On our Province Feast Day, the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels (August 2nd), Friar Chris Dudek, OFM Conv. (kneeling right) professed his Solemn Vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, at a Mass held in his home parish and a large ministry of our province, the Basilica of St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr (Chicopee, MA). His vows were received by our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. (seated) and witnessed by Fr. Marek Stybor, OFM Conv. (standing right) and the Very Reverend Fr. Michael Zielke, OFM Conv. (standing left – Provincial Minister of the St. Banaventure Province and former Rector/Pastor of the Basilica). Serving at the Mass was friar Luis Palacios Rodriguez, OFM Conv. (kneeling left), a friar in the Post-Novitiate stage of formation.
Several hundred guests, including around 50 friars, were hosted by the welcoming generosity of Br. Michael Duffy, OFM Conv. (Guardian of the friary and coordinator of the day’s liturgy), Fr. Joseph Benicewicz, OFM Conv. (current Rector/Pastor of the Basilica), the friars of St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr Friary, and the volunteers and staff of the Basilica.
Friar Chris joined our order in 2008 and professed his Simple Vows in 2011. Our Province is sending him to Rome for his study of theology, at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of St. Bonaventure – International College Seraphicum, for the next stage of his 10 year path to ordination as a priest in the Order.

Franciscan Friars Conventual (OFM Conv.) are one of the three First Order Franciscans (Order of Friars Minor) which also includes Friars Minor (OFM) and the Capuchins (OFM Cap).  Each branch is rooted in the original charism of Francis, through which they find a shared sense of brotherhood. Friars from our Order care for the Papal Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi (Assisi-Italy), which houses the tomb of St. Francis. The friary for the Basilica is the Sacro Convento, where two Our Lady of the Angels Province friars live and work. (Special thanks to Fr. Martin Breski, OFM Conv. who works at the Basilica and was able to capture these great photo moments to share)
This summer, friars from all three branches of the First Order, who are at the solemn vow stage of formation, traveled on a pilgrimage retreat to Assisi. They explored the rich Franciscan history of the area, accompanied by veteran friars including Our Lady of the Angels Province Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. and Vicar Provincial, Fr. Brad Milunski, OFM Conv. Six of the participants were Franciscan Friars Conventual.

The friars visit the vast library of the Sacro Convento, which houses ancient works.

Friar Chris Dudek, OFM Conv. enjoys the view from the Porticato of the Sacro Convento. Friar Chris is an Our Lady of the Angels Province friar who will profess his Solemn Vows on August 2, 2015, the Feast Day of our Province.

Fr. Brad Milunski, OFM Conv., Vicar Provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province concelebrates Mass for the friars and other pilgrims at the Tomb of St. Francis of Assisi, below the Basilica, joined by Our Lady of the Angels Province friar and University of Notre Dame Doctoral Fellow, Fr. Ed Ondrako, OFM Conv. (seated next to altar)

The church of Santa Maria di Rivotorto, known as the “Sanctuary of Rivotorto”, a few kilometers south of St. Mary of the Angels and the Portiuncula, is under the care of the Conventuals and was founded to preserve the structures of the Sacred Hovel or Tugurio (in which Fr. James and the friar pilgrims are pictured), the place where St. Francis gathered his followers before settling at the Portiuncula.

The pilgrim friars with Fr. James, on the grounds of Rivotoro, with the ancient city of Assisi on the hills behind them.

Some thoughts from Fr. James’ time in Rivotoro with the friar pilgrims: 

1. The Choice: Hut or Palace? (1 Celano 14) – Beginning fraternity in the abandoned farmer’s hut, Francis and the first few friars marveled that “The Lord gave me brothers.” They hardly had food, and were content with the turnips they begged. [One of my mother’s favourite phrases was “Oh what a turnip I am!”] Mind you, each of these early friars freely chose the lot of a poor beggar of turnips. Francis taught them: “It is easier to get to heaven from a hut than from a palace.” One day, with great pomp and circumstance, the Holy Roman Emperor Otto passed the friars’ hut at Rivotorto. Francis and the brothers stayed inside, except one who without wavering boldly proclaimed to the Emperor that his glory would be short-lived. We still have such prophets in our midst today, as our fraternity sorts its priorities and chooses the hut over the palace. With such choices each of our vocations began.

2. The Focus: Christ Crucified (LM, 4) – Since the early brethren at Rivotorto were too poor to have liturgical books, their daily prayers, which were constant, focused on the Cross. The Cross was their psalter. Francis was fixated on the Cross, and spoke constantly about it to the growing Fraternity. The legacy of Rivotorto was to be a brotherhood whose stillpoint would always be the Crucified Jesus. In fact, it was at Rivotorto that Francis taught the brothers to invoke Christ Crucified in the famous Adoramus prayer: “We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you in all your churches throughout the world, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.” [cf. LM, 4]

3. The Chalking: Haecceitas (Legend of the Three Companions, 13) – When the manky shed for one or two donkeys became the protoconvent of the Order, so close and pent was the living space that Francis sought a way to respect the dignity of each of the brothers. They were no mere donkeys. He thus delineated space for each by chalking the rafters with the names of each friar. Each name bore a uniqueness; each person joining the fraternity would be chalked on the beams and celebrated in silence and prayer. Each friar would contribute his own “this-ness” to the fraternal life – his haecceitas (to use a Scotistic term).

4. The Balance: Grapes and Fasting (Assisi Compilation, 50) – Calling themselves “Brothers of Penance,” these earliest friars embraced the life of conversion with a gusto and zeal that sometimes ran the danger of being excessive. Hunger was their welcome companion. One night, however, the silence was pierced by the cries of a brother, “I’m dying; I’m dying.” Francis told everyone to get up and he lit a lamp. The Brother who had cried identified himself, and explained, “I’m dying of hunger!” Francis, gently sensitive to the brother, and not wanting him to be embarrassed, had the table set and served grapes to everyone. The gentle father of the fraternity admonished that we must practice balance in our lives, that we must be respectful of our own bodily constitutions, that virtue lies in the middle between excessive indulgence and excessive abstinence. Moderation and charity are the watchwords.

5. The Flies: Upsets and Challenges (Mirror of Perfection, 24) – All was not hunky dory in the growing fraternity of Rivotorto. Now and again a dodgy character would try to insinuate his way into the community of brothers – the proverbial fly in the ointment. Francis did not hesitate to dismiss one of the chancers who refused to work, pray, and display charity towards his mates. “Away with you, Brother Fly!” Francis inveighed. Ironically, our poor friars on this Solemn Vow retreat have been plagued by the summer flies and mosquitoes. As they swat them away, they endeavor to see them as symbols of all the vices that we need to banish from the authentic living of the charism.

6. The Poor: Solidarity and Joy (Assisi Compilation, 92) – The first two friars occupying Rivotorto with Francis were Bernard of Quintavalle and Peter of Catanii. It was from Rivotorto one day that Francis took the two to the Church of San Nicolo, where Francis opened the Missal three times to find the gospel passages about poverty, which would become the core of the Friars’ Rule of Life. The third vocation to join the brotherhood at Rivotorto would be Giles. Dressed for a bit in secular clothes, postulant Giles soon encountered a poor man shivering in the winter cold. Francis told Giles to give his secular mantle to the poor creature. Without hesitancy, Giles did so and immediately experienced, as did all of the brothers, an overwhelming joy. Nearby the Protoconvent of Rivotorto was the leper campsite where the brothers ministered. The apostolic works of the early friars established a bond of solidarity with the poor which became foundational to the Franciscan charism. The poor taught the friars how to be joyful.

7. The Chariot: Supernatural Communion (LM, Prologue & 4) – Just as the Transfiguration of Jesus confirmed for the early Apostles the supernatural reality of their lives with Christ, so too the brothers of Rivotorto would experience a similar moment of epiphany. One night, while Francis was away from Rivotorto, at prayer in the Cathedral precincts of the city, his spirit appeared to the brothers in the form of a “Flaming Chariot.” The friars immediately understood that the “Chariot of Fire” was God’s sign to them that their new way of life was supernatural. Francis, enflamed with heavenly brilliance and transfigured with divine grace, would unite the brethren in a new supernatural communion with God and one another. Bonaventure would reference this image of Francis as the new Elijah, whom God had made both chariot and charioteer of a new movement in the Church. For the early 13th-century formation community of Rivotorto, this epiphany moment brought with it the simple realization that the Spirit of the Lord had come to rest upon Francis and the Friars. Their squalid donkey shed had been transformed into the “Sacro Tugurio” (sacred hut).

The Franciscan Charism of Sanctification of the Intellect, with due diligence in the study of our faith, is uncommonly evident throughout many of our ministries. Franciscan Friars Conventual (OFM Conv.) are known for scholarship and study for the sake of evangelization; the spread of the Gospel in all aspects of the life of society. Our friars work with parish elementary schools, high school youth ministry and instruction, as well as young adult ministry and instruction at the university level; all with the ever present exploration of individual continued education.  Through our ministries, our friars strive to portray Franciscan Charism, not only during instruction, but through our daily example. Friars working as instructors do not only teach in religious and philosophical areas, but also in fields such as Nursing, Foreign Language and English.
This summer, Friar Douglas McMillan, OFM Conv. was awarded the 2015 St. Frances Academy Teacher of the Year Award for outstanding instructional leadership. Vice Principal and 1992 graduate of St. Francis Academy, Torena Brown, calls Friar Douglas “a great asset to the St. Frances Academy faculty,” and states, “His wealth of experience as an educator has helped  him become an excellent teacher. We are so grateful to have him as a part of our family.”

Congratulations to Friar Douglas!

Please keep all of our friars’ ministries in your continued prayers.

The Portiuncula nestled inside of the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli.

August 2nd – Feast of Our Lady of the Angels (aka the Feast of the Portiuncula). The small chapel of St. Mary of the Angels (Our Lady of the Angels) was very dear to St. Francis of Assisi. He referred to it as the Portiucula (or the Little Portion) and it is considered the cradle of the Franciscan Order. In 1209, as the quarters of Rivo Torto became too small for the newly forming religious order, St. Francis obtained from the Benedictines the use of the Portiuncula, for which he paid a basket of fish. The church and the surrounding small parcel of land were is disrepair. Just as he did at San Damiano, St. Francis rebuilt it, adding small huts (cells) and enclosing it all in a protective hedge. It was there that St. Francis gained a more vivid understanding of his own vocation. He held the annual meetings of the friars (Chapters) there and it is where he desired to spend his final earthly moments; dying in his nearby cell October 3, 1226.
St. Francis felt that the Portiuncula was a place filled with God’s grace. He asked the Pope to grant special privilege (plenary indulgence – a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins) to all those who would visit the little chapel. Although limited to noon on August 1st to midnight on August 2nd, the privilege continues to be granted to this day, not only to those who visit the Portiuncula, but to anyone who visits any church where the friars live and minister. To receive this privilege (for yourself or for someone else – living or deceased), in addition to the visit, one must receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation within several weeks of the feast, go to Mass and receive the Eucharist, recite the Our Father and Apostles Creed, and pray for the intentions of the Holy Father.
The beautiful Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli that now surrounds the Portiuncula chapel was begun in 1569 (completed in 1684) by decree of Pius V. It was meant to accommodate the huge crowds of pilgrims who came on August 2nd for Il Perdono (Portiuncula Indulgence). This is an important feast day for all Franciscans and is celebrated in Franciscan churches throughout the world. As the friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province, this Feast Day has singular significance. Please check our Pastoral Ministry Page and Special Ministry Page for links to our ministry locations near you as we encourage all to visit and celebrate with us.

A Feast of Our Lady of the Angels message from Fr. Donald Grzymski, OFM Conv., President of Archbishop Curley High School (Baltimore)

Thoughts on the 2015 Feast Day, by Friar Edward Costello, OFM Conv.:
“As I commemorate my sixtieth anniversary of First (Simple) Profession this year, I am reminded that I was a member of the last Immaculate Conception Province Novitiate Class to receive the Franciscan habit (during the preceding year’s Investiture) in one of the major churches of the province, namely Our Lady of the Angels, located in Albany, NY.  At the same Investiture were Fr. Canice Connors, OFM Conv. and Fr. Richard Rossell, OFM Conv. It was a beautiful church and on the sanctuary apse was a painting to celebrate Our Lady of the Angels (pictured here). For some of us, it remains a revered memory.”

Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli

He also adds:
” My first visit to the actual Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in the valley below Assisi was on the eve of the feast in 1999 during my service as pilgrim guide and confessor at the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. The great basilica built over the small portiuncula chapel had been severely damaged in the earthquake of the preceding year and was being opened for the first time on the eve of August first for the celebration of the feast. I had walked down through fields of sunflowers on a sun-drenched evening to join the thousands who were waiting to enter for the indulgence. I had not known that prior to the opening of the great doors the gold-plated statue of Our Lady would hoisted back up to its place on the facade. There it stood on a truck bed wrapped in supports. As the sun began to set a crane was raised up and lifted the the statue of Mary slowly and seemingly so gentlly. As the statue neared the upper level it swayed to the left and paused, back to the center and paused, and then to the right and paused before it was set in place. Thousands of voices shouted and thousands of hands applauded as if Mary were blessing the portion of the gathering in each direction. Then finally, it seemed, Mary was back home to await her earthly family. The doors opened; we rushed in to visit, as St. Francis had arranged, her and her Son.”

Side Notes: At age 80, Friars Ed, Canice and Richard is some of our most senior friars. Friar Ed actively serves the people of God, through our ministry at Mother Cabrini Catholic Church, in Shamokin, PA. As Fr. Donald states in the video above, Immaculate Conception Province and St. Anthony of Padua Province united in May 2014 and all of our friars are now members of the newly established Our Lady of the Angels Province.

Fr. Carl Zdancewicz, OFM Conv. is pastor of our ministries at Our Lady of Fatima Mission and Our Lady of Mercy Church, in Winston-Salem, NC.
He presented this Feast Day bulletin note to his parishioners:

Procession of the Relic of Saint Kateri on the way to the Purification Rite of the Sacred Smoke

The 2015 celebration of St. Kateri at the National Shrine of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha began with Saturday, July 11th and Sunday, July 12th Masses and ended with the Mass on the Feast Day of Saint Kateri, Tuesday, July 14th. The Mass on Saturday Evening drew approximately 150 people to a simple but deeply spiritual event. The Sunday gathering was celebrated with over 200 congregants, with more on a ceremonial emphasis for the many guests from near and far; the most distant traveler being Maryknoll Missionary Fr. Edmundo, from Peru. The Mass began with a procession carrying the relic of St. Kateri and a purification rite when sacred smoke is passed over the people. The singing was in Mohawk with the women from Akwesasne playing drums and rattles. After the Mass was concluded all were invited to the fire pit and the burning of recent petitions for healing and prayers. Prior to placing the basket in the pit, the fire was blessed with the traditional tobacco, by Friar Mark Steed, OFM Conv., Director of the Shrine.

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Prayer
God of all creation, goodness and love,
our hearts are filled with gratitude and praise for You.
In our beloved St. Kateri You have found gentleness and peace.
In her You have heard once more “Jesus, I love You”.
In St. Kateri Tekakwitha You have given
Your Church a new maiden of the Gospel for Your Son.
As the indigenous peoples of North America
celebrate her goodness and as all the Church
honors her holiness we raise our voices in praise and joy.
You have given us a gift beyond all measure
and we ask You to help us celebrate this treasure
as we live holy and peace-filled lives in Your name.
Please continue to grant our request
and the needs of our brothers and sisters
through St. Kateri’s intercession in her heavenly home.
Amen.

The 15th annual Peace Conference will be held at the Shrine the weekend of August 14-15, 2015. 

June 7, 2015: Friar Edward led the thousands who gathered for the Eucharistic Procession on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), at St. Francis Catholic Church in Matugga, Uganda. At the 10:00 am Mass that day, 200 children received First Eucharist.

This summer (2015), Friar Edward Wambua Mulwa, OFM Conv. is one of four international Order of Friar Minor Conventual Franciscan (OFM Conv.) friars, from missions in Russia, Uganda and Ghana, assisting our Province Mission Advancement Office‘s 2015 Mission Appeal season. All Mission funds gathered in the 2015 appeals will be contributed to the needs and ministries of the friars of their home provinces. The four international friars visited, lived with, heard Confessions and celebrated Mass at more than 20 different parish communities in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. They also had the opportunity to spend quality time with their Our Lady of the Angels Province brothers while visiting many of our friaries during their stay in the United States. A Missionary in Russia, Friar Dariusz Harasimowicz, OFM Conv. was with us for 5 weeks of service before returning to St. Petersburg, where he has discovered that the young Church there can be reached through the modern liturgical music he writes and records. Friar Andrej Buko, OFM Conv., also a Missionary in Russia, will finish out this year’s summer appeals.  Friar Emmanuel Acquaye, OFM Conv. (Ghana) lives in an Our Lady of the Angels Province friary while studying at Loyola University Maryland – Baltimore, MD. He has preached at several parish locations during the 2014 and 2015 summer months, including local Baltimore parish, St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church; one if the newest parishes in our province ministry family. In 2014, he aided Ugandan Missionary, Friar Boguslaw Dabrowski, OFM Conv., and together they reached eighteen parish communities, during a very busy and productive summer.

May 6, 2015: Friar Boguslaw (right) joins in breaking ground on the construction of a new Franciscan presence in Kampala-Uganda, the Munyonyo Martyrs’ Shrine, while Friar Edward holds the umbrella.

Novice, friar Jorge Lindo, OFM Conv. distributes candles at the outdoor Vigil Mass

St. Anthony of Padua holds a special place in the hearts of Franciscans and is often a”favorite saint” for the faithful. Compelled to leave the Religious Order of St. Augustine and become a follower of St. Francis due to the martyrdom of five Franciscan Friars in Morocco, this dear saint was a gifted, holy and educated speaker. His simple eloquence was, and still is, an inspiration to many Christians and his good works have led to the conversion of many. The Feast Day of St. Anthony of Padua is June 13th.
The friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province celebrate this day in earnest. One such annual celebration is a Feast Day Pilgrimage at the Shrine of St. Anthony (Ellicott City, MD). Friars from around the province travel to Maryland, alongside hundreds of pilgrims for a day filled with Talks, Adoration, Mass, Confession, Sacramentals, Live Music and Activities for Children. The guest presenter for 2015 was Most Reverend Fr. Joachim Giermek, OFM Conv., the 118th successor of St. Francis as Minister General of the Order Friars Minor Conventual (2001-2007). Fr. Joachim, a friar of our province, currently ministers through RCIA programs, military chaplaincy and clergy support at many parishes in the Maryland area.
Pilgrims traveled from near and far; some moved by encounters with our  friars in ministry throughout Eastern North America, and some moved by a personal connection with St. Anthony. Over 700 pilgrims enjoyed a great day at the Shrine of St. Anthony.

St. Anthony of Padua ~ Pray for us!
“Christians must lean on the Cross of Christ just as travelers lean on a staff when they begin a long journey. They must have the Passion of Christ deeply embedded in their minds and hearts, because only from it can they derive peace, grace, and truth.”
~ St. Anthony of Padua (Doctor of the Church)

The gardens on the grounds of Mother Cabrini Catholic Church, in Shamokin, PA are quite beautiful. Parochial Vicar, Fr. Adam Ziolkowski, OFM Conv., spent many hours working on the church garden, in preparation for its summer peak, he then blessed it and put its growth into the hands of the Lord.

“Praised be You, my Lord,
through our Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains and governs us,
and who produces varied fruits
with colored flowers and herbs.”
~ Excerpt from Canticle of Creation, St. Francis of Assisi

Canonized on October 21, 2012, St. Marianne Cope was only the 11th American to recognized as a saint. A Sister of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities and the first Franciscan woman from North American to be canonized, she was greatly loved and is commonly known as the “beloved mother of outcasts.” She spent her early years in Central New York (the area around Syracuse), serving as a leader in her congregation. She was also a leader in the field of education, as a teacher and principal, as well as in field of health care, opening St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Utica and St. Joseph Hospital Health Center in Syracuse. These hospitals went against the norm of the time and served all, regardless of wealth, race or creed. In 1883, she left the people of New York to serve those afflicted with Hansen’s disease (leprosy) on Kalaupapa, Molokai, Hawaii. After opening a hospital and school in Maui, she and her sisters settled on the Kalaupapa peninsula, along side those who they lovingly served, creating a community filled with care and respect. There she stayed for the last 35 years of her life. Upon her death in 1918, her sisters stayed on and cared for the community they helped to create. To this day, no sister has ever contracted the disease, as promised by Mother Marianne.

The people of Syracuse still hold St. (Mother) Marianne Cope dear, a fact made evident as our Minister Provincial, the Very Rev. Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., blessed the newest addition in the back of the upper church, of The Franciscan Church of the Assumption. on June 4, 2015. There, parishioners and visitors will find a newly completed Shrine of St. Marianne Cope. Upon Mother Marianne’s 2012 canonization, the idea of adding the shrine was conceived by the former pastor and now the Vicar Provincial of our province, Fr. Brad Milunski, OFM Conv. Construction was completed under the leadership of the current pastor, Fr. Timothy Dore, OFM Conv. The new shrine houses a relic of the saint, as well as a plaque presented in October of 2012 to the parish, in commemoration of the Bishop of Honolulu, Most Rev. Clarence Silva’s, pilgrimage to Syracuse, accompanied by nine Hansen’s disease patients and residents of Kalaupapa, in recognition of the 8,000 patients banished to the Hawaiian Island of Molokai. The plaque honors their memory and that of Saint Marianne Cope. Also within the new shrine can be found an icon “written” by Friar Matthew Bond, OFM Conv., a Simply Professed friar in formation, of the Our Lady of the Angels Province Custody of Blessed Agnellus of Pisa, in Oxford, England.

The New Shrine of St. Marianne Cope, in the Upper Church of the Franciscan Church of the Assumption

Mother Marianne was a native of Syracuse and has strong ties to the parish and the people of the Franciscan Church of the Assumption. However, she made Hawaii her final home and her remains were transported from Syracuse to the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, in Honolulu, in July of 2014.  Her Feast Day is January 23rd.

Read more about her life and work on the Saint Marianne Cope Shrine & Museum website.

Our Lady of the Angels Province has been entrusted with two major relics of St. Anthony of Padua. They both consist of petrified skin taken from the body of St. Anthony during the 1981 public recognition of his corpse. This was achieved during the 2nd time in history that his tomb was opened. It was first opened in 1263 by St. Bonaventure. The most well known of the two Our Lady of the Angels Province’s relics of St. Anthony is permanently displayed for veneration, in a gold bust at the Shrine of St. Anthony, in Ellicott City, MD. In the narthex of the Shrine, the gold-leafed bust depicts the Portuguese Franciscan whom the whole world would come to love as a “finder of the lost.” In the middle of the flame portion of the reliquary bust is a precious first-class relic of the saint, gifted by the friars in Padua, in 1998.  Catholics venerate, or pay respect to, relics as remembrances of a saint whose human body was once a “temple” of the Holy Spirit.
The second relic is encased in the gold reliquary-statuette of St. Anthony. Known as the Pilgrim Relic (pictured here), it is usually housed in the Provincial Offices. There are times when it does travel to different ministries within the Our Lady of the Angels Province. On Thursday, June 4, 2014 the Pilgrim Relic became part of nine days of Masses and Novena prayers to St. Anthony for the parishioners of The Franciscan Church of the Assumption, in Syracuse, NY, that began with a Mass of reception, presided over by the Minister Provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province, the Very Rev. Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. During each day of the novena, there was time set aside for the parishioners’ and visitors ‘ veneration.

After celebrating and preaching the Mass for the 7th day of their Novena to St. Anthony of Padua (falling on the Feast of the Apostle and Martyr, St. Barnabas), Fr. Robert Amrhein, OFM Conv. assists the faithful of the Franciscan Church of the Assumption, as they venerate the sacred relic.