Dear Brothers,

With the Local Church

All the members of the local St. Louis Marianist communities gathered with Auxiliary Bishop, Mark Rivituso, on the Feast of the Queenship of Mary. The Bishop had asked to meet with local religious communities. He was very thankful to the Marianists for their many ministries over the years. 

During his visit, Bishop Rivituso had the opportunity to reacquaint himself with the Dean of our Province (and the entire Society of Mary), Bro. Francis Heyer, who was on the faculty at St. Mary’s High School when the Bishop was a student.

Dayton Oregon District Tragedy Fund

Bro. Raymond Fitz has agreed to co-chair the community oversight committee for the Dayton Oregon District Tragedy Fund. The committee consists of 16 community leaders who will oversee the disbursement of charitable funds to victims of the Oregon District tragedy. The fund was established immediately following the mass shooting that occurred on August 4 to accept charitable donations with the intent that the money raised would assist the victims who were physically injured and the families of the victims whose lives were taken. Let us pray for Bro. Ray, the committee and all of the victims of this tragedy. Read the press release.

This Coming Week

Dear Brothers,

Province Direction Statement

This summer, the Province Direction Statement Steering Committee met to review and summarize the notes that were submitted by the 10 area gatherings and, based on this, to plan the second round of consultations this fall.

Please click here to read the summary that was prepared and the resulting provisional Direction Statements proposed. Thank you in advance for your continued enthusiastic participation.  

Dear Brothers,

Preparation of Perpetual Vows

The invitations are being mailed out for the Perpetual Profession of Vows of our Bros. Jean Dossous and Juan Pablo Espinoza on October 5 at 5 pm at Chaminade College Prep, St. Louis.

This is a Province event and will be celebrated at a time when all of the directors of our communities will be in St. Louis. For those Brothers who wish to travel from other parts of the Province (a local community expense), we have reserved a limited amount of additional rooms at Courtyard Marriott in Creve Coeur at $89 a night (first come, first served). Let us continue to keep Bros. Jean and Juan in our prayers. 

Preparation for the Holy Name of Mary

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been working with Bro. Gary Marcinowski and Scott Paeplow (UD Campus Ministry) to prepare a series of prayer services for this special day. Terry Eversole, my administrative assistant, will be sending these out to the communities at the end of this week. I invite you to consider using one or all of these in your local community celebrations. Feel free to duplicate. Many thanks to Gary and Scott for their wonderful work.

Marianist Brothers in Initial Formation Posters

I am so grateful to Bro. Mark Motz and the vocation team for working on this wonderful poster of our Brothers in the different stages of Initial Formation. Copies have been mailed out to our various institutions. Please display them as a reminder to pray for all of our Contacts, Aspirants, Novices, Temporary Professed and Seminarians. 

Additional copies are available both in Bro. Mark’s office and the Office of Religious Life.

Labor Day Quote

There is honor in all work, in all tasks, but take it one step further. Make what you do a labor of love. Then your work will truly touch and change the world in the way you desire. The work you do, whatever your chosen field, will be work that heals. (Melody Beattie)

Many thanks to everyone in the Province for your labors of love as we work together for building up God's kingdom.

Dear Brothers,

As we continue our celebration of 200 years of Marianist education, I share this reflection with you that was graciously submitted by Bro. Dave Murphy (Lalanne House, Los Angeles). It reminds us of the gift of Marianist education and the positive effect it has on countless lives throughout the world. May this bicentenary year be a time to celebrate these countless moments. 

The Powerful Influence of Marianist Education

One of the purposes of Marianist education is to form leaders. Recently, while as a volunteer, I was feeding the homeless with the Brothers of Charity, I was introduced to the group as a Marianist Brother. Another volunteer immediately came across the room, extended his hand and said hello. He introduced himself as Bill Kerr, a 1966 graduate of Cardinal Gibbons High School in Baltimore. He praised the Marianist education he received from the Brothers, and expressed a desire to get in touch with two of his former teachers, Bro. Tom Trager (“Bro. TNT”) as Bill remembered him and Bro. Frank O'Donnell.

Bill is a regular volunteer with the Brothers of Charity. He also volunteers at his parish, St. Charles Borromeo, where he provides showers and hot meals for the homeless. There has been interest expressed in using this program as a template for centers around the country.

What impressed me most about Bill was his dedication to the poor. He has spearheaded the “The John 15 Foundation”, an organization that is raising funds and builds sanitary housing and clinics for an extremely poor area of a foreign country. Bill called his program “The John 15 Foundation” because of three words in John: 15:12: “love one another.” Bill believes we have to live these words as if we are pursuing a doctorate. Unfortunately, Bill asked that I not name the country or include the video of the foundation in this story because of a sensitive relationship with that country's government leaders.

In my last email exchange with Bill, he wrote: “I owe such a debt of gratitude to the Marianists.” Bill's leadership is a wonderful testimony to his Marianist formation.

Please pray for our brothers who are celebrating their birthdays

August 29: Robert Dzubinski, John Schlund

August 30: Michael Galvin

August 31: John Manahan

September 1: Roger Bau, Francis Heyer, Raymond Kane

September 2: A. Paul Jablinski, James Leahy

September 4: Lawrence Cada

This publication is for members of the Society of Mary. Please do not forward it. Also, please provide a printed copy for brothers who do not use email.

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