August 21-23, 2022: Our Lady of the Angels Province, Minister Provincial ~ Fr. Michael Heine, OFM Conv. (at left) made a Fraternal Visit to our friars living and serving in Ludlow, MA, Enfield, CT and Johnstown, PA. He is pictured here with Fr. Pedro de Oliveira, OFM Conv. (at right), pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, in Ludlow.
More on Our Lady of Fatima Parish (Ludlow, MA): In July 2022, our province was blessed to add our newest pastoral ministry, under the leadership of Fr. Pedro de Oliveira, OFM Conv. Born in Azores, Portugal, Friar Pedro professed his Simple Vows as a friar of our province, on August 06, 1994, and his Solemn Vows on October 11, 1998. After he was Ordained to the Priesthood, on May 20, 2000, Friar Pedro served as parochial vicar in four of our parishes, in the USA and one in Brazil. For his last two assignments, he had served as pastor for RCC of Most Holy Trinity – St. Mary (Brooklyn, NY), and then St. Peter’s RCC (Pt. Pleasant Beach, NJ). Masses at Our Lady of Fatima Parish are celebrated in both English and Portuguese, so Friar Pedro was a welcomed addition, working alongside a staff which is also fluent in both languages. There is hope that someday soon one of the bi-lingual friars of our Province’s Custódia Província Imaculada Conceição (Immaculate Conception Custody in Brazil) will also be able to join Friar Pedro in serving the people of Ludlow.
Some of the following information was extracted from the “History” page of the Our Lady of Fatima Parish website:
For 30 years prior to its establishment as a parish in 1948, the greatly devout Portuguese Catholics of the Ludlow area raised funds for a church of their very own. Over the years since the parish was first established, the campus has expanded to include an outdoor chapel & shrine, a Fátima museum. and an Annual Festa Celebration honoring the anniversary and dedication of the parish ~ Labor Day, September 5th 1949, the date Our Lady of Fatima Parish was inaugurated. Learn more about the events of the parish, on the parish’s Facebook page, where you can also virtually join in the parish’s weekend Masses. Festa 2022, has its own Facebook page.
Bem Vino ao Frei Pedro de Oliveira!
(The Sunday July 3rd welcome Mass of Friar Pedro de Oliveira, OFM Conv.)
Friar Pedro blesses the newly installed statue of Saint Joseph, on the parish grounds (08-30-2022).
Responding to the war in Ukraine, (Our Lady of the Angles Province Friar) Fr. Michael Lasky, OFM Conv., General Delegate for JPIC/GPIC, the Capuchin Franciscans & Ukrainian Secular Franciscans organized a Social Theatre Workshop to provide new skills to assist those suffering from war trauma, especially children.
From our Order’s Curia: Relics of three Conventual Franciscan martyrs, Blessed Michał, Blessed Zbigniew (Martyrs of Pariacoto, Peru), and Blessed Carlos (Martyr of Argentina), were enshrined at the San Antonio-Ysleta Mission Church in El Paso, Texas, USA.
Today is the Independence Day of Ukraine. This reflection was posted on Facebook by Bishop Edward Kawa, OFM. Conv., who serves as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Lviv, and is a Franciscan Friar Conventual of the Provincial Custody of the Holy Cross, of the Polish Province of St. Anthony and Bl. James of Strepar:
“August 24, 2022 – 6 months of full-scale war, which the Russian Federation launched against Ukraine. We are losing sons and daughters of our people, we are losing territories, but Ukraine is still an independent state! And today, more than ever before, we value and honor this independence of ours. And we know that every drop of blood and sweat, every life, all our prayers, tears of wives and mothers, all the pain and fear that have accompanied us for 6 months – everything is not in vain. Today we prove to ourselves that we are worthy and worthy of this gift of God, which is independence, and we are ready to fight for this gift. Someone with a weapon in their hands on the front line, someone with a rosary in their hands in the church or at home, someone driving trucks with humanitarian aid, someone in the operating room, in the fields and factories, someone at the checkpoints, but all with prayer on their lips and in their hearts , begging God for protection and support, because ‘when the Lord does not build the house, its builders work in vain. When the Lord does not protect the city, the watchman watches in vain.’ (Ps. 126,1) Happy Independence Day!“
The “Sense of the Faith” in History: Its Sources, Reception, and Theology ~ by Fr. John J. Burkhard, OFM Conv
“I enthusiastically nominate The Sense of the Faith for the Best Theological Book of 2022.”
~ Peter C. Phan, PhD, STD, DD
Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought, Georgetown University
In his January 2020 “Spiritual Testimony” on this site, Friar John’s last paragraph reads as follows: “I have no particular spiritual wisdom to impart to our friars in formation or to prospective applicants to the Order except for the admonition to identify and accept your talents, thank God daily for them, develop them humanly with the help of the Order, and generously put them at the service of the Church’s universal mission. If you do this, your dreams and your life will be richly rewarded. I know mine have been!“
August 2, 2022: Our Provincial Custody in Brazil ~ Custódia Província Imaculada Conceição blessed and inaugurated the new Our Lady of the Angels Friary in the city of Belo Horizonte, the capital of the Brazilian State of Minas Gerais,.
A brief excerpt from “Franciscan Ecology,” Chapter III, Section 4.2; pp.127-129, a thesis by friar Jonathan García Zenteno, OFM Conv., a Simply Professed ~ Our Lady of the Angels Province student friar, who graduated from the Franciscan University of Mexico with a degree in Philosophy, in 2015 and is continuing studies at The Catholic University of America, in Washington DC.
The Biggest Little Farmis the third film in the Little Portion Farm’s sustainable agriculture film series. It will be screened August 24, 2022, at 7pm in The Shrine of St. Anthony’s “Glass Room” (Ellicott City, MD).
Friar James McCurry, OFM Conv. (former Minister Provincial) and Friar Jude Winkler, OFM Conv., (Assistant General for the Conventual Franciscan Federation), were present at the inauguration, representing our province.
The 2022-2023 Class of the Novitiate of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual – CFF (Franciscan Friars Conventual – Conventual Franciscan Federation) includes seven men from three of our four of the North American Provinces; The Province of the Our Lady of Consolation, The Province of Saint Bonaventure, and our own province. These novices will live together for a year and day, under the guidance of their formation team, including Our Lady of the Angels Province friars – Friar Marek Stybor, OFM Conv. (Assistant Director) and Friar Raphael Zwolenkiewicz, OFM Conv. (Friar in Residence).
Two of these Novices are friars in formation for our Province:
Left to Right: Fr. Michael Heine, OFM Conv. (Minister Provincial) with our province novices – friar Marvin Paul Fernandez, OFM Conv. and friar Connor J. Ouly, OFM Conv. Photo taken at their July 2022 Investiture.
Friar Marvin Paul Fernandez, OFM Conv. is originally from the Philippines, and is now a citizen of Canada. He worked for several years in healthcare as a nursing assistant, then as a full-time cook, and later as a full-time manager of nursing assistants, at a Senior Living Center. For a time he worked with Ottawa Public Health (OPH) as a Clerk for the COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic. He decided to enter the Franciscan Friars Conventual because he was inspired by the work that the Friars do in his home parish. Having Saints Francis and Anthony as his patron saints, has been a big inspiration too.
Friar Connor J. Ouly, OFM Conv. is originally from Steelton, PA, but lived in New York City for his undergraduate studies in Voice/Opera at the Juilliard School. He became interested in the Franciscan Friars Conventual due to a love of Saints Joseph Cupertino and Maximilian Kolbe. He was also greatly attracted to the deeply fraternal and community driven life of the Conventuals, as well as their dedication to serving the poorest of the poor in simple but necessary ways such as parish, school, and hospital work. In addition to music, his interests lie in other art forms such as film, drama, and the visual arts.
If you would like more information on life as a Franciscan Friar Conventual, and would like to add a visit with our Vocation Directors to you discernment journey, email them at vocations@olaprovince.org or visit Franciscan Voice.
