Featuring the pastoral ministry of Fr. Ross Syracuse, OFM Conv.

This website offers a journey through the life and mission of the Franciscan Friars Conventual, a religious order that has been part of the life of the Roman Catholic Church for more than eight centuries.

In each friary in our province can be found a bound copy of The Rule encircled by a mini three knotted cord, as seen here by a statue depicting St. Joseph’s fatherly love.

December 8, 2020: Today, in his Apostolic Letter “Patris Corde” (translated as “With a Father’s Heart”), the Holy Father declared this year, December 8, 2020 through December 8, 2021, a Year of Saint Joseph. As this is the 150th Anniversary of the declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, our Curia’s Office of Communications also has a post on the Order’s website reflecting on St. Joseph, who our Order has held as patron for 279 years.

In this letter, Pope Francis directs us to make our prayer to St. Joseph:

Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
To you God entrusted his only Son;
in you Mary placed her trust;
with you Christ became man.
Blessed Joseph, to us too,
show yourself a father
and guide us in the path of life.
Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage,
and defend us from every evil. Amen.

“No sin would touch her, so that she would be a fitting and worthy vessel of the Son of God. The Immaculate Conception does not refer to the virginal conception and the birth of Christ, but rather to Mary’s being conceived without inheriting Original Sin.” (United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, 142-143)

In this presentation by Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Richard-Jacob Forcier, OFM Conv. explains the prayer, “Tota Pulchra es Maria” which is prayed during Advent instead of “The Angelus.” Friar Richard-Jacob is our Province Secretary, working from our Provincial House, in Ellicott City, MD. He also serves as Director and Rector of The Shrine of St. Anthony and Spiritual Guardian of the Companions of St. Anthony, who produced the video below.

Tota Pulchra

℣.     You are all fair, O Mary.
℟.    You are all fair, O Mary.
℣.     The original stain is not in you.
℟.     The original stain is not in you.
℣.     You are the glory of Jerusalem.
℟.     You are the joy of Israel.
℣.     You are the honor of our people.
℟.     You are the advocate of sinners.
℣.     O Mary.
℟.     O Mary.
℣.     Virgin most prudent.
℟.     Mother most merciful.
℣. Pray for us.
℟. Interceded for us with Our Lord Jesus Christ.
℣. In Your Conception, O Virgin, You were Immaculate.
℟. Pray for us to the Father whose Son You have borne.
Let us pray: Father, you prepared the Virgin Mary to be the worthy mother of your Son. You let her share beforehand in the salvation Christ would bring by his death, and kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception. Help us by her prayers to live in your presence without sin. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Friar Richard-Jacob also speaks in the video presentation of the choral arrangement by our confrere from Rome, Friar Alessandro Borroni, OFM Conv., which is heard during the Feast of the Immaculate Conception Novena Prayers, at our Curia’s Basilica dei Santi XII Apostoli, in Rome.
Enjoy this recording of it from 2013:

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On December 8, 2020, Friar Richard celebrated Mass for the Solemnity with the lay staff and Br. Douglas, of the Ellicott City Campus Ministries, in our Chapel at The Shrine of St. Anthony:

On Friday, December 11, 2020 (8-9:00 p.m.), Our Lady of the Angels Province student friar, br. Cristofer Fernández, OFM Conv. will present via Zoom “The Guadalupe Story–A Franciscan Lens: Our Lady, Integral Ecology, and Indigenous Cosmovisions,” an hour of discussion, reflection, and prayer in preparation for the December 12th Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, facilitated through the Duke Catholic Center; our Catholic Campus Ministry at Duke University. Log in to take a look at her encounter with St. Juan Diego in December 1531 and see how the narrative relates today (489 years later) to the interconnectedness (or lack thereof) that exists among God, humanity and creation.

Please register here to receive the Zoom link!

Modern Day Town Square of Greccio, about a mile and a half from the Santuario di Greccio

A few years before his death and in remembrance of his visit to the Holy Land, our Seraphic Father Francis asked his friend and companion, Giovanni Velita – the Lord of Greccio, to recreated the presepio (crèche) in the cavity of a cave.  At Christmas in 1223, in the town of Greccio, Francis desired to reenact for the first time, the scene at Bethlehem. In it was placed a manger with hay and a live ox and donkey. The Cappella del Presepio or “Nativity Chapel” was built there in 1228; the year of the canonization of St. Francis of Assisi. (Read More)

We now enjoy the tradition of manger scenes in our churches and in our homes because of this event – Christ coming to live among us. Throughout the years, our friars have continued this tradition with Living Nativity celebrations we simply call “Greccio.” The pandemic of 2020 has forced these celebration to change a bit but our friars and our ministries are trying diligently to still keep the tradition alive with safe social distancing protocols in place.

Be sure to check out our “Locations” page for a ministry nearest to you to see if they are going to hold a Greccio Experience.

Invisible Light takes us through the story of a man named Theophilus who shares with us his grief of losing his son and the struggle of living through a time of violence in Rome. He returns to the Gospel of Luke, which was dedicated to him, as a source of comfort and soon finds himself being transformed by the story of Christ’s humble birth. What Theophilus soon discovers through Luke’s Gospel is ‘Emmanuel’ come to life in some unexpected encounters leading him to see this “Invisible Light.”

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Note: A new episode will be presented each week of Advent.

Written by br. Tim Blanchard, OFM Conv.
Narrated by Friar Joseph Connick, OFM Conv.
Music licensed from Turku, Nomads of the Silk Road
– (license) –
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode 

Additional credits:
Elder – Friar Israel Sabastian, OFM Conv. of St. Joseph Cupertino Province
Young Woman – Bethany Perzanowski
Woman with the Yellow Veil – Bethany Perzanowski

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”  song credit to:
Richard Foty
Ernest Marquez
Ken De Los Santos
members of the Seraphim and Cherubim choir

YouTube –>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3SEXx_0fUM
Website –>www.seraphimandcherubim.ca/shop

All music used appropriately with a Music Standard License

Since our foundation, our friars have depended on friends and companions to accompany us on our journey— today is no different. Your gift to the Our Lady of the Angels Province of the Franciscan Friars Conventual will help guarantee strong ministry in the Franciscan tradition continues into the 21st century.

Due to COVID-19 worldwide mandatory health protocols, the consistory had a limited congregation. Each new cardinal was allowed only a few guests. In his new assignment as a Confessor at the Vatican also granted entrance for Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. John Voytek, OFM Conv. Friar John took the unique opportunity – representing congratulatory well wishes from all friars of our province – to take a quick photo with the new Conventual Franciscan Cardinal.

Just six days before (November 22, 2020), His Eminence Mauro Cardinal Gambetti, OFM Conv. had been ordained as the Titular Archbishop of Thisiduo, on the Feast of Christ the King, in the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. On November 28, 2020, he was one of 13  who were elevated to the College of Cardinals, in St. Peter’s Basilica (Vatican City). Cardinal Gambetti became the third youngest member of the College of Cardinals, and the first Conventual Franciscan to be named a cardinal since 1861.

On our Curia’s website, Friar Tomasz Szymczak, OFM Conv., Secretary General of our Order, posted the article: “THE CONVENTUAL CARDINALS,” answering the question, “Do we have that many cardinals in our family?” Also posted on our Curia’s website, on December 1, 2020, was a reflection on the day by Friar Agnello Stoia, OFM Conv., Pastor of Rome’s Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles (at our Order’s Curia).: “Rome: Te Deum for the New Cardinal, His Eminence, Mauro Cardinal Gambetti“