There's snow in "them thar hills" of California
You might have heard that there was a bit of snow in southern California, and our brother Kip Ledger let us know that, though it hasn't appeard on the ground of our novitiate property in Santa Ynez, CA, it is surrounding them in the landscapes that are higher in altitude. It was also very present along the various passes while traveling into Santa Barbara.
The Novices join novices for the Rule
This year marks the 800th Anniversary of the 1223 Rule of Saint Francis. From January 9-12, Friar Bill Short, OFM (St. Barbara Province), a theologian, professor, speaker and author, presented a conference on the histories and developments of the Rule of 1221 (Regula non bullata) and the Rule of 1223 (Regula bullata), to the Novices of the First Order USA Novitiates, all located in California. Bill was also one of the contributing editors of The Francis Trilogy, the landmark English translation of the Sources for the Life of St. Francis and collected writings of the 13th century.
During one of the conferences, Bill, best described as an "animated" speaker, demonstrated how a friar professes his feudal obedience to his "Lord" ('master'), in the same way that Francis of Assisi vowed his fidelity and allegiance (Forma Vitae) to Pope Innocent III and his successors . . .
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Bill Short does get around. In November, Bobby Barbato, who had led us in Chapter some months ago, was in Rome and paid a visit to the home of famed scholars, Saint Isidore College of the OFM community. Bill Short was there, but so was our brother Tommy Piolata who is in residence there (now one of the famed scholars), located virtually across the street from our own Capuchin Museum and our infamous "Boneyard 
chapels" on Piazza Barberini in Rome. Saint Isidore's, originating as the Irish OFM residence for studies, is the home of the Collegium Sancti Bonaventurae, the International Center for Franciscan Studies and Research. The main activities of the community are research and scientific publication, the training of Irish friars in formation and the care of two major research libraries. The College was founded in 1625 by Irish Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding, OFM (1588-1657), and now houses an international fraternity of OFM Franciscans (well, plus one Capuchin).
And not to be out-Ruled . . . Connor Rules
Bill Short was not the only friar sharing reflections on the Rule. On Thursday, January 12th, we received this news and photo from our brother Jude Emmanuel Quinto, Assistant Archivist of our St. Conrad Province:
"[This is a photo] our annual formation gathering that was held in Amarillo, TX. Bobby Barbato presented on the Rule to celebrate our 800th year." In the photo are postulants and post-novices from the St. Mary, St. Conrad and St. Augustine Provinces. Our Connor Bannon was able to escape DC for the Texas trip. Connor can be found to the left of Bobby Barbato. I can see Chris Popravak to the left of Connor and former novice director (and former Pittsburgher) Frank Grinko is in the bottom row, right. Bill Kraus is at the far right of the top row.
Jude let us know the names of all those present:
Saint Conrad: Alex Diaz, Luke Jordan, Vinny Carrasco, Jude Emmanuel Quinto, Gregory Armstrong, Antonio Villafranca, Charbel Allen, Kriston Gloria and Brian Nwaoloko with Justin Doer, Daniel Arbona and Christopher Bennet
Saint Mary: Christopher Woods and Gabriel Conlon
March in January
There was a big turnout for the March in DC on January 20th --
You can view all the great photos of Pablo Loplez (pictured on the right above)
in a slide show here.
The Feasting before the Fasting in Cleveland
Phil Bernier sent along some photos from St. Peter's Parish Carnaval fundraising dinner for church repairs. He wrote: "Three Brazilian members engaged the larger community for a very successful dinner making use of the facilities in the magnificent parish rectory to prepare and serve over 150 dinners with plenty left over to serve this Monday evening [February 20] at St Malachi's weekly dinner. A great event in many ways walking toward Ash Wednesday."
Tage Commissioned: A Blessing and Send-Off
We had our Christmas Party as 2023 arrived, and the friars who were present on Thursday, January 5th, were blessed to witness and participate in the Mission Commissioning of our brother Tage Danielson. Provincial Bob Marva, at the ceremony's close, invited all of the assembled friars to pray a blessing as Tage began his new adventure in ministry. All of Matt's photos can still be found on our Gallery pages.
And this is the nice thing about the high-res photos that Matt Hindelang does so well . . .
You can zoom in!
In the "it's a small world" category, a few days after Tage left the USA, I received an email on January 14th from a former Assisi pilgrim, Gerry Sammon, who wrote: "It is a small world. This morning I was on a bike ride to the University of Queensland, and just leaving a café when ahead of me I saw a figure walking along in a Franciscan habit. This is not a very common site at UQ, so I thought I should say Gidday. Maybe it was one of the OFMs from around my way? On approaching, I saw that the friar’s habit was the Capuchin variety. I said Gidday and noticed the friar’s American accent. I told him I had been on a pilgrimage to Italy with a US friar, and he said ‘Petrikovic?’ ‘That’s right,’ I said." At least, I knew Tage had arrived. Now, we're just waiting for some photos, Tage!
Potpourri
We had a Come and See weekend in October. Yeah, it was four months ago, but it's still fresh in the minds of friars and postulants who helped with the weekend!
Friends of Rich Zelik donated money to purchase a new bed and a chair in his room in the OLA Parish Friary (news flash). Rich let the donors know that there was money left over. So, in a salute to friars who served in Papua New Guinea and Puerto Rico, Rich purchased their respective flags and poles to have them hung in the Motherhouse courtyard across the street. Rich Levinger, the friary maintenance guru, hung them in the courtyard to complement the flag of the USA already waving away there. Rich wonders if "maybe some thought can be given to hanging the flags of friars from other countries who live and work with us in our ministries?" OK, Rich: do we need to ask the guardian if there's room for Cameroon, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria and India (and those are just the ones that come to mind :):)
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How could you miss that awesome photo of our brother Bill Graham as one of the "poster-Religious" for the campaign in December?
You may want to check out one of Tom Weinandy's most recent books.
Jesus Becoming Jesus: Volume 3, A Theological Interpretation of the Gospel of John – The Book of Glory and the Passion and Resurrection Narrative (Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2022)
The Trinity: Eternity and Time (Ave Maria, Fl: Sapientia Press, 2022)
Faith and the Sacraments: A Commentary on the International Theological Commission’s “The Reciprocity Between Faith and the Sacramental Economy,” edited (Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2022)
You might have missed the remembrance of our deceased brother Joseph Cupertino Moritz (1821-1905) on February 23rd. Since he died after returning to his home Province of Tyrol, he isn't included on our prayer card, though we have all those friars who contributed to our early emergence as a Province in our remembrances.
Joseph served as novice director for his own Province of Tyrol, novice director for the emerging Province of Rhine-Westphalia (a splitting off from Tyrol) and, then, novice director of Rhine-Westphalia's commissariate in the United States at Cumberland, MD.
You also might have noted in the BICI of January (hope lives eternal) that the suppressed Province of Tyrol, due to declining numbers, is now the Delegation of the Tyrol (Tirolo) under the jurisdiction of the Province of Germany, the merger of the former Rhine-Westphalian and Bavarian Provinces. As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Hyacinth's arrival on these shores, 
we remember the blessings so many friars from those Provinces brought for the eventual birth of a Province they could have only dreamed of.
You'll notice in both photos, by the way, that the young Joseph Cupertino (sometime after 1844) with friar Fidelis (below) and an aged Joseph with his brother and friar Florentin (left) is wearing a habit with a hooked front-pleated fold - all that with a solid-standing hood. Talk about heritage . . . . and he wasn't from Bavaria . . . . In a real way, had they never existed, we wouldn't be celebrating 150 years of roots on these shores. Prayers of gratitude for their lives and goodness . . . .
NewsNotes will continue reporting stories you send in to the webfriar.
Our Communications meeting discerned that there's still a place for reporting what friars are up to in the Province and what's happening in our Franciscan world. This 'news' is less urgent, but many feel it's worth reading about. Now that the schedule on this editor's side has lightened up a bit, we're back in business. We plan on a monthly posting, if content is provided.
So . . . feel free to send any photos and stories happening in your ministries; we'd love to hear about it. You can do so by replying to one of the NewsNotes emails, or directly to the webfriar at capuchin.com . . .