Monday – February 15, 2016: fr. Maximilian Avila, OFM Conv. received the minor ministry of Lector. The ceremony took place in the context of Mass with the friars of Immaculate Heart of Mary Friary (Baltimore, MD) present. Friar Max had previously received the ministry of Acolyte, while in study at the St. Bonaventure Friary Post-Novitiate, in Silver Spring, MD.
We send blessings upon Friar Max as he moves forward on his path to priesthood.
Note on Minor Ministries: Prior to 1963 and the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), during the formation process on the road to the priesthood, men were affirmed to four Minor and three Major Ministries. Now there are two; Acolyte and Lector (Can. 230 §1 and §2) in preparation for the transitional diaconate step prior to the priesthood. These are two stable “Ordinary” ministries, as opposed to “Extraordinary” ministries of temporary designation afforded to those not in preparation for the priesthood.
There will be one stop in the Washington DC area on the Kolbe Relic Tour. The St. Maximilian Kolbe, OFM Conv. Relic Tour includes the February 17-19, 2016 stop at The Catholic University of America, in Washington, DC. Prayers and veneration will be open to the public each day for one half of an hour, from 6 – 6:30 pm, in Caldwell Chapel. The relic will stay at Catholic U through February 21st, but that Sunday veneration will be restricted to members of the CUA community.
More information from prior posts about theRelic Tour: To commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe (a friar of our Order of Friars Minor Conventual who died in the World War II concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland) our friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province have sponsored a pilgrimage of St. Maximilian’s relics (consisting of fragments of his beard). This is the largest tour of St. Maximilian Kolbe relics in the United States. It began on January 15, 2016 with an Opening Mass celebrated by our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., followed by veneration, held the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City, Maryland. The tour will include 38 ministry sites along the East Coast of the United States and Canada. The pilgrimage of St. Maximilian’s relics will return to our Ellicott City, MD ministry at the Shrine of St. Anthony for a concluding Closing Ceremony, on St. Maximilian’s feast day, August 14th.
During the weekend of February 13-15, 2016, the St. Maximilian Kolbe Relic tour will stop at St. Clement Mary Hofbauer Church, for the last stop in the Baltimore area. After that, it will travel to Washington D.C., to our ministry at The Catholic University of America, February 17-21, 2016. As Fr. Vincent Gluc, OFM Conv., pastor of St. Clement Mary Hofbauer Church wrote in the February 7th parish bulletin: St. Maximilian Kolbe, OFM Conv. was “Franciscan saint who volunteered to die, taking the place of another man, who was scheduled to be put to death in a concentration camp in Poland. Saint Maximilian Kolbe died by lethal injection on August 14, 1941. We are marking the 75th anniversary of his death this year. Please join us for a special Evening Prayer in honor of St. Maximilian Kolbe scheduled for Monday, February 15 at 7:00 pm in the Church. The theme of our celebration is: ‘St. Maximilian Kolbe, OFM Conv.: Martyr of Charity and Saint for our Difficult Times.‘” Please feel free to join Friar Vincent and the parish community of St. Clement Mary Hofbauer for veneration on February 15th.
More information from prior posts about theRelic Tour: To commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe (a friar of our Order of Friars Minor Conventual who died in the World War II concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland) our friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province have sponsored a pilgrimage of St. Maximilian’s relics (consisting of fragments of his beard). This is the largest tour of St. Maximilian Kolbe relics in the United States. It began on January 15, 2016 with an Opening Mass celebrated by our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., followed by veneration, held the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City, Maryland. The tour will include 38 ministry sites along the East Coast of the United States and Canada. The pilgrimage of St. Maximilian’s relics will return to our Ellicott City, MD ministry at the Shrine of St. Anthony for a concluding Closing Ceremony, on St. Maximilian’s feast day, August 14th.
Adapted from a January 31, 2016 letter from our Minister Provincial to the Friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province, regarding the January 17-23, 2016 Minister General’s “Convocation of Federations of the Order” for a meeting with the General Curia.
A plethora of languages echoed through the passages of the Sacro Convento in Assisi as sixty-two Friars gathered representing thirty-two countries. As we arrived in Assisi, nothing bespoke the tragic irony of our times more poignantly than the cohort of armed Italian soldiers blockading all ingresses to the precincts of the upper and lower Basilica of St. Francis; Man of Peace. In response to ISIL’s recent threat against the Vatican, the Holy See has had to ban all motor vehicles from the Piazza Inferiore and the road leading up to the Via San Francesco from the portals of the Sacro Convento. After passing through the security barriers, I immediately noticed the “Lampedusa Refugee Boat-Crib” beneath the Christmas tree, which is left dominating the Piazza Inferiore until Candlemas, the 2nd of February. More than ever we must pray for the kingdom of the Prince of Peace to overtake the caliphates of hate in our imperiled world!
The purpose of the Assisi Assembly was a review of the Order’s six-year plan at the midway point between the last General Chapter and the next. The Minister General noted that this meeting of the Order’s leaders in Assisi was intended to be a type of “community pilgrimage” bringing us together in relation to St. Francis of Assisi, so that we could be fortified by one another in the task of stimulating the local friars to evaluate our life and renew the charism. He also pointed out that the Church’s “Year of Mercy” is punctuated by the Order’s commemoration of the 800th anniversary of the “Pardon of Assisi” [Portiuncula Indulgence]. He charged us to undertake creative initiatives in 2016 promoting inter-Franciscan collaboration on the themes of forgiveness, reconciliation, healing, and mercy.
Our daily Eucharistic celebrations took place in the Lower Basilica beneath the vaulted frescos by Giotto depicting the Allegory of the Vows. As we mounted the stairs daily to kiss the Altar, one could look down through the grating over the Tomb of St. Francis directly below. Friar Jude Winkler, OFM Conv. (Assistant General and friar of Our Lady of the Angels Province) eloquently preached the homily, in Italian and English, at each of the liturgies. Our province’s Friar Tim Kulbicki, OFM Conv. is the secretary of the International Commission for the Revision of the Constitutions of which the finished product will be his lasting legacy to future generations of the Order. During the convocation, Friar Tim led us through an overview of the project. All seven of the Assistants General for the various federations made presentations, as well as the Vicar General, the Secretary General, Procurator General, and the Custos of Assisi, along with the superiors of the other Franciscan families in Assisi. We also broke into small group sessions to discuss the various lights, shadows, and challenges faced by Provincials, Custodes, and Delegates. Everyone’s words ultimately bespoke THE WORD and our fraternal communion with Francis in embracing THE WORD.
Midweek, we took a small pilgrimage to La Verna (the site where Saint Francis of Assisi received the stigmata). The theme of the day was “Mercy.” Just outside the entry to the grounds of La Verna, we processed into the holy precincts behind the Minister General, who carried a six-foot cross. La Verna was bitter cold that day and one of the African friars saw snow and icicles for the first time, asking the name we give to those large formations of ice dripping from the rocky cliffs. The official photo of our whole group (below) was taken in the courtyard of the La Verna Friary, where our Observant brothers hosted us to a sumptuous meal after Mass. We ended our “Pilgrimage of Mercy” in Gubbio, at our Conventual friary marking the site of St. Francis’ first way-station outside Assisi. St. Francis had journeyed to Gubbio in 1206 immediately after stripping himself before Bishop Guido and Pietro Bernadone in the Vescovado, thereby embarking on the path of a “stranger and exile in this world.” It was in Gubbio that St. Francis tamed the threatening wolf.
On our final night in Assisi we all enjoyed a medieval banquet in the deepest bowels of the Sacro Convento – the original convent built by Brother Elias [and later used by Zefferelli as the set for the cloth-dying scene in Brother Sun, Sister Moon]. A student friar entertained us as the jester on 10-foot stilts.
Know that each and all of you accompanied me in prayer and heart throughout these days in the Franciscan heartland. How grand it is for us to share a common call as sons of Francis!
Your brother James
Part of those assembled who took the mini-pilgrimage to La Verna
Friar Arturo Scotus-Maria Felix, OFM Conv. (Deacon) flanked by student friars from Marytown, IL
Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago closed the Year of Consecrated Life on Sunday, January 24, 2016, at a 2:15 p.m. Mass at Holy Name Cathedral, in Chicago. Together with consecrated men and women from religious communities, lay ecclesial movements and consecrated virgins, the Archbishop gave thanks for the graces and opportunities throughout the Year at the public Mass, marking a year that began on the first Sunday of Advent, November 29, 2014, and officially ended on February 2, 2016. The Year also marked the 50th anniversary of Perfectae Caritatis, a decree on religious life, and Lumen Gentium, the Second Vatican Council’s constitution on the Church. The purpose of the Year, as stated by the Vatican, was to “make a grateful remembrance of the recent past,” while embracing “the future with hope.”
Our Lady of the Angels Postulants: Jason DeMartini and Jason Byrum serving as ushers. (Not pictured: Ky Bui who served as Crosier Bearer.)
Our Postulants currently in formation at the St. Bonaventure Friary Postulancy in Chicago participated in the closing Mass. Mr. Jonathan Byrum and Mr. Jason DeMartini served as ushers, Mr. Ky Bui was the Crosier Bearer and other student friars from Marytown were altar servers. Friar Giles Michael Gilbert, OFM Conv. and Friar Arturo Scotus-Maria Felix, OFM Conv., of the St. Bonaventure Province, served as deacons. Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Br. Paschal Kolodziej, OFM Conv. (Guardian of the friary and Postulancy Director) represented our Order in the procession of the various Religious serving in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Please continue to pray for those called to Consecrated Life; “the many branches which sink roots into the Gospel and bring forth abundant fruit in every season of the Church’s life,” (Vita Consecrata, 1996 Saint John Paul II) including Monastic Life, the Orders of Virgins, Hermits, Institutes Devoted to Contemplation, Apostolic Religious Life, Secular Institutes, Societies of Apostolic Life, and New or Renewed Forms of the Consecrated Life.
Prayer for the Year of Consecrated Life
O God, throughout the ages you have called women and men
to pursue lives of perfect charity through the evangelical counsels
of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
During this Year of Consecrated Life, we give you thanks
for these courageous witnesses of Faith and models of inspiration.
Their pursuit of holy lives teaches us to make a more perfect offering of ourselves to you.
Continue to enrich your Church by calling forth sons and daughters who,
having found the pearl of great price,
treasure the Kingdom of Heaven above all things.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Donald, Kos, OFM Conv. began his studies in his hometown of Holyoke, Massachusetts, at one of our province’s parochial schools; Mater Dolorosa School. He is a graduate of Holyoke’s St. Jerome High School and began his Franciscan life at the Conventual Franciscan Mount Saint Lawrence Novitiate, in Becket, MA. He professed First Vows in 1954 and Solemn Vows in 1957.
After earning his B.A. in Philosophy at St. Bonaventure University, in NY (1958) he moved to Rome where he earned his S.T.D (Theology at the Pontificia Facoltà Teologica San Bonaventura Seraphicum– 1962), J.C.D. (Canon Law at the Pontificia Università Lateranense – 1966) and his Diploma (Canon Law at the Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae – 1970) in Rome, Italy. He has spent his years in ministry since his Ordination to the Priesthood (at our Order’s Basilica of the Twelve Apostles, in Rome – December 23, 1961) in service to our Order, in Rome. His assignments include 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 Apostolic Penitenzeria, Procurator General and most recently Judicial Vicar of the Ecclesiastic Tribunal of Vatican City State. On Thursday, January 28, 2016, Friar Donald received the “Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice” Cross of Honor Award from Pope Francis, in recognition of his 18 years of distinguished service to the Church, specifically his work at the Apostolic Penitenzeria. For more, please visit our Order’s Website. He joins an illustrious list of recipients that include Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation aka “Mother Angelica,” Princess Benedikte of Denmark, George Weigel and Queen Sofía of Spain.
Franciscans Honor Saint of Auschwitz with Relic Tour Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of St. Maximilian Kolbe’s
martyrdom, Friars proclaim legacy of this modern saint.
To commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe (a friar of our Order of Friars Minor Conventual who died in the World War II concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland) our friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province have sponsored a pilgrimage of St. Maximilian’s relics (consisting of fragments of his beard). This is the largest tour of St. Maximilian Kolbe relics in the United States. It began on January 15, 2016 with an Opening Mass celebrated by our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., followed by veneration, held the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City, Maryland. The tour will include 38 ministry sites along the East Coast of the United States and Canada. The pilgrimage of St. Maximilian’s relics will return to our Ellicott City, MD ministry at the Shrine of St. Anthony for a concluding Closing Ceremony, on St. Maximilian’s feast day, August 14th.
The Baltimore – MD area was hit hard by Winter Storm Jonas majorly effecting the 1st parish (St. Casimir) stop of the Kolbe Relic Tour January 22-25, 2016. Last weekend’s tour stop sites of St. Wenceslaus and St. Ann were a huge success with many faithful in attendance. This week, our students of Archbishop Curley High School will have the relic on site for veneration and it will again be available to the general public as it is on location at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Roman Catholic Church, (February 5-12) before moving onto the next weekend to St. Clement Mary Hofbauer Church, (February 13-15).
While at St. Elizabeth of Hungary (Baltimore-MD), veneration opportunities are plentiful and all are encouraged to join the parishioners and Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. David Kashen, OFM Conv. throughout the week. Saturday, February 6th: 4:00 p.m. Mass Sunday, February 7th: 10:00 a.m. Mass
St. Elizabeth of Hungary, 2700 E. Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD 21224
~and~ Monday – Friday, February 8-12th: 8:00 a.m. Mass Veneration, Prayer, Meditation, and Private Reflection until 2:00 p.m.
Friary Chapel, 2638 E. Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD 21224 (right across the street from church)
If you have any questions about veneration at this location, please call their parish office at (410) 675-8260.
During the Prayer Service for the Students, Faculty and Staff of Archbishop Curley High School, led by the school’s president, Fr. Donald Grzymski, OFM Conv.
Relic Veneration Display at Archbishop Curley High School
Franciscans Honor Saint of Auschwitz with Relic Tour Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of St. Maximilian Kolbe’s
martyrdom, Friars proclaim legacy of this modern saint.
To commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe (a friar of our Order of Friars Minor Conventual who died in the World War II concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland) our friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province have sponsored a pilgrimage of St. Maximilian’s relics (consisting of fragments of his beard). This is the largest tour of St. Maximilian Kolbe relics in the United States. It began on January 15, 2016 with an Opening Mass celebrated by our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., followed by veneration, held the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City, Maryland. The tour will include 38 ministry sites along the East Coast of the United States and Canada. The pilgrimage of St. Maximilian’s relics will return to our Ellicott City, MD ministry at the Shrine of St. Anthony for a concluding Closing Ceremony, on St. Maximilian’s feast day, August 14th.
The Baltimore – MD area was hit hard by Winter Storm Jonas majorly effecting the 1st parish (St. Casimir) stop of the Kolbe Relic Tour January 22-25, 2016. Luckily for the Baltimore faithful, the St. Maximilian Kolbe Relic will remain in downtown Baltimore this weekend as it comes to St. Wenceslaus Roman Catholic Church (2111 Ashland Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21205). This beautiful church (established by Bohemian Catholic immigrants in 1872 and built in 1914) is “twinned” with St. Ann’s Catholic Church (cornerstone laid in 1873 – built 1874), under the pastoral leadership of Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Timothy Dore, OFM Conv. They will hold a special 7:00 p.m. Welcoming Mass at St. Wenceslaus Church on Friday, January 29, 2016. All are encouraged to attend. The relic will also be available for veneration at the Sunday, January 31st 8:00 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. Masses at St. Wenceslaus, as well as the Sunday, January 31st 9:45 a.m. Mass at St. Ann (528 East 22nd Street Baltimore, MD 21218)
The Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity joined in the Friday evening welcome of the “Pilgrim Relic” of St. Maximilian Kolbe, OFM Conv., to St. Wenceslaus.
A few parishioners from St. Wenceslaus at the veneration of the relic, after Sunday Morning Mass.
Fr. Timothy Dore, OFM Conv. pictured holding the St. Maximilian Kolbe Relic with some of the parishioners of St. Anne (Baltimore-MD) after the Sunday morning Mass
During the January 2016 meeting of our Minister General with the world’s Minister Provincials in Assisi, Minister Provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province, Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., was photographed in the grotto of the garden of the Sacro Convento with the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes that was blessed by St. Maximilian Kolbe in 1933.
On September 6, 1933 (three months prior to the December 3rd official canonization of Saint Bernadette, by Pope Pius XI), St. Maximilian Kolbe stopped in Assisi on his way back to his missionary work in Japan. Friar Bonaventure M. Moariu, OFM Conv., the Master of Novices at the time, invited him to bless a statue placed in the grotto in the garden of the Sacro Convento (Sacred Convent) of the Basilica di San Francesco d’Assisi (Papal Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi), home to the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi. According to a document in the archives of the Sacro Convento, St. Maximilian’s ceremony began with the chanting of O Gloriosa Virginum then his blessing of the statue that he then placed in the grotto while Tota Pulchra was being chanted. After the blessing, St. Maximilian was a presenter at a conference there about the Blessed Mother. At the end of this event, È l’ora che pia and Ave, Ave, Ave Maria! were sung. There are many such grottoes around the world commemorating the eighteen apparitions of the Virgin Mary (who identified herself: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” 1858) in the grotto of Massabiele, Lourdes, as seen by St. Bernadette Soubirous (Feast Day April 16). In 1862, The Apparitions in Lourdes were considered as authentic. Since 1858 there have been approximately 7000 cases of unexplained cures and 69 cases that have been recognised as miraculous by the Church.
Franciscans Honor Saint of Auschwitz with Relic Tour Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of St. Maximilian Kolbe’s
martyrdom, Friars proclaim legacy of this modern saint.
To commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe (a friar of our Order of Friars Minor Conventual who died in the World War II concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland) our friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province have sponsored a pilgrimage of St. Maximilian’s relics (consisting of fragments of his beard). This is the largest tour of St. Maximilian Kolbe relics in the United States. It began on January 15, 2016 with an Opening Mass celebrated by our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., followed by veneration, held the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City, Maryland. The tour will include 38 ministry sites along the East Coast of the United States and Canada. The pilgrimage of St. Maximilian’s relics will return to our Ellicott City, MD ministry at the Shrine of St. Anthony for a concluding Closing Ceremony, on St. Maximilian’s feast day, August 14th.
The next stop on the Kolbe Relic Tour is our pastoral ministry of the Faith Community of St. Casimir Church. Located in the historic waterfront community of Canton (2800 O’Donnell Street, Baltimore, MD 21224-4796 ~ 410-276-1981), the Opening Ceremony for this relic tour stop will take place at the 5:00 p.m. Saturday Mass, on January 23, 2016. Veneration of the relic will be available after that Mass as well as after the two parish Masses on Sunday, January 24, 2016 (8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m.). Following the 5:00 p.m. Mass on Sunday, January 24th the relic will be taken to the St. Stanislaus Kostka Chapel, in the St. Joseph Cupertino Center, on the corner of Kenwood and O’Donnell Streets. The chapel is usually open for private prayer and Eucharistic Adoration on the 3rd Monday of each month. For this special Relic Tour, the chapel will instead be open for veneration and private prayer on that Monday (January 25th) following the daily 8:00 a.m. Mass. At 4:00 p.m. the relic will be continue to be available for veneration during Eucharistic Adoration. The evening will conclude with a special Celebration Service at 7:00 p.m., followed by Night Prayer at 8:00 p.m.
All are welcome and encouraged to join the parish community and our friars serving there for this stop at St. Casimir Parish; one of our most beautiful and historic parish locations, under the pastoral leadership of Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Dennis Grumsey, OFM Conv.
Visit the parish for weekend Mass or on any Monday – Saturday, throughout the year, for 8:00 a.m. Mass in the Chapel which stays open for private prayer until 4:00 p.m. The St. Stanislaus Kostka Chapel is in the St. Joseph Cupertino Center across from the friary – diagonal from the Church. It is open each third Monday of the month for Eucharistic Adoration from 4-8:00 p.m., concluding with Night Prayer.
The next stop after St. Casimir Church will be one of our newest pastoral ministries of St. Wenceslaus Church (Baltimore, MD). This beautiful church (established by Bohemian Catholic immigrants in 1872 and built in 1914) is “twinned” with St. Ann’s Catholic Church (cornerstone was laid in 1873 – built 1874), under the pastoral leadership of Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Timothy Dore, OFM Conv. They will hold a special 7:00 p.m. Welcoming Mass on Friday, January 29, 2016. All are encouraged to attend.
Click the above image to order copies of St. Maximilian Kolbe: Martyr of Charity
fr. Maximilian Avila, OFM Conv. received the minor ministry of Lector. The ceremony took place in the context of Mass with the friars of Immaculate Heart of Mary Friary (Baltimore, MD) present. Friar Max had previously received the ministry of Acolyte, while in study at the St. Bonaventure Friary Post-Novitiate, in Silver Spring, MD.
