In this Issue:

Peak of the Week

Dr. Gingerich & Father Pamfilo's Family

Kathy Maire Reflection on Guatemala Trip

Archives: Genealogy Search

Sr. Gwen & Her Violin

"Pathway to Peace & Inner Freedom:

Reflections on the Twelve Steps"

May 9

Lost Sock Memorial Day

Lost Sock Memorial Day on May 9 is a day to commemorate lost socks. The unofficial holiday also encourages people to let go of all the remaining single socks they are collecting in hopes of finding their partners one day.

There are few mysteries in life that are as perplexing as the mystery of the missing sock. No matter how hard you try to keep pairs of socks together, invariably one of them ventures out into the netherworld never to be found again.

Lost Sock Memorial Day is a day to honor all those disappeared socks.

Use the leftover socks as cleaning cloths. Or spend the day making sock monkeys out of the socks that have sadly lost their partners to the sock blackhole.

May 19

Pizza Party Day

Mark our words, the third Friday of May will soon become your favorite holiday of the year. Why, you ask? Because it is

Pizza Party Day!

It is an unofficial holiday that celebrates the delicious, doughy pie traditionally topped with tomato sauce, cheese, herbs, vegetables, and meat, then baked until cooked.

Thought to have originated in Italy, pizza today has become a popular dish served in restaurants and homes around the world. It is often considered by many as the perfect party dish – a single pie can feed a lot of people, it can be easily made at home or ordered from a restaurant, eating it does not require utensils or fancy dishware, and most importantly it is delicious even when consumed cold.

May 25

Sing Out Day

Open up your vocal chords and sing out loud from your heart on Sing Out Day. Celebrated every year on May 25 the unofficial holiday encourages people to sing their hearts out. Loudly.

Whether you make a living by singing, are a bathroom singer, a karaoke champion, or someone who is requested to sing at every party, this is the day to pretend that the whole world is your adoring audience and sing yourself hoarse!

The holiday is also sometimes called International Sing Out Day.

Sing out as loud as you can, wherever you can. Don't hold back. 

To see where we found these fun holidays and check out more from around the world, visit: www.timeanddate.com/holidays/fun

On April 22 St. Bonaventure University President Dr. Jeff Gingerich and his wife Betsy spent some time in Italy with the Pietrobattista family, descendants of the first president of St. Bonaventure, Father Pamphilus da Magliano. Dr. Gingerich said on Facebook that they received an incredibly warm welcome from the family, as well as a great meal. Father Pamfilo also helped co-found the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany.

Memories of my time in Guatemala are stored in the pictures I carry in my mind and allow to pop out when I think of my latest visit. These are backed up by the sharing of team members who posted on What’s App and Google Pics. But special moments are mine alone. They come in the faces of longsuffering mothers, older men bent and stiff from work in the fields, and innocent children nestled in the love of extended family.

One such picture is of a mother cradling her year-old daughter. We will never know the back story, but the mother claimed that the child was as aware and lively as other children, until she had an operation in Guatemala City.  Ever since, the child lay still and unresponsive. The mother came to the clinic hoping that the doctors would be able to assure her that the child would recover. Unfortunately, that was not possible. The devastated mother hugged the child closer and wept silently.

I think of the lack of services, the distance to any regular health care, the prospect of caring for the child for the foreseeable future and wonder how this woman will cope. We could do so little- informing the monks at the Basilica that they would need supplemental food and help to provide for the other children as the mother would need to devote her time to this child. One of the nurses spent time with her, speaking of the power of love to comfort and nurture the child at home. So little to deal with so great a need.

Other memories are happier. The six year old who proudly showed us his cheek where last year a very large tumor distorted his face; the delighted grandmother posing with the three year old who would never walk, but could be wheeled around in his new stroller; the excited children who so carefully selected a tooth brush from the assortment presented to them; the ecstatic gentleman when we told him we would pay for the medicine he needed to cure the running sores that covered his body; the beautiful young woman whom we had known as a four year old, who told us she had just graduated with a degree in accounting.  

I share these moments of joy with you who helped make them possible. The medications, the assistive devices, the operations, the follow-up visits with doctors, and yes, of course, the toothbrushes and tooth paste. The power of God’s Spirit inspired you to share in the work of bringing about the Reign of God. Thank you.

Click images for larger version.

The Arcate family is doing some genealogical research that took them from New York City to St. Elizabeth Motherhouse in Allegany.

They were looking for their grandmother, Gertrude Cantwell, and her sisters, Bernadette and Genevieve, who they believed were sent to an orphanage when they were in their early teens. After getting a phone call from the Arcates, Congregational Archivist Ellen Winger found the girls. Or, rather, school records of them dating back to 1915.

She also explained to the family that St. Elizabeth’s Academy, housed in the original Motherhouse, was not an orphanage. Founded in 1861, it was the first school opened by the Allegany Franciscans and offered an education to both day students and boarders.

The family shared that all they knew about the girls being sent to Allegany was that following the death of the girls’ parents, their eldest brother sent them to St. Elizabeth’s Academy. Bernadette was the first the graduate from the Academy, and she moved home to Brooklyn. When Bernadette married, she and her husband were able to adopt the youngest sister, Genevieve, and bring her back to live with them.

Ellen pointed out that the Cantwell family likely met the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany through the sisters’ work in Manhattan. The Cantwell sisters would have been able to ride the Erie Railroad all the way from New York City to Allegany. 

“Assisting families with genealogy research such as this is one of my favorite parts of my job,” Ellen said. “It’s like being a detective. The family and I try to piece together bits of family lore and surviving records to tell more of the story.”

“In this case, we were able to use archival records not only to prove that the Cantwell sisters attended the Academy, but also to give the Arcate family a clearer picture of what life would have been like for the girls,” Ellen said.

Sister Gwen Melhado gave an impromptu violin concert for the Sisters at St. Elizabeth’s in Tampa last week.

To purchase a copy at $5.00 each, please send a check payable to

“Franciscan Sisters of Allegany” and mail to:

Franciscan Sisters of Allegany; Attn: Claire Majot; P.O. Box W, St Bonaventure, NY 14778.

Or if you are visiting the St. Elizabeth Motherhouse cash can be accepted.