As with many of our ministry locations, the Shrine of St. Anthony, with the help of local youth groups and shrine pilgrims, holds an annual Living Nativity. Please join them in 2015 on December 12th and/or 13th. (Pictured: Fr. Tom Lavin, OFM Conv. placed the Monstrance within the stable during the Shrine of St. Anthony’s 2012 Outdoor Living Nativity…note the youth dressed as St. Francis kneeling in Adoration)

Pax et Bonum: Current and past history is filled with the individual, community and national quest for peace, often resulting in abandoning homes and relocation. According to tradition, the area of Greccio (Italy) was first established by exiled citizens of a Greek community that was fleeing their home country because of war. Mount Lacerone’s terrain seemed like a protected area for the peace searching settlers and they named it Greccio. It eventually included a fortified medieval castle with external walls and towers. The decedents of those who had sacrificed their Greek homes to escape war, in turn still had to struggle through even more local wars culminating in the town’s destruction by Napoleon’s Army in 1799. However, this beautiful area did also enjoy times of great peace and it was in 1223 Greccio that St. Francis of Assisi first portrayed a Living Nativity, on Christmas Eve, in its natural cave, known as the Chapel of Presepio. He had found a much needed peace in Greccio after visting Rome and wanted a peaceful option for pilgrims to celebrate the birth of Our Lord, instead of traveling to the Holy Land to Bethlehem, as that area was under the dominant and dangerous control of the Turks. He first visited the Castello di Grecccio village in 1217, where his preaching converted the citizens. A permanent quarters was built for St. Francis and his Companions nearby. Although reluctant to have his followers close to the distractions of village life, St. Francis agreed as long as the quarters would be built a stone’s throw away from the village. A small boy was asked to throw a lit torch and wherever it landed, the quarters would be built. Shockingly the torch landed over a mile away, where hallowed out caves in a rocky hill became their dwelling. In modern day life, this spot is a beautiful stop for pilgrims and includes an exhibit of model creches from all over the world, as well as the opportunity to see how St. Francis and his followers lived, prayed, rested and celebrated.

Please take a moment to please read this 84-87 excerpt from: “The First Life of St. Francis” – Thomas of Celano
Chapter 30: Of the manger that he made on Christmas day
84. His chief intention, his principal desire and supreme purpose was in and through all tings to observe the holy Gospel, and with all watchfulness, all zeal, all the longing of his mind and all the fervor of his heart perfectly to follow the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and tread in His footsteps. He would recall His words with assiduous meditation and dwell on His works with the most piercing consideration. And chiefly did the humility of the Incarnation and the charity of the Passion so occupy his memory that he would scarce ponder over anything else. Therefore that which he did at the fortress called Greccio on the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ in the third year before the day of his glorious decease is to be recorded and dwelt on with reverent memory.
There was in that place a man named John, of good repute, but of better life, whom blessed Francis loved with special affection, because, having been a man of the most noble and honorable position in his town, he had trampled on the nobility of the flesh, and followed after the nobility of the mind. This man did blessed Francis send for (as he was often wont) about fifteen days before the Nativity of the Lord, and said to him, “If you will that we celebrate the present festival of the Lord at Greccio, make haste to go before and diligently prepare what I tell you. For I would make memorial of that Child who was born in Bethlehem, and in some sort behold with bodily eyes His infant hardships; how He lay in a manger on the hay, with the ox and the ass standing by.” When the good and faithful man heard it, he made haste and prepared in the aforesaid place all the things that the Saint had told him of.
85. The day of gladness drew nigh, the time of exultation arrived. The brethren, were summoned from many places; the men and women of that town with exulting hearts prepared tapers and torches, as they were able to illuminate that night which with its radiant Star has illuminated all the days and years. At length the Saint of God came, and finding all things prepared, beheld them and rejoiced. The manger had been made ready, the hay ass were led in.
There Simplicity was honored, Poverty exalted, Humility commended; and of Greccio there was made as it were a new Bethlehem. The night was lit up as the day, and was delightful to men and beasts. The people came, and at the new Mystery rejoiced with new rejoicing. The woodland rang with voices, the rocks made answer to the jubilant throng. The brethren sang, yielding due praises to the Lord, and all that night resounded with jubilation. The Saint of God stood before the manger, full of sighs, overcome with tenderness and filled with wondrous joy. The solemnities of Mass were celebrated over the manger, and the priest enjoyed a new consolation.
86. The Saint of God was vested with Levitical ornaments, for he was a Levite, and with sonorous voice chanted the holy Gospel–an earnest, sweet, clear and loud-sounding voice; inviting all to the highest rewards. Then he preached to the people who stood around, and uttered mellifluous words concerning the birth of the poor King and the little town of Bethlehem. (And often, when he would name Christ Jesus, aglow with exceeding love he would call Him the Child of Bethlehem, and, uttering the word “Bethlehem” in the manner of a sheep bleating, he filled his mouth with the sound, but even more his whole self with the sweet affection. Moreover, in naming “the Child of Bethlehem” or “Jesus” he would, as it were, lick his lips, relishing with happy palate, and swallowing the sweetness of that word.) There the gifts of the Almighty were multiplied, and a vision of wondrous efficacy was seen by a certain man; for in the manger he saw a little child lying lifeless, to whom the Saint of God seemed to draw near and (as it were) to rouse the child from the lethargy of sleep. Nor was this vision incongruous; for the child Jesus had been given over to forgetfulness in the hearts of many in whom, by the working of His Grace, He was raised up again through His servant Francis and imprinted on a diligent memory.
At length the solemn vigil was ended, and each one returned with joy to his own place.
87. The hay placed in the manger was kept, in order that thereby the Lord might save beasts of burden and other animals, even as He multiplied His holy mercy. And verily so it came to pass, for many animals in the region round about which had divers diseases were freed from their sicknesses by eating of that hay. Moreover, women in long and grievous labor were safely delivered by putting some of the hay on themselves, and a crowd of persons of either sex suffering from various ailments gained their long-wished-for health at that same place. Finally the place of the manger was hallowed as a temple to the Lord, and in honor of the most blessed father Francis, over the manger an altar was reared and a church dedicated, to the end that where beasts had once eaten fodder of hay, men might thenceforth for the healing of soul and body eat the flesh of the spotless and undefiled Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who in highest and unspeakable charity gave Himself for us, Who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Ghost, God eternally glorious, world without end. Amen, Alleluia, Alleluia.

+Fr. Linus led several pilgrimages to these 13th-century hermitages (Le Marche, Italy)

It is with great sadness that we relate that our brother +Friar Linus DeSantis, OFM Conv. passed away the evening of December 1, 2015. After suffering a massive heart attack during Evening Mass at Syracuse University, on Sunday, November 29th, and after the care of dedicated medical specialists, our brother +Linus suffered another heart attack and passed into the arms of Sister Death. Let us pray for his soul and the souls of all our faithful departed.

There will be a 3-9:00 p.m. Reception and Wake on Friday, December 4, 2015 including a Service at 7:00 pm, at the Alibrandi Catholic Center, St, Thomas Moore Chapel, (Syracuse, NY). The 11:00 am. Funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, December 5, 2015, at The Franciscan Church of the Assumption, (Syracuse, NY). After the funeral, the body will be transported to Baltimore for a 10:30 a.m. Memorial Mass to be celebrated Monday, December 7th, at St. Casimir Church, followed by internment in the Friars’ Plot at St. Stanislaus Cemetery.

Memorial Donations may be made to the Franciscan Education Burse.

+FRIAR LINUS DeSANTIS, OFM Conv.: In 1943, he was born in Baltimore, Maryland and entered the St. Joseph Cupertino Novitiate in 1961, professing his Temporary Vows in 1962 and his Solemn Vows in 1965. He was ordained to the priesthood, on May 22, 1971, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, in Albany, NY, by Bishop Edwin B. Broderick. After earning a B.A. in Philosophy from St. Hyacinth College and Seminary (1966) and an M.Div. in Theology at St. Anthony-on-Hudson (1967-71), he earned an M.A. in English from the University of Dayton (1972).  He taught in our High Schools (St. Francis  1971-1976 & Archbishop Curley 1976-1979), served as a Definitor, Guardian, Principal (1979-1982) and became the Registrar for St. Hyacinth College and Seminary, at the same time as he was providing Pastoral Assistance at St. Stanislaus Parish, in Chicopee, MA (1982-1988). His first Campus Ministry position was at Western Connecticut State University (1988-1991) before returning to Maryland as the guardian of St. Joseph Cupertino Friary while working as the Registrar for the Washington Theological Union, in Silver Spring. After four years as Assistant Regent of Studies, he moved to Lithia Springs, GA to serve as Parochial Vicar of our pastoral ministry of St. John Vianney Church (1994). In 1996, he returned to Campus Ministry. This time he served the Roman Catholic student body and staff needs of Keenesaw State University before ending up as the Director of the John G. Alibrandi Catholic Center’s Campus Ministry for Syracuse University and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), where he served for the last 8 years of his life. He also served as a member of the Province’s Parochial Concerns Commission from 1997-2001 and for two decades, +Friar Linus was a Regional Spiritual Assistant to the Brothers and Sisters of St. Francis Region of the Secular Franciscans (32 fraternities in the Southern United States), working with elected professed Secular Franciscans on the regional council.

December 10, 2105 article from the Georgia Bulletin.

Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. John Voytek, OFM Conv. will continue the work of +Friar Linus, in the Catholic Campus Ministry at Syracuse University, from December 5, 2015 – June 30, 2016. +Friar Linus was a loving man who truly understood the meaning of pastoral ministry for the entire Syracuse University Family. He is described by a member of the Syracuse Community as “a great, great man. He helped me so much in my tough times and was incredibly patient with me through conversations and email correspondence over the last 8 years. He was a guy who focused on the positive things in life and on the potential that people have to change the world. His perspective was unique … and it would have been amazing to see how many lives he touched, had I been even closer to him, but his accomplishments in life and service to others … say it all.” 

Adapted from a November 30, 2015 letter to the friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province, by our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv.:
The Minister Provincial of Krakow and the Provincial Delegate for the Peruvian mission sent our Minister Provincial a special invitation to participate in the Beatification of our brothers Friar Michał Tomaszek, OFM Conv. and Friar Zbigniew Strzałkowski, OFM Conv. |
You may or may not know the history of Our Lady of the Angels Province. It is made up of the union of two former North American Provinces: Immaculate Conception Province and St. Anthony of Padua Province. The former St. Anthony of Padua Province began working with the Minister General of the Order in the 1980s for the establishment of a mission in Peru. When personnel circumstances necessitated that St. Anthony of Padua Province withdraw from the venture, the Minister Provincial of the time, the Very Reverend Fr. Daniel Pietrzak, OFM Conv., worked with the Minister Provincial of Krakow to assure that Polish Friars would serve there in our place, thus establishing their own mission of Peru and assuming full pastoral responsibilities.
On August 9, 1991, two of the first Krakow Friars, Michał and Zbigniew, would die in Pariacoto, Peru, as martyrs at the hands of the Marxist “Sendero Luminoso” (terrorists known as the Shining Path). The third missionary, Friar Jarek Wysoczański, OFM Conv.(their Guardian at the time and currently the Secretary General for Missionary Animation for our Order), was spared because he was on a home visit to Poland. Even before the deaths of Friars Michał and Zbigniew, our Province of St. Anthony of Padua was preparing to send one of its own American friars as a new member of the Polish Mission in the Peru. That friar, Fr. Vincent Imhof, OFM Conv. had been ordained at St. Casimir’s in Baltimore (MD), in 1990. Shortly after the deaths of Friars Michał and Zbigniew, the Minister Provincial of St. Anthony Province at the time, the Very Reverend Fr. Mark Curesky, OFM Conv., allowed Friar Vincent to go on mission to Peru, joining up with Friar Jarek and thus assuring that the Order’s Peruvian mission would be sustained without interruption. This courageous decision on behalf of Friar Mark and Friar Vincent was reached after considerable prayer and anguish. When Friar Vincent arrived, the “Sendero Luminoso” was still spreading its reign of terror. Undaunted, the friars persevered indefatigably, and the Order’s implantation continues to reap a holy harvest, even now. As Tertullian wrote in the second century: “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.”
Eventually Friar Vincent transfiliated (cease to be a filius of the province where he had been received, professed, and educated to become a friar of another province) into the Krakow jurisdiction. He remains an active Missionary there, today. During all of these decades the former St. Anthony of Padua Province, and now as Our Lady of the Angels Province, our friars have continued to send economic support to the Order in Peru and have remained in fraternal solidarity with our confreres there. High in the Andes, our confreres have lived, worked, suffered, and died in a mission of heroic charity. In fact, when the “Sendero Luminoso” raided the village and forced the two friar-missionaries (Michał and Zbigniew) into a van, one of the local Religious, a Handmaid of the Sacred Heart, insisted on going with them until she was forced out of the van. She later testified that the guerillas excoriated our Friars for their apostolate of “caridad” (charity).
Through all of these years since 1991, I have never forgotten the words written by our Minister General, the Most Reverend Fr. Lanfranco Serrini, OFM Conv., on the day after the killing of Friars Michał and Zbigniew: “In the first moment of shock at this unimaginable news, I automatically thought of the words of Saint Francis when he received news of the death of the Protomartyrs of Morocco: ‘Now I can say with certainty that I have two friars minor’!” Truly to be a “Friar Minor” is to be a “Friary Martyr.” The martyr witnesses – testifies to the faith that underlies a life of selfless charity. One wonders what went through the minds of Friars Michał and Zbigniew when they suddenly realized that they would be killed. They stared eternity in the face. Indeed St. Francis’ optic on life was filtered through the lens of Eternity. Francis consciously adopted a “Perspective of Eternity” when before Bishop Guido in the Vescovado of Assisi he proclaimed, “From now on I will say freely, not ‘My Father Pietro di Bernadone’ but ‘Our Father Who art in heaven.’” (2 Celano 12). Now every one of his friar-sons is challenged to this same shift of optic – to see the world from the vantage point of Eternity – ultimately through the eyes of the “Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Lk. 21:27). From such an optic, the threat of violent death holds no power to shake one’s deep interior equilibrium. A Friar Minor [Friar Martyr] lives as a man whose bond to the Son of Man grounds him on earth to a Kingdom that is Eternal. As we celebrate our brothers’ beatification, may their intercession keep us grounded in the Kingdom for which they poured out their lifeblood.

For more information on Friar Michał Tomaszek, OFM Conv. and Friar Zbigniew Strzałkowski, OFM Conv., look back on our prior posts about the December 5, 2015 Beatification and the events connected to it.

friar Luis (in habit) Dr. Argyros, former friar Thomas J. Chirdo ~ Director of the MedStar CPE program and Rev. Anthony Akinlolu ~ Assistant Director, Department of Spiritual Care

Friar Luis Palacios Rodriguez, OFM Conv., one of the friars in formation for our province, is currently enrolled in a CPE program at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC.  On November 19, 2015, he was recognized by Gregory J. Argyros, MD, Senior Vice President at MedStar for outstanding service and was awarded the MedStar, Patients First Medallion.

“Friar Luis Palacios deserves to be commended. He stayed with a patient who sustained a non-survivable gunshot wound to the head and prayed for the patient and with his family when they arrived to MedStar. His compassion could be felt throughout the unit as he brought an air of warmth to the otherwise horrible situation of a young man who was victimized by gun violence. He remained in MedStar for most of the night comforting the family and praying with them in their time of grief until the Washington Regional Transplant Community referral team arrived to discuss organ donation, and stayed to be present with them during that tough conversation. Friar Luis embodies MedStar’s SPIRIT values and should be recognized as a bright, inspiring, and deeply spiritual member of our pastoral care staff.”

St. Francis of Assisi Church in Bessemer, Alabama celebrated their 75th Anniversary this year. The parish was founded by Conventual Franciscan Friars, Fr. Francis Pikor, OFM Conv. and Fr. Oderic Palys, OFM Conv., in 1940.
Fr. Noel Danielewicz, OFM Conv., the last of our friars to serve as Pastor at that parish, was welcomed back as celebrant and homilist for the Jubilee celebration held October 9-11, 2015. The weekend festivities included a gathering of seminarians from Mundelein, IL at the Assisi–South Retreat Center on October 9th; a Prayer Vigil in the context of Eucharistic Adoration on October 10th; and the 75th Jubilee Liturgy and Outdoor Sunday Dinner, which took place on the Church lawns on October 11th.

Friar Noel served as Parochial Vicar (1977-1982) and Pastor (1990-2003). Check out the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church Bessemer Facebook Page for more pictures from the weekend’s events, as well as many pictures from the history of the parish, including our friars through the years.

The National Religious Retirement Office provides a grant to help fund the needs of our Our Lady of the Angels Province Aged and Infirmed friars. Those tax-deductible donations provide vital support for necessities, such as prescription medications, nursing care, and to develop long-range retirement strategies for our friars as well as members of other religious communities. Please give during the annual collection at your local parish. For 2015, the national collection dates are December 12-13, although some (arch)dioceses choose to hold the collection on different dates. If you donate by check, please write RFR on the memo line. Or mail your donation to:

Retirement Fund for Religious
National Religious Retirement Office
P.O. Box 96988
Washington DC 20090-6988
Please print this Donation form to accompany your gift

Our friars also have a Franciscan Candle Ministry, from which the proceeds on every candle helps to benefit the Aged and Infirmed Fund for our friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province. Thank you for your generosity.

Fr. Ed Costello, OFM Conv., who lives in Mother Cabrini Friary and serves the people of our pastoral ministry at Mother Cabrini Catholic Church of Shamokin (PA), shares: “The annual Forty Hours Solemn Eucharistic Devotions are maintained throughout the Diocese of Harrrisburg, PA. Our parish of Mother Cabrini in Shamokin conducts the devotions yearly, during the month of November. Fr. Martin Kobos, OFM Conv., our pastor, arranged an unusually beautiful seasonal floral setting for the devotions this year (November 8-10, 2015). Fr. Dennis Mason, OFM Conv. traveled from St. Joseph Cupertino Friary, where he works at the Shrine of St. Anthony (Ellicott City-MD), to deliver the homilies and serve as confessor during this time of grace. Inspiring and timely, his homilies proved to be a well executed introduction to Pope Francis’ upcoming Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. According to custom, before the final Benediction and Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, the hosting parish serves a festive meal to the local clergy. For our parish, Friar Martin had engaged a quartette of parish volunteers to prepare & serve a sumptuous dinner, preceded by preprandials in a seasonal setting arranged by Fr. Adam Ziolkoski, OFM Conv.
Both ‘banquets,’ sacral and fraternal, were memorable events.”

A portion of the friars of the Immaculate Conception Custody pictured with Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. (standing in patterned stole) and Most Reverend Elias James Manning, OFM Conv., Bishop Emeritus of Valença, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (just under and to the left of the statue of Our Lady)

On Tuesday, November 17, 2015, our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. visited our friars of the Immaculate Conception Custody in Rio de Janeiro. On the first day, after lunch, Fr. James met with Frei Antonio Molisani, OFM Conv. ~ Custódio Provincial Emérito (Custos Emeritis), Frei Ronaldo Gomes da Silva Pároco, OFM Conv. ~ Custódio Vicar (New Custodial Vicar),  Frei Ariel Ribeiro da Costa, OFM Conv. ~ Pároco e Ecônomo Custódio (Custodial Treasurer) and the Custodial Definitory. In the evening the friars, including those in formation enjoyed some time together. On the second day, they celebrated a Morning Mass of Thanksgiving for the time of Custodial Ministry of Frei Antonio, and for this new phase in the life of the Custody. After Mass, the friars enjoyed a goodbye lunch together with Fr. James.

Provincial Blessing of Frei Ronaldo Gomes da Silva Pároco, OFM Conv., Custódio Vigário of Immaculate Conception Custody, Brazil