Pictured (L-R): Friar Rich Rome, OFM Conv., friar Jonathan Zenteno, OFM Conv., friar Edgar Varela, OFM Conv., Fr. Jacob Corazo, OFM Conv. (Assistant Formation Director and a friar of St. Joseph Cupertino Province, in California), Fr. Michael Zielke, OFM Conv. (Formation Director), friar Sebastian De Backer, OFM Conv., friar Raad Eshoo, OFM Conv., and Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv. (Assistant General for the CFF, of our Order ~ The CFF is the Conventual Franciscan Federation, which includes Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, and the U.S.A.).
March 6-10. 2023: Our province’s student friars in Post-Novitiate Formation, at St. Bonaventure Friary, in Silver Spring, MD gathered for a mid-year retreat to the Priestfield Pastoral Center, in Kearneysville, WV. For more information on formation and vocations with Franciscan Friars Conventual in the USA, visit FranciscanVoice.org or email our Province Vocation Directors, at vocations@olaprovince.org.
Over the March 5, 2023 weekend, our Elmhurst, NY pastoral ministry, St. Adalbert Roman Catholic Church, formally welcomed Fr. Josel Martinez, OFM Conv. as Parochial Vicar.
The main Marian project for this quadrennium is to visit our pastoral ministry sites and preach on the lives of three contemporary Polish saints (Pope Saint John Paul II, Saint Faustina Kowalska, OLM and St. Maximilian M. Kolbe, OFM Conv.) and their devotion to Mary Immaculate. The holy lives of these great saints of the twentieth century continue to bless the Catholic Church and the world. We will look at each saint’s unique “entrustment” to the Immaculate Mother of God that inevitably led to a deeper relationship with Christ and a fuller understanding of God’s will in their lives. At every stop on the tour, first-class relics of the saints will accompany us for the veneration of the faithful. More information will follow, but for now, check out the tour schedule and be sure to join our friars at a parish location nearest to you.
Our Lady of the Angels Province Marian Apostolate Three Contemporary Polish Saints and their Devotion to the Immaculate
Our own Fr. Tim Kulbicki, OFM Conv. served as our Order’s Secretary of the Executive Committee for the Revision of the Constitutions & as Secretary of the 202nd Ordinary General Chapter, while continuing to serve in his own province assigned ministries. The final drafting and approval of the Revised Constitutions at the Extraordinary General Chapter took place in 2018. For several years, Friar Tim spent time also traveling around the world, visiting the Order’s friars to provide academic conferences and friary presentations, in order to help the friars of our Order “receive” and implement the Revised Constitutions, which went into effect on February 2, 2019, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day for Consecrated Life.
Top Row: friar Connor Ouly, OFM Conv. (Our Lady of the Angels Province), friar Robert Moynihan, OFM Conv. (Our Lady of Consolation Province), friar Colden Fell, OFM Conv. (Our Lady of Consolation Province), friar Eric Rewa, OFM Conv. (Saint Bonaventure Province) Bottom Row: Assistant Novice Director – Fr. Marek Stybor, OFM Conv. (Our Lady of the Angels Province), friar André Miller, OFM Conv. (Our Lady of Consolation rovince), Fr. Tim Kulbicki, OFM Conv. (Our Lady of the Angels Province), friar Marvin Paul Fernandez, OFM Conv. (The Provincial Delegation of Saint Francis of Assisi, Canada of Our Lady of the Angels Province)
Now serving as Pastor and Campus Minister of our Chapel Hill, NC pastoral and university ministry ~ Newman Catholic Student Center Parish UNC at Chapel Hill, Friar Tim still travels to present the Constitutions of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual to new friars. He recently travelled to the St. Francis of Assisi Friary – Inter-Provincial Novitiate, in Arroyo Grande, CA, so that this year’s Novitiate Class could attended Friar Tim’s class on the Constitutions of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, as part of the preparation for their Simple (Temporary/First) Professions, coming up in the Summer of 2023.
Take some time to visit the Novitiate’s Website to keep up with the Novices throughout the year. Franciscan Voice is a great resource for all things Franciscan Friar Conventual.
Our Order’s Website is a great resource for information about our friars of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual around the world.
On Sunday, February 26, 2023, at the hands Cardeal Orani João Tempesta, O. Cist., Arcebispo de São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro (Cardinal Orani João Tempesta, O. Cist., the Archbishop of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro), the Custódio Provincial Emérito of our Province’s Custódia Província Imaculada Conceição (Custos Emeritus from 2017-2022 of our Immaculate Conception Custody – Brazil), Frei Ronaldo Gomes da Silva, OFM Conv. was installed as the new Pastor of Paróquia São Francisco de Assis in Rio Comprido – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Frei Ronaldo also now serves the Custody as Definidor (a friar member of the Custody’s Definitory).
Frei Ronaldo lives in community in the Cúria Custodial: Convento e Paróquia São Francisco de Assis (Curia of the Custody & St. Francis of Assisi Friary) with the current Custódio Provincial e Guardião (Custos & Friary Guardian) ~Frei Carlos Roberto de Oliveira Charles, OFM Conv. – pictured at left giving a blessing on all those gathered for the fraternal celebration following the Mass, the Vigário paroquial (Parochial Vicar) ~ Frei Humberto Messias de Lima, OFM Conv., and the Assistente Pastoral (Pastoral Assistant) ~ Frei Fernando Pereira de Andrade Júnior, OFM Conv.
Keep Frei Ronaldo, and all of the friars of our Provincial Custody in Brazil, in your continued prayers, as they officially move to their new assignments, established after their last Chapter. For more information on vocations with our Provincial Custody, visit: ETAPAS DE FORMAÇÃO
Friar Stefano Luca, OFM Cap., Director of the Franciscan Social Theatre Program, and Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Michael Lasky, OFM Conv., General Delegate for JPIC, worked with participants to process 11 social theatre workshops held over the past six months.
The Way of the Cross can be traced to St. Francis of Assisi, who lived at a time when Christian pilgrims could not travel safely to the Holy Land. Francis brought the experience of the Holy Land home, as we bring the Way of the Cross home to our local place of natural beauty. Reflecting on the sufferings of Jesus at each station, we raise the Cross of Christ to remind us that our sister, Mother Earth—our common home—belongs to God, and we ask for strength and unity to care for God’s creation.
Frei Ronaldo lives in community in the 
