Each year, the Church celebrates Priesthood Sunday on the last Sunday in September. Priesthood Sunday is a time set aside to celebrate our priests, without whom the Sacraments could not be celebrated. A great way to participate this year (September 27) is to take the opportunity to promote vocations within your families, schools, teams, workplaces, organizations, groups of friends, and local communities.
Here is a tip to get the conversation started:
While it is good and necessary for everyone to “pray for more priests,” it would be even better if you also ENCOURAGE young men to become priests. Follow these steps:
1. Think of a young man in your life, who you think would make a good priest.
2. Ask him, directly and clearly, if he’s ever considered priesthood.
3. Tell him the specific gift you see in him that led you to ask the question, and encourage him to keep his heart open.
4. Give him our Vocation Director’s contact information.
Br. Nicholas Romeo, OFM Conv.
Vocation Director – Our Lady of the Angels Province
202-681-6051
vocations@olaprovince.org
This summer, Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Peter Tremblay, OFM Conv., Associate Chaplain for Catholic Life at Elon University, took some time in the woodworking worship to build a new altar for the Elon Catholic Campus Ministry (at left). The altar was built using wood from oak trees that had grown on campus and were felled when new buildings were being constructed. The needs of the ministry require an altar that can be stored when not in use. This altar is easily [dis]assembled and was an original design by Friar Peter.
On Sunday, September 6, 2020, Most Reverend Luis Rafael Zarama ~ Bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh, came to campus to celebrate the Mass of the Holy Spirit, for the blessing of the new academic year. At that time, he also blessed the new altar (pictured above with Friar Peter at the far right and Fr. Vincent Rubino, OFM Conv., Guardian of the Blessed Sacrament Friary where Friar Peter resides at the far left. Friar Vincent serves as Parochial Vicar at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Community, in Burlington/Graham, NC).
Pictured below with Friar Peter is Bishop Zarama, Dr. Constance “Connie” Ledoux Book, Ph.D. ~ Elon’s President, and Mr. Russ Smith ~ a community member who helped Friar Peter build the altar.
After working with our senior friars and the other residents at Our Lady of the Angels Care Center (Enfield, CT), a group of Master of Occupational Therapy students from Bay Path University (Longmeadow, MA) shared some photos of their favorite moments.
Friar Augustine Pilatowski, OFM Conv. works with a student therapist.
Friar Dennis Sokolowski, OFM Conv. enjoys a snack.
Friar Vincent Lachendro, OFM Conv. enjoying his therapy.
Our province appreciates all those working with and serving our senior friars at the Care Center.
Gracious God,
today we remember in particular all who work in Occupational Therapy.
They serve the physical needs of so many
whose bodies labor to be whole and strong.
Steady their hands and hearts in this service
and give them the patience that comes from You,
a patience born of love for all those who need their skill and care.
May they know the gratitude of those whom they serve
and be strengthened in the knowledge that what they do,
they do in Your name.
Amen.
The farm has been firing on all cylinders lately! In the past month we have planted fall or winter crops in 25 beds, with still more to come over the next few weeks. These new beds include carrots, arugula, Brussels sprouts, onions, leeks, and lettuce, among others.
Br. Nick was also able to share his message (audio below) during Masses in Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel (photo above) and in the St. Thomas More Chapel, after he is introduced by Friar Gerry Waterman, OFM Conv. who celebrated the Masses and who serves as Campus Minister at the SU Catholic Center.
St. Francis Friary of Syracus, NY is home to ten friars. Still in active ministry are Friar Ed Falsey, OFM Conv. – Friary Guardian & Psychotherapist with Brightpath Counseling Center, and Friar Robert Amrhein, OFM Conv. who serves in Priestly Ministry at the Franciscan Place Chapel. Also residing in the St. Francis Friary are three more retired friars living in community there and one visiting friar from India who is continuing his studies at Syracuse University.
During this age of the Corona virus pandemic, the Friars of the Our Lady of the Angels Province have been doing their part to comfort, inspire, motivate and serve the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of their communities.
Our province includes the Province Delegation of St. Francis of Assisi (Canada). The Provincial Delegate, Fr. Jobe Abbass, OFM Conv. also serves as our Delegate to the M.I., Guardian of the St. André Bessette Friary, in Ottawa, Ontario and as the Vocation Director for the Delegation. Approved as a delegation in 2018 and officially stablished on February 14, 2019, the Delegation of St. Francis of Assisi (Canada) celebrated its first new profession last August 2019, as Friar Raad Eshoo, OFM Conv. visited our parishes and friars in Ontario.
If you live on the East Coast of Canada, are a single, Catholic male, 18-40 years old, in good health, and have a desire to learn, serve, sacrifice, and share a common life, contact Friar Jobe at vocations.ofmconv.canada@gmail.com or 613-558-1962, for more information.
Amidst hate and imprisonment,
you brought love into the lives of fellow captives
and sowed the seeds of hope amidst despair.
You bore witness to the whole world by word and deed that
“Love alone creates.” V. Pray for us, St. Maximilian Kolbe. R. Help us become worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, You inflamed St. Maximilian the friar and priest with love for the Immaculate Virgin and filled him with zeal for souls and love of neighbor. Through his prayers grant us to work strenuously for Your glory in the service of our sisters and brothers, and so be made conformable to Your Son until death. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
St. Pope John Paul II blessing the statue of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe, OFM Conv., gifted to him by our friars at the October 10, 1982 canonization. Our current Minister Provincial, Friar James (top video greeting) was on hand that day. That same statue now resides in a small shrine on the property of The Shrine of St. Anthony, in Ellicott City, MD (top photo).
Friar Andrew Hochstedler, OFM Conv. of the Provincial Custody of the Orient and the Holy Land of the Province of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Romania), is a student with our friars of the Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Custody. Ordained in 2017, he is living with our friars in England while working on his MSt – Syriac Studies at the University of Oxford. On August 4th, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history blasted outwards from Beirut’s port and swept across the city, killing almost 200 people, injuring over 6,000, and displacing more than 300,000 from their homes.
On August 7th, Friar Andrew sent us this message: “I am back in Lebanon to serve in our custody and spend time with the friars during the summer vacation from Oxford. The explosion in Beirut yesterday rocked us, very literally. But praise God, none of our friars or their family members were injured. Our church in Beirut had most of the windows shattered, even though it was over a mile from the blast, but as far as we know, there was no serious damage.”
The friars of Sin-el-Fil, on the outskirts of Beirut, are fully engaged in relief work for the local community. Our province will also be sending some financial assistance for the recovery effort. Friar Andrew is now in Beirut helping the parish’s young people and friars with relief efforts (above). He sent these photos from their relief work, as well as a video of the moment when a blast hit the parish, while they were praying the Rosary.
The Franciscan Friars Conventual
ask you to join in prayer to Our Lady of Lebanon
that she may encourage the citizens of that dear nation
to work together for peace, healing, and recovery.
Amen
Each year, the Church celebrates Priesthood Sunday on the last Sunday in September. Priesthood Sunday is a time set aside to celebrate our priests, without whom the Sacraments could not be celebrated. A great way to participate this year (September 27) is to take the opportunity to promote vocations within your families, schools, teams, workplaces, organizations, groups of friends, and local communities.
This summer, Our Lady of the Angels Province friar, Fr. Peter Tremblay, OFM Conv., Associate Chaplain for Catholic Life at Elon University, took some time in the woodworking worship to build a new altar for the 
Amidst hate and imprisonment,
Friar Andrew Hochstedler, OFM Conv. of the 
