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.”
My name is Ken Lucas. I am 74-years-old and I am a Conventual Franciscan Religious Brother in the Our Lady of Angels Province (USA). I am currently in living at Fr. Justin Residence in Hamburg, NY one of our Franciscan Senior Friar residences. I am from Watertown, NY. My dad, Henry Lucas, was in the Army at Camp Drum, NY and my mother, Monica was a lawyer from Philadelphia, PA. My family experienced some difficulties very early on and we all broke up. I was put in foster home for 12 years along with my brother and my sister. I am very honored to say that I am a former Marine and I still stay involved in veterans affairs. I was also involved in prison ministry for approximately 30 years and considerate one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
I came to know the Conventual Friars by one of our Friar-priests, the now deceased +Fr. Jeffrey Keefe, OFM Conv. I entered the Religious Brothers postulancy program in 1976 at Padua House, Rensselaer, NY. I made my novitiate in Staten Island and I professed my first vows on August 5, 1978 in Staten Island, and my solemn vows on August 14, 1981 in Rensselaer, NY. And one of my classmates is Jim Doyle. Fr Julian Zambanini, OFM Conv. was the Director of Brothers at that time also and was instrumental encouraging me in my receiving my GED diploma.
My first assignment as friar was at St. Joseph Parish in Hoboken, NJ and I think that was my favorite assignment too because the people there were really nice and fun to be with.
My Franciscan prayer is the rosary!
Some advice I would give to someone considering a vocation would be to simply take one day at a time! And to our student friars I would say ‘believe in yourselves and never give up…God loves you!’
Our Lady of the Angels Province Novice, friar Christopher M. Fernández, OFM Conv. (lighter habit) is pictured here with the rest of his Novitiate Class and his Novice Director & friar of St. Bonaventure Province, Br. Joseph Wood, OFM Conv. (at right). St. Bonaventure Province also has a Novice in this class, friar Michael Hintze, OFM Conv., and Our Lady of Consolation Province has three friar Novices – friar Alex Gould, OFM Conv., friar Roberto Macias-Marin, OFM Conv. and friar Joshua Sherls, OFM Conv.
In our desire to offer the novices some local culture, St. Bonaventure Province friar – Br. Joseph Wood, OFM Conv. (Novitiate Director) and Our Lady of the Angles Province friar – Fr. Maurice Richard, OFM Conv. (Novitiate Assistant Director) annually lead a visit to the nearby homestead of the Dana family. The “Dana Adobe,” located in the nearby town of Nipomo, CA was the original 1837 Mexican land grant offered to William Dana, a sea captain from Boston, and a Roman Catholic convert with 21 children. Our novitiate property in Arroyo Grande, CA is located within the 39,000 acre boundary of the former ranch. As the town of Nipomo continues to restore the house and grounds of this Cultural Center, we too have added our assistance in the creation of a pioneer kitchen garden, now known as “The Franciscan Garden.” Inspired by the recent encyclical, “Laudato Si,” and the progress being made at the Little Portion Farm (Ellicott City, MD) our novices are also working beside professionals and volunteers in an appreciation of “caring for creation” through organic horticulture.
Father Antone Kandrac, OFM Conv. Spiritual Testimony
Hello! My name is Antone Kandrac and I will be 90 years old on May 10th next year. I am a member of the Our Lady of Angels Province (USA), and I am retired here at St. Catharine of Siena Friary in Seaside Park, NJ, one of our Province’s Senior Friar residences.
I was born in 1930 in Wilkes-Barre, PA to a VERY large, close-knit Slovak-Catholic family. I was the 11th child of my mother and father…and there were 14 children in our family all together. Needless to say, sibling rivalry was ‘red hot’ in my family with me and my 9 brothers! But my parents were very loving and kind to all of us. My father was a coal miner who originally came from Czechoslovakia. He was a good and kind man and very good looking (like all the Kandracs!). Unfortunately, he died when I was only 11 years old of coal miners ‘black lung.’ At that time, I was given a shoe-shine box and went around the neighborhood shining shoes to help out my mother. I was very, very close to my mother….I think she said I was her ‘favorite!”
My diocesan parish priest suggested that I become a priest, and he arranged several meetings with Religious vocation directors (Augustinians, Holy Cross, and Holy Ghost Fathers) and I also visited a Passionist monastery but that life was not for me. Then when I was a junior in high school, I met Conventual Franciscan Fr. Adrian Brennan. I loved his humor and his vocation talk and his music and I said to myself, “Great! This for me.” One of the Religious Sisters in my school, Sr. Laurentia, also gave me Johannes Jorgensen’s Life of St. Francis to read. I loved it.
I entered the Conventual Franciscans in 1948 at St. Francis Seminary, Staten Island, NY. Then two years later I entered the novitiate in Middleburg, NY and professed my first vows in 1950. There were 14 novices in my class. Some of my classmates were Carl Vino, Bruce Ritter, and Christopher Balas…all are deceased now. My solemn profession was in our seminary, St. Anthony-on-Hudson, Rensselaer, NY. I finished my studies for the priesthood at The Catholic University of America and was ordained a priest in 1957.
My first assignment as friar was at Trenton Catholic Boy’s High School, Trenton, NJ but I was only there for a short time and then was assigned to St. Francis Hospital, Trenton. I have had several other assignments. For example, I was the Chaplain of the VA Hospital in Jamaica Plains near Boston, MA for several years but one of my favorites was being Pastor at St. Mary Parish, Nassau, NY. I was missioned there for about 20 years and was the last friar to serve there after 100 years of Franciscan service to that parish community.
My favorite prayer is: “Jesus meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.”
I would recommend Johannes Jorgensen’s Life of St. Francis to any young person considering a Franciscan vocation, and I would tell all of our student friars to be sure to have a special devotion to our Blessed Mother, our spiritual mother.
Other friars, celebrated Mass today in some of our more unique sites:
Due to serious storms in the Atlanta area, our Vicar Provincial was stuck at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, after missing his flight to the UK, for a week of meetings with our Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Custody. He took the opportunity to go to the Mass for the Solemnity of All Saints, at the airport’s Interfaith Chapel. There he joyfully found his confrere, Fr. Luis Palacios Rodriguez, OFM Conv. (Parochial Vicar at our pastoral ministry of St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church ~ Jonesboro, GA) celebrating the Mass. Although it is Friar Luis’ day off, he celebrates Mass at the Atlanta Airport every Friday; meeting the Lord’s People right there, in the busiest airport in the world.
Friar Douglas McMillan, OFM Conv.
Brother Kenneth Lucas, OFM Conv.
Father Antone Kandrac, OFM Conv.
