic literature or on the internet. With the help of the Holy Spirit, look for some direction in your life and spirituality from these “living words of God.”
On a bitterly cold evening, the friars from the mid-Atlantic area gathered at Immaculate Heart of Mary Friary (Baltimore, MD) for Evening Prayer and the Extraction of yearly patron saints in celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany. A festive atmosphere and a good dinner was enjoyed by all.
JPIC UPDATE
“It’s like walking on cement!” was the comment made to me by one of the farmers, as we walked our Ellicott City fields, by to our barn. For years we friars would look out of our car windows, while driving on Folly Quarter Road and see the corn or neatly lined rows of soy (adjacent to our province’s Ellicott City, MD complex ~ home of our 
Monday, November 20, 2017: Jubilarians from the Archdiocese of Baltimore were honored for their years of service. Pictured on the left here are Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner, OFM Conv. who has been ordained a friar priest for 60 years (July 14, 1957), at center is Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore and on the right is Fr. John Burkhard, OFM Conv. who on March 11th celebrated 50 years as a friar priest.
