While we await more photos from our Provincial Chapter (both Matt Hindelang and Pablo Lopez were snapping away), it's time to catch up on our NewsNotes. A number of things have been shared since our last posting in March, and it's hard to believe that Spring is, virtually, a thing of the past. Still, a number of things are worth Notes-ing . . .
Panamerican Assembly: Streams and dreams of Media
The Ge
neral Curia website reported on the Panamerican Assembly held in May. The website shares links to the photo galleries and videos made during the Conference. But we did grab these photos when we caught sightings of our Province's brothers. There were also some interviews in English of our brother cardinal Sean O'Malley, Mark Joseph Costello, Provincial of St. Joseph Province, and Celestino Arias of the General Definitory.
This was a presentation on the history of the North American & Pacific Capuchin Conference (NAPCC) which, of course, includes a sketch of our own Province. It's worth checking out for those who may not be familiar with how and from where the other Provinces emerged.
"Thank you" for our Trinitarian Connection
Mike Barth, ST, General Custodian of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, and Bob Marva were together for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the community's founding on March 19, 2022. The actual centenary year was 2021, but COVID postponed that celebration. Bob succeeded Mike as pastor at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Cleveland 18 years ago, bridging the two communities in a new generation that were joined a century ago in 1931 by our brother Bede Hermann (1882-1971) and the "modern American apostle" Thomas Judge (1868-1933), a Vincentian priest who founded the Missionary Servants two years before his death. The plaque is in gratitude for the roots we helped nurture for them by allowing our brother Bede to form and inspire their first novices.
Our Family Retreat
Here are some photos from the Family Weekend Retreat of April 8-10 in New Baltimore, PA, courtesy of Mike Herlihy. Mike described it as "a wonderful weekend. John Paul Kuzma did a great job working with the adults, and I had a great time working with the kids. We look to doing it again!"
The Moslem Community
Finds a Home at St. John's, Philly
Eight years ago, a relationship was established between the Muslim community in Philadelphia and the community of St. John the Evangelist Parish. Local Muslims have been coming to St. John's every Friday at 2:00 pm for prayer, using the parish's large meeting room. On April 27th, with Ramadan in its final week, Center City Mosque’s Mohammed Shariff was interviewed about how he’s found an unexpected friend (and home) thanks to our brother John Daya, pastor of St. John's. The Jawn Cast interview was about 25 minutes and you can scan it here.
Synod Work & Operation Faith Lift in Baltimore
On March 24th, St. Ambrose hosted the Archdiocesan Regional Synod Gathering with Archbishop Lori and Bishop Bruce Lewandowski in attendance. Paul reported that it was a "good discussion and gathering of pastors and representatives from at least 12 parishes."
In April, the work of St. Ambrose in Baltimore and of its pastor Paul Zaborowski was highlighed in an article from Baltimore's Catholic Review as "an army of St. Ambrose parishioners set out on a mission to evangelize and help the surrounding Park Heights community during Operation Faith Lift" on April 9th.
Paul led a team of parishioners through the neighborhoods on the vigil of Palm Sunday, inviting residents to Easter Sunday liturgies by leaving hundreds of invitation cards and palm crosses in mailboxes and on doors and windshields.
I
n front of the church, the parish also hosted a food pantry and a free flea market of "gently used" clothing, jewelry and houseware items. The outreach was supported in part by parishioners of Sacred Heart, Glyndon, who donated some of the available clothing.
“We’re a vital part of Park Heights,” Paul said. “We want to do as much as we can to support the community. Everything is so outrageously expensive – especially clothing. This is a blessing for so many in the community. It brings everyone together during this sacred time of the year.”
Don't miss reading the entire article here.
Marino Msigala: A Healing Presence at AHN West Penn
Our newest Affiliate, Paula Calabrese (see below), sent along some lovely shots of our brother Marino Msigala in his ministry as Chaplain to AHN West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. Paula wrote: "I'm attaching a few pix from Fr. Marino Msigala's ministry as chaplain at West Penn Hospital that might be of interest. In celebration of National Nurse's Week, Father blessed the hands of most of the nurses at the hospital. The administrators and nurses were very grateful and received Father's blessing with great devotion. The hospital photographer, Lawrence O'Leary, took these photos and shared them with us. I assist Father as one of the Eucharistic Ministers." Marino is just one example of the personal outreach of our friars that most often goes unseen, and our knowledge of their wonderful ministry is limited to a knowledge of a job title. Thanks to Paula for alerting us to these shots, and thanks to Marino for giving West Penn nurses and caregivers an opportunity to witness our Franciscan charism of care and compassion.
Padre Pio's Via Crucis Is A Neighborhood Event
Once again this year, Padre Pio Friary organized their Living Way of the Cross through the streets of their Kensington neighborhood. This year, it made the newspapers. We've posted all of the photos on another page so that you can view the pictures taken, for the most part, by Sam Roberts.
You can see the slide show here. There are links on the page,
before and after the photos, so that you can return here.
Phil White Captured by a Confessional
. . . Well, at least not the confessional he's usually in at St. Francis where he serves as assistant in Harrisburg, PA. Phil accompanied the Harrisburg Catholic Middle School's Confirmation Candidates on a trip to the Padre Pio Shrine in Barto, PA, on May 4th. He offered some reflections for the children on Padre Pio and sent us along some photos, one of which, he said, "was taken of me in secret while I was granted a little time with Padre Pio's confessional." He continued: "It was locked up behind an iron barrier for protection, but they let me go behind the barrier for a little bit, and unbeknownst to me, one of the volunteers took a picture of me while praying and mailed it to me. I have to admit for a brief moment I was tempted to sit in the spot where Pio would have sat while hearing confessions, but after seeing how old it was, I didn't want to take the chance on becoming world famous as the Capuchin who broke Padre Pio's confessional!" Phil also wrote that "it was a good trip and the shrine has asked me to come back next year to give some more talks." Maybe, if you do a few of those talks, they'll let you on "the seat."
Indiana's Youth Animated for Mission & Fellowship
In Indiana, PA, Tage Danielson, Andrew Corriente and four IUP students traveled to Kentucky for their spring break mission trip from March 13-18. For many years, IUP students have been going there to work with the Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) which invites college students to come for WorkFest every Spring. "Our group from IUP was in two work groups, and we were able to do some substantial work on two houses, including building a retaining wall, removing and installing new flooring, removing house siding, and installing new drainage pipes," wrote Tage. "Besides our time at the job sites, we had great times at the camp where we stayed. We had a lot of time together to learn about the culture of the area, to play games and to spend time in prayer with daily Mass and daily devotions with students from the University of Scranton. It was a wonderful week of work and fellowship!"
Then, on Sunday, April 3, St. Thomas More University Parish in Indiana welcomed Bishop Larry Kulick to celebrate the 7pm Mass. "We had a very good turnout of parishioners and students from IUP. This picture shows Bishop Kulick, Dr. Michael Driscoll, the president of IUP (to his right), the friars, students, alumni, faculty, and staff of IUP. After dinner, Bishop Kulick and Dr. Driscoll joined us in our social hall for our regular Catholic Student Association (CSA) Communal Dinner. Our Sunday Masses and CSA dinners continue to go well. Deo gratias!
Manuel Back to Bolivia
In March, we reported that Manuel Avilés gave a retreat for youth in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. He was back to Bolivia in April, and when he returned on April 25 he shared some pictures from his two recent preaching engagements. The first pictures are from Brooklyn, New York where he was invited by our brother Brendan Buckley of the NY/NE Province to preach the parish Lenten Mission.
The latter shots are from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where he also had opportunity to spend sometime with the Capuchin from the new delegation that was recently established. He writes: "The brothers in Bolivia are doing an extraordinary job with poor. Please keep them in your prayers."
The Port: Old News is Still News?
Back in March, after the previous NewsNotes, The Port hosted a Worship Leader Workshop on Saturday, March 26! Ross and Matt described it as an "engaging and insightful presentation! It was a blessing to learn and worship with you all. We look forward to more events like this in the future!" We have pix from the evening, but in these increasingly warmer days of June, do you remember March?
In the "current" category: Coming up at The Port on Monday, June 6, are our Friars Minor confreres Casey Cole and Tito Serrano who'll be giving a reflection on being agents of reconciliation in a divided world. Casey is the creator of Breaking in the Habit and Upon Friar Review as well as the author of two books and a regular speaker on the topic of Evangelization. Casey and Tito are currently on their "Bleacher Brothers Tour." The Newman Catholic Grad & Young adult Group are cohosting the event.
Two New Affiliates Share our Brotherhood
On Thursday, April 14th, Holy Thursday, Florence Mungo was welcomed to the Province at a midday ceremony and luncheon at Padre Pio Friary in Philadelphia. Guardian Alex Hostoffer wrote that "the ceremony was a beautiful Daytime Prayer and Prayer of Affiliation. Akolla Etuge had the introduction of Florence and Provincial Tom Betz shared his reflections in a homily. Florence herself had a moving speech of thanks. While we did not get photos of the reception, the food was great. Florence and her family cooked many delicious Cameroonian dishes."
Florence and her daughter Prunelle were parishioners of St. Callistus in West Philadelphia during our time ministering there. Florence worked full time as a cashier at ShopRite near the friary while putting her daughter through Catholic High School and completing her M.A. in Psychology. She is now a licensed therapist and moved to North Philadelphia, maintaining her contact with us through the Padre Pio fraternity. Her daughter, Prunelle, is now in college on a Division I Basketball scholarship. Florence’s continuing support, generosity and friendship with our friars and postulants over the years formed the basis for her nomination.
On May 17th, another affiliation ceremony was celebrated during which Paula Calabrese became an affiliate to the Province at the nomination of St. Augustine Friary. Many friars have known Paula as a frequent visitor to friars at St. Augustine's over the years. She personally cared for many of our senior brothers and had a particular care and attention for Angelus Shaughnessy (+2018), but others like James Gavin (+2021) and numerous friars of the family knew of her selfless service and comfort. Paula was instrumental in the creation of Father Angelus Lives, a YouTube channel which is home to many videos of Angelus' reflections through the years. Her talents and insights were also on display for The Port in September when she led the a group in visio divina, or "divine seeing" -- a method of using sacred art as a way of prayer. She may well be the "closest" of our Affiliates since she lives just a few houses up from the motherhouse. Paula earned her Bachelor of Science degree, a Master of Education degree and a Master of Science in Education degree from Duquesne University. She earned her doctorate in Educational Administration and Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Pittsburgh. You can read about her background on the web's A little about Paula…
Cap College Hosts a Quizzo Trivia Night
Stephen Cantwell & Joseph Pham reported on a Quizzo trivia night for young adult groups in the DC area hosted by Cap College on March 19th, St. Joseph's Feast Day. Members from Cap Corps, from A Simple House at CUA and the local parish all came to compete in rounds of Catholic and secular trivia. The night started with evening prayer including a talk by Ryan Schmeltzer on Silence and a potluck dinner followed by Quizzo. It was an incredibly close competition by all for the first four rounds but the last two rounds of Opening Sentences from Books and the Audio round proved to separate the top contenders.
Members from A Simple House (Team Tim Casey) ended up the champions and collected one of the prize baskets put together by Josean Castro Arroyo. 2nd and 3rd place was a tie that was resolved by a head to head battle between one member from each team in the category Titles of Mary. Connor Banner was such a representative and achieved second place for his team, Lords of the Bling. Stephen reported a special thanks to Joseph and Mike Herlihy for setup and assistance during the event and to "a candidate named Dan" who "may not return," he writes, "after all of the work we had him do throughout the day."
Potpourri
Andrew Corriente and The Catholic Accent’s Jordan Whiteko were in the the kitchen, whipping up a batch of "Buttery and Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies." In case you haven't already tried them, you can have the recipe, thanks to Greenburg Diocese's Catholic Accent online.
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In March, five men were at Borromeo's Capuchin Formation Program for a Come and See weekend. Raf Anguiano writes that "the five of them are very much interested in our program. Let us keep praying for vocations. This picture is in the new chapel where the CFP prays everyday."
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One of our ordinands for June 11th's Priesthood Ordination, Dave Domanski, sent along a shot from Holy Thursday: "The friars of the Harrisburg Diocese met up at the Chrism Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral." Great photo-op, Dave. Somehow, that Dalmatic works for you.
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On Facebook, our brother Anthony Essien notified us of upcoming ordinations in his Nigerian Custody of St. Francis & St. Clare. We add our prayers to those of the Custody as these men are called to service as deacons and priests.
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B
altimore Archdioce's Catholic Review had an article about an alumnus of St. Fidelis ('81) & Borromeo ('85), and friend and supporter of the Province, Fr. Jeff Dauses. He's a pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Baynesville, MD, and takes on the added role as Pastor to St. Thomas More Parish in Baltimore on July 1st. Jeff got quite a lot of attention from Catholic news services in March, thanks to a baseball hit by former Pittsburgh Pirate and Baltimore native Troy Stokes Jr. The article reads, in part:
Father Jeffrey Dauses thought for sure someone had shot at his car.
Driving along Putty Hill Avenue in Towson Feb. 17 on his way to buy some multivitamins, the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Baynesville heard a loud crash and saw pieces of a side mirror fly up onto his windshield and then off his Honda CR-V.
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It felt like a meteorite had fallen on my car,” Father Dauses remembered. “It scared me to death and I almost went into the other lane.”
The object that hit the priest’s car wasn’t from the barrel of a gun or from another world. It had been launched from the baseball stadium at nearby Calvert Hall College High School. Troy Stokes Jr., a 2014 alumnus of Calvert Hall and a Major League Baseball player who most recently played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, hit the ball during batting practice with members of the high school team.
As you can see from the photo, he signed a baseball for Jeff - . You can read the full article here.
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Former friar Steve Carter was pictured in a story of priests celebrating their jubilees in the Archdiocese of Washington's Catholic Standard of June 3rd. Steve, at the center of the photo, is celebrating 40 years of priesthood this year as is his fellow ordinand, Jim Froehlich.
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Also in that issue were some lovely photos of the Angels Unawares sculpture we spoke about in a previous NewsNotes. Cardinal Wilton Gregory, Catholic University’s chancellor, blessed the Welcome Plaza at CUA on April 22nd, with philanthropist and arts patron Jacqueline Mars pushing a button that initiated water flowing around the base of the sculpture, forming a reflecting pool. The sculpture depicts 140 diverse migrants and refugees from different countries and historical eras huddled together on a boat as if seeking a safe harbor, with the flowing water in the reflecting pool seeming to represent the tides carrying the boat’s occupants toward a new life.
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Also in DC, the Catholic Standard reported on Cardinal Gregory's April 8th visit to Sacred Heart School. Emilio Biosca and Diogo Escudero served as concelebrants for the Mass. I found it interesting that the reporter, Catherine Buckler, felt the need to begin her narrative of the Mass by writing: "Cardinal Gregory started the Mass with the sign of the cross in Spanish, saying, 'En el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espíritu Santo' ” . . . but she had written that "Since Sacred Heart is a bilingual school, the Mass had a mix of English and Spanish throughout, and there was a projector set up near the lectern with responses and song lyrics displayed in both languages for the congregation to follow along."
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There were also pictures from the parish's Palm Sunday celebration . . .
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. . . and from the Easter Vigil.
Toward the end of March, the first St. Lawrence of Brindisi Fraternity in America brought together brothers from three Provinces. The goal of the fraternities is to "revive the flame of our charism," from the challenge offered us by former General Mauro Jöhri. “Now, the real challenges begin: to make these brothers, so different, able to live out our brotherhood and our values of minority along with an intense life of contemplative prayer with a genuine apostolic missionary life.”
The Capuchin Worldwide Family
From Blaine Burkey's
Around the Province:
For the first time in two years, the Pope canonized saints [on May 15], ten of them. Two women were founders of Capuchin Third Order sisterhoods, Maria Francesca di Gesu Rubatto in southern Italy and Maria di Gesù Santocanale in northern Italy. Both communities are international in scope, having sisters in several foreign countries. Rubatto died in Uruquay and is that country’s first canonized saint. It was the subject of the Minister General's Letter in May.
Funny what one comes across and grabs one's attention . . .
. . . but we spotted this typewritten notation from our brother Carroll Warner (+1999) among past issues of Provincial newsletters . . . Apparently, he's lamenting the loss of communication media on which he worked and slaved. Obviously, Carroll was never one to "let sleeping dogs lie," and I assume he's saying that "that was my last issue?"
June 1965
New grave is to be found in the Friars' Plot in SS Peter and Paul Cemetery.
On the tombstone we read:
Here lies Cumberland Chronicle the beloved daughter of Ancilla Scribens, of the Capuchin Province of St. Augustine. She was killed in late 1964 by the Provincial Newsletter, which slowly took over her vital functions. RIP
At the time of her death all that was found among her possessions were a few odds and ends concerning the comings and goings of the friars.
Ancilla Scribens, of the Capuchin Province of St. Augustine died in late 1964 by the Provincial Newsletter, which slowly took over her vital functions. RIP
At the time of her death all that was found among her possessions were a few odds and ends concerning the comings and goings of the friars.