Friar Gerry with a sampling of the ROTC 1:00 p.m. Mass group
On Veteran’s Day morning (November 11, 2019), Our Lady of the Angels Province friar and Campus Minister for Syracuse University & SUNY – ESF Catholic Center, Fr. Gerald Waterman, OFM Conv. joined a large group of students, staff, faculty and others for the Veteran’s Day Fun Run. Runners began in front of the Schine Student Center on University Place, did two full laps, then onto the quad on the third lap, after passing between Maxwell and Hendricks Chapel. All participants finished on the quad in front of (fittingly) Hendricks Chapel.
November 1-8, 2019: Our Province Definitory joined that of our Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Custody (known as the Greyfriars) for not only meetings but the opportunity for our friars of North America to visit many of the friaries and ministries of our friars in England and Ireland. Although unable to visit all of the friaries of our Custody there, they were able to visit Dublin, Liverpool, Oxford and Walsingham – including spectacular ruins of the medieval Priory of our Lady of Walsingham, on the grounds of The Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham (pictured above). Read more in this News Feature on the website of our Greyfriars.
Our pastoral ministry of Holy Cross Catholic Church (Durham, NC) opened National Black Catholic History Month with the November 3rd tribute “Honoring Our Elders” in the parish. Our Lady of the Angels Province friar and pastor of Holy Cross, Fr. Bart Karwacki, OFM Conv. opened the celebration with The Prayer of the Elderly Christian. A panel of elders described their experiences as Black Catholics, after being led in by an African drummer. (video 1) (video 2)
If you are in the Durham area, join the parishioners of Holy Cross Catholic Church for their next Holy Cross Book Club Series. Afternoon and Evening Sessions will be held on Mondays: November 25, December 2 and December 9. The Holy Cross Book Club will be reading and discussing “Faithful and Free,” the new (2019) biography of Sr. Thea Bowman, written by Father Maurice Nutt. Contact Information & Details
Brother James Amrhein, OFM Conv. Spiritual Testimony
My name is James Amrhein and I am a 78year-old Conventual Franciscan Religious Brother in the Province of Our Lady of Angels (USA). I am retired now and live with the friars at St. Francis of Assisi Friary in Syracuse, NY. I was born in Utica, NY, and I grew up in a wonderful Catholic family. My parents were very religious and led very good Catholic Christian lives. I learned about the Conventual Franciscans through my brother, Robert, who is a Conventual Franciscan priest in our Province. I entered the Order in September, 1959 at St. Joseph Cupertino Friary in Watertown, NY. It was the initial house of formation for Religious Brothers at the time. After my postulancy, I entered the novitiate of the Conventual Franciscans in Middleburgh, NY where I professed my first vows in 1961 under the direction of my novice master +Fr. Celestine Regnier, OFM Conv. Some of my novitiate classmates are Friars John Burkhard, Mark Steed, Ed Handy and Nick Lorsen. Later, in 1964 I professed my solemn vows at our major seminary, St. Anthony-on-Hudson, Rensselaer, NY.
My first assignment as friar was at Canevin High School in Pittsburgh, PA where the Friars were teachers and administrators. Most recently, I was assigned as the director of the Food Pantry at Assumption Parish in Syracuse, NY. It was one of my “favorite” assignments because I think it was the most Franciscan of all my ministries!
Consistent with our Franciscan charism and tradition of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, our province has been progressing in our efforts to more fully tap into this devotion from our Kolbean heritage, through the example of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe, OFM Conv., and the continued efforts of his Militia of the Immaculata’s (M.I.) unconditional consecration to the Immaculate. With a view to promoting consecration to the Immaculate among the faithful served through the ministries of our friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province, Fr. Jobe Abbass, OFM Conv., who serves as our Province MI Assistant, has completed the twelfth successful and rewarding stop on our Province M.I Initiative Tour of our pastoral ministries. Over the next few years, Friar Jobe will preach at the Masses to encourage the faithful to consecrate themselves to the Immaculate and to enroll in the M.I.
On the weekend of November 9-10, 2019 the M.I. Initiative promoting consecration to the Immaculate was welcomed by the friars of our St. Francis Friary (Syracuse, NY) as it made its 12th stop at our pastoral ministry of Assumption Church. At the two weekend Masses parishioners showed interest and appreciation for the work of the friars living at St. Francis Friary. On the left of the photo below, taken by the Friary Guardian – Friar Ed Falsey, OFM Conv. (Psychotherapist), are Friar Joseph Freitag, OFM Conv. (Pastoral Associate) in front of Friar Gregory Spuhler, OFM Conv. (Director of Assumption Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen), by with many of the parishioners who attended Sunday 10:00 a.m. Mass. At the top right center is Friar Jobe next to Deacon Phil Slominski, OFS. Friar Robert Amrhein, OFM Conv. is just over Friar Jobe’s shoulder. Also living in the St. Francis Friary are Fr. Adam Keltos, OFM Conv. (Friar Robert and Friar Adam serve in priestly ministry at our The Franciscan Place Mall Ministry as well as for the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities), Friar Robert’s brother – Friar James Amrhein, OFM Conv. (retired), Friar Gerald Waterman, OFM Conv. (Campus Ministry at Syracuse University & SUNY-ESF) and the Pastor of Assumption, Friar Rick Riccioli, OFM Conv.
In honor of Veteran’s Day, Our Lady of the Angels Province Chairman of JPIC (Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation), Fr. Michael Lasky, OFM Conv. published a November 8, 2019 reflection on the Seraphicum’s website entitled “A Song of Hopefulness for Veterans & Members of the Armed Forces.” Take a moment to read this as we celebrate Veteran’s Day 2019. Within the reflections he included this stanza from the “Navy Hymn” added in 1969/70:
Many of our friars have served and continue to serve in the Armed Forces. A veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, Fr. Santo Cricchio, OFM Conv. is in the Reserves and currently provinces counseling services for the Jonesboro, GA area through an office in our pastoral ministry of St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church. A veteran of the Vietnam War, where he was known as Corporal Kenneth Lucas of the US Marine Corp, Br. Ken Lucas, OFM Conv. (pictured at left) still stays involved in Veteran Affairs, as he stated in his recent Spiritual Testament posted on this site on November 5th. There are a number of other friars of our province who are also veterans, including Fr. Curt Kreml, OFM Conv. (Parochial Vicar – St. Lucie Catholic Church, Port St. Lucie, FL) and Br. Dennis Sokolowski, OFM Conv. (In residence at the Our Lady of the Angels Care Center, Enfield, CT). Take a moment to re-read some more of the Spiritual Testaments written by several of our Senior Friars for more stories by our friar Veterans.
Throughout the Month of November, we are all called to continue to remember those who have gone before us. Our varied Province ministries hold special Masses, prayer services, memorials and other events to remember the faithful served by the ministries, as well those who have serve through them. We have been sharing photos and articles from our ministries, on our Province Facebook Page, since the November 1st celebration of the Solemnity of All Saints and the November 2nd Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls).
We would like to take this opportunity to share the very special way several of our recently deceased friars are being remembered this year. Our province has a large number of senior friars under the care of their confreres in friaries, in specialized facilities and, if still vibrant and strong – remaining in active ministry. Currently, we have six friars under the care of the Felician Sisters in the Our Lady of the Angels Care Center (Enfield, CT).
Over this past year, another eight of our friars were living there at the time of their deaths. Our province is so appreciative of the Sisters and of their ministry. Our deceased friars who were blessed to be under the care of the Sisters, at the time of their passing during the November 2018-October 2019 year, are remembered as part of a memorial display in their Motherhouse Convent Chapel.
The Sisters display those they have lost from their own community above, as well as photos of our friars on the levels below. “These beloved Friars and Sisters, who passed into eternal life from November 2018 – October 2019, are in our prayers and in our hearts.”
Friar Douglas McMillan, OFM Conv. Spiritual Testimony
Hello! My name is Douglas James McMillan and I am a 72 year-old (February 8, 1947) Conventual Franciscan Religious Brother in the Our Lady of Angels Province (USA). Currently, I am retired and live at St. Joseph Cupertino Friary in Ellicott City, MD. The friary is part of the Shrine of St. Anthony there. I am a native of New York City where both of my parents were born. I had one younger brother, +David, who passed away in 2004. I have three nieces and two great nieces and three great nephews.
I found out about the Conventual Franciscan Friars by way of an ad in the former Catholic News of the New York Archdiocese. I then met with +Fr. Juniper Alwell at our friary Staten Island which also served as a Minor Seminary for the Province at that time. Shortly after my discharge from the US Army, I connected with +Brother Dennis Mooney the new vocation director and the rest is history!
I was discharged from the US Army in September, 1968 and entered the Religious Brothers Formation program in “Padua House” on the grounds of the Major Seminary : St. Anthony-on-Hudson, Rensselaer, NY on November 16, 1968. After one year of postulancy, I entered the novitiate at Our Lady Queen of Peace Friary, Middleburgh, NY and professed my first religious vows on August 16, 1970. My Solemn profession of vows was on May 31, 1975 at St. Martin Church, Pittsburgh, PA. Brothers Thomas Purcell and Jim Moore are classmates of mine.
I thoroughly enjoyed my studies too. I have a BA in Language Communications from the University of Pittsburgh and a MTh from Xavier University of Lousiana. Each one of my assignments has its own favorable memories. For example, Canevin High School was my first assignment and I loved the fact that it was a friary and ministry full of young friars and students. I then moved to Syracuse, NY and taught at Assumption Academy and Bishop Grimes High School. Those 25 years were wonderful, and I developed many meaningful relationships. I then moved to Baltimore where I taught at Archbishop Curley High School and then later at St. Frances Academy, the oldest African-American Catholic High School in the country, founded in 1829 by Servant of God Mother Lange. My classroom there was right down the hall from the room where she died.
I have two favorite spiritual devotions. I enjoy saying the Divine Office because I find something new in the psalms each time I recite it in choir or privately. The other is the Rosary because of the calming effect it has on me.
I would also like to share with our student friars: “Remember why you entered the Order and do not become discouraged when you run into rough patches…be rooted in prayer.”
Taken at St. Patrick Parish, Friar Steven (holding the relic of St. Maximilian) is flanked by local members, including four local parishioners, of the St. Michael’s Guard trained to be Master of Ceremonies when the Bishop visits and to assist the priests of the area in enhancing liturgies.
The Most Reverend Ronald W. Gainer, D.D., J.C.L., Bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg, sent a request that every parish in his Diocese have a Mass for Healing from Addiction for those suffering from opioids and other drugs. As Our Lady of the Angels Province friar and pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish (Coal Township, PA) & St. Patrick Parish (Trevorton, PA), Fr. Steven Frenier, OFM Conv. read the letter, he was reminided that St. Maximillian M. Kolbe, OFM Conv. is the Patron Saint for those suffering from addiction. He requested to borrow a St. Maximlian Relic from our Shrine of St. Anthony (Ellicott City, MD) for use at his pastoral ministries. On September 17, 2019, the faithful gathered for a Healing Mass, at Our Lady of Hope Parish. The next week, on September 23, 2019, a Healing Mass was also celebrated at St. Patrick Parish. After each of the Masses, those present stayed for Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, followed by an invitation to come forward and receive an individual blessing with the relic of St. Maximilian. Although free to leave after the blessing if they wished, Friar Steven recommended that those gathered stay and rest in the quiet peace of the Church; allowing Jesus’ Grace to give them hope, comfort and peace. He was pleasantly surprised at both Masses to see how many people remained in the Church. After a time of quiet reflection, they closed with Benediction and a song of praise to God.
October 31, 2019: Our Lady of the Angels Province friar and Province JPIC Chairman, Fr. Michael Lasky, OFM Conv. was present during a group reflection held at the Pontifical Faculty Theological St. Bonaventure Seraphicum (Rome), on the 800th anniversary of the meeting between St. Francis of Assisi and the Sultan al-Kamil, and the document on human brotherhood for world peace and common coexistence, signed on February 4, 2019, by Pope Francis and the Great Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb. Speakers included author and scholar – Sr. Kathleen Warren, OSF, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture – His Eminence Cardinal Giafranco Ravasi, President of CO.RE.IS – Imam Yahay Sergio Yahe Pallavicini, and Missionary in Syria & Little Sister of Jesus Paola Francesca. Moderate the meeting was the Apostolic Vicar of Beirut – Most Reverend César Essayan, OFM Conv.
The signing of the document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, as well as continued dialogue have opened even more the road to a conviction, as we cannot live together without mutual dialogue, acceptance and respect. “This is what we hope and seek to achieve with the aim of finding a universal peace that all can enjoy in this life.”
Brother James Amrhein, OFM Conv.
Friar Douglas McMillan, OFM Conv.
