On January 18th, four days after his Ordination as a Transitional Deacon, Friar Luis returned to serve as Deacon for a Mass with our friars of St. Hyacinth Friary, in Chicopee, MA, celebrated by their Guardian, Fr. Jude Surowiec, OFM Conv. who also works as a professor at nearby College of Our Lady of the Elms. This past year marked Friar Luis’ Fraternal Apostolic Year in dual ministry working for our pastoral ministry of the Basilica of St. Stanislaus, Bishop & Martyr parish & school while caring for the needs of our aged and infirmed friars of St. Hyacinth Friary, as well as those in the Felician Sisters’ Our Lady of the Angels Care Center, in Enfield, CT. Friar Luis will still be living with our friars in Chicopee, but our friars of St. Hyacinth enjoyed celebrating Friar Luis’ “Farewell Mass” in the company of his mother, Carmen who was there to visit the locations where her son had been serving.
Now that he is ordained a Transitional Deacon, Friar Luis will have a new ministry assignment. Although he will still be serving at St. Stanislaus, he will be doing so as a Transitional Deacon for the English speaking parishioners & students. In addition he will also be in part time ministry to the Spanish Speaking community of another one of our pastoral ministries, the Chicopee area – St. Anthony of Padua Parish.
Friar Luis with many of the Friars of St. Hyacinth Friary, Chicopee, MA
We friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province currently have three friar serving as Transitional Deacons: Friar Luis Palacios Rodriguez, OFM Conv., Friar Maximilian Avila Pacheco, OFM Conv. and Friar Emanuel Vasconcelos, OFM Conv. Please keep them in your continued prayers as they prepare for their Priesthood Ordinations this June, alongside Friar Milton de Jesus, OFM Conv., of the Provincial Custody of Our Lady of Coromoto (Venezuela).
(A special thank you to Br. Hugh – 2nd from right above – for proving these pictures.)
January 19, 2018: The Custos of the Custodial Nuestra Señora de Coromoto en Venezuela – Fray José Luis Avendaño, OFM Conv. and the Vicar, Fray Carlos Ortiz, OFM Conv. celebrated Mass at St. Bonaventure Friary house of studies (Silver Spring, MD), served by Friar Milton Torres Albarran (Milton de Jesus), OFM Conv., after his January 14th Ordination as Deacon, along with Friar Luis. This was a beautiful continuation of their visit with Friar Milton who is of their Venezuelan Custody and living with our friars in Silver Spring.
Photo Cred: Our Lady of the Angels Province friar and Pilgrim Guide at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Fr. Martin Breski, OFM Conv.
Friar Ciprian Budău, OFM Conv., (second from left) the Provincial Custos of our Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Custody (Great Britain & Ireland) recently visited the Custody’s Novices, studying at the Novitiate at the Sacred Convent in Assisi. They were invested this past September after spending several months at the Sacred Convent in Italian studies. The time in Assisi has been joyful for friar Joseph David Freeman, OFM Conv. (left), friar Osvaldo Lopez-Figueroa, OFM Conv. (second from right), and friar Kieran John Murphy, OFM Conv. (right) and they also enjoyed having this personal time with their Custos.
Please keep them, and all of our friars in formation, in your continued prayers.
Our much anticipated celebratory weekend is finally here! During the Noon Mass at our Shrine of St. Anthony, in Ellicott City, MD, this Saturday, January 13, 2018, Our Lady of the Angels Province friar Luis Palacios Rodriguez, OFM Conv. will Profess Solemn Vows, in the presence of pilgrims, confreres, family & friends. Our friars spend many years in preparation and formation before professing the Solemn Vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Part of the preparation includes a Solemn Vow Pilgrimage/Retreat with other members from our Order – Franciscan Friars Conventual (OFM Conv.) as well as those other members of the other two First Order Franciscans (Order of Friars Minor) – Friars Minor (OFM) and the Capuchins (OFM Cap). Each branch of our First Order Franciscans is rooted in the original charism of Francis, through which they find a shared sense of brotherhood. The next day, Friar Luis will return to the Shrine and be joined by our confrere Friar Milton de Jesus, OFM Conv., of the Provincial Custody of Our Lady of Coromoto (Venezuela), as they both are Ordained to the Diaconate. Friar Milton professed his Solemn Vows in Costa Rica, in May of 2017, and has been living with our friars for a few months. We are all so happy to be able to share this day with him.
We welcome you to please visit our Province Facebook Page at 2:00 p.m., Sunday, January 14th, for the Facebook Live presentation of the Ordination Mass. If you are in the area and want to join us in the Shrine’s Chapel, all are welcome, but for those who are not in the area, we encourage you to join us online. Check back later to see some photos from these events and please keep these and all of our friars in your continued prayers.
January 13, 2018 Liturgy of the Eucharist with the Rite of Solemn Profession: Friar Luis Palacios Rodriguez, OFM Conv. is flanked by his mother, Carmel (left) and his sister, Ruth (right) who traveled from Mexico to share in the celebrations. An album of the day’s festivities can be found on our Province Facebook page.
January 14, 2018: Liturgy of the Eucharist with the Rite of Ordination of Deacons: Friar Milton Torres Albarran (Milton de Jesus), OFM Conv. and Friar Luis Palacios Redriguez, OFM Conv. were Ordained as Deacons at our Shrine of St. Anthony, by Most Rev. John Stowe, OFM Conv., Bishop of Lexington. They are pictured here as (left to right: Custos of the Custodial Nuestra Señora de Coromoto en Venezuela – Fray José Luis Avendaño, OFM Conv., Friar Milton, Bishop Stowe, Friar Luis and Minister Provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. An album of the days festivities can be found on the Province Facebook page.
For the past six years, our province has helped to fund “bush clinics” served by nursing students of Elms College School of Nursing (Chicopee, MA), led by their Project Coordinator and Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Br. Michael Duffy, OFM Conv., DNP, APRN, ANP-BC. Br. Duffy also serves at the University as the Accelerated Second Degree Program Coordinator and as a Professor, having launched the ELMS caRe vaN, a 32-foot converted camper serving as a mobile nursing unit with two treatment stations, a full exam room and a five seat waiting area which doubles as a warming area as needed, providing free health and nursing care to the homeless and underserved of Chicopee, including blood pressure checks and monitoring, blood sugar checks, foot care, episodic first aid, minor wound care, frostbite checks, patient education on these and other topics, and other healthcare needs that arise.).
Br. Duffy formerly served our province as a missionary in Jamaica and the areas served there each year by his students are chosen because of their lack of access to healthcare or lack of finances to access the care they need. In addition, for the past four years, the groups have run an annual worming clinic at the Sisters of Mercy – St. John Bosco Boys Home; treating 100 boys. Traditionally the group utilizes a parish church or basic school as a make shift clinic. They set up registration on the porch, triage in the back, exams in the sacristy or side room, and a pharmacy in the front. Each patient is seen free of charge and is then given sufficient medications such as blood pressure medicine, oral hypoglycemics, antibiotics, vitamins and ibuprofen (donated through one of our pastoral ministries: St. Paul Catholic Church, in Kensington, CT). After their time in Jamaica, the students leave behind additional funds for medication that will be distributed later through the diocesan dispensary and clinic, which both accept prescriptions written by Br. Duffy.
The students also do their own fundraising in order to participate, which allows the funding provided by our province and other supply donors to be used for bush clinic patient care.
Br. Duffy explains that this continued “Mission” experience for the next generation is an opportunity to expose the need and the service now, as students, so they can pay it forward after graduation. The students spend several weeks in service where they learn to make use of the resources they have, while attending to the needs of those who have little. Over the years, the students have learned much about the culture of those they serve while attending to the medical needs of well over 1000 patients, in the Diocese of Mandeville, Jamaica, WI.
We congratulate our brother friars, Frei Ricardo Elvis, OFM Conv. and Frei Jesus Amaral, OFM Conv., from our Immaculate Conception Custody (Brazil), as they Profess Simple (Temporary) Vows on February 8, 2018, at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, in the Rio Comprido neighborhood, at the center of Rio de Janeiro.
Please keep these, and all of our friars in formation, in your continued prayers.
Each year, our Friars celebrate Epiphany Extractions. Franciscans hold great reverence for the saints. We customarily celebrate the Epiphany as a feast for promoting personal holiness. During the para-liturgical ceremony of the Extractions, each friar draws the name of a saint (who becomes his patron for the year) and a short spiritual exhortation (as a focus for spiritual refinement). During Epiphany the community also renews the sanctity of our homes (friaries) by processing to bless each room. Early in Franciscan history, this tradition developed for our friars. We Franciscan Friars Conventual would like to share this cherished tradition with you and encourage you to add it to your holiday celebrations. The ritual is simple. Pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance. Choose a card randomly. On the card will be the name of a saint, a mystery in the life of Jesus or perhaps a particular devotion. Announce your choice to the people praying with you. Some of them may have their own experience with your choice. Read up on it in Catholic literature or on the internet. With the help of the Holy Spirit, look for some direction in your life and spirituality from these “living words of God.”
You may be surprised how your choice touches your journey of faith. Remember too, that we are all saints. Sinners too, but saints nonetheless. What can others see in us that reflects “the living word of God?” Your Epiphany patron may help you plan your resolutions or just be your companion in prayer, in the New Year. Look at this as just one more gift from God on Epiphany, the Feast of Gifts.
Peace!
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Your love.
Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created and You shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us Pray: God, Who instructs the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that we may be truly wise in the same Spirit and ever rejoice in His consolation.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
Dr. Stanley Chai & his wife Sylvia, a Secular Franciscan, joined our friars of St. Mark (Boynton Beach, FL) to celebrating the Extraction Rite on January 1, 2018.
On a bitterly cold evening, the friars from the mid-Atlantic area gathered at Immaculate Heart of Mary Friary (Baltimore, MD) for Evening Prayer and the Extraction of yearly patron saints in celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany. A festive atmosphere and a good dinner was enjoyed by all.
Our student friars and their formators, of the St. Bonaventure Friary (Silver Spring, MD), gathered to celebrate their House Blessing, on January 7, 2018.
Syracuse Volunteers of FrancisCorps 19 celebrated with the friars of St. Francis Friary
Our friars of the Most Holy Trinity & St. Adelbert Friaries gathered in our San Damiano Mission (Brooklyn, NY) to celebrate with The Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Assisi & The Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Our New England Friars, including 36 friars of four friaries and special care residences, were hosted by our friars of St. Paul’s Friary (Kensington, CT) on the 7th of January.
At the North American Franciscan Friars Conventual Novitiate (Arroyo Grande, CA), our friars in formation welcomed our OFM & OFM Cap brothers in formation for the Epiphany Celebration.
On Epiphany Sunday, the Shamokin Friars of Mother Cabrini Friary invited the local IHM Sisters to join them for dinner as well as for their annual “Extraction” Festivities.
January 16th Epiphany Celebration at the Mercy Nursing Facility at OLV where Friar Canice is in residence. Standing – Friar Ken Lucas, OFM Conv., Friar Joe Bayne, OFM Conv., Friar Romulus Rosolowski, OFM Conv., Friar Ross Syracuse, OFM Conv. and seated is Friar Canice Connors, OFM Conv.
December 13, 2017: Our friars serving from St. Anthony Friary (Kingston, ON), Friar Jim Fukes, OFM Conv., Friar David Collins, OFM Conv. and Friar Ed Debono, OFM Conv., were on hand for the blessing of the new St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School. Fr. Jim serves as pastor of Holy Family Parish and assisted The Most Reverend Brendan M. O’Brien (Archbishop of Kingston) and Principal Dan Finn in welcoming the Kingston mayor, the minister of education, the Catholic School Board president, parishioners, and school families to the official school opening. St Francis of Assisi Elementary School replaces Holy Family, St Patrick’s and St. Peter’s Schools where our friars have been assisting the staff and ministering until the recent school consolidation of students and resources. The new school incorporates new technologies, open space education methods and small communities concepts.
JPIC UPDATE December 21st is our National Homeless Persons’ Day of Remembrance. In Chicopee, MA the local friars and the community at The College of the Elms are joining others in praying for +Dakoda and +Ron, both of whom died on the streets this past year.
That evening marks the beginning of the longest night of the year. The friars of our province will join in prayer for the many homeless who die unnoticed, “that the Radiant Dawn, the Sun of Justice, will come and shine on those who dwelt in darkness and the shadow of death.”
JPIC EPISCOPAL “POSTINGS”
(1) In the Savannah newspaper, Our Lady of the Angels Province friar and Bishop of Savannah, GA – Most Reverend Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv. recently wrote about helping DACA dreamers fulfill their dreams. Let us all hope in prayer for Congress to act to protect the Dreamers before the Christmas recess. If you have a moment this week, to pick up the phone and call your representatives. A happier Christmas could be a dream come true for many!
(2) With the help of Franciscan Action Network (FAN) and other partners, Province of Our Lady of Consolation friar and Bishop of Lexington, KY –Most Reverend John E. Stowe, OFM Conv.authored an op-ed in the Lexington Paper concerning the RECLAIM Act in Congress. This legislation, if passed, can help the coal region through its concern for the natural environment and opportunities for employment. Such legislation could be a stepping stone for similar action in the coal region in Pennsylvania, where our friars have served for 117 years!
A message from our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv.: Effective today, the new Central American Custody of “Mary, Mother of Mercy” was born – appropriately on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas.
As Minister Provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province, I was given the privilege of being Principal Celebrant of the Chapter’s Opening Mass of the Holy Spirit. Enclosed is an excerpt from my “final message” to the friars of our former Provincial Delegation of Costa Rica.
Members of the New Central American Custody “Mary, Mother of Mercy” with their former Minister Provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province – Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. (center in red vestments), their new Minister Provincial as they are now a Custody of the Province of Our Lady of Consolation – Very Reverend Fr. Jim Kent, OFM Conv. (top row left), Conventual Franciscan Federation Assistant General of our Order – Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv. (top row 2nd from left) and the Minister General of our Order – Most Reverend Fr. Marco Tasca, OFM Conv. (kneeling bottom far right)
December 12, 2017: Our Lady of the Angels Province Minister Provincial’s Final Message to the Friars of Costa Rica Before the Establishment of the New Central American Custody
Esteemed Brothers:
Sacred emotions fill my soul in this, my final message to you as your Minister Provincial, prior to your transfiliation into the new Central American Custody of Mary, Mother of Mercy. For seventy-one years, we your confreres of North America, first as the Province of the Immaculate Conception which later became the Province of Our Lady of the Angels, have been given by God the unequaled privilege of planting and watering the seeds of St. Francis in the fertile soil of Costa Rica. Now in your maturity, you are entering into a seraphic marriage with our beloved brothers of Honduras.
Three holy and honest emotions in particular are mixed together in my soul these days:
Joyful gratitude as my Province gave you birth, formed you, and has watched you grow to adulthood.
A profound sense of bereavement as the original Mother Province of all Latin America allows our grown child to leave our care.
Confident love as we give you in holy marriage to your Honduran spouse.
United strongly together as equal partners in this holy endeavor, may your new Franciscan covenant of life and live truly become “something beautiful for God.”
(Front) Most Reverend Fr. Marco Tasca, OFM Conv., Friar Carlos Trovarelli, OFM Conv., Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv. (Back) Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., Fr. Jorge Dobles, OFM Conv., Very Reverend Fr. Jim Kent, OFM Conv., Friar Isidoro Mejia, OFM Conv.
December 13, 2017: Friar Jorge Dobles, OFM Conv. was elected to serve as the 1st Custos of the newly established Mary, Mother of Mercy Custody There were 27 voting members in the Chapter (including the Minister General, the Assistant General for FALC, and the Ministers Provincial of the Provinces of Our Lady of Consolation and Our Lady of the Angels. Friar Jorge, the newly elected Custos, was a member of Our Lady of the Angels Province until the day before his election, when all Friars of the former Our Lady of the Angels Delegation in Costa Rica were transfiliated into the newly established Custody if Mary, Mother of Mercy. From 2010 until 2014, Friar Jorge served as a member of the Definitory of the former Immaculate Conception Province (joining with St. Anthony of Padua Province to form Our Lady of the Angels Province in 2014). From 2014 until this week, he served as Provincial Delegate for the Our Lady of the Angels Delegation, in Costa Rica.
Oath of Office: the New Custos of the Custody of Mary, Mother of Mercy – Friar Jorge Dobles, OFM Conv., in received by the Most Reverend Fr. Marco Tasca, OFM Conv. – Minister General of our Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv.)
Adapted from a message by Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv., CFF Assistant General of our Order:
The friars of the Basilica dei Santi XII Apostoli (home of our General Curia in Rome) celebrated a Mass of adieu for Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Donald Kos, OFM Conv. (left), who is heading home to the United States after 59 years of service and ministry in Rome. Friar Donald’s years in ministry, since his December 23, 1961 Ordination to the Priesthood in this very same Basilica, have all been in service to our Order, in Rome.
Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, JCD (center) – Penitentiary Major of the Penitenzieria Apostolica (Apostolic Penitentiary), Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, OFM Conv. (second from left) – Regent Emeritus of the Penitenzieria Apostolica, Most Reverend Fr. Marco Tasca, OFM Conv. (second from right) – Minister General of our Order and Padre Aniello Stoia, OFM Conv. (far right) – Rector of our Basilica dei Santi XII Apostoli were among those present for this celebration, which coincided with the Order’s Novena for the Immaculate Conception. {For more on the Novena}
After earning his B.A. in Philosophy at St. Bonaventure University, in NY (1958) Friar Donald moved to Rome where he earned his S.T.D in Theology at the Pontificia Facoltà Teologica San Bonaventura Seraphicum – 1962, J.C.D. in Canon Law at the Pontificia Università Lateranense – 1966, and Diploma in Canon Law at the Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae – 1970. His vast assignments in Rome through these 59 years have included Assistant General of the Anglo-American Coetus, Postulator General of the Order, Vicar General of the Order, Guardian of the Convento S. Antonio Alle Terme, Referendouro of the Signatura Apostolica, Judge of the First Instance of the Vatican Tribunal, Correspondent on Congregation of the Penitenzieria Apostolica, Procurator General and most recently Judicial Vicar of the Ecclesiastic Tribunal of Vatican City State. Friar Donald is the recipient of many awards including the 2016 Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (Cross of Honor) Award from Pope Francis, in recognition of his 18 years serving at the Penitenzieria Apostolica (Apostolic Penitentiary).
Most of our province friars who live, study and work in Rome were on hand for Friar Donald’s farewell meal: (left to right) Fr. Victor Manuel Mora Mesén, OFM Conv., Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv., Friar Donald, Fr. Tim Kulbicki, OFM Conv. and Friar Christopher Dudek, OFM Conv.
Adapted from a message by the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. – Minister Provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province:
Welcome Home!
Minister General of our Order – Most Reverend Fr. Marco Tasca, OFM Conv.(left) and two Assistants General – Friar Benedict Back, OFM Conv. & Friar Jude Winkler, OFM Conv. (top right) escorted Friar Donald (seated) from Rome to Boston.
After being domiciled in Rome for 59 years – He arrived there during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII – our confrere Fr. Donald Kos, OFM Conv. has returned to his native Province of Our Lady of the Angels, where he will be living at the St. Hyacinth Senior Friars Residence, in Chicopee, MA. Amidst a snowstorm on the 9th of December, Fr. Donald was welcomed to Boston’s Logan Airport by Fr. James, the Minister Provincial. The esteem in which Fr. Donald is held by the Order was evident insofar as his escort party from Rome included the Minister General of our Order and two Assistants General. His welcoming committee from the USA included two of the four Minister Provincials serving our provinces of North America.
We welcome you home to your home province and back to the state of your birth. Pax et Bonum!
Friar Donald is now one of eight of our friars residing in our St. Hyacinth Friary, in Chicopee, MA. He was joyfully welcomed on December 9th by several of his friary-mates, as well as the Very Reverend Fr. Michael Zielke, OFM Conv. (a friar of our province who serves as Minister Provincial of the St. Bonaventure Province) who is recuperating from health issues there.
On January 18th, four days after his Ordination as a Transitional Deacon, Friar Luis returned to serve as Deacon for a Mass with our friars of St. Hyacinth Friary, in Chicopee, MA, celebrated by their Guardian, Fr. Jude Surowiec, OFM Conv. who also works as a professor at nearby College of Our Lady of the Elms. This past year marked Friar Luis’ Fraternal Apostolic Year in dual ministry working for our pastoral ministry of the Basilica of St. Stanislaus, Bishop & Martyr parish & school while caring for the needs of our aged and infirmed friars of St. Hyacinth Friary, as well as those in the Felician Sisters’ Our Lady of the Angels Care Center, in Enfield, CT. Friar Luis will still be living with our friars in Chicopee, but our friars of St. Hyacinth enjoyed celebrating Friar Luis’ “Farewell Mass” in the company of his mother, Carmen who was there to visit the locations where her son had been serving.
The next day, Friar Luis will return to the Shrine and be joined by our confrere 
Each year, our Friars celebrate Epiphany Extractions. Franciscans hold great reverence for the saints. We customarily celebrate the Epiphany as a feast for promoting personal holiness. During the para-liturgical ceremony of the Extractions, each friar draws the name of a saint (who becomes his patron for the year) and a short spiritual exhortation (as a focus for spiritual refinement). During Epiphany the community also renews the san
The ritual is simple. Pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance. Choose a card randomly. On the card will be the name of a saint, a mystery in the life of Jesus or perhaps a particular devotion. Announce your choice to the people praying with you. Some of them may have their own experience with your choice. Read up on it in Catholic literature or on the internet. With the help of the Holy Spirit, look for some direction in your life and spirituality from these “living words of God.”
On a bitterly cold evening, the friars from the mid-Atlantic area gathered at Immaculate Heart of Mary Friary (Baltimore, MD) for Evening Prayer and the Extraction of yearly patron saints in celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany. A festive atmosphere and a good dinner was enjoyed by all.
JPIC UPDATE
