Page 12 Article: “Drawing Closer – How Eucharistic Adoration brings Catholics nearer to Christ”

Homily by Fr. Colin Mary Edwards, OFM Conv., a friar of our Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Custody (aka The Greyfriars), serving at The Catholic National Shrine & Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham (aka England’s Nazareth).

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. In our province, traditionally, friars from local friaries in one area would join together for this fraternal celebration. As we are practicing safe social distancing, concessions had to be made. Friars of a singular friary either celebrated in their own residence, or with several friaries virtually gathered using today’s technological resources.
The insert at left is from our Immaculate Heart of Mary Friary (Baltimore, MD), as they celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany with the Extraction of Patron Saints. It shows the Blessing of the friary with the signing of the entrance door by the friary Guardian.
Below is a screenshot of the ZOOM Celebration with our four friaries in North Carolina: Blessed Sacrament Friary ~ Burlington, St. Anthony of Padua Friary ~ Durham, Our Lady of Guadalupe Friary ~Pittsboro, and Our Lady of the Angels Friary ~ Winston-Salem.

Throughout our province, many ministries are still offering live-streamed Masses. A sampling of these Masses is often posted via our Province Facebook Page and we encourage to faithful, who are unable to attend Mass in person, to continue to join our ministries online. To find a website link for our ministry location nearest to you, visit the “Locations” page on our website.

For example, Daily Mass with our friars in Toronto, ON is available on
The Franciscan Church of St. Bonaventure’s YouTube Chanel.

Daily Mass with our friars serving at The Shrine of St. Anthony (Ellicott City, MD) is available on
The Companions of St. Anthony Facebook Page.

Daily Mass in Spanish with our friars serving in Brooklyn, NY is available on
RCC of Most Holy Trinity – St. Mary Facebook Page.

Weekend Masses are streamed online from many more of our ministry locations. For example, the Duke Catholic Center YouTube Page is a great source for not only weekend Mass, but many videos created for adult enrichment, presented by Fr. Michael Martin, OFM Conv., Director of Campus Ministry. Here is his Christmas Reflection for 2020:

We fly to they patronage, O Holy Mother of God!

I was fortunate to recently be part of a four-year-old ministry to the poor called Franciscan Joy (originally called “Franciscan Alliance”). Started as a partnership between the three branches of the Franciscans in San Antonio, TX –  the Conventuals (Order of Friars Minor Conventual), the Capuchins (Order of Friars Minor Capuchin), and the OFMs (Order of Friars Minor) – the initiative is mainly spearheaded today by Grupo San Damián (The Saint Damian Group), a group of young volunteers from the St. Joseph – South San Antonio parish.

Produced by the “Franciscan Voice,” and prayed by Our Lady of the Angels Province Vocation Director, Br. Nick Romeo, OFM Conv.

More videos can be found on the website and on the Franciscan Voice YouTube Channel.

One of the videos on the new “Franciscan Voice” website features Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Curt Kreml, OFM Conv. Friar Curt is a Vietnam Veteran and in this video, he talks about the pain and suffering of war and violence, how it resides in each of our hearts, and that our response should be making peace a priority in our lives. Friar Curt currently serves as parochial vicar, at St. Lucie Catholic Church, in Port St. Lucie, FL.

Letter as a printable PDF: Lettera_Natale_2020_ENG

On the morning of December 15, 2020, the Provincial Custody of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M. in Brazil conducted a Custodial Assembly using video conferencing.