Christmas Traditions - Birdseed

Once again it's December and time for the annual Fraternity Bird Seed Party.  This year we purchased 120 lbs of seed (rather than the usual 100 lbs).  Everyone worked hard and we had no problem filling birdseed packets to distribute to our own parishioners so they could feed the birds on Christmas Day.

Welcome Paul Boisvert, OFS

In place of our regular October meeting, we were happy to celebrate the solemn profession of Paul Boisvert into the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS).  Following a suggestion we received at our recent pastoral visitation, we celebrated Paul's profession during a regular weekend Mass at our home parish Holy Family of Nazareth.  Since the Mass is the "source and summit of the Christian life (CCC 1324), it is entirely appropriate for the profession to be at a Mass, and by having it a regular weekend Mass, others in the faith community of the parish were able to share it with us.  Usually, we are able to get a Franciscan priest to say the Mass, but Fr. Sam was unavailable.  Nonetheless, our own Fr. Jose was happy to conduct a moving and joyful ceremony. 

Our fraternity was also to perform various ministries at the Mass:  Horace was the lector, Deacon Bill assisted (as deacon), and Jan filled a role as an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist.  For the profession itself, Paul was joined at the foot of the altar by our Minister and Formation Director.  Most of the Rite of Profession took place after communion, but still, almost all the regular parishioners stayed to witness the ceremony.

Paul invited friends and family to celebrate with him, and after Mass, we moved downstairs to a fraternity pot luck.  As God provides, there was food enough for all.

Beautiful cake.

Very nice crowd.

Delicious food with leftovers.

Blessing of the Animals

This year's Blessing of the Animals occurred after the Feast of St. Francis.  As usual, we began by leading a couple verses of All Creatures of Our God and King out in front of the church main entrance.  Fr. Jose enthusiastically greet pets and owners and then went around to each animal to bestow an individual blessing.  Our fraternity manned a table with people and pet treats including munchkins and apple cider.  It was wonderful that several of our fraternity members were there as well.  With the beautiful early fall afternoon, all seemed to enjoy the experience.

We're singing!

Pets get blessed while we man the goodies table.

Pets and people lined up for individual blessings.

Our fraternity in attendance.

There's plenty of room on the grass, too, before getting a chance to head into the church.

Everybody gets a treat. 

The felines kept out of harms' way (i.e., the dogs).

It's nice to make our presence known o the parish.

Franciscan Day 2018

Region holds an annual Franciscan Day each year on the last Saturday in August.  The event is usually free, however, this year a small cost for lunch at the Guest House was needed.  As always, it is a relaxed day on the peaceful grounds of the monastery in Kennebunk.  Unfortunately, there could not be an afternoon Mass this year as Fr. Sam had conflicting commitments.  Still, it was an enjoyable and informative day for all.

In the morning, Francine made a very good presentation on the subject of the 40th anniversary of our New Rule.
Pat gave a thoughtful talk in the afternoon.

After lunch, there's time for a walk.  The street is packed with cars and the beach has plenty of beach goers enjoying the sun.

Paul & Steve walked down to the beach.

Luckily it's a long beach with plenty of room.

Here was our fraternity's representation for the day.

Annual (Indoor) Picnic

Our annual indoor picnic was a great success!

Paul was busy nursing heat out of the grill...

... and Steve jumped in to finish off additional burgers.

We had a great quantity and variety of culinary offerings.

Yum, yum!

Families were invited, but there was plenty of food for all.

We used the tablecloths and flowers from the Holy Family event the night before.

Good company.

Elections!

Welcome to our new Fraternity Council.

From left to right:  Joyce Maxim (Secretary), Steve Fiedler (Minister), Joan Puglia (Treasurer), Bryan Lagimoniere (Councillor), Steve Shields (Formation Director), Margaret Simoneau (Councillor), Horace Turner (Vice Minister)

 It was just a coincidence that Pope Francis also got into the picture

Many thanks to  Joe Makley from Region who ran the elections for us that day.  Our members in formation were also participating in the process.  Dottie Sears and Kathy McGuirk counted and tallied votes.

And thanks to all our members who came and voted!  Happy Summer!

Pastoral Visitation

Our March meeting consisted primarily of a Pastoral Visitation from Region.  It was our pleasure to host Lisa Cyr to our Council and regular Fraternity meetiing.

We wanted this meeting to have the feeling of a celebration, so the whole fraternity pitched in and we had tables full of food for a wonderful feast.

In the relaxed atmosphere of our "sacred space", Lisa asks members question about what we do and how we are growing as a Fraternity.

Mark your calendars!  April's meeting is moved the the 3rd Sunday, April 15th at 2pm.

For next month, our meeting was originally scheduled for April 8th, Divine Mercy Sunday.  Due to some logistical concerns at the church, we have moved the meeting date to the following Sunday, April 15th at our usual time of 2pm.  See you then