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From the Provincial Minister
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NEW YORK - As members of the English Speaking Conference, each Province takes its turn in hosting one of the two conference meetings each year. This allows us to experience the life of the friars throughout the member Provinces of the conference. For example, our last two meetings were in Lithuania and Western Canada.
As the Fall meeting is set to begin on Monday it is our turn as a Province to host the gathering. This week, the Provincial Ministers and Custodes of the Conference will descend here upon us on Thompson Street for a week that will be full of meetings as well as fraternity.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers during the week ahead.
Fraternally,
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Year of Consecrated Life | Pope Francis in the United States
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"Religious are called to find and radiate lasting satisfaction in their vocation.
Joy springs from a grateful heart. It will do us good to think back on our lives with the grace of remembrance. Remembrance of when we were first called, remembrance of the road travelled, remembrance of graces received, and, above all, remembrance of our encounter with Jesus Christ so often along the way. Remembrance of the amazement which our encounter with Jesus Christ awakens in our hearts. To seek the grace of remembrance so as to grow in the spirit of gratitude. Perhaps we need to ask ourselves: are we good at counting our blessings?"
- Pope Francis at St. Patrick's Cathedral NYC
September 24, 2015
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St. Anthony's NYC takes a slice out of hunger
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NEW YORK - Our own Shrine Church of Saint Anthony of Padua in New York City once again hosted the annual "Slice Out Hunger" event which is billed as New York City's largest pizza party.
On Wednesday, October 7, 2015, 52 pizzerias donated 1,200 pizzas to the event. The money earned at the event will be matched by sponsors, who raised $40,000. The funds raised help the Food Bank for New York sponsor 200,000 meals for the needy.
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| | The parish hall at St. Anthony's was filled to capacity. |
The popularity of this event grows each year. This year, an enormous line wrapped around the entire city block, winding down West Houston Street, Thompson Street, Prince Street, and back up Sullivan Street to the church entrance.
Organized by Scott Wiener of Scott's Pizza Tours, the giant pizza party participants included some of the best pizzerias in the city including: Patsy's, Joe's Prince Street Pizza, Arturo's, Grimaldi's, and many more.
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| | Some waited in line more than three hours for NYC's biggest pizza party. Here the line wraps around our Provincial Curia building at Thompson and Prince Streets. |
Each slice costs $1.00. The low entry price ensured that Slice Out Hunger was once again a charity "ball" that anyone with line-standing patience and a passion for pizza could participate in, though a few $100 VIP passes were sold as well. Most people spent about $10 to $20.
Mikey Rodriguez was the first on line, arriving at St. Anthony's at 2:20 in the afternoon, nearly three-and-a-half hours before the doors opened at 6 p.m. "I ate 40 slices last year," Rodriguez said. The first 30 people in the door can buy as many dollar slices as they want; everyone else is limited to 10. Rodriguez felt confident that he'd be able to repeat the feat again.
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| | The pizza line in front of the garden at St. Anthony's. |
For some, the charitable benefits of the Slice Out Hunger were immediate, as two groups of children from the Women in Need (WIN) homeless shelters were transported to St. Anthony's, and went to town on the pizza, soft drinks, and the cupcakes from Sprinkles.
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| | Valducci's, just one of the many who donated slices. |
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Friars celebrate the Feast of Francis throughout the Province
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NEW YORK - As always, the Solemnity of Our Holy Father Saint Francis last Sunday brought prayer, celebration and blessings of animals throughout the Province. Here are a few images of some celebrations:
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| | Fr. Flavian Mucci, OFM, address those gathered for the feast at Agape in El Salvador |
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| | Our friars in Temporary Profession functioned as servers for the Feast Mass at the General Curia in Rome. Pictured here: Br. Jay Woods, OFM (far left), Br. Dale Brewer, OFM (far right). |
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| | Friars in formation enjoying the Feast of Francis at the General Curia. Pictured here with Fr. Alvin Te, OFM, who work in the Order's Communication Office. |
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| | Fr. Patrick Boyle, OFM, blesses animals at Our Lady of Peace, Brooklyn |
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| | Fr. Dennis Wheatley, OFM, blesses animals at Sacred Heart in Waltham |
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Friars, family & friends gather to celebrate newly professed
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WAPPINGERS FALLS, NEW YORK - On Saturday, September 26, about 15 friars gathered at Mount Alvernia Retreat Center to celebrate our brothers - Brs. Dale Brewer, Josh Critchley and Jay Woods - who made their First Profession of Vows on August 2.
The celebration was both a welcome back to the Province following their year at the Interprovincial Novitiate in Wisconsin, as well as a sending as they prepared to head to Rome to begin their studies.
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| | Friars, family & friends in the Chapel at Mount Alvernia for the celebration. |
In addition to the friars present, about 40 family and friends of the newly professed joined in the celebration. The newly professed re-affirmed the commitment they made on the day of their Profession as well as receiving the blessing of the Provincial Minister and friars present.
Below is the text of the homily given by Provincial Minister Primo Piscitello, OFM during the Mass:
It is hard to underestimate the importance of the day of the First Profession of Vows. Yes, our brothers, God-willing, will have bigger celebrations in their future. The day that they make their solemn vows - professing poverty, chastity and obedience for the rest of their life - will be a major celebration in their lives individually and in the life of our Provincial fraternity. Should they be called to the life of ordained ministry - the days on which they are ordained first deacons and then priests, will also be major celebrations for us.
But, it is this day that we always look back to. When people ask how long you have been a friar, we always calculate back to the day that we first professed our vows. Something unique and special and new took place on that day for Jay, Josh and Dale and it is something that we pray today will be strengthened and nurtured and brought to completion through a life lived in fidelity to God, the Church and in fidelity to the vows they have professed.
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| | Brs. Jay Woods, Josh Critchley and Dale Brewer reaffirm their vows before Provincial Minister Primo Piscitello |
During this extraordinary visit of Pope Francis this week, the Holy Father called us to be men who have a spirit of gratitude and a spirit of hard work. He said, "Religious are called to find and radiate lasting satisfaction in their vocation. Joy springs from a grateful heart. It will do us good to think back on our lives with the grace of remembrance. Remembrance of when we were first called, remembrance of the road travelled, remembrance of graces received, and, above all, remembrance of our encounter with Jesus Christ so often along the way. Remembrance of the amazement which our encounter with Jesus Christ awakens in our hearts. To seek the grace of remembrance so as to grow in the spirit of gratitude. Perhaps we need to ask ourselves: are we good at counting our blessings?"
Jay, Josh, Dale - take these words into your hearts today. Be grateful for the grace of the knowledge that you have been called by God to this great life. Be filled with amazement at this encounter with the Lord who has called you. Count the blessings in your life. And, also know, that we - your brothers - count you among our most choice blessings. We give thanks to God for you today.
The Pope also spoke about the spirit of hard work. He said, "A grateful heart is spontaneously impelled to serve the Lord and to find expression in a life of commitment to our work. Once we come to realize how much God has given us, a life of self-sacrifice, of working for him and for others, becomes a privileged way of responding to his great love." But, he reminded us that hard work isn't just keeping busy - it is keeping busy about the work of the Lord. And, he said specifically to those new in religious life, "To see and evaluate things from God's perspective calls for constant conversion in the first days and years of our vocation and, need I say, great humility." This is the work that God is calling you to, my brothers, in these years. Open your hearts and ask God daily, continually, to be made humble. Open your eyes and ask God daily, continually, to allow you to see the world, to see others, to see each other and all your brothers, as God sees them. The hard work that must consume you in these years is the work of becoming more and more compassionate, holy, kind, gentle, loving and joyful so that each day when people see you, they increasingly see the One you follow.
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| | Friars present offer their blessing to our newly professed. |
Finally, it was also noticeable this week that Pope Francis highlighted a number of true American heroes - he named the ones everyone might expect: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. And, he named those that people might not expect - Dorothy Day, Elizabeth Ann Seton, John Neumann, Thomas Merton. He named saints.
Thomas Merton, once asked a friend, "How does one become a saint?" His friend answered, "All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one. Don't you believe that God will make you what He created you to be, if you will consent to let Him do it? All you have to do is desire it."
My brothers my prayer for you as you take these first steps into the vowed life are that you desire to be saints. And before that sounds like too big a request to put before you remember this - being a saint is nothing more complicated than being yourself - be the person God created you to be. And, God has called you to be saints. Everyone of us who have been bathed in the waters of baptism are called to be holy. Each of the Americans that Pope Francis highlighted this week had that one simple quality in common - they were true to who and what God called them to - and in that was holiness, the road to saintliness. I hope it is the same journey that you are on too.
My brothers, Jay, Josh, Dale - submit yourself to God and let Him make you what He has created you to be.
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Canadian Friars gather to discuss reconfiguration
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By Friar Pierre Ducharme, OFM (Christ the King Province)
CALEDON, ONTARIO, CANADA - The year 2015 marks 400 years since French Franciscans of the Recollect tradition celebrated the first ever Mass on Canadian soil. Legend has it that French Explorer, Samuel du Champlain, asked the friars to make an altar on the back of a canoe and thus claim a vast, lush - and often freezing - territory for God.
Today, more than 120 friars labor in what is the second largest territorial state in the world, with only Russia larger in area. Canada is served by several OFM Franciscan entities, all dedicated to warming people's hearts to the Gospel.
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| | General Definitor Caoimhin O'Laoide, OFM, General Minister Michael Perry, OFM and Foundation President Jimmy Zammit, OFM, during the Canadian Chapter of Mats |
From September 21-22, 2015, Canadian OFM's from the Province of St. Joseph (Eastern Canada), the Province of Christ the King (Western Canada), the Ontario Foundation of the Immaculate Conception Province (Toronto), the Croatian Franciscan Custody of the Holy Family (Chicago), and the Lithuanian Franciscan Friars of Toronto, gathered with their Minister General Michael Perry, OFM, and General Definitor Caoimhín Ó Laoide, OFM, to celebrate their varied, but very much inter-connected, histories as well as their common evangelical zeal.
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| | Canadian Leadership: IC Foundation President Jimmy Zammit, OFM, Provincial Minister Dennis Vavrek, OFM (Christ the King), and Provincial Minister Marc LeGoanvec, OFM (St. Joseph Province) |
The bilingual (French and English) and interprovincial Chapter of Mats with the theme of "Sharing Our Stories/Partager nos histories" helped, first and foremost, to build fraternal relations, but also propelled the Canadian Friars on their journey toward the restructuring and renewal of their life and mission to the land claimed by Champlain and to the Canadian people.
A healthy contingent of younger and elder older friars returned home renewed by the event held at St. Francis Centre in Caledon, Ontario. The next step will be to discern the future together. Although it is to unknown ports that we paddle our canoe, we seek a new world which will teach us new ways of doing God's work.
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| | Group photo of the 120 friars participating in the Canadian Chapter of Mats at St. Francis Centre in Caledon. |
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Meditation Upon the Rose Windows at Mount Alvernia Retreat Center
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By Br. Donovan Aidan Bowley, BSG
WAPPINGERS FALLS, NEW YORK - In the transepts of the Chapel at Mount Alvernia Retreat Center are two great rose windows of the same design. In an abstract design of glass within a classic frame, each displays a wonderful play of colors varying in intensity throughout the day.
Though the design is abstract, one may discern a traditional theme: Centered upon the mystery and the interplay of forces at the heart of creation, these windows show the eternal cycle of days and months - and by implication - endless years.
The innermost level of the design in the Transept window represents the Trinity, through three blue and three black triangles (hope and the unknown) in a field of passion shown as a red circle. Passion is surrounded by a ring of blue, the color of hope, from which radiate twelve rays of bright gold (the daylight hours). Woven between the rays of the day and those of the night is a green circle representing life, persistence, growth, and endurance.
Framing the central hub of this design is a solid ring of three levels - representing the Trinity through the endless cycles of eternity. Founded on that ring are twelve pillars - possibly twelve Tribes, twelve Apostles, or twelve months - in this context they would appear to represent the months of the year. Further, each pillar, at the outer rim of the design, is linked to the next by an arch. Each arch redirects the eye back to the cycle of eternity upon which it is founded, and together the arches and columns depict a wheel, implying motion around the central core, and therefore an endless cycle of years.
Enclosed between the pillars is the world of mankind. In each of these teardrop shapes are five feathered rays of varied intensities of blue - the color of hope. Upon those rays on the fields of hope are two designs in red and yellows. That design closest to the core is of five elements - four triangles of red surrounding a diamond of gold. Five is usually taken to be a number signifying humankind - perhaps from the arms, legs and head. Both the blue rays of hope and the patterns of red and gold, therefore, may be understood as representing humankind. Perhaps the red and yellow designs represent mankind's passion and energy, fresh from the realm of the Creator. The second design on the blue field is a pointed oval divided into two parts by a straight line and by two intensities of red. This may be considered to represent the dual nature of humanity. it should be noted that while the red and gold design closest to the source of creation is of even brightness, the hues and intensities of the outer red ovals vary markedly from section to section - possibly intending the varied passion inherent in man's role in creation from month to month and season to season. These shapes of the spaces between the pillars - pillars of the earth? - and the arches - the arch of Heaven? - are the realm in which mankind extends the role of creation.
Finally, one should note that though the gold and red rays reached outward, pervading the ages of man, the blue of hope is depicted in rays that reach inward to the heart of God.
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"Come and See" weekends announced by Vocation Team
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NEW YORK - The Vocation Team has announced the "Come and See" discernment retreats for the year ahead and are asking each parish or ministry site to promote them in their bulletins and other materials.
"Come and See" Vocation Retreat Schedule
- November 13-15, 2015
- February 5-7, 2016
- March 18-20, 2016
- April 15-17, 2016
Each retreat will take place at Immaculate Conception Friary in Boston.
Vocation Preaching around the Province
A member of the Vocation Team would also like to come to your parish or place of ministry to preach about vocations. Please email vocations@icprovince.org to schedule their visit.
We are all Animators of Vocations
Finally, the Vocation Team recognizes that we are all called to be vocation animators. Please share with us the name and contact information of any young man in your parish or ministry or that you know who you think may have a vocation to our way of life. Again, p lease let us know at vocations@icprovince.org.
BULLETIN ANNOUNCEMENT
Please run the following announcement in your bulletin for the next several weeks:
"Come and See" Vocation Reatreat (Nov. 13-15, 2015) The Franciscan Vocation Office is holding a "Come and See" vocation discernment retreat for young men (ages 18-38) who are considering a calling to our Franciscan way of life. The retreat will take place Nov. 13-15 at Immaculate Conception Friary in Boston. To register for the retreat contact the Vocation Office at vocations@icprovince.org or (800) 521-5442. |
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Dedication & Blessing of IC Province Franciscan Library November 7
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NEW YORK - Provincial Minister Primo Piscitello, OFM, extends a cordial invitation to all friars of the Province to attend the dedication and blessing of the Immaculate Conception Province Franciscan Library on Saturday, November 7, 2015 at 2:00 p.m.
The library is the result of Province attempts to safeguard and preserve various collections of Francescana around the Province and make them more widely accessible for research and education. To date, all of the Francescana of the Province has been brought to the new library space in the Provincial Curia.
Siobhan O'Dwyer, OFS, who has a master's degree from the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University, works with Fr. Paul Rotondi, OFM, for the organization and classification of our collection. And to sustain and support the work that has been accomplished thus far, the Provincial has set up a committee, appointing André Cirino, OFM coordinator of this project. The members of the committee are: Paul Rotondi, OFM, Richard Martignetti, OFM, Michael Della Penna, OFM, and Siobhan.
This collection will serve as a resource for research and education:
- for the friars of our Province, especially our students and friars working in formation;
- for Franciscan men and women of the greater New York City area;
- for anyone [cleric, religious, lay person] involved in an academic Franciscan project;
- for commissions of the Order to facilitate their work and service;
- for the 22 schools of the Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities [AFCU] in the USA.
The ICP Franciscan Library will also sponsor special events, the first of which will be a poetry reading presented by Fr. Murray Bodo, OFM, on June 14, 2015. More information on this and other planned events will be made available.
The November 7th dedication and blessing will also include a featured speaker. Fr. Michael Della Penna, OFM, will offer a presentation on "The Crucified Knight: The Spiritual Odyssey of St. Francis of Assisi according to Henry of Avranches." In June, the library hosted a very well attended presentation by Fr. Murray Bodo, OFM.
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Latest issue of Fraternitas available online
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ROME - The latest issue of Fraternitas, the newsletter of the Order, is available online. Click the image below to read:
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