On Sunday, August 8, 2021, Our Lady of the Angels Province Vicar Provincial, Fr. Michael Heine, OFM Conv. was on hand at our Syracuse, NY pastoral ministry of Assumption Church, to celebrate the Mass including the Volunteer Commissioning of the FrancisCorps 23.
Our Lady of the Angels Province Vocation Director, Br. Nick Romeo, OFM Conv. was on hand at the August 4th “The Tenth Hour: Bishop’s Vocations Picnic,” held by Diocese of Syracuse Vocations. He joined representatives from several Religious Orders, along with diocesan priests and seminarians, to help promote vocations.
The Diocese of Syracuse held its annual “The Tenth Hour” bishop’s vocation picnic. Young people from around the diocese were invited by their pastors to attend. The evening consisted of food, small group sharing, a panel discussion, a Holy Hour, and an opportunity for the young people to chat with representatives of various religious communities present in the diocese.
{Photo gleaned from the Facebook page of Diocese of Syracuse Vocations}
*Prayerfully consider adding life as a Franciscan Friar Conventual to your own discernment journey. Contact Br. Nick at vocations@olaprovince.org for info.
Pax et Bonum!
August 5, 2021 Dedication and Blessing of “Rua Dom Elias James Manning,”
Valença, Brazil: During his Provincial Visit with the friars of our Province’s Immaculate Conception Custody in Brazil, our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., took part in another extraordinary event, as the city renamed the street next to the cathedral in honor of our late Franciscan friar-Bishop. +Bishop Elias James Manning, OFM Conv., Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Valença (Rio De Janeiro, Brazil), passed away on October 13, 2019. The dedication was part of the 185th Feast day celebration at Valença Brazil’s Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Glória.
The Unveiling
The Blessing
Message presented at the time, by Fr. James:
Reflection – Bishop Elias Manning, OFM Conv. Dom Elias was my good friend, and my Franciscan brother. I had the honor to be his last Provincial. Dom Elias loved my name “James” because his own name at baptism was “James.” When he first joined the Franciscan Friars, over sixty years ago, he was given the religious name “Elias.” God chose a very appropriate religious name for him, because the prophet Elias was the greatest missionary in the Old Testament. Like the prophet, the missionary friar Elias preached and lived a simple message: We must love God and love our neighbor. Dom Elias as Bishop of Valença became an icon of goodness for everyone to see and love. He lived a simple life in compassionate solidarity with the poor, the sorrowing, the meek, those thirsting for justice, those needful of mercy, the pure of heart, the seekers of peace. Dom Elias radiated the Beatitudes. On behalf of his Franciscan family, I thank you very much for honoring him today in his beloved city of Valença.
Valença City Councilor – Mr. Bernardos Machado, Frei Michel da Cruz Alves dos Santos, OFM Conv. the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., and Dom Nelson Francelino Ferreira, Bishop of Valença, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Translation from Original Facebook Post of Paróquia São Francisco de Assis:
“Today in Valença a fair tribute to the esteemed Dom Frei Elias James Manning OFM Conv.
A street next to the cathedral took its name. Beautiful and fair tribute! Congratulations to the authorities involved. The sixth bishop of the diocese of Valença was the longest prelate in the diocesan government. He loved his diocesans and even after emeritus he chose to remain living in the diocese. I praise God that I had a father, for he was the one who raised me to the priesthood. The last diocesan priest ordered by him. Simple, shy and extremely humble man.
Dom Elijah, I know you didn’t like these things, but the Lord’s passage between us was so simple and calm that we need to immortalize it, yes.
From heaven to God for us!
Rest In Peace bishop-brother.
Source: Pe. Thiago Toledo
The City of Valença had already renamed its Prefeitura Municipal de Valença Centro Administrativo Secretaria Municipal de Educação [The Education Department] building in honor of +Bishop Elias
Many people visit his tomb daily in the crypt of Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Glória (Our Lady of Glory Cathedral), in Valença
Our Siler City, NC pastoral ministry of St. Julia Catholic Community is a welcoming, multicultural Christian Catholic community in the heart of Chatham County, with a rich parish history. This past year and a half have been tough on parish communities throughout the world, but July 2021 was a big month for the St Julia Catholic Communityas they, and their pastor – Fr. Julio Martinez, OFM Conv. (pictured at right), welcomed a new Deacon and are planning to grow the Middle School, High School and Young Adult Ministry. This vibrant parish provides parishioners and visitors with not only Liturgical and Sacramental celebration opportunities, but Discipleship, Community, Social and Outreach events, as well. This past July 2021, the St. Julia’s Sister Mission and Justice and Peace Committees welcomed Our Lady of the Angles Province Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Chairman & Friar Julio’s confrere – Fr. Michael Lasky, OFM Conv. – for a conversation about the parish’s social ministry journey, while hearing about Friar Michael’s own journey with JPIC.
At the end of last month, during the evenings of July 26 – 30, 2021, the young people of the parish ages 7-12, were able to join in “Rocky Railway – Jesus’ Power Pulls Us Through” Summer Bible Study. Friar Julio shared some great photos from the week stating, “Our little ones traveled ‘on the train’ for a week and had lots of fun with Jesus too! Our volunteers and catechists are totally awesome!”
Profissão Perpétua de [Solemn Vow Profession] Frei Jesus (center left) and Frei Ricardo Elvis (center right). Pictured at center top is Our Lady of the Angels Province Minister Provincial ~ the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., who is flanked by the Very Reverend Fr. Ronaldo Gomes da Silva, OFM Conv. (3rd from right – Custódio Provincial) and Frei Michel da Cruz Alves dos Santos, OFM Conv. (2nd from left – Pastor, Paróquia São Pedro e São Paulo), also pictured are Frei Luis Henrique Nascimento Lima, OFM Conv. (far left – Formador aka Custody’s Prefect of Formation), Frei Alexandre do Carmo Souza, OFM Conv. (2nd from right – Parochial Vicar, Paróquia São Pedro e São Paulo), and Frei Flávio Freitas de Amorim, (far right – Vicar Provincial, São Maximilian Kolbe of Brazil)
August 2, 2021: On the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels, two friars of our Custódia Provincial Imaculada Conceição do Brasil (Immaculate Conception Custody in Brazil), Frei Jesus Rodrigues do Amaral, OFM Conv. and Frei Ricardo Elvis Arruda Bezerra, OFM Conv.
professed their Solemn Vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience,
at the hands of our Minister Provincial,
the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv.,
at Paróquia São Pedro e São Paulo (St. Peter and St. Paul Parish),
in Paraíba do Sul (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
Fr. James (far left), Frei Jesus (center left) and Frei Ricardo Elvis (center right) with the Franciscan Friar Conventual Postulants of Brazil.
Our harvest of warm-season crops is in full swing now! Tomatoes and zucchini and cucumbers (oh my!) are being picked nearly every day. We are also growing a few crops for the first time on the farm, including watermelon, cantaloupe, celery, and bush beans. Despite some stretches of very hot weather, these crops are all doing very well.
Franciscan Feast of Our Lady of the Angels of Portiuncula, Assisi – August 2
Sir 24, 1-4, 16, 22-24; Gal 4:3-7; Lk 1, 26-33. Theme: “God has sent the Spirit of his Son, into our hearts (Gal 4: 6); Subtheme: Wisdom praises herself, and tells of her glory in the midst of her people (Sir 24: 1)
Rebuild My Church:[1] Inspiration, Content and Religious Liberty in the USA
“The Lord gave me such faith in churches that I would simply pray and speak in this way: We adore you, Lord Jesus Christ, in all Your churches throughout the world, and we bless You, for through Your holy cross You have redeemed the world” (St. Francis of Assisi, Testament). As a young man discerning what God was asking of him, he took literally a message from Christ to rebuild the Church. He raised funds and rebuilt three Churches including Our Lady of the Angels of Portiuncula which became his favorite place. It was there that he founded the Order of Friars Minor, the Order of Poor Clares, received a papal blessing that visitors for perpetuity could receive the plenary Portiuncula indulgence, and died within fifty yards on the evening of 3 October 1226.
“Wisdom praises herself, and tells of her glory in the midst of her people (Sir 24: 1).“ I am filled with joy to announce the publication of Rebuild My Church on August 2, the feast. RMC summarizes the contributions of an extraordinarily faithful follower of St. Francis’ Rule of 1223 and his Testament. As St. Francis passed over into God in a transport of contemplation, he invites every spiritual person into this passing over and transport of soul.[2] Rebuild My Church is a tribute to Friar Peter Damian Fehlner, O.F.M.Conv. (1931-2018), his life, thought and original insight into the commonalities in the works of St. Bonaventure (d. 1274), Bl. John Duns Scotus (d. 1308) and St. John Henry Newman (d. 1890).[3]
Fr. Fehlner read the six original chapters and said: ”You have represented the development of my entire life’s thought correctly.” In May 2017, I defended these six chapters and my doctoral committee at Notre Dame gave their approval. Advised to put it down for a while, I continued to expand my appreciation for Fr. Fehlner’s thought faithfully in the book now called Rebuild My Church.
Questions from scholars and conversations with Fr. Fehlner’s closest acquaintances were the prompt to expand the prologue and introduction, to include the Protestant Reformation and resulting changes in the cultural atmosphere, not unlike the cultural polarization of the twenty-first century, the continuity of principles from Bonaventure to Duns Scotus, Vatican II, Charles Taylor’s two-band theory of modernity, and the Franciscan Marian principle as all-inclusive. Chapters 1 and 2 narrate Fr. Fehlner’s life with candor and loyalty. Chapter 1 navigates the twilight of modernity; chapter 2, Fr. Fehlner’s middle voice. Chapters 3 and 4 explain his appropriation of Bonaventure. Chapter 4 is on the Trinity and the Franciscan School today. Chapters 5 and 6 clarify key concepts of the influence of Duns Scotus; chapter 6, Duns Scotus’ Marian principle. Chapter 7 narrates the original discovery of the relationship of Duns Scotus to John Henry Newman. Chapter 8 engages modernity with Newman’s Christology and Mariology. Chapter 9 is Fr. Fehlner’s theological response to the event – “Rebuild My Church,” an escape from the Hegelian web, engaging Heidegger and the doubleness of the gift of modernity. Chapter 10 is why Fr. Fehlner matters, why his theology is prophetic, apocalyptic and aesthetic, his retrieval of the all but disabled Scotistic tradition, diagnoses of forgetting that is sanctioned by the Holy Spirit, remembering deeply and broadly, his new “eyes’ on Duns Scotus’ and Newman’s system of truths.
The feast of Our Lady of the Angels of Portiuncula is fitting to publish Rebuild My Church as a companion volume to Theologian of Auschwitz.[4] Eric and Linda Wolf of Lectio Publishing deserve a shout out for recognizing Fr. Fehlner’s genius in explaining with genial clarity why Fr. Kolbe is a Scotist. In his Testament, St. Francis may surprise some who think he was anti-study: “We should honor and respect all theologians and those who minister the most holy divine words as those who minister spirit and life to us” (Jn 6:64).
Sirach is concise: “Wisdom praises herself, and tells of her glory in the midst of her people” (Sir 24). By reading Sirach and St. Francis’ Testament, his faith in churches, faith in priests who live according to the manner of the holy Roman Church, the holy mysteries of the Most Holy Body and Blood which they receive and which they alone minister to others, and theologians who minister the most holy divine words radiate the Franciscan charism in America when religious liberty is under assault, our entire constitutional order of democratic debate is under challenge and “cancel culture” is powerful and increasingly relentless. Compare the malignment of Duns Scotus with problems in a non-faith context. The unforgiveable offenses in modern thinking: “racist, sexist, anti-gay” are indictments even from thought provoking books that are well documented. To critics, they espouse the wrong ideas.[5] Fr. Fehlner teaches how to use Fr. Kolbe’s Scotistic method in critical engagement with modernity.
The Scotus-Newman connection fills ten chapters of Rebuild My Church. The prologue and introduction prepare the reader to avoid the historical indictment that Duns Scotus was espousing the wrong ideas. Some scholars dismiss Scotistic thought as torturous, while Fr. Fehlner’s incorporation of Scotistic method demonstrates why he concluded that there was a connection between the University of Oxford’s theologians, Bl. Duns Scotus and St. John Henry Newman. To critics, it seemed beyond the pale to think that linking them might have a significant bearing on the future of Catholic theology.
I incorporated insights from many who knew Fr. Fehlner and more than fifty years of heart-to-heart conversations. Rebuild My Church is an accurate portrayal of his critical engagement in a faith context with our post-Christian culture. One may compare his faith context to a non-faith context as Ken Starr’s who shines a bright spotlight on the autonomy principle at the heart of religious liberty in America. An extra layer of constitutional protection exists for all faith communities. Both faith and non-faith contexts have long lists of external reasons that contribute to a post-religious and a post-Christian culture. The non-faith contexts compare to the temporization of Church authorities in the face of the secular invasion, inviting ideas into the Church communities without the competence of leaders to guide them Christianly. These engender collective complicity in creating a post-Christian culture.[6]
Religious freedom; freedom of speech; freedom of the press; and freedom of assembly are under steady erosion of our nation’s commitment. Yet, “God has sent the Spirit of his Son, into our hearts; “You are no longer a slave, but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.” (Gal 4, 6, 7).
Delivered at The Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore by Fr. Edward J. Ondrako, O.F.M.Conv.
eondrako@alumni.nd.edu
________________________
[1] E. J. Ondrako, Rebuild My Church: Peter Damian Fehlner’s Appropriation and Development of the Ecclesiology and Mariology of Vatican II (Hobe Sound, FL: Lectio Publishing, LLC, 2021). ISBN 978-1-943901-18-0. www.lectiopublishing.com. Contact Eric and Linda Wolf, publishers.
[2] St. Bonaventure, Itinerarium Mentis in Deum; The Journey of the Mind to God, chapter 7, 3.
[3] E. J. Ondrako, The Newman-Scotus Reader (New Bedford, MA; Academy of the Immaculate, 2016, canonization issue, 2019), chapter 7, 239-389. A concise chart comparing Bonaventure, Duns Scotus and Newman is on 244.
[4] P. D. Fehlner, Theologian of Auschwitz (Hobe Sound, FL: Lectio Publishing, LLC, 2020).
[5] Ken Starr, Religious Liberty in Crisis (New York: Encounter Books, 2021), 169-170.
[6] This aphorism from Cyril O’Regan, my mentor at Notre Dame, interlocks his inclusive thought with Fr. Fehlner’s.
Fr. Edward J. Ondrako, OFM Conventual
Research Fellow Pontifical Faculty of St. Bonaventure, Rome
Visiting Scholar, McGrath Institute for Church Life
University of Notre Dame
August 2, 2021
2016 marked the 800th Anniversary of the August 2nd Portiuncula Indulgence. You will notice that our province logo incorporates the Portiuncula graphic. This is because the Portiuncula (the small chapel of St. Mary of the Angels nicknamed “Little Portion” by St. Francis of Assisi) is located within Assisi’s Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. Franciscans around the world celebrate August 2nd as the Feast Day of Our Lady of the Angels but we friars who are members of a province named in her honor, hold the day in special regard.
All over the world August 2nd is celebrated as the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels. For our province friars, it holds especially dear as it is also our Patronal Feast Day. There will be many opportunities to join our friars for live and virtual celebrations throughout the twenty-one Diocese in which the friars of our province live and minister. We encourage all to find a ministry location nearest to you, to join with us in celebrating Our Lady.
Visit our ministry locations page for links to our various ministries’ websites.
In the words of our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv.: “May Our Lady intercede for each friar,
for all of our fraternal communities,
and for all of the people whom it is our humble privilege to serve
in the various ministries where we are engaged.”
_________________________
More on the Feast Day and Il Perdono (the Portiuncula Indulgence): The small chapel of St. Mary of the Angels (Our Lady of the Angels) was very dear to St. Francis of Assisi. He referred to it as the Portiucula (aka “Little Portion” and pictured at right) and it is considered the cradle of the Franciscan Order. In 1209, as the quarters of Rivo Torto became too small for the newly forming Religious Order, St. Francis obtained from the Benedictines the use of the Portiuncula, for which he paid a basket of fish. The chapel and the surrounding small parcel of land were is disrepair. Just as he had done at San Damiano, St. Francis rebuilt the chapel, adding small huts (cells) and enclosing it all in a protective hedge. It was there that St. Francis gained a more vivid understanding of his own vocation. He held the annual meetings of the friars (Chapters) there and it is where he desired to spend his final earthly moments; dying in his nearby cell October 3, 1226.
St. Francis felt that the Portiuncula was a place filled with God’s grace. In 1216, at the request of St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Honorius granted special privilege (plenary indulgence – a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins) to all those who would visit the little chapel.
Although limited to include from noon on August 1st to midnight on August 2nd, the privilege continues to be granted to this day; not only to those who visit the Portiuncula, but to anyone who visits any church where Franciscan Friars live and minister. To receive this privilege (for yourself or for someone else – living or deceased), in addition to the visit, one must receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation within several weeks of the Feast Day, go to Mass and receive the Eucharist, recite the Our Father and Apostles Creed, and pray for the intentions of the Holy Father.
The beautiful Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli (below) that now surrounds the Portiuncula chapel was begun in 1569 (completed in 1684) by decree of Pius V. It was meant to accommodate the huge crowds of pilgrims who came on August 2nd for Il Perdono (Portiuncula Indulgence). This is an important feast day for all Franciscans and is celebrated in Franciscan churches throughout the world.
After the Profession Liturgy, Friar Tim, Friar Franck and Friar Rich take a group photo with the Choeur de Marie Reine du Monde, of Saint Camillus Catholic Church, Silver Spring, MD & Fr. James.
July 30, 2021: Three of our province friars professed their solemn vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, in the presence of many of their confreres, family, and friends. Others were afforded the opportunity to virtually join in the celebration of Friar Timothy Blanchard, OFM Conv., Friar Franck Sokpolie, OFM Conv., and Friar Richard Rome, OFM Conv., as the Solemn Vow Liturgy was livestreamed at 11:00 a.m., from Saint Louis Church, in Clarksville, MD. Br. Tim is a friar brother who has been assigned to work in communications for our Athol Springs, NY ministry of St. Francis High School, beginning in the 2021-2022 academic yearFriar Franck and Friar Rich will continue their studies to be ordained as friar priests. More photos are posted on our Province Facebook Page.
After the Litany of the Saints, and while those to be professed still lay prostrate in front of the altar, Friar James prayed over them.
“Almighty, Eternal, Just and Merciful God, Grant to our brothers the Grace to do for Your sake what they know to be Your Will, and ever to will what is pleasing to You…“
Friar Richard Martin Rome, OFM Conv.
witnessed by
Fr. Martin Kobos, OFM Conv. and Fr. Michael Lasky, OFM Conv.
Friar Timothy John Blanchard, OFM Conv.
witnessed by
Br. Jim Moore, OFM Conv. and Fr. Eric de la Pena, OFM Conv.
Friar Franck Lino Sokpolie, OFM Conv.
witnessed by
Fr. Eric de la Pena, OFM Conv. and Fr. Emanuel Vasconcelos, OFM Conv.
Altar Servers:
br. Cristofer M. Fernández, OFM Conv.
friar Antonio Moualeu, OFM Conv.
friar Raad Eshoo, OFM Conv.
friar Michael Boes, OFM Conv.
friar Edgar Varela, OFM Conv.
friar Jonathan García Zenteno, OFM Conv.
friar Sebastian De Backer, OFM Conv.
friar Joseph Krondon, OFM Conv.
Choir:
Choeur de Marie Reine du Monde,
of Saint Camillus Catholic Church, Silver Spring, MD
Master of Ceremonies:
Fr. Brad Milunski, OFM Conv.
Lectors:
First Reading – Mr. Kenneth Rome, father of Friar Richard
Second Reading – Fr. Santo Cricchio OFM Conv.
Intercessions – Mr. Richard Blanchard, father of Friar Timothy
A reflective moment captured by Fr. Gerry Waterman, OFM Conv.
August 5, 2021 Dedication and Blessing of “Rua Dom Elias James Manning,”
