From the New York Times

   TEOLO, Italy - Scattered around the steel table of a monastery in the Veneto region of Northern Italy are manuscripts, one with green, red and intensely blue medieval miniatures of dragons, another adorned with ornate leaves culminating in golden flowers.
   A monk gently lays an off�white leather book on the table, and opens it at a long letter A drawn in red ink, the start of a paragraph in gothic letters.
   "I never thought I would have had these in my hands," said the Rev.
Pierangelo Massetti, responsible for the restoration laboratory at the Praglia
Abbey, near Padua. "St. Francis wrote this poem. And this text may be the
foundation of the Italian language." Continue reading

Dear Sisters, hoping the information below is helpful to you.
 

   2014 marks the 35th anniversary of the naming of St. Francis of Assisi as Patron of Ecology. 

   Holy Name Province offers very good resources.   Please click on the following link to access: http://www.hnp.org/justice-and-peace/our-initiatives/francis-patron-saint-of-ecology/

    Franciscans for Ecology also have an informative site for this anniversary:  http://francis35.org/.  

    This activity was suggested for use on November 29th or close to that date.  

 

Blessings,

Sr. Marita Flynn, OSF

 

By: Sr. Judith Terrameo, OSF
 

   For the longest time it has been my desire to do Spiritual Direction for the poor. This desire became a reality within the past several months. Mt. St. Mary's Hospital and Health Care Center sponsors the Neighborhood Center in the heart of inner-city Niagara Falls.  I mentioned my desire to Sr. Nora, a Daughter of Charity, who is the Social Worker at the Clinic, over the summer months and she was very supportive. Over the past several months I have alternated between one Thursday morning and one Thursday afternoon at the 9th Street Clinic, meeting with people in the waiting room as they are waiting for their appointments. I spend a little bit of time talking about Spiritual Direction and then engage folks in conversation.  Much of my time has been spent doing "Waiting Room Spirituality", but recently began receiving requests for spiritual direction appointments.

   Spending time with people as they wait for appointments and sharing has been incredible. One woman was sitting by herself. She had a child in a buggy. I sat down and introduced myself to her. Before long she was telling me that the child in the buggy was her grandchild, the only thing that she had of her daughter who was murdered a year ago. This grandmother was going to Boston the next day for the hearing of the man who murdered her daughter. Her pain was great, but her joy of having this baby tempered the pain a bit for her. On another occasion, talked with a woman who was discerning a move to North Carolina where her two daughters had moved within the past couple of years. She was confused about everything. Within the 10 or so minutes I had with her I was able to share a process for discernment. She was grateful for the information and thanked me profusely when leaving the Clinic. Just recently a gentleman came into the Clinic for a prescription. I sat down to speak with him around 3:30 pm. At 4:45 pm I questioned him about his appointment and he told me that he came in simply to pick up a prescription, however the visit with me had allowed him an opportunity to speak about what has recently been going on in his life.  

   I am so grateful to God for this opportunity to do Spiritual Direction and/or "Waiting Room Spirituality", whatever is helping people in their life journey.

   LARGO - Roy Lee McDaniel ended up in the hospital earlier this year after doctors discovered a tumor on his spine. After surgery and therapy, he was ready to go home.

   But McDaniel, 46, lost his construction job and apartment when he fell ill. With nowhere to recover, he faced a far greater risk that he'd quickly be back in the hospital.

   But McDaniel got lucky: He was accepted into a small medical respite program at Pinellas Hope, the "tent city" and transitional housing campus run by Catholic Charities Diocese of St. Petersburg.

   As part of a partnership with BayCare Health System, the facility set up 10 "casitas" - tiny cabins that include a bed - just for frail patients recently released from BayCare hospitals.

   These are patients who still need followup treatment but are not sick enough to stay in the hospital. Continue reading

   An important part of my role as Archivist is to track and preserve the history of the Congregation and the sisters. I collect and catalog many different kinds of media to accomplish this, including photographs, articles, and books. However, it is the seemingly humble newspaper clipping that provides the most information for its small size. A clipping provides a detailed glimpse into the Congregation's history at a specific point in time. It's like a miniature time capsule! However, one clipping only tells a fraction of the story. It's incredibly important that I collect as many clippings as possible to create the most detailed picture possible of the history of the sisters.

FSA Archives

A retreat for spiritual directors and those who companion others in the Franciscan Tradition. 

Offered by: The Franciscan Center

February 23-27, 2015

Guided by: Nancy Schreck, OSF

Cost: $475 before January 30, 2015

         $500 after January 30, 2015

For more information contact Karen Davies, (813) 229-2695 or email [email protected].