May | June 2020
Greetings!

During this Covid19 time we continue our prayer together for those who are suffering. We also pray for the cure and remain grateful for the people who are caring for those who are sick with Covid19 and their families. We remember the suffering of Jesus and Mary. How Jesus endured the rejection of community and Mary's witness to the injustice of her Son being put to death on the cross. Yet we have hope. There is the resurrection. God shares his love with us in a real way. As baptized people we remain hopeful, for the cure, for gathering together again, and to be able to embrace those we love.

so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:5

Fr. Dave Brown, OSM


Joyful congratulations, admiration and respect are due to our brother Dave Brown who, as the General Curia has informed me, recently inherited the honorific title “Senior Ordinis”. His optimistic outlook, fidelity, example and active interest in others is something we can all appreciate and seek to emulate in our own lives, no matter how long we are given to live, love and serve God’s people.

~ Fr. Eugene Smith, Prior Provincial USA
Child Jesus School Letter and Report
Greetings! I hope and pray that you and your family are safe and healthy.  In God we put our confidence and trust.  If God is for us, who can be against us! Nothing can separate us from the love of God. (Romans). Let us pray for each other unceasingly!

I contacted Fr. Magloire to inquire about the situation in Haiti regarding the coronavirus (Covid19).  Fr. Magloire responded: 

I understand all that you have said about the news around the world and all the news from the United States.  Here in Haiti we are all taking the necessary precautions so that we are not infected with the coronavirus.  To date, we do not have anyone in Haiti that has been infected by the virus.  Not one case!  I visited the school to instruct and inform the students and faculty of the precautions they should take to assure that no one becomes infected.  Above all, the very hot temperature in Haiti is a help and a deterrent.  Haiti is a country with a very hot climate.

After this response from Fr. Magloire, I found information online that indicated that two people who traveled to Haiti were infected.  All the necessary precautions were taken as a result.

I also contacted Fr. Magloire about the needs of Child Jesus School.  I asked Fr. Magloire to recommend projects that he considered important and necessary... continue reading here.
Communion of Goods
Greetings Brothers and Sisters!

I am writing to each and every Secular Servite today in anticipation of our National OSSM/UNIFAS Conference scheduled for this October in Techny, Illinois. Many of you I have met at our last Conference in 2015 at the Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, California, and I am eagerly looking forward to visiting with old acquaintances and making new ones!
One of the administrative topics from the last Conference, was an explanation about budgets. It was explained that the Secular Servites had been established to be financially independent from the Provincial Chapter of the Friar Servants, and that each Community was to provide a portion of their collections towards supporting National. We must remember that the Friar Servants are still a Mendicant Order, and rely on donations themselves.
The response in 2015 was very generous and has been able to allow National Council to travel as required, as well as our Advisors, and to pay for certain administrative costs regarding, non-profit fees, speaker fees, online communications and organization, online conferencing, newsletters, and the like. Your offerings have allowed us...  continue reading here.
Though we are practicing social distance at this time and many states are in phases of opening up our communities, please save this date for our UNIFAS & OSSM - USA Joint Congress. There will be workshops, community, Servite presence and spirituality shared. As well as recognizing a new National Council based on our Prior/ess nominations from our local OSSM Communities.
We remain vigilant to the times and will be in communication as we learn more.
Photo Studio and Sharing
We are missing you. We were missing each other even before this time of distant socializing.
Send in your new photos and ones from the recent past. We need to see one another and remember. The photos can be group photos, photos of your community in prayer, around a table sharing, or your community working on a project together.  More on photo studio here.

Community Photo Ideas:
Start photo sharing in your community by doing throwback Thursday. Share community photos from past events or have additional fun by sharing baby pictures, prom pictures or wedding pictures, etc. Share style, share joy, share you.
Do you have another idea, share with us here.

Free Resources:
Spark adobe is a FREE photo, video and webpage resource.
Here is an introduction video on how to use Spark Adobe.
Servants of Mary, Faith Resources
V ideo Message from
Fr. Richard Boyle, OSM
Daily Spiritual
Reflections & Prayer
Meekness is a gift from the Holy Spirit and rises from humility and love. St. Peregrine learned it through his continual contemplation of the crucified Christ, who died loving and forgiving his persecutors.
In his youth, the saint admired the meekness of St. Philip Benizi, a humble and gentle friar of the Servite Order, who when beaten, answered offenses by praying and rejection by welcoming. St. Peregrine was welcomed into the Servite Order by St. Philip Benizi, the very one who had been rejected, and was forgiven by the one who had been offended. That experience deeply impressed the saint. In St. Peregrine we... continue reading and prayer here.