Prayer of Consecration ~ Russia and Ukraine

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“Pokrov Presvyatoyi Bohorodytsi” [The Veil (or Protection) of the Most Holy Mother of God]

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial we turn to you. As our Mother, you love us and know us: no concern of our hearts is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence! You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

Yet we have strayed from that path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars. We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations. We have betrayed peoples’ dreams of peace and the hopes of the young. We grew sick with greed, we thought only of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent and caught up in our selfish needs and concerns. We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons. We stopped being our neighbour’s keepers and stewards of our common home. We have ravaged the garden of the earth with war and by our sins we have broken the heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters. We grew indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves. Now with shame we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!

Holy Mother, amid the misery of our sinfulness, amid our struggles and weaknesses, amid the mystery of iniquity that is evil and war, you remind us that God never abandons us, but continues to look upon us with love, ever ready to forgive us and raise us up to new life. He has given you to us and made your Immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for all humanity. By God’s gracious will, you are ever with us; even in the most troubled moments of our history, you are there to guide us with tender love.

We now turn to you and knock at the door of your heart. We are your beloved children. In every age you make yourself known to us, calling us to conversion. At this dark hour, help us and grant us your comfort. Say to us once more: “Am I not here, I who am your Mother?” You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times. In you we place our trust. We are confident that, especially in moments of trial, you will not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid.

That is what you did at Cana in Galilee, when you interceded with Jesus and he worked the first of his signs. To preserve the joy of the wedding feast, you said to him: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). Now, O Mother, repeat those words and that prayer, for in our own day we have run out of the wine of hope, joy has fled, fraternity has faded. We have forgotten our humanity and squandered the gift of peace. We opened our hearts to violence and destructiveness. How greatly we need your maternal help!

Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.
Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.
Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.
Queen of Heaven, restore God’s peace to the world.
Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.
Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.
Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.
Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.
Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.

O Mother, may your sorrowful plea stir our hardened hearts. May the tears you shed for us make this valley parched by our hatred blossom anew. Amid the thunder of weapons, may your prayer turn our thoughts to peace. May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs. May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land. May your Sorrowful Heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside.

Holy Mother of God, as you stood beneath the cross, Jesus, seeing the disciple at your side, said: “Behold your son” (Jn 19:26). In this way he entrusted each of us to you. To the disciple, and to each of us, he said: “Behold, your Mother” (v. 27). Mother Mary, we now desire to welcome you into our lives and our history. At this hour, a weary and distraught humanity stands with you beneath the cross, needing to entrust itself to you and, through you, to consecrate itself to Christ. The people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate you with great love, now turn to you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them and for all those peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty.

Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine. Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world. The “Fiat” that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace. We trust that, through your heart, peace will dawn once more. To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world.

Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days. Our Lady of the “Fiat”, on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God. May you, our “living fountain of hope”, water the dryness of our hearts. In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion. You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace. Amen.

(Atto di Consacrazione al Cuore Immacolato di Maria, 23.03.2022)

Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv., a friar of our province who serves as Assistant General for the CFF of our Order (Rome), reflects on the Consecration of Russia and the Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Pope Francis on Friday, March 25th, to be shared in prayer by the Faithful throughout the world:

Congratulations, Frei Jesus!

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Saturday, March 19, 2022:
On the Solemnity of St. Joseph ~ Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at Paróquia São Pedro e São Paulo Paraíba do Sul-RJ (St. Peter and St. Paul Parish, in the city of Paraíba do Sul-RJ), the friars of our Custódia Provincial Imaculada Conceição do Brasil (Province Custody of the Immaculate Conception, in Brazil) gathered to celebrate the Ordenação Diaconal (Diaconal Ordination) of Frei Jesus Rodrigues do Amaral, OFM Conv., at the hands of Dom Gregório Paixão, OSB, bispo da Diocese de Petrópolis (Bishop of Petrópolis), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

He is pictured above at right, with Frei Ricardo Elvis Arruda Bezerra, OFM Conv. (photo cred), with whom he professed the Solemn Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, on August 2, 2021.

Post on Curia’s Website

For vocation information for our
Custódia Provincial Imaculada Conceição do Brasil,
contact Frei Willian Gomes Mendonça, OFM Conv.
at despertarfranciscano@gmail.com

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Our Lady of the Angels

Statement of the Franciscan Friars Conventual

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The Franciscan Friars Conventual of Our Lady of the Angels Province are saddened and disappointed in the decision of The Catholic University of America to terminate the friars’ 24-year service as University Chaplains and Directors of Campus Ministry.
When the Franciscans assumed leadership of campus ministry at the University, they were mandated by the U.S. bishops to restore a fuller sense of Catholic identity in the ethos of life on campus – orienting the undergraduate and graduate students, along with faculty, administration, and staff, to the Church’s gospel principles of truth, charity, and justice.  For 24 years the friars, in collaboration with hundreds of lay ministers, have striven to create a faith community at the Catholic University, committed to the principles of the Christian intellectual tradition, the sanctity of life, the dignity of the human person, the culture of social justice, the witness of interreligious dialogue, and the sacredness of liturgical celebration.
The friars depart with profound gratitude to God for the privilege of having accompanied the Catholic University community on its journey of faith through 24 years of unprecedented times.  We hope, in the humble spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, that we have contributed to upbuilding the faith-life of the University.  We offer our support to those whom the University has chosen to replace us.  May the Franciscan blessing of “Pax et Bonum” (“Peace and Good”) descend upon all.

Featured Ministry ~ The Shrine of St. Anthony

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Located on a 236 acre campus in rural Ellicott City, MD, the rich history of relationships surrounding the property on which The Shrine of St. Anthony sits extends all the way back to the founding of the colony of Maryland and even to a relation to the first bishop of the Premier See of the United States. From their early start as owners of the property and the establishment of a Novitiate in the manor house in 1928, to today’s two friary-property, with friars serving in varied capacities, through nine on-site and six off-site ministries, our Franciscan Friars Conventual have made this beautiful landscape their home.

The video above was created in 2017 and features much of the beauty of the Ellicott City Complex. A large part of the property, and the ministries within, have been enhanced and enriched over these past years.  One of the largest changes is that of Carrollton Hall Historic Site. This is the original manor house of Folly Quarter, built in 1832 by Charles Carroll, and given as a gift to his granddaughter – Emily Caton McTavish. After varied hands of ownership, it was purchased by our friars in 1928. Through the generosity of a large group of distinguished donors, the historically significant 190 year old manor house has recently gone through an extensive restoration project that was many years in the making. In addition to restoring the grand manor to its original beauty, our friars have made some unique spiritual and historically significant additions. A period home chapel was adapted in one of the manor rooms, housing a vast array of relics and artifacts, including a restored marble altar which covered the Tomb of St. Francis in Assisi for over 100 years (1821 Assisi Altar). The manor’s front facade’s retaining wall is being converted to “The Carrollton Hall Memorial Project – Memorializing the people who were enslaved there…” The renovation projects are almost at their completion and on Sunday, March 27, 2022 Carrollton Hall Historic Site will be blessed and dedicated by Archbishop William E. Lori, of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. (Opening Celebrations)

Other additions to the property include our Little Portion Farm ministry, producing vegetables donated to the economically disadvantaged via the work of the Franciscan Sisters of Baltimore’s Franciscan Center, in Baltimore, MD. The barn was also updated to assist in the storage and transfer of the harvests from Little Portion Farm and Farmer Matt has an office located in the rejuvenated Carrollton Hall. In 2021, our province’s Franciscan Soy Candles ministry relocated from one of our New York friaries to the lower level of The Shrine, which continues to grow with many more pilgrims visiting each year. The other ministries on-site include: FMA (Franciscan Mission Association), the Companions of St. Anthony, and the Provincialate Offices.

Many of the outdoor prayerful reflection features of The Shrine grounds, such as the Grotto in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes, the St. Maximilian M. Kolbe, OFM Conv. Outdoor Shrine, the Outdoor Stations of the Cross and the numerous Prayer Paths and Gardens are depicted in this 2017 video.  Excitedly the friars of The Shrine of St. Anthony look forward to the most recent development project, which is in the midst of completion. A very generous donor to The Shrine has gifted a beautiful St. Anthony Garden of Eternity, which will be completed May 2022.

The 14 friars of the Portiuncula Friary and the St. Joseph of Cupertino Friary invite everyone come spend some time with them in prayer and peace, in personal reflection and in group day retreats or meetings. Daily Noon Mass is celebrated in the Chapel at The Shrine and friars are on hand Monday – Saturday, prior to Mass for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The on-site Gift Shop is open daily and the grounds are open during daylight hours, even on days when The Shrine buildings are closed.