(L to R): Rev. Msgr. David D. Brockman, V.G., Fr. Michael Martin, OFM Conv., Sister Barbara Johnson, FSE and Mother Miriam Seiferman, FSE, as Msgr. Brockman blesses the symbol of the Sisters’ community, which they also wear as a pendant over their habits.
On the 1st of May the Duke Catholic Center (DCC) – the Catholic Campus Ministry at Duke University in Durham, NC – welcomed their newest collaborators, the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist from Meriden, Connecticut. Our Lady of the Angels Province friars, Fr. Michael Martin, OFM Conv. (Director of the Duke Catholic Center) and Fr. Brad Heckathorne, OFM Conv. (Associate Director of the Duke Catholic Center) have been working for two years with the Duke Catholic Center Advisory Board and the Diocese of Raleigh to add the “face of Clare” to the Franciscan presence on campus. After a morning Mass of Welcome, in which our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. participated, an evening gathering of invited guests witnessed the blessing of the new Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist Convent by Vicar General Rev. Msgr. David D. Brockman, V.G., of the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh. Over fifty members of the DCC community came together to celebrate this new chapter of Catholic life at Duke, including donors, students, Board members, Duke staff and guest Our Lady of the Angels Province friars, and Fr. Andrew Santamauro, OFM Conv., who live in community with Friar Michael and Friar Brad, while serving in pastoral and campus ministry at Holy Cross Catholic Church and nearby Newman Catholic Student Center Parish at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Among the six sisters in attendance, Sister Marcia Ternes, FSE and Sister Mary Peter Ryan, FSE will join the Duke Catholic Center staff this summer. The Institute of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist Mother General, Mother Miriam Seiferman, FSE also attended and made note of the historic bond between the Sisters and our Friars at our former mission in Jamaica.
On Wednesday morning, May 2, 2018, the Sisters and Friar James also attended the morning session of the Duke Catholic Center Advisory Board meeting, on which another Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Jude Michael Krill, OFM Conv. serves as a member.
