Getting Ready for Christmas

After a beautiful Creche Service led by Kathleen, we once again set about one of our fraternity's traditional Advent activities:  filling bird seed  packets.

We worked in one of the classrooms today.

It was a little cozier, but not cramped by any means.

Five big pots of birdseed... 

And 500+ labels.

Horace and Ruth at the end of the "refill aisle.

And of course there are goodies for us, too.

More Animals

Our annual Blessing of he Animals took place on October 6 this year, two days after the Feast of St. Francis.  Several members of the fraternity were in attendance and  helped by providing  cider, munchkins, as well as pet treats.    It was a chilly cloudy day, but all seemed to enjoy joining in singing  of All Creatures of Our God and King and The Prayer of St. Francis.

Thanks to KathyM for contributing all these great pictures.  No captions necessary.

Franciscan Day 2019

It was a beautiful late summer day in Kennebunk, Maine for the annual region Franciscan Day.

The grounds of the Franciscan Guest House are peaceful as always.

Secular Franciscans from Plattsburgh to Cape Cod were in attendance.

After lunch there was time for a walk down to the beach.

Lots of people enjoying the sun and sand, but not too crowded.

Yeah, I like the beach.

St. Bernard Fraternity was well represented this year.
Arthur, Paul, Steve, Ruth, Joyce, and Barbara.

Picnic Time!

It's August and time for our annual fraternity picnic.  No council meeting, so general meeting, just time for fraternity and family to eat, socialize and enjoy each other's company.

Steve and Peg get started on the grill.  Not pictured is Paul who made our life easy this year by pre-cleaning the grill and making sure we had enough propane so we wouldn't have to scramble into the kitchen to finish cooking.

We had a wonderful crowd.

Your minister worried that there might not be enough food, but there was PLENTY!

Thanks to everyone who made it such a great day.

Profession of Kathy McGuirk, OFS

Our May meeting was the Profession Mass of Kathy McGuirk, OFS.  We celebrated at the regular 5:30pm Sunday evening Mass with the Holy Family community.

Our Vice Minister, Horace, read the introduction before Mass began.

Deacon Brian and Deacon Bill assisted at the Mass with Fr. Jose

Just after the Gospel, Kathy requested formal admission in the fraternity from Minister Steve and Formation Director Steve.
THIS IS WHAT I WANT.

Fr Jose conducted the actual Rite of Profession prior to the Final Blessing.

Kathy kneels receiving a blessing.

Kathy was then presented with the traditional profession gifts:  Book of the Gospels, Cross, and Candle.
Everyone in the congregation stayed through the entire Rite.

Afterward, we went downstairs to celebrate.

We had a nice celebration cake from the fraternity.

Actually we had two cakes.

There was plenty of food...

... and lots of people to help celebrate.

Congratulations, Kathy.

What a special occasion for us all!

Happy 100th Birthday Cecile!

After the 10:15 Mass at Holy Family on the Second Sunday of Easter, we celebrated a special birthday for one of our parishioners.  Cecile Aubin is not only a member of Holy Family, but also an Active/Excused member of our Fraternity.

Although she can't make fraternity meetings anymore, we  see Cecile almost every week at the 10:15 Mass.

With a birthday crown on her head, Cecile gets a little help cutting her birthday cake.

If you waited in line, you could get a picture with the birthday girl. 
Betsy asked what her secret to long life was: 
"I don't drink and I don't smoke", and she goes to Mass every Sunday. 

The small amount of cake left gives you an idea of how many people were there to wish her well.