The Dwelling Place of NY held their

2022 Spring Celebration on the evening

of Tuesday, May 24th.

Sisters in attendance were

Nancy Chiarello, Margaret Mary Kimmins,

and Catherine Moran.

Thank you to those that donated

to a great cause!

Note from the Dwelling Place Facebook:

Nova Aliança, Anápolis, Brazil, is a lay community with 167 professed members. Their members are single and married men, women and four diocesan priests, who serve in Brazil and in two missions in Africa. Members of Nova Aliança have lived and served in parishes throughout Brazil with their mission of evangelization for over 30 years. Sr. Teresa Marie Sweeney OSF, former Congregational Minister and missionary in Brazil, had served as their formator and was very influential in their living the Franciscan charism and spirituality. Magno Fernando, founder of Nova Aliança had served as community leader these thirty years until recently when the bishop asked that the community begin the work of organizing and structuring their community. A transitional council was put in place and in November 2022 the community will hold their first General Chapter and election of a new Minister and Council.

Recently, when members of the Congregational Leadership were in Brazil for the April Assembly, the members of the transitional council of Nova Aliança requested a meeting. This meeting was very engaging as they shared their journey, the plans for their Chapter and their desire to remember and honor the important role that Sr. Teresa Sweeney played in their foundation and formation, as well as the continuing relationship with the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany in their mission.

Currently, our Sisters Maria Abadia da Silva, Euripedes Irias dos Santos and Liliane Araújo Costa are serving in Maganja da Costa, Mozambique, Africa with members of the Nova Aliança community.

Let us hold the community of Nova Aliança in our prayers for their upcoming General Chapter and for their continued mission of evangelization.

A few months ago I had the privilege of volunteering once a week at the Warming House in Olean. The Warming House is sponsored by St. Bonaventure University Franciscan Center for Social Concern and staffed by the students.The Warming House is a safe dwelling where many come for their evening meal. For me it is a delight to work with the students, serve and visit with the people many of whom are homeless or broken in spirit.

Summer volunteers are needed while the students are away. If you’re interested, contact:

Alice Miller Nation

Director Franciscan Center for Social Concern

St. Bonaventure University

PO Box AR

St. Bonaventure, NY 14778

717-375-7813 (office)

If you don’t feel free to minister at the Warming House, call Alice, and she can direct you to another ministry according to your gifts and the present need. It’s true “in giving we receive”

The Warming House is one of the oldest student-run soup kitchens in the nation.

It started as drop-in center for lonely adults in 1974, and in the early '80s began offering one meal a day to the hungry, homeless and disadvantaged. Today, the Warming House serves more than 10,000 Olean-area residents annually.

Located in a large storefront at 164 N. Union St. in downtown Olean, the Warming House is open six days a week year-round, and has a support team of more than 300 student volunteers and almost 100 community members.

A United Way agency, the Warming House has grown into a true community center and a valuable resource to Olean-area residents, offering services that include a classroom for developmental education and related workshops.

The Warming House offers service and internship opportunities for St. Bonaventure students as it continues its mission to provide nourishment, fellowship and dignity to its guests.

To find out more about the Warming House and how you can donate, please visit

These words of the Entrance Hymn reflected the celebratory mood of the Sisters as they gathered to celebrate the 97th birthday of Sr. Magdalen Marie on May 27th in the chapel at Immaculate Conception Convent.

Mags, as she is affectionately known, is also celebrating her 70th anniversary as an Allegany Franciscan. A gracious person who in her prime had a great sense of humor and loved to sing, sparkled as “Happy Birthday” was sung at her special birthday dinner.

May Magdalen Marie rest in the peace of the Lord!

In anticipation of the sale of the parcel of land on which the Old Motherhouse stood, Congregational Leadership commissioned an abstract of title, which provides a fascinating glimpse into the early history of the Congregation.

The parcel’s first recorded owner was Nicholas Devereux, the Utica businessman who provided the land for the Franciscan Friars to establish St. Bonaventure’s College 1855. Following Devereux’s death, the parcel was passed to the St. Francis Missionary and Benevolent Society in 1856, who allowed the sisters to use the land to build their Motherhouse.

In 1861, the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany built the first part of what we now know as the Old Motherhouse. The sisters continued to add onto the building throughout the late 1800s, completing its construction in 1907. Within its walls, the sisters lived, trained novices, and taught the students of St. Elizabeth’s Academy.

The St. Francis Missionary and Benevolent Society sold the parcel on which the Old Motherhouse sat to St. Bonaventure’s College in 1882. In 1948, the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany purchased the land from St. Bonaventure’s College for $1.00.

I’m often asked,

“What was it like?”

Difficult to answer, but here’s a sample.

How do you set up a clinic with 5 doctors, a physical therapist and the pharmacy in a family home? And a home with only one large space which would be needed for the waiting area, pharmacy and triage? Luckily there was a bedroom for privacy, but the remaining providers had to use their ingenuity and good humor to find a spot. And so it happened.

It was the second year that this generous family had opened their home for us, borrowing tables, benches, a tarp for shade, and allowing a constant parade of patients to use the bathroom. The family dog refused to be ousted, and the pets of various other patients assumed they also had the right to be present. The real challenge was to focus on each person with care, concern and the dignity they deserved.

Early on, the pediatrician came with an unusual request. She had a ten year old child with multiple congenital conditions who would never be able to walk. The child appeared to be about five, and her mother had to carry her anywhere she went. So the doctor asked if there was a possibility of some type of chair which could support the child’s head and allow for some mobility. We had a wheelchair, but it was not what was needed.

One of the volunteers from the clinic who accompanied us each day said there was such a chair in the clinic, but it was not free. They were charging 500 Quetzals, or about $70 dollars. We sent a driver for the chair, with the promise to pay if the chair was appropriate. When the driver returned with the chair, it appeared to be perfect. With a few adjustments, all was ready. The mother was in tears of relief, the pediatrician was ecstatic, and the child was terrified. She had never seen such an object could not conceive of what it would do to her.

And so it continued: parasites, anemia, infections, cataracts, heart murmurs, lumps that required surgery, and those who needed emotional support due to family tragedy.  All received what was available, many were referred for follow-up, and our supply of tooth brushes and tooth paste was exhausted. We saw many beautiful people and had been richly blessed.