We know that the Pope, Bishops, and priests are also referred to as “shepherds.”  The very word “Pastor”  means shepherd. This is where we get the world “pasture”, “pastoral”, and other like words which deal with shepherding.  Even those in our order and province who hold positions of authority are, in a sense, “pastors.”  St. Francis didn’t want us to be called superiors, so we use the gentler terms “minister” and “guardian.”

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.   We pray for vocations not only on that day, but every day-  for vocations to ministry and consecrated life.  We know how we are in dire need of more priests, brothers, sisters to carry on their special ministry in the church.

The word vocation comes from the Latin word "Voca", meaning, voice or call.  It is an acknowledgement that God calls his people to a commitment that becomes for us a way of life. On the Day of Prayer for Vocations, we zero in on a particular facet of the commitment to the Christian life- the call to ministry through priesthood, diaconate, and the consecrated life of members of religious orders. 

Looking at our order and province none of us need to convinced that the church is in crisis as far as vocations to the priesthood and religious life.  Many provinces, including our own, are seeing a drastic reduction in the number of friars, while our aging populations threaten many of the ministries we have had for years.  

Our church is definitely influenced by the attitudes of society.  We find our world becoming less and less religious, as looking with suspicion and even in some cases contempt on any religious institutions, some people actually mocking religious beliefs as being primitive and superstitious.  In our scientific age, more and more people identify themselves as atheists or agnostics.

That sad part of all of this is as a church we no longer foster vocations.  We don’t encourage our children to consider this as a possibility.  We want them to be successful, to grow rich, and to have such “perfect” lives that they would not have to face any kind of sacrifice or want.  Yet we know that sacrifice is at the heart of Christian ministry. 

We certainly have to acknowledge that God has not stopped calling young men and women to ministry.  And if He hasn’t stopped calling, then the problem is that people have stopped listening to that call and not opening themselves up to the will of God.   We can pray every day for an increase in vocations.  But nothing will happen unless Catholics open themselves up to the possibility that their son, daughter, relative, or friend can be encouraged to give their lives to God.  Only when our attitudes change, and we look at it as a great honor for a family member or friend to enter the priesthood or religious life, will we be able to see truly an increase of priests, brothers, and sisters.  As friars, we too need to promote vocations in any way possible, to live a life close to Christ, adhere to our vows and to the Gospel, and show others the joy that we find in our Franciscan calling. Let us all resolve to promote, foster, encourage, and pray for vocations to ministry in the Church, especially the priesthood and religious life.

News from the Convento San Francesco

We began the month of April with wonderful joy due to the greatest celebration of the liturgical year, the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. On Palm Sunday, we served during mass in the General Curia, then Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week we had our Lenten retreat, directed by our brother Alexander Ciamei (Friar of the Province of S. Bonaventura Rome) where he presented the topic of affectivity and management of emotions. They were two days of mutual participation and a sharing of insights that will remain helpful to all of us.

On Holy Wednesday we all began an opportunity to offer Easter services in various locations within different regions of Italy; The students were divided into three groups because we received the invitation of the friars from Calabria, Benevento and Napoli, and so, we celebrated the triduum and the Easter vigil in assigned parishes there. Throughout our entire stay however, we would help with holy mass and shared a pleasant ministry with the parishioners who attended Mass or visited the friaries. All the friars of these regions really received and welcomed us with true brotherly charity and we were able to spend quality time with them. It was a time full of good experiences in which we were able to observe the way in which each fraternity interacts with their respective communities. We saw things like the importance of being flexible, dynamic, and uniting our efforts so that we could share with each person and each family the message and testimony of the gospel, each with his individual contribution, but always united as a group.

We returned home to appreciate this Easter time with great encouragement and joy, while at the same time, we began the last part of the semester at the University. There are a couple of months left to finish this academic year, and we continue with our commitment to maintain good preparation and good grades at the end of the semester. The year advances quickly and the visit of our Provincial Robert Campagna is approaching, an important time to share with him our experiences of this year, to ask some questions that always help us to better understand the future of our formation. It is always a moment of emotion because it is also when we receive our summer assignments which have always been a great learning experience and blessing, and we are excited this year in particular because almost all of us now have an approved visa, making it possible for the majority of our brothers to be present in the different fraternities of the province in the United States and Canada. It would continue to allow us to experience and thereby better understand the different realities of the Province while also being able to provide a service, learn from our brothers, be able to share with them and learn from their experiences. This encounter helps the friars also to get to know us in the day to day living of their particular fraternal life, and in the future to be able to serve the province within these locations.

From Rome, we would like to wish you all a very pleasant beginning to summer where we have been having some beautiful days here already. May the Lord grant you peace and joy always. 

Dagoberto & fraternity.

Provincial Retreat/ Guardians

Workshop- May 7-10, 2024

Chapter of Mats- May 11, 2024

May 7-10, 2024 Behold Your Mother- Provincial Retreat

May 11, 2024- Charism, Communion, Mission-Chapter of Mats

The province retreat is less than a month away. More than one-third of the province will be in attendance! In preparation for the retreat, guardians' workshop, and chapter, a webpage has been developed for the event. It can be found at: https://icprovince.org/retreat  There you will find the documents that you may need, a link to iBreviary, a schedule for the retreat week, and a subpage for the Chapter of Mats. We look forward to a week of spiritual refreshment and renewal.

Reminders to pack:

Habit

Alb and stole(s) if concelebrating

Copy of Handbook for Guardians (hard cooy or electronic).

Breviary or iBreviary

HOLY SEPULCHRE

ALTAR OF THE CRUCIFIXION

TO BE RESTORED

On Monday 8th April,  the altar in the Latin chapel of the Crucifixion, on Calvary (in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre), was removed. In the next few days it will be shipped to Florence, where it will be restored and exhibited in the Museo Marino Marini.

The altar is a 16th century piece, which was donated to the Custody of the Holy Land by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando de’ Medici in 1578. At the exhibition in Florence, it will be on display together with a model of the edicule of the Holy Sepulchre already present in the Museum. Fra Stéphane Milovitch, President of the Holy Sepulchre, explains that “the purpose is precisely to present these two works together: this way we will have the death and the resurrection of Christ of the same period (16th century) and from the same city, Florence.”

This decision is also part of the wider policy of this project. The exhibition is taken around the world – after Portugal, it is now in Spain and after Florence it will be in the United States, while other venues are being studied. “The most important works are on display in all the exhibitions, but in each place, we tend to add works linked to the hosting country. In Portugal and Spain, they were works linked to the Iberian Peninsula. For Florence we are emphasizing works that come from Tuscany and northern Italy.  

This altar is incensed every day during the daily procession by the friars of the Custody of the Holy Land, and the Masses of the pilgrims are celebrated on this altar every day. It is also the altar used for the liturgy of Good Friday.

“It seems that originally that altar was offered to cover the Stone of Unction,” fra Stéphane tells us. “Between the 18th and the 19th centuries, a base of wrought iron was made at St Saviour, on which the altar was placed. What we see today at Calvary is a  work which includes the technique of 16th century Florentine craftsmen (the upper part) and that of Arab craftsmen of the 20th century (the base), which merge harmoniously. It is also an image of what the Terra Sancta Museum aims to be.” The Medici altar was fixed in the chapel on Calvary in the 1940s, during restoration works and since then it has never been moved or restored. Six tiles are set in the altar, which today are particularly damaged: two on the sides and four at the front (originally there were two in the front and two behind so that it would have been visible on all sides). It is a cycle illustrating the Passion of Jesus, made is the same style as those which are in the Baptistery of St John in Florence.

The aim of the project is to make known in the world the artistic heritage of the Custody of the Holy Land and at the same time contribute to its restoration, not only of the pieces which will be in the Historical Section of the Terra Sancta Museum, but also of the treasures in the various shrines, as in this case.

In addition to the altar,  other works are ready to leave the Holy Land for Florence: a tabernacle that is used at St Saviour’s on Holy Thursday, a Neapolitan work in silver from the 18th century, vestments, an antiphonary of the Custody from the 17th century and a lamp offered by the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

The exhibition will be opened on 12th September, on the eve of the feast of the Holy Cross. For the period of restoration and exhibition, it will be replaced by a temporary altar. “The exhibition will end in January 2025 so,” fra Stéphane concludes, “the altar should be replaced in situ for Lent next year, completely renewed and shining for the celebration of Good Friday 2025, the year of the Jubilee.”

Friar Charles Gingerich transferred from St. Christopher Friary, Boston to St. Patrick Home, Framingham, Massachusetts, effective immediately.

ATTENTION: MEDICAL CLAIMS CHANGE

All medical claims reimbursements and correspondence should now be addressed to Medical Claims at 125 Thompson Street, New York, NY 10012. Phone calls to Anne or medical claims may still be directed to her cell phone or to the provincial office at 212-674-4388. The Siena Friary address and phone number will no longer be used. Thank you for your cooperation.

CHANGE TO PROVINCIAL MEDICAL AND FUNERAL POLICIES:

The death of a friar is always a difficult time for us, even in light of our faith in the Resurrection and eternal life.  We cannot divorce ourselves from the human and fraternal relationships we have forged through living together and through our common brotherhood in St. Francis as well as being part of the same province.  

Through the last few years, the last wishes and passing of friars of our province, as well as funeral arrangements, have been complicated by the inappropriate involvement of some family members and friends.  Although we have always consulted with families and loved ones of our friars, it is important that we do not let these relationships interfere with the desires of our friars who are in their final days on earth, or create conflict when putting these wishes into action.

Due to some unfortunate incidents that have recently occurred, I have decided to refine our funeral and burial policies in an effort to alleviate these difficulties.  These policies boil down to two:

Medical proxies.  Under no circumstances will we permit friars to designate their own medical proxies other than those already prescribed by province policy.  The ordinary proxies must be a provincial friar, either the local guardian, someone from the Provincial Health Care committee, AND the Provincial Minister.  We will not permit friars to designated family members to take over their medical needs, as well as their funeral and burial arrangements, and disregard provincial customs or policy.  While we will always be sensitive to the will of the individual friar and to their family members, we cannot permit family members or friends to “take over” either medical decisions or funeral arrangements.  This, of course, should be communicated by each friar to their own family members and loved ones. 

Funeral Arrangements. All friars must be buried in one of the provincial designated cemeteries or mausoleums.  If a friar desires cremation, this will be respected but the cremains must be interred in a provincial plot.  For those friars who have already received permission to be buried in other places (e.g. family plots) these decisions will be grandfathered, but we will not permit this practice in the future.  If there are other arrangements that should arise, these must receive the explicit and written permission of the Provincial Minister.  

Fr. Robert M. Campagna, O.F.M,

Holy Week in Toronto

Celebrating Holy Week in our Toronto parishes remains an experience of grace. I have no detailed information on the celebrations that took place in the parishes of St. Jane Frances and Immaculate Conception, but I believe that the liturgies there too were equally well attended.

Here at St. Peter’s, starting from Palm Sunday, all the Masses were crowded. In addition to us, three priests, five to six extraordinary ministers were assigned to distribute Holy Communion at each Mass. The decoration of the church in its simplicity and elegance gave much prominence to the symbols that recalled the theme of the liturgy of the day. We took turns presiding over the different celebrations and I believe the homilies were well prepared and quite inspiring, at least judging by the comments of the faithful. Divided into three days, all three of us listened uninterruptedly for approximately 12 hours as several hundred parishioners approached the Sacrament of Confession. 

Tuesday of Holy Week, saw the participation of almost all the friars assigned to our Toronto parishes at the concelebrated Chrism Mass held at St. Michael’s Cathedral, together with the vibrant and young Archbishop Leo, Cardinal Thomas Collins, Archbishop emeritus, and the four auxiliary bishops. As usual, the archbishop gave the jubilarians a stole. When handing a stole over to Fr. Antonio, he kindly engaged in a brief conversation in perfect Italian.

On Holy Thursday, the Pastor presided over the bilingual Mass “In Coena Domini” with the washing of the feet and the presentation of the sacred Chrism to the faithful together with the oils of the Catechumens and the sick.

On Good Friday, however, the Passion of the Lord was celebrated at 1:30pm in English and at 3:30pm in Italian. Later that evening at 7:00pm, we all together, priests and faithful prayed the Stations of the Cross. In closing, a heartfelt appeal was made by the Pastor in support of the Holy Land collection which I believe had a very positive outcome.

The complex liturgy of the Easter Vigil was carried out with decorum and reverence and Fr. Joshua impeccably proclaimed the Exultet in song.

Finally, on Easter Sunday, the participation of the faithful in the Eucharist was truly incredible. The last Mass celebrated by the Pastor at midday saw the church, vestibule and chapel to be most crowded. The set up of a large screen in the parish hall aided to accommodate all those who had not found a place elsewhere, not even standing. 

As true in every church, Holy Week required much more work than usual from us all, but the greatest reward that warms up a pastoral heart is in realizing that God still has a place in the hearts and lives of so many of our brothers and sisters.

Fr. Antonio Nardoianni, OFM

ANNUAL RELIGIOUS BROTHERS DAY

May 1 is Religious Brothers Day

Thank you to all the brothers of our province. Hope your day is special

Photo circa 1964, Tertiary Brothers Class, Andover

Recognize anyone?

Our brother, Fr. Ciro Iodice, O.F.M., passed to eternal life on April 11, 2024, at the age of 81. 

Fr. Ciro was born on February 4, 1943 in Ponza, an island off the coast of Italy, the son of Silverio and Lucia DiGiovanni. In 1956 his family came to the United States and settled in the Bronx, where there was a very large community of people from Ponza centered around our Franciscan parish of Our Lady of Pity. He entered the novitiate on August 15, 1963, and professed first vows on August 16, 1964. He professed Solemn Vows on August 16, 1967 and was ordained a priest on May 13, 1972. 

After serving in some parochial assignments, including as Pastor of St. Louis Church in Fall River, MA, Fr. Ciro established the Affirmation Center of Fall River, where he has been Director for many years. The Affirmation Center is a pastoral counseling service which provides assistance to those who have suffered from psychological, emotional, physical and spiritual trauma. 

Funeral arrangements were as follows: Wake from 4-7pm Tuesday April 16th

at Waring-Sullivan Funeral Home, Fall River. Mass of Christian Burial was at Holy Name Church, Fall River, Ma. at 10:00 am on Wednesday, April 17.

Entombment was at Fern Cliff Cemetery (family plot) Hartsdale, Westchester County, New York

After an absence of several years, New York City’s largest pizza party returned to Saint Anthony’s Church on Thursday, April 18, 2024.  The event, sponsored by the Slice Out Hunger organization, has raised several million dollars for hunger relief efforts in the US.  It started in 2009 and was brought to St. Anthonys Church Social Hall.  Headed by Mr. Scott Wiener of Scott’s Pizza Tours, one of the foremost authorities on pizza in the US and New York City. The organization lists over seven hundred pizza partners in the US, and it has been producing campaigns and events through the years.  

Let's face it, America is obsessed with pizza. With over 77 thousand pizzerias grossing upwards of $47 billion, our national pizza enthusiasm is strong. Slice Out Hunger founder Scott Wiener tapped into pizza fever when he launched Scott's Pizza Tours in 2008. Over 100,000 tourists, locals, pizza lovers, and pizza professionals have since attended excursions to significant New York pizzerias with the company. Food tours are fun ways to experience a city, but treating food as entertainment is a luxury that too many people cannot afford. Slice Out Hunger became a way to harness the momentum of our collective pizza obsession to effectively support those who have trouble meeting their own basic food needs.

Slice Out Hunger believes that everybody is important; everybody deserves basic human services; and everybody loves pizza. 

With the St. Anthony event, lines extended all the way down West Houston, Thompson, Prince, and back up Sullivan Streets and thousands of peope came for the $1 a slice event.  Over 50 of New York’s best pizzeria’s offered their slices.  One hundred percent of the proceeds go to hunger charities in the city.  

In a letter addressed to Cardinal Angelo DeDonatis, Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Vatican, Fr. Provincial wrote:

Your Eminence:

On September 17, 2024, there will be the celebration of the eight hundredth anniversary of the Holy Stigmata of Saint Francis of Assisi, which, according to Franciscan sources, occurred around the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross in September of 1224.

In order to promote the spiritual renewal of the faithful and increase the life of grace, I ask that from 15 August 2024, the anniversary of the fast begun by Saint Francis in honor of Saint Michael the Archangel, until the Feast of Our Father Saint Francis of Assisi, October 4, 2024, visiting the Chapel of the Holy Stigmata in the Mount Alvernia Convent of the Immaculate Conception Province of the Friars Minor in Wappingers Falls, New York, United States, the faithful may obtain plenary indulgence under the usual conditions, and that the sick and all those who are unable to physically participate can equally benefit from the gift of plenary indulgence, offering their sufferings to the Lord or carrying out practices of piety.

Grateful for whatever you wish to grant, I willingly take advantage of the circumstance to confirm myself with respect for Your Eminence. Devoutly in the Lord

In response, the following was quickly received: 

The Apostolic Penitentiary in Prot. N. 00904/2024-311/24/I grants to the faithful who visit the Chapel of the Holy Stigmata at Mount Alvernia Retreat Center, Aug 15^th, 2024 to Oct 4^th, 2024, in honor of the 8^th Centenary of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions.   

Pope Francis marks 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi's stigmata in Audience with Friars from La Verna

Vatican City, April 5, 2024

The wounds of Christ's passion and death and the stigmata given to some Christians over the centuries are reminders of "the pain Jesus suffered in his flesh out of love for us and for our salvation," Pope Francis said.

But, the pope said, the stigmata also is a reminder that through baptism Christians participate in Christ's victory over suffering and death because "it is precisely through his wounds that the mercy of the Risen, Crucified One flows to us as through a channel."

With a visiting group of Italian Franciscan friars from La Verna and from Tuscany April 5, Pope Francis joined celebrations of the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi receiving "the gift of the stigmata" after he had withdrawn to the hills of La Verna to pray and do penance in 1224.

The friars also brought to Pope Francis a reliquary containing blood from the stigmata of St. Francis, a reliquary that is making a pilgrimage to different Franciscan communities.

The stigmata, or sharing the wounds of Christ, Pope Francis told the friars, is a reminder that a Christian is part of "the body of Christ," not in name alone but in reality.

In the "communion of love," which is the church, he said, "each of us rediscovers who he or she is: a beloved, blessed, reconciled son or daughter, sent to give witness to the wonders of his grace and to be artisans of fraternity."

Pope Francis said that is why "Christians are called to address themselves in a special way to the 'stigmatized' they encounter: to those who are 'marked' in life, who bear the scars of the sufferings and injustices they have endured or the mistakes they have made."

St. Francis of Assisi can be a "companion on the journey," the pope said, supporting Christians and helping them "not to be crushed by difficulties, fears and contradictions, ours and those of others."

The stigmata for St. Francis was a call to return to what is essential, he said, and the celebrations of the eighth centenary should be a similar call to Franciscans today: "To be forgiven bears of forgiveness, healed bearers of healing, joyful and simple in fraternity; with the strength of the love that flows from the side of Christ and that is nourished in your personal encounter with him, to be renewed every day with a seraphic ardor that burns the heart."

Franciscans, he said, are called to bring to the church and the world "a little of that immense love that drove Christ to die on the cross for us."

At the end of his speech, Pope Francis offered a prayer to "St. Francis, man wounded by love" and "decorated with the holy stigmata."

"May our wounds be healed by the heart of Christ to become, like you, witnesses of his mercy, which continues to heal and renew the life of those who seek him with a sincere heart," the pope prayed. "O Francis, made to resemble the Crucified One, let your stigmata be for us and for the world resplendent signs of life and resurrection, to show new ways of peace and reconciliation."

HOLY WEEK PHOTOS

FROM AROUND THE PROVINCE

St. Anthony NYC, Our Lady of Peace Brooklyn,

St. Thomas Aquinas, Derry

Take time to wish our brothers a Happy Birthday!

Courtland Campbell - May 6th - 69

Luis Antonio Hernandez- May 6th-38

Gabriel Rojas Mendieta- May 20- 37

Richard Donovan - May 26th - 72