Getting Ready for Christmas

For this year's December activity we returned to an old favorite:  making birdseed packets to distribute to parishioners so they can feed the birds on Christmas Day.  Although we've been doing this activity for quite a few years now, it doesn't seem to have lost its charm.  

We invited adults and children from Holy Family to join us, but we had no takers.  We did have Lynn and Ed join us to learn more about the fraternity and our Franciscan ways.  We hope to see them again soon.

Two of our deacons work as a team to label and fill.

Wow!  That's a lot of labels... and bags... and seed.

Some members are skilled at pouring seed directly into bags without any help.

Annual Picnic

This year the weather was so beautiful we were able to hold our annual picnic outdoors in the Family Pavilion at church.  For this meeting, out agenda was purely social and fraternal, offering all the opportunity to reconnect with one another.   Although we invited neighboring fraternities, sadly no one else joined us.  Their loss :)

Men's Conference 2024

The Worcester Diocesan Men’s Conference was held on Saturday March 16 at the DCU Center.  Like last year, our fraternity sponsored a table where we could share with the attendees some basics about what being a Secular Franciscan is all about.  At first, I thought that our table was a bit out of the way and off in a corner, then I realized that “being small” fit us as Franciscans very well.  The amazing thing was that the line for Confession was extremely long (as it always is) and wound right past our table, so there was ample opportunity to talk to men as they were waiting.  I brought our banner and resources provided by Paul (newsletters, the lending library), while Michele set out bowls of mini medals and prayer cards free for the taking.  I also did a lot of folding of our “Come and See” brochure and am happy to say that our stock of these is now running low.  Some men were familiar with Secular Franciscans, and I even chatted with a third order Carmelite and third order Dominican who stopped by.  Perhaps we will be blessed with some men who will check us out in the coming months.

Annual Pot Luck Picnic

Midsummer is such a great time to kick back and relax.  That's why in August we hold our annual Pot Luck Picnic.  There was lots a great food and social time for all.

Worcester Mens' Conference

Well, this was a good idea!  Our fraternity decided to rent a table the 2023 Worcester Diocesan Catholic Men's Conference.  The objective was to "get our name out there" and help explain to people what the Secular Franciscans are all about.

Tanya Connor, a reporter for the Catholic Free Press, captured Paul at our table
looking over a holy card with one of the conference attendees.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=6096057270429830&set=pcb.6096061027096121

Michele helped get things set up first thing in the morning.

Our "table neighbor" checked out our stuff, too.

I had to go down a couple tables, but this was the view of the speakers from our vendor area.

And here's a view of the 700+ men in attendance.

I don't know if we'll get any new people to join us at our meetings, but it was a great way to tell people who we are.

 

Renewal of Profession

There were no weather problems for our February meeting.  As a result of a great suggestion from a fraternity member, we conducted a renewal of our Secular Franciscan profession in the sanctuary.  Kathleen brought a stature of St. Francis and the crucified Christ for the occassion.

Epiphany Party

Since our fraternity meeting this month actually fell on Epiphany, we decided to have an Epiphany Party.  Even though we started with reflective activity examining and praying for Spiritual Gifts (in the spirit of the Magi), I only capture pictures of food - which was great!

You can't go wrong with a Three Kings Cake from Gerardo's.

Quite a spread.

Something for everyone.

These festive chips were good enough to eat!

Healing Mass & Social

 After a false start last month, we were finally successful in celebrating a Healing Mass with Fr. Chris from Derry, NH.

Thanks to Pam for pulling this together for our whole fraternity.

By the time this photo was snapped, we were done with Mass and were embracing some social time around the fire.  At least, I think there was a fire, but since I am writing this 3 months later, I have sadly forgotten.

It's not even 4pm in this shot, but you can see the angle of the sun is lower as are the temperatures.

Selfie!

Hopefully, we can see more of the fraternity soon!

Fraternity Pot Luck

 It was a warm August Day, but not stifling.  Nonetheless, the Fraternity opted to not slave over a hot grill and have everyone contribute by way of a pot luck this year.  We missed a few members, but those who came greatly enjoyed the social time together.

There was lots to choose from.

Market Basket's sandwiches were excellent.

Finally! An Election

The election of a new fraternity council was delayed about a year, as a result of the whole world dealing with Covid-19.  We are all thankful to the selfless fraternity member who came forward to run for offices on the council and also those who accepted nomination from the floor on the day of the election.

Mary Stavro, OFS, our District 2 Representative, was the presider of our election. 
Thank you for your time, Mary.

Here is your new fraternity council.

From left:  Paul Boisvert (Formation Director), Horace Turner (Vice Minister), Steve Fiedler (Minister), Kathy McGuirk (Councilor-at-large), Kathleen Kaney (Councilor-at-large), Janice Colgate (Secretary), Pam Deres (Spiritual Assistant).  Not pictured:  Michelle Gagne (Treasurer).

SteveS (behind Paul), Alice, Joan, and Pam assisted Mary in the administration of the election.

Joan got all her "steps" in today, distributing and collecting ballots.

And just for fun, here's a photo of the fraternity who attended elect the new council.  Even if you aren't pictured, be sure, we were thinking of you and you were missed.  

Front row:  JanC, RuthD, KathleenK, KathyM.
Back row: SteveF, PamD, SteveS, PaulB, JoanP, HoraceT, Louise, BarbaraT, MargurietteN, AliceA.

Many, many thanks to the previous council who served an extra year:  SteveF, HoraceT, SteveS, JoanP, BryanL, PegS, and PaulB.

Mid Winter Meeting

January's meeting was cancelled due to bad weather, the all seems fine in February.  It may be snowing in Boston, but we have lots of "indoor sunshine" at Holy Family.

In Honor of Our Deceased

For November's meeting, Deacon Brian led us in a Rosary to honor de deceased members of the St. Bernard Fraternity.  For those who may have missed it, two members of our fraternity passed this year:  Joyce Maxim and Fred Pierce.  Click on those links to read more about them.

It was nice to be back in the sanctuary praying together. 

October - Back in the Hall!

 Praise be to God that the effect of the pandemic continue to subside.  Our September meeting was held back in the hall of Holy Family.  It was wonderful to see to many Franciscan brothers and sisters in person.

August Indoor (Outdoor) Picnic

 This year's indoor picnic was actually held outdoors.  The council was confused about the date this year because the second Sunday felt like it came to early in the month.  Thus, we postponed the meeting for a week, which allowed us to gather on the feast of the Immaculate Conception (August 15).  We did not cook as we usually do, but invited others to bring their own lunch (BYOL) while the fraternity provided beverages and ice cream.  In the shade, the weather was very pleasant.  Even better was sharing much needed social time with brothers and sisters.  I only with a few more had come -- there was a lot of leftover ice cream.

May Meeting

We are still continuing to meet outside under the shade tree on the south side of the property.  We even have a Zoom meeting set up for others to join in since as of today our in-person numbers are still scarce.  Still we are thankful for those who are here!

October 3 - Animal Blessings

This year, October 4, the feast of St. Francis, fell on a Sunday.  For us, that meant that Fr. Jose scheduled the annual Blessing of the Animals for the day before.  The "pandemic times" as they are, we weren't able to have our usual treats of apple cider and munchkins, but it seemed as the the animals (and their owners) enjoyed the blessing as much as they always do.

Fr. Jose began with a simple reading at the entrance to the church

A smaller crowd than usual, but still nice to see people getting out.

Our banner is hanging on a music stand in front of the table so it wouldn't blow away in the wind.
Ruth & Kathy brought dog and cat treats while Steve provided pre-packaged animal crackers.

No song sheets this year, so Steve just sang a few verses of All Creatures of Our God and King.

There was an official photographer from the Catholic Free Press, so hopefully some of the ceremony will be in the next issue.  Steve also stayed for an additional blessing for the Capilla Santisima Trinidad (Leominster Hispanic Apostolate) which followed shortly after the first one.

Your Choice - Live or Zoom

Our September meeting was once again held "under the big top" in the lower parking lot at Holy Family.  We began with some singing to celebrate feast days close to our meeting date:  The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and The Exultation of the Cross.  

We had 11 people in attendance, but spread out of course.

Our numbers included two of our deacons.

SteveS set up a tablet and we were able to include 3 other attendees via Zoom.

As we were wrapping up, Fr. Jose paid us a visit, too.

It's no picnic...

 ... but at least we're having a meeting.  So great to see all those smiling faces.

Usually August is the time for our indoor picnic, but that will have to wait a while longer.

We continue to pray for our members who are unable to be with us at this time.  We hope to see you soon.

Boy! Is it hot out!

As soldiers of Christ, we "soldier on", despite extreme summer weather.  Sitting at safe physical distances, we swapped stories about where the weather was the hottest.  But we tried to stay a little cooler under the Holy Family tent.

Easing Back to Normal

Today is Flag Day.  And more so, the feast of Corpus Christi.  It is also the second Sunday of the month, which means it's time for our monthly gathering of the St. Bernard Fraternity. However, it's been a very rough couple month with fears of corona virus and civil unrest throughout the country.  With the severe restrictions on people's movements and gatherings, it has not been possible for us to meet as a fraternity since March.  But today is a beautiful sunny day, not too hot (unless you're sitting directly in the sunlight), and it's a perfect opportunity for members of the fraternity to get together.  We did so on the lawn adjoining the lower parking lot at Holy Family of Nazareth Parish.  We only had 8 people attend, but it was still wonderful to see each other.  As you can see in the photo below we were outside and physically distanced as comply with the directives of the bishop.

We celebrated the day with a recitation of the Crown Rosary followed by some discussion about the commentary that we will be using in the coming months.  We also shared memories of recently deceased member Ron Cormier, OFS as a sort of a "good bye" from the fraternity.  At the same time we welcomed a newcomer, Patrizia, who is interested in learning more about the Secular Franciscans.  Keep well and here's hoping we get to see everyone soon.