CONVENTUAL FRANCISCAN PILGRIMAGE TO ITALY AND POLAND Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Militia Immaculata
Founded by St. Maximilian M. Kolbe, OFM Conv.
August 7-18, 2017
Thirty-seven pilgrims participated in Our Lady of the Angels Province’s official pilgrimage celebrating the Centenary of the founding of the M.I. movement by our confrere St. Maximilian Kolbe. Five of the pilgrims were friars of OLA Province and our Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Custody.
ITALY The first part of our pilgrimage was to Italy (Rome and Assisi). We began by celebrating Mass in the chapel of Convento Kolbe where St. Maximilian lived for 7 years, praying before the same statue of the Immaculate, and where, with six confreres, he founded the M.I. on October 16, 1917. The highlight of our next day in Rome was to celebrate Mass at the altar of Our Lady of the Miracle in Sant’ Andrea delle Fratte Church where St. Maximilan celebrated his first Mass. After waiting under the blazing sun to clear security at St. Peter’s Square, we visited the treasures inside St. Peter’s Basilica and prayed before the tombs of St. Peter, St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII. Our third day in Italy was all about Assisi. We visited the Basilica of St. Clare as well as the Portiuncula in Our Lady of the Angels Basilica. As always, the highlight was praying at the tomb of St. Francis and celebrating Mass in a chapel of the Sacro Convento, which St. Maximilian visited several times, and where, as a plaque records, he blessed the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. To the pilgrims’ delight, our own Fr. Martin Breski, OFM Conv. (who serves at the Basilica as an English speaking guide for pilgrims) provided a full tour of Papal Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.
We returned to Rome truly blessed and a little heavier, what with all the souvenirs and religious articles we were carrying, and the delicious pasta we consumed!
POLAND As in Italy, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. (OLA Province Minister Provincial and the Pilgrimage Spiritual Guide) continued to inspire with his spiritual guidance. With all the knowledge he has gained over the years about St. Maximilian M. Kolbe, OFM Conv., he continued to amaze us – especially in Poland. Of the eight days we spent there, three were splendid jewels that crowned our pilgrimage. The first (August 12th) was our visit to Niepokalanow (City of the Immaculate) established ninety years ago this year to promote and further the works of the Immaculate to which St. Maximilian and the friars were totally dedicated. At the celebration of the Mass in the friary’s first chapel, all the pilgrims made the total consecration to the Immaculate, enrolled in the M.I., and were given a Miraculous Medal. The second highlight (August 13th) was the visit to Poland’s National Shrine of Jasna Gora (Bright Mountain) in Czestochowa, where during the day we celebrated Mass in the Chapel of the Rosary. Then, at 9 p.m., the hour of the “Apel” (the “call”), we were all privileged to kneel right in the sanctuary before the sacred icon of the Black Madonna. In a televised broadcast to Poland and the world, Fr. Simon, one of the Pauline Fathers, singled out our group announcing that we were visiting the shrine from the U.S. to mark the centenary of the M.I. and pointing out to all that St. Maximilian had celebrated Mass there three times according to the monastery’s records. Then, three of us friars were each invited to pray a Hail Mary in English.
(Video of the “Apel”)
The third significant day (August 14th) was marked by a pilgrimage to Auschwitz concentration camp, where we joined Polish friars, bishops, a German Archbishop, and hundreds of other faithful. We participated in an outdoor Mass solemnly celebrated next to the “Block of Death” within which is the bunker cell #18 where St. Maximilian died, ultimately succeeding in the transformation of a place of hatred and death into a sanctuary of love and life.
Br. Nicholas Romeo, OFM Conv., Fr. Ericson de la Peña, OFM Conv., Fr. Michael Lasky, OFM Conv. and Fr. Matthew Foley, OFM Conv.
In his own words… Friar Matthew Foley, OFM Conv.:
For the past six years, I have brought students from Archbishop Curley High School to a week-long Catholic Service camp called Encounter the Gospel of Life based out of the University of Maryland- College Park. The idea of the camp is to serve the poor and marginalized in our own backyard.
Like our first year, the 2017 group was huge, including 36 current students, 4 alums, 3 teachers and a parent. We were also fortunate to be joined by Br. Nick Romeo, helping out his Alma Mater, in the hopes of bringing some of his students from St. Francis High School in Athol Springs, NY.
Using a “direct-relational” model of service, participants work directly with and get to know the people they serve. In turn, we believe that we will be served by the individuals that we came to serve, as we encounter Christ in those we serve and hopefully others can encounter Christ in us. This year 300 youth, young adult and adult participants served at nursing homes, with the poor, camps for children and for adults with physical and mental disabilities. There were also two sites that worked on and advocated for pro-life and immigration issues.
Each day begins with Mass and then small groups head to their service sites. This year I worked at the Arc of Howard County, right down the street from the Shrine of St. Anthony! There the young people worked with adults with Downs Syndrome and other mental disabilities. We played games, music, and did art projects. Moving from Social Outreach to Social Justice, later in the week we shared our experiences of working with the disabled by writing to members of Congress, to let them know about how some changes in health care would affect those whom we served, those who also ministered to us!
Returning to the university at the end of the day, we gather to reflect theologically on the connection between service and faith. In the evenings, we also had programing that included keynote speakers, activities on Catholic Social Teaching, Eucharistic adoration, and reconciliation. (Special thanks to the many friar priests in Washington, Ellicott City, and Baltimore who over the years have assisted in hearing confessions!)
Kenny Clapp, a rising sophomore at Curley described his experiences of working with inner city children at a day camp to teach them peacemaking skills. “I thought that I would be coming here to help the kids I worked with, considering they were homeless and coming from a bad area and seemed like the typical model for a person in need. But in reality, it was the kids that helped me. They were so joyful and happy and positive that they made me realize how blessed I was in my own life.” Please email or call if you’d like more information about the camp, or if you’re looking for a summer service experience for the high school aged youth at your ministerial site.
The August 22, 2017 many of our province friars were on hand at the dedication of our new “International” St. André Bessette Friary, in Ottawa, ON included the second of our Province Masses, Celebrating the Centenary of The Militia of the Immaculata (MI). It was celebrated at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish Church (Venier, ON), where Fr. Dominic Lim, OFM Conv., a resident friar of the St. André Bessette Friary who serves there as pastor. Our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. was the principal celebrant and homilist at the 5:00 p.m. Mass and the Archbishop of Ottawa, The Most Reverend Terrence Prendergast, S.J. also presided. Following the Mass, the Archbishop blessed and dedicated the new friary in honor of St. André Bessette (Brother André).
In commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, Portugal in 1917, Faith Community of Saint Francis of Assisi Parish (Johnstown, PA), under the pastoral leadership of Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Anthony Francis Spilka, OFM Conv., has created a shrine in a corner of the sanctuary to honor Our Lady. Parishioners have an opportunity to light 7-day votive candles that may be placed before the shrine. The special Our Lady of Fatima hymn is sung as a meditation hymn at each Mass.
Several of our friars of our Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Custody, known fondly as the Greyfriars
In Great Britain and Ireland, our friars of Our Lady of the Angels’ Custody of Blessed Agnellus of Pisa are known as the Greyfriars. Our Order’s first presence there began when St. Francis of Assisi sent them in 1224. During the English Reformation, our friars loyal to the Holy Father were forced to flee and did not return until the early 20th Century. Visit www.thegreyfriars.org to read more of the Latest News on our brothers serving in the Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Custody, under the jurisdiction of Our Lady of the Angels Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv.
Following a month-long Solemn Vow Pilgrimage in Assisi, Friar Colin Mary Edwards, OFM Conv. (front left), Friar Joe Fenton, OFM Conv. (center) and Friar Paul Francis Becka, OFM Conv. (front right) professed their Solemn Vows in the Capuchin Church in Oxford on the 2nd of August 2017, the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels. The vows were received by the Custos, Friar Peter Damian Massengill, OFM Conv. (rear right), and among the many celebrating was Friar Miljenko Hontić, OFM Conv., Assistant General for the Central European Federation.
On the Sunday prior to our Solemn Vow celebration (July 30, 2017), in the Blackfriars Church (Dominican Priory of the Holy Spirit) in Oxford, Friar Gerard Mary Toman, OFM Conv. (front left) and Friar Benedict Abugu, OFM Conv. (front right) were ordained to the Transitional Deaconate at the hands of The Right Rev. Malcom McMahon, OP, Archbishop of Liverpool, along with three of their Dominican classmates.
Looking ahead, the three Novices-to-be are already in Assisi working on their Italian. Joseph David Freeman, (left), Osvaldo Lopez-Figueroa (center), and Kieran John Murphy (right) – the third Murphy in our Custody – will be invested into the Novitiate at the Sacred Convent in Assisi on the 9th of September 2017. Their postulant director, Friar Daniel Geary, OFM Conv. will be present for the investiture. Our Lady of the Angels Province Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. was able to visit with Joseph, Osvaldo and Kieran during his recent time with the friars on the Solemn Vow Pilgrimage.
Our Lady of the Angels Province Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., translated to the St. Francis Novitiate and Spirituality Center in Saltpond, Ghana, the remains of the late +Friar Dominic Slemba, OFM Conv. (1927- 2006). On the Feast Day of Our Lady of the Angels, August 2nd the community celebrated the Memorial Mass and Interment of +Fr. Dominic, who served as a friar missionary there. In 1977, +Friar Dominic was one of the first group of friars from the former St. Anthony of Padua Province (whose friars joined those of Immaculate Conception Province to create Our Lady of the Angels Province in 2014) to open a mission in Ghana, West Africa. From 1978 – 1984, +Friar Dominic continued his missionary work of forming new friars by serving as the Director of Novices, at St. Francis Novitiate, in Saltpond. +Friar Dominic then served as the Director of Formation and Guardian at the Our Lady of the Portiuncula Friary, in Cape Coast, Ghana until 1988 when he resumed his work in Saltpond, serving again as Director of Novices and then as a staff member of the Spirituality Center. In 2004, suffering from cancer, +Friar Dominic left his beloved Ghana and returned to the United States. Sister Death greeted him in 2006 after a long fought battle and he was buried in the Friars’ Mausoleum in St. Stanislaus Cemetery, in Baltimore, MD.
At the request by those he served so faithfully, permission was granted and Friar James McCurry, OFM Conv. traslated the remains of +Friar Dominic back to Ghana. The Memorial Mass and Interment lasted three hours, concluding under lashing rain at the grave-site in the “Franciscan Valley of Prayer and Silence.” Cardinal Peter Turkson, who serves as President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in Vatican City, was the main celebrant. Cardinal Turkson was assisted by the Archbishop of Cape Coast – the Most Reverend Matthias Kobena Nketsiah, as well as the Custos of the Order’s Ghanaian Custody of St. Anthony – Fr. Anthony Bezo Kutiero, OFM Conv. and the Fr. James. Not even the drenching downpour, as it was Ghana’s legendary “Rainy Season,” dampened the exuberant spirit of the day. A fitting summary can be found in the succinct and memorable words of the Archbishop: “Fr. Dominic was an American by accident, but a Ghanaian by Divine appointment!”
Tribute given by Bro. David Kwaw, OFM Conv.
the last surviving member of +Fr. Dominic’s first Formation Class, in Ghana:
In the book “The Pain of Being Human” by Eugene Kennedy, the writer wrote, and I quote: “There is a kind of pain in life that has nothing to do with sickness or sometimes savagery. This is the suffering of healthy person, as dramatic as it is inevitable, as commonplace as it is uncomforted. It is the pain with thousand private faces, the pain that comes from just being human.”
+Fr. Dominic Slemba underwent that pain of being human when he realised that his desire to die in Ghana and be buried in Ghana had failed. On that fateful day when he was leaving Saltpond under implicit obedience, he was in pain. His head was down with his eyes half closed. His steps were uneven. That was not due to his physical sickness, but the pain of leaving Ghana for good. As holy obedience demands, and as he believed in holy obedience, he obeyed his superior and left Ghana for good.
Today, we have gathered here to do honor to Fr. Dominic Slemba; to welcome the remains of Fr. Dominic Slemba back to Ghana and lay him at the very place he designated as the burial ground for the Friars. Fr. Dominic, you are welcome back to Ghana; and we are happy to welcome you back. Your desired dream has been fulfilled.
Fr. Dominic Slemba, OFM Conv. arrived in Ghana in 1977, with three other Friars from St. Anthony of Padua Province, USA (Fr. Isidore Kolwaski Fr. Ignatius Piatek and Bro. Vincent Vivian) to sow the Franciscan Way of Life in Ghana. He was the Provincial Delegate of the Mission and the Superior of the group. Their first settlement in Ghana was the second bungalow of the Archdiocese, Cape Coast, close to St. Augustine College. His immediate role was to establish the Franciscan Way of Life in Ghana by recruiting and training Ghanaians who may desire to follow Jesus in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi. Hence he arrived in Ghana as a Novice Director without novices. But he worked to achieve that dream in the shortest possible time.
By December 1977, he had enrolled five Ghanaians and feverishly prepared them to enter into Novitiate. The late +Archbishop John Kodwo Amissah gave them the sister’s convent in Saltpond to start the Novitiate, causing the need for Fr. Dominic to rent a house for the three Infant Jesus sisters’ relocation. The house was just across the road. In the second week of September 1978, Fr. Dominic moved to Saltpond to get himself ready to welcome the five candidates for the Novitiate.
On October 4, 1978, Fr. Dominic received the first group of five Ghanaians into novitiate. The private ceremony took place in the small chapel of the convent. The gathering included the Novice Director and the five to be Novices. No other person was present. Since the five candidates had never seen an Investiture of Novices before, it was a joyful moment for the five and their director. That evening, Fr. Dominic organised the first “fresh bread” party. The food for the party was bread with groundnut paste and water. When we had finished with what we had, Fr. Dominic said, “This is a good party with Lady Poverty.” Some of the newly invested giggled and some laughed. Fr. Dominic turned round and said to them, “If you don’t like peanut and bread, you have no vocation.”
Fr. Dominic’s dream was not only a Novitiate but a place to house the novices after their Profession of Vows. Again, he turned to the late Archbishop John Kodwo Amissah and the 4th Ridge building, the current Secretariat of the Archdiocese, was given to the Franciscans to begin as a Formation House.
As a Provincial Delegate, Fr. Dominic sought places to put up Formation Houses. Simultaneously, he started building the Novitiate House in Saltpond and the Formation House in Cape Coast. At the same time he started looking for land to build the House at Sowutuom. He was a Formator and knew what to do to train people to become religious and priests in the Franciscan family. He never lost his focus. He faced many challenges but never gave up. He stood tall to lay the foundation of the Conventual Franciscan Order in Ghana.
As a good Missionary and a good Formator, he combined book, spirituality and manual labor as a single tool in all his Missionary work. He was a very hard worker and loved neat surroundings. One day, something of great interest happened. On the narrow road that lead to the sister’s house was a public toilet. That small area was very unpleasant to pass-by. The time was 3.00pm, which was the normal time for the novices to work in the afternoon. He was the first person to come down, all dressed for work. He gave the command, “Collect all the shovels and the cutlasses,” and the novices did so. His next command was “Let’s go,” and the novices followed without questing where. After crossing the main road, he said, “We are going to clean around the public toilet and make the place neat.” One novice shouted, “Father how?” He turned to look at the novice and said, “Obeye few.” Believe it or not, the novices were made to clean the surroundings of that public toilet to the amazement of the many passerby and they were given the name “obeye few.”
Fr Dominic was a father to the poor and had the poor, at heart. He believed that the more you give to the poor, the more God gives you to the poor. He had a generous heart and could never say “No” to anyone who begged from him. He did give so generously that sometimes people, even those who had, took advantage of his generosity by lying and cheating him.
He was a man of prayer and loved to pray. He was a strong devotee to Our Lady and never dropped his Rosary. The last thing he will do before going to bed was to visit the Blessed Sacrament in the quietness of the night, for fifteen minutes. He believed that it is safer and better to sleep before the Blessed Sacrament than any other place in the world.
He had a vision for a Marian Center at Saltpond and worked towards it. He started the hermitage experience, where people come and be alone with the Lord in prayer. He worked very hard to create the path for the Stations of the Cross, as we have it today. The Marian grotto, the Divine Mercy chapel, the Bethlehem, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Heaven, and the Millennium church for bigger groups were all his dreams and his investments. He worked very hard to lay a good spiritual foundation for teh benefit of many people.
For his hard work, Fr. Dominic discovered one medicine while he was in Saltpond, known as “African medicine,” which he alone took in the night and was only effective for him. What was it? It was mixture of fresh corn dough and peanut paste in a bowl. He loved it and he would eat that mixture every night before he went to bed. God gave him a good missionary stomach.
His life in Ghana from 1977 to 2004 lasted twenty seven years. Out of these twenty seven years, he was a Novice Director for twenty two and a Director for Students for five. He was a born Formator and a great Formator, who played a deserving role in laying the Foundation of the Conventual Franciscan Order in Ghana. His dream and his work are bearing fruits. May God multiply the yield for generations to come.
Amen.
Before Mass, +Fr. Dominic’s cremated remains reposed beneath the Tabernacle which he installed at the Saltpond Novitiate Chapel, while serving there.
Archbishop of Cape Coast – the Most Reverend Matthias Kobena Nketsiah, Minister Provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province – the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., President of the Pontifical Council for Justice & Peace in Vatican City – Cardinal Peter Turkson, Custos of the Order’s Ghanaian Custody of St. Anthony – Fr. Anthony Bezo Kutiero, OFM Conv.
Intro by Fr. Michael Lasky, OFM Conv., of our province Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation Ministry: This most recent installment of our JPIC Friar Focus includes a suggestion for a wonderful book, highlighting our brother, Fr. Bede Abram, OFM Conv. (1942-1991). Our Lady of the Angels Province friar and chaplain of the Sisters of St. Felix of Cantalice (aka the Felician Sisters), of Enfield, CT – Fr. Noel Danielewicz, OFM Conv. has written a moving piece on how Friar Bede inspired him personally. This witness is coupled with a book which I first encountered in May 2000 when I received an ordination gift from Friar Noel, entitled A Retreat With Thea Bowman and Bede Abram – Leaning on the Lord by Joseph A. Brown, S.J. On a personal note, I entered our candidacy program in Granby in 1991, six months after Sister Death came to take Friar Bede home. Upon entering the community I considered myself fortunate, because when I was a high school student at Archbishop Curley High School, Friar Noel had talked me into attending a three night Lenten Mission at the Basilica of the Assumption, led by Friar Bede. I’ll never forget his preaching. Even more memorable than his preaching was a personal encounter I had with Friar Bede, when after the second night Friar Noel introduced me him, and I asked a simple question couched in a complement. “I’m really enjoying your preaching…but every now and again I get lost. Can you please tell me what this sparrow is that you keep talking about?” His answer, very kind and personal, came after the friars composed themselves and I was patted on the head and shoulders several times with accompanying phrases like, “Oh, poor child…” Four days after his death, the National Black Catholic Congress convened in Washington and proclaimed the following: “The entire membership…recognize our brother Bede Abram…teacher, lecturer, revivalist, theologian – who has gone to glory,…for he traversed the land giving days of reflection and prayer…he sang his way into the hearts of thousands…he expanded the minds and thinking of many…he challenged all types of folks…we shall miss him as this life had us know him.”
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Fr. Noel Danielewicz, OFM, Conv., as he receiving the Renewal of Vows of Felician Sister, S Carol Marie Saladin
Friar Noel Danielewicz, OFM Conv. Reflecting on the call to social justice, in the spirit of Friar Bede Abram and Sister Thea Bowman, I see it as answering the summons to live and incarnate the GOSPEL through being a preacher of the Word! As Christians, we see the world with the compassion of Jesus and respond to the plight of humanity with mercy and love, justice, and forgiveness.
For me, Thea and Bede were two iconic Franciscan voices in the urban wilderness of our country, that cried out for the dignity of the human person. Sister Thea offered her gift of “multiculturalism” to a world that has grown cold to appreciate the richness of God’s gift of race and ethnicity first in oneself, so that you can see and value it in others as “sister and brother.”
There was an “urgency” in Thea and Bede’s message that made some folk uncomfortable about the need to step up to the plate and do something. For we are NOT talking now about ideology, but the pressing needs of humanity. Be it from the classroom to the sanctuary—-Sister Thea and Friar Bede spoke a message of TRUTH that she would often say: “I’ll tell you the truth, only if you can stand to hear the true—truth!” And Thea was adamant about that.
I found it ironic, that God sent these two giants into my life as a friar—priest, whose major fear in ministry was PREACHING. One Good Friday Liturgy I incorporated my recent experience of the death of my nephew, Michael into the homily. It opened my own woundedness with that of Jesus and I felt drained upon returning to my chair. Friar Bede immediately wasted no time in jumping up and congratulating me. And I asked for what? He said, “you preached!”
It is simply amazing whom God places on our “checkerboard” of life and Friar Bede and Sister Thea have been that gift of “spirit and life” for me. Their relationship patterned the love of Francis and Clare that speaks to a hungry and thirsty Church. I’m challenged by God’s presence in my life, and that while I have breath, may I continue to preach in the words of Francis of Assisi: “Sisters and brothers, while we have time, let us do good! For up until now we have done but little.”
Upon hearing the Call to “rebuild my house,” while in prayer before the Cross of San Damiano, Saint Francis of Assisi began his life’s conversion. However, his response to that Call is reflected through a different cross. Commissioned for the Lower Church of the Basilica Papale e Sacro Convento di San Francesco (Papal Basilica and Sacred Convent of St. Francis), in the mid 1200’s, it is thought that the “Blue Cross” was suspended over the altar at the Tomb of St. Francis. This crucifix is one of a pair created by the “Maestro dei Crocifissi Blu” (Master of the Blue Crucifix), who used blue pigment as a reoccurring element in his work. The other is in the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne. The Blue Cross, now located in the Museo del Tesoro (basilica museum), is the artistic representation of the Franciscan answer to God’s Call.
Cross of San Damiano hanging in the Basilica of St. Clare
When the Poor Clares, who were founded by St. Francis as the Second Franciscan Order, moved from San Damiano to Assisi’s Basilica di Santa Chiara (Basilica of St. Clare), they took the cross with them. Before the time of St. Francis and St. Clare, religious art was ruled by strict symbolic representations. The Cross of San Damiano is packed with imagery which is vastly different from the rendering on the Blue Cross. That simplicity of voice is striking. As a comparison, we will focus on the images that they do have in common. Jesus is portrayed as our risen Lord; wounded but strong, on the Cross of San Damiano. In contrast to the symbolism of the Cross of San Damiano, the Blue Cross portrays Christ’s Body in a more humanistic way, as His Blood spills from a dead corpus. This more human artistic representation is part of the Franciscan movement showing that Christ is not only similar to mankind, He is human and suffers as a human. The Blue Cross show the death of Christ. Both show us that through his perfect sacrifice, He gains for us eternal life.
On the Cross of San Damiano there are multiple witnesses to the crucifixion, including Our Lady, St. John the Evangelist, Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James, the Roman centurion who asked Jesus to heal his son, St. Longinus – the centurion who pierced Jesus’ side and later became a Martyr for Him, Stephaton (a faulty derivation from the Greek word for sponge), the traditional name for the Jewish Temple Guard who offered Jesus the sponge soaked in vinegar wine, angels, animals and representations the patron saints of the area. Each of these have specific representational purpose. In the rendering on the Blue Cross are simply are Mary and John, looking toward us in sorrow; sharing in the agony of Jesus’ death. This is a more personal interpretation of the crucifixion, as Christ died for us all, so we are brought into the piece through the faces of Our Lady and St. John.
Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv., a friar from our province who serves the Order as Assistant General CFF: Conventual Franciscan Federation presented information to this year’s graduating Novice class on the replica Blue Crosses they just received.:
Fr. Brad Milunski, OFM Conv. (Our Lady of the Angels Province Vicar Provincial and one of the Pilgrimage Leadership Staff) with our own friar Luis Palacios Rodriguez, OFM Conv. (left) outside the cave of Brother Leo; St. Francis’ secretary and friend.
For the entire month of July, eleven Franciscan friars from all three branches of the First Order (OFM Conventual, OFM Capuchin, and OFM) participated in a pilgrimage/retreat in Rome, the Rieti Valley, and Assisi, as part of their preparation for the final profession of the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The participating friars represented the USA, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, Ireland, and Singapore. Visits to many Franciscan holy places were combined with historical and spiritual input, the celebration of Mass, and large blocks of time for private prayer.
The pilgrimage was sponsored by Franciscan Pilgrimage Programs in Franklin, WI, and led by Sr. Anne Kenyon, OSF, and Fr. Rick Martignetti, OFM, Fr. John Petrikovic, OFM Cap., and our own Vicar Provincial – Fr. Brad Milunski, OFM Conv. The friars are now concluding the pilgrimage with five days of retreat before returning to their home countries.
Our Lady of the Angels Province not only had a friar as a member of the leadership staff in our Vicar Provincial – Fr. Brad who just returned to the USA this week, but we also have a participant friar in formation who is still in Italy for the final leg of his preparatory Solemn Vow Retreat. Friar Luis Palacios Rodriguez, OFM Conv. hopes to Profess Solemn Vows in 2018. You can peek into his years of Formation as a Franciscan Friar Conventual, though past posts on this website, such as his: Profession of Simple Vows, MedStar, Patients First Medallion Award, Minor Ministry of Acolyte Installation, and even a post from when his mom and sister came for a visit.
Visit to the Shrine of La Verna where St. Francis received the “stigmata,” the very wounds of Christ in his body – some of the pilgrims look up for a group shot.
Friar Brad just outside the cave of Brother Leo, St. Francis’ secretary and friend.
Check back soon for more photos from friar Luis, as well as some captured during this week’s visit to the pilgrims by our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry. Please keep friar Luis and all of those preparing to Profess Solemn Vows, in your continued prayers. Thank You!
Visit with our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv.:
The five Friars of the CFF English-speaking Federation doing the final week of the “Second Novitiate” in preparation for Solemn Vows. (friar Luis at left and Friar James 3rd from left) The inscription over the portals reads “Here [were] the first beginnings of the Friars Minor.”
The five (1 from OLA, 1 from St. Joseph Cupertino Province, and 3 from our Province Custody of Glessed Agnellus of Pisa) with Fr. James, who directed their final days of retreat at the Order’s protoconvent Rivo Torto. Here they are standing in the “Sacro Tugurio” (“Sacred Hut”) of Rivo Torto. Sorry about the glare in their eyes.
At the end of the retreat they were visited by Fr. Louis, the Order’s Secretary General for Formation (at right)
Fr. James also visited with three Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Custody Postulants (Joseph David Freeman, Kieran John Murphy and Osvaldo Lopez-Figueroa) who are doing Italian studies in preparation for entry into the Order’s Novitiate program, in Assisi.
Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner, OFM Conv. (60th Ordination Jubilarian – left), Our Lady of the Angels Province Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. (40th Ordination Jubilarian – center) and Friar John Burkhard, OFM Conv. (50th Ordination Jubilarian – right) and all priest friars present concelebrated the Jubiliarian Celebratory Mass, as one.
On Monday, July 24, 2017, our province held our Annual Jubilarian Celebration beginning with sharing the Daily Noon Mass with the friars and pilgrims of our Shrine of St. Anthony, in Ellicott City, MD and ending with a delicious luncheon and fellowship. Most of our 41 Jubilarians for 2017 were able to be in attendance. The day was enhanced by the joyful inclusion of the Profession of Simple Vows by friar Jason DeMartini, OFM Conv.
PROFESSION JUBILARIANS 65 Years Friar Ronald Sermak, OFM Conv. ~ August 15, 1952 Friar David Stopyra, OFM Conv. ~ August 15, 1952 Friar Giles VanWormer, OFM Conv. ~ August 17, 1952 Friar Duane Mastrangelo, OFM Conv. ~ August 17, 1952 Friar Briant Cullinane, OFM Conv. ~ August 17, 1952 Friar Alvin Somerville, OFM Conv. ~ August 17, 1952 60 Years Friar Phillip Blaine, OFM Conv. ~ August 12, 1957 Friar Joseph Madden, OFM Conv. ~ August 12, 1957 Friar Paul Varga, OFM Conv. ~ August 12, 1957 Friar Nevin Hammon, OFM Conv. ~ August 12, 1957
Friar Herman Czaster, OFM Conv. ~ August 15, 1957 Friar Alexander Cymerman, OFM Conv. ~ August 15, 1957 50 Years Friar Jude Surowiec, OFM Conv. ~ August 15, 1967 Friar Paul Miskiewicz, OFM Conv. ~ August 15, 1967 Friar Noel Danielewicz, OFM Conv. ~ August 15, 1967 Friar Martin Kobos, OFM Conv. ~ August 15, 1967 Friar Karl Kolodziejski, OFM Conv. ~ August 15, 1967 Friar Joseph Connick, OFM Conv. ~ September 1, 1967 Friar William Robinson, OFM Conv. ~ September 1, 1967 40 Years Friar Paul Lininger, OFM Conv. ~ August 14, 1977 Friar Michael Taylor, OFM Conv. ~ August 14, 1977 Friar Jude DeAngelo, OFM Conv. ~ August 14, 1977 Friar Daniel Fink, OFM Conv. ~ August 15, 1977 Friar Richard-Jacob Forcier, OFM Conv. ~ August 15, 1977 Friar Dennis Grumsey, OFM Conv. ~ August 15, 1977 Friar Stephen Murphy, OFM Conv. ~ August 15, 1977 Friar Timothy Kulbicki, OFM Conv. ~ August 15, 19775 Years Friar José Guadalupe Matus Castillo, OFM Conv. ~ September 5, 1992 Friar Marek Stybor, OFM Conv. ~ September 8, 1992
Friar Abelardo Huanca Martinez, OFM Conv. ~ December 19, 1992
ORDINATION JUBILARIANS 60 Years Friar Giles VanWormer, OFM Conv. ~ March 15, 1957 Friar Antone Kendrac, OFM Conv. ~ June 1, 1957
Friar Peter Damian Fehlner, OFM Conv. ~ July 14, 1957
50 Years Friar John Burkhard, OFM Conv. ~ March 11, 1967 Friar Dominic McGee, OFM Conv. ~ May 20, 1967 Friar Benedict Fagone, OFM Conv. ~ June 13, 1967
40 Years Friar Justin Ratajczak, OFM Conv. ~ May 7, 1977 Friar Carl Zdancewicz, OFM Conv. ~ May 7, 1977 Friar James McCurry, OFM Conv. ~ May 7, 1977
25 Years Friar Miroslaw Podymniak, OFM Conv. ~ June 20, 1992 Friar Timothy Dore, OFM Conv. ~ October 17, 1992
Friar Timothy Kulbicki, OFM Conv. (40 Yrs Professed), Friar Marek Stybor, OFM Conv. (25 Yrs Professed), Friar Richard-Jacob Forcier, OFM Conv. (40 Yrs Professed), Friar Paul Miskiewicz, OFM Conv. (50 Yrs Professed) and Friar Joseph Madden, OFM Conv. (60 Yrs Professed) were among those honored.
Friar Martin Kobos, OFM Conv., Friar William Robinson, OFM Conv. and Friar Jude Surowiec, OFM Conv. (all 50 Yrs Professed) were among those honored as 2017 Jubilarians.
Fraternal Embrace: Friar Herman Czaster, OFM Conv., who celebrated the 60th Anniversary of his Profession this year, joyfully welcomes newly Professed friar Jason DeMartini, OFM Conv., as his confrere in our Order of Franciscan Friars Conventual.
Photo Cred: Mr. Joseph Hamilton, Director of our province Evangelization and Development Ministry ~ the Companions of St. Anthony
The first part of our pilgrimage was to Italy (Rome and Assisi). We began by celebrating Mass in the chapel of Convento Kolbe where St. Maximilian lived for 7 years, praying before the same statue of the Immaculate, and where, with six confreres, he founded the M.I. on October 16, 1917. The highlight of our next day in Rome was to celebrate Mass at the altar of Our Lady of the Miracle in Sant’ Andrea delle Fratte Church where St. Maximilan celebrated his first Mass. After waiting under the blazing sun to clear security at St. Peter’s Square, we visited the treasures inside St. Peter’s Basilica and prayed before the tombs of St. Peter, St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII.
Our third day in Italy was all about Assisi. We visited the Basilica of St. Clare as well as the Portiuncula in Our Lady of the Angels Basilica. As always, the highlight was praying at the tomb of St. Francis and celebrating Mass in a chapel of the Sacro Convento, which St. Maximilian visited several times, and where, as a plaque records, he blessed the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. To the pilgrims’ delight, our own Fr. Martin Breski, OFM Conv. (who serves at the Basilica as an English speaking guide for pilgrims) provided a full tour of Papal Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.
As in Italy, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. (OLA Province Minister Provincial and the Pilgrimage Spiritual Guide) continued to inspire with his spiritual guidance. With all the knowledge he has gained over the years about St. Maximilian M. Kolbe, OFM Conv., he continued to amaze us – especially in Poland. Of the eight days we spent there, three were splendid jewels that crowned our pilgrimage. The first (August 12th) was our visit to Niepokalanow (City of the Immaculate) established ninety years ago this year to promote and further the works of the Immaculate to which St. Maximilian and the friars were totally dedicated. At the celebration of the Mass in the friary’s first chapel, all the pilgrims made the total consecration to the Immaculate, enrolled in the M.I., and were given a Miraculous Medal.
The second highlight (August 13th) was the visit to Poland’s National Shrine of Jasna Gora (Bright Mountain) in Czestochowa, where during the day we celebrated Mass in the Chapel of the Rosary. Then, at 9 p.m., the hour of the “Apel” (the “call”), we were all privileged to kneel right in the sanctuary before the sacred icon of the Black Madonna. In a televised broadcast to Poland and the world, Fr. Simon, one of the Pauline Fathers, singled out our group announcing that we were visiting the shrine from the U.S. to mark the centenary of the M.I. and pointing out to all that St. Maximilian had celebrated Mass there three times according to the monastery’s records. Then, three of us friars were each invited to pray a Hail Mary in English.
Following a month-long 
In the book “The Pain of Being Human” by Eugene Kennedy, the writer wrote, and I quote: “There is a kind of pain in life that has nothing to do with sickness or sometimes savagery. This is the suffering of healthy person, as dramatic as it is inevitable, as commonplace as it is uncomforted. It is the pain with thousand private faces, the pain that comes from just being human.”
