In this Issue:

Santa Clause Lane Parade

Mission Society Christmas Cards

Adventures in Mozambique

Mother Teresa Booklets

Some of the sisters had a wonderful time riding through Olean's Santa Clause Lane Parade put on by the Olean Area Chamber of Commerce.

The parade is a local tradition that takes place the day after Thanksgiving, runs along both sides of North Union Street, and ends with Santa and Mrs. Clause with the countdown of the lights at the intersection of State and Union.

Check out our Facebook page for a couple of videos!

Send your special prayer blessings to friends or loved ones this Christmas with Christmas Mass enrollment cards from St. Elizabeth Mission Society. As members of the Mission Society, their intentions will be remembered at Christmas Eve Mass and in other Masses celebrated throughout the year in the Motherhouse Chapel. 

They will also share in the prayers and good works of our Sisters in Bolivia, Brazil, Jamaica, Mozambique and the United States. As a sponsored ministry of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, the St. Elizabeth Mission Society shares in its spiritual aims, one of which is to advance the awareness of God's love. Donations given for the cards are used to support the ministries of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany who work to educate, heal, clothe, and feed those who are poor in Bolivia, Brazil, Jamaica, Mozambique and the United States.

Christmas cards, as well as various other enrollment cards, can be ordered online at https://www.franciscanhope.org/shop/ or you can call the Mission Society office at (716) 373-1130 or e-mail the staff at StEliz.Office.Manager.@FSAllegany.org for more information about ordering the enrollment cards. Christmas cards will also be available in the Mission Society office. 

Sr. Goianira Silva OSF, has safely returned to Anápolis, Brazil from her trip to visit with the sisters in Mozambique. We are grateful for her safe travel and for the pictures she has shared with us!

Mother Teresa O’Neil, OSF, is honored as the founding mother of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, NY. At the invitation of Fr. Pamfilo da Magliano, OFM, in 1859, a young Mary Anne O’Neil left New Jersey and travelled to Allegany, NY, where she joined two other women, who had also responded to an invitation by Fr. Pamfilo. Thus began a congregation of Franciscan sisters that continues to this day. 

We have created this booklet as a snapshot of the life of Mother Teresa, as written by Sister Veronica Rodriguez, OSF in her text, A Heritage: History of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, NY (1979), which was never published or widely distributed. When we rediscovered this section on Mother Teresa, we decided to share the story as told in a more personal way than in other histories of the Congregation. 

If you wish to obtain a copy of this historical booklet, please email our Congregational Archivist.

We hope you will enjoy reading about her and perhaps find in her life inspiration for the way we are being called to live today.