ly Hour ly Hour Pope Francis Canonizes John Paul II John XXIII

Franciscan
brothers
of Peace
Brother Michael,
pray for us!
Newsmagazine A.D. 2014 Volume 28 / 2nd Edition
S. Ioannes PP. XXIII — S. Ioannes Paulus PP. II
Ora Pro Nobis
Pope Francis
Canonizes
John Paul II
and
John XXIII
Brothers travel to Rome
for Canonizations in
Saint Peter’s Square
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Devoted to the Gospel of Life
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Franciscan Brothers of Peace Newsmagazine
Brotherhood
Update
by Brother Paul, Guardian Overall
Institute on Religious Life
On April 25 – 27, 2014 Brother Pio, Brother
James and Brother Bonaventure traveled
to the University of St. Mary of the Lake in
Mundelein, IL for the annual gathering of the
Institute on Religious Life. The Institute on
Religious Life was celebrating their 40th anniversary with gratitude and hope. More than
350 religious women and men attend this
event each year and we are very grateful to
be affiliated with this wonderful organization.
2014 Nat’l Right to Life Convention
The Brothers will be presenting several
workshops on some of the various life issues
at the 2014 National Right to Life Convention
which will be held in Louisville, Kentucky,
from June 26 – 28, 2014. Depending on funds
available some of the Brothers may be taking
a road trip to attend the event. We will keep
you posted.
Announcing St. Crispin’s Friary on
St. Paul’s East Side
As mentioned in our newsmagazine in previous issues, our intention to found a new friary
has now become a reality. We have rented
a suitable home on the East Side of St. Paul
and three brothers will be assigned there effective June 30, 2014. Please keep this new
endeavor in your prayers.
Brothers’ Newest Heavenly Patron
Having had the privilege of meeting now Saint
John Paul II on numerous occasions since
our founding by Br. Michael Gaworski, fbp, the
Brothers sent a small delegation to Rome for
his canonization in April. Story on following pages…
Donations Are Always Appreciated
Thank you all so much for remembering to donate food items to our emergency food shelf
which is always in great need during the summer months. Also, your charitable donations
are also urgently needed during these warmer
days as well. May God bless and reward you
for your kind generosity!
Mr. James King
“Eternal Rest Grant Unto Him O Lord”
Br. Michael met John Paul II in 1989.
Catholic Karen Apostolate
Our outreach apostolate to the Catholic Karen
community has a very active summer planned
filled with youth retreats, camps, and other
various activities. Please keep this special
apostolate in your prayers as it continues to
grow.
Please pray for the repose of the soul of
Brother Pio’s father, James King, who
died on March 19, 2014. May his soul
rest in eternal peace.
Other Apostolates
All our apostolates are in full operation. We
continue to house international victims of
torture, operate an emergency food shelf,
pray at various abortion clinics, visit the sick,
and strive to be a visible presence of Christ’s
peace in our world today.
www.brothersofpeace.org
sanctuary and prayer. They also visited the
mountain town of Greccio, the place where
Saint Francis created the first Nativity crèche,
now common in almost every church and
home during the Christmas season.
Just as Saint Francis did, the Brothers took a
boat across Lake Trasimeno to Isola Maggiore,
a little island rock with Franciscan history.
Only seventeen people reside on this tiny
island with many little churches. Legend has
it when Saint Francis arrived at the beach, he
knelt on a rock there and where his knees and
elbows were they left an imprint. We found
the rock and Brother Seraphim gave us a live
demonstration (photo at right).
It would be impossible for the Brothers to tell
the full story of this wonderful pilgrimage to
Assisi. However, the result has been one of
spiritual renewal and a time of great grace.
Each of the Brothers have also shared how
inspiring it was to see and be at the place of
our Franciscan roots and experience an ever
more strong commitment to our vocation as
Franciscan Brothers of Peace.
In the words of Saint Francis, we wish you all
“Pace e Bene!” Pax et Bonum! Peace and All
Good!
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Franciscan Brothers of Peace Newsmagazine
A Pilgrimage
to
Assisi
through which Christ spoke to Saint Francis,
is also lovingly preserved by Saint Clare’s
sisters in a side chapel in her basilica. While
at the Basilica of Saint Clare the Brothers were
invited into the cloister area to visit with one
of the Poor Clare nuns. This sister had been
at the Poor Clare Monastery for 38 years and
was originally from Canada. It was a delightful and insightful visit.
The Brothers walked down the mountainside
from the Basilica of Saint Clare to the small
church and monastery of San Damiano and
visited the place where the original home of
the San Damiano crucifix was located, and
where Saint Clare and her earliest sisters lived
and where she eventually died.
n honor of Brother Seraphim’s lifetime
profession as a Franciscan Brother of Peace
on October 22, 2013, Brother Seraphim,
Brother Conrad, and Brother Paul travelled
to Rome for the canonizations of Saint John
XXIII and Saint John Paul II.
I
Near Assisi the Brothers climbed to the caves
of Mount Subasio where Saint Francis wrote
the Rule for his order. They were also able to
visit the large Church of Saint Mary of the
Angels on the lower plain below the historic
city — built over the small, original chapel of
the same name, also known as the Portiuncula. This was the place where Saint Francis
and his earliest companions began their life
together.
While in Italy the Brothers made a pilgrimage
to Assisi, the birthplace of Saint Francis and
Saint Clare. The Brothers stayed in a convent
guesthouse located directly in front of the
Basilica of Saint Francis, and were able to pray
and attend Holy Mass at the tomb of Saint
Francis each day while in Assisi.
Centuries later, a band of Spanish Franciscan
missionaries built a small chapel on a plain in
southern California, and named it after this
very same chapel in Assisi which in Spanish is
called Santa Maria De Los Angeles. Yes, one of
America’s best known cities came from such
humble beginings!
The Brothers also made frequent visits to the
Basilica of Saint Clare and also prayed at her
tomb located in the crypt level of the Basilica.
The original San Damiano crucifix, the icon
The Brothers took a day trip to Mount LaVerna, the place where Saint Francis received
the Holy Stigmata, the very wounds of Christ
in his own body. It is now a great place of
www.brothersofpeace.org
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Brothers Travel to Rome for Canonizations
of Ss. John XXIII & John Paul II
Franciscan Brothers of Peace Have Special Devotion to St. John Paul II
T
rough the kindness of several benefactors and in thanksgiving for
Brother Seraphim’s lifetime profession last October 22, Brother
Paul, Brother Conrad and Brother Seraphim were able to travel to
Rome and attend the canonizations of Saint John XXIII and Saint John
Paul II. The two new saints in the Church were canonized by Pope
Francis, with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI present, on Divine Mercy
Sunday, April 27, 2014, in Saint Peter’s Square.
The Franciscan Brothers of Peace have had a special devotion to
Saint John Paul II since his passing from earth into eternal life on April
2, 2005. Since his death the Brothers have invoked Saint John Paul II’s
intercession daily in the chanting of compline (night prayer.)
Saint John Paul II will be forever remembered in Church history
as the great defender of life, promulgating and truly embracing the
Gospel of Life. For us, the promotion of the Gospel of Life is a central
charism. It defines what our Brotherhood is about.
The Franciscan Brothers of Peace were blessed to have three private audiences with the new saint, John Paul II, during his papacy. At
each audience the Brothers were given the opportunity to speak with
the Pope face to face.
Brother Michael Gaworski, fbp, our beloved late founder, met with
the Holy Father at the Vatican in May of 1989 and presented him with
our simple rule of life at that time. When Brother Michael became ill
and suffered a severe brain injury in the spring of 1991, Brother Paul
O’Donnell, fbp, who was then elected Guardian of the Franciscan
Brothers of Peace, traveled to Rome with several of the Brothers. The
Brothers, including Brother Dominic Michael Hart, fbp, met with John
Paul II in June of 1991. The Holy Father prayed with the Brothers and
for Brother Michael. In April of 2001, Brother Paul and Brother Conrad had the opportunity to meet with Pope John Paul II while attending a meeting in nearby Assisi.
“Words cannot express what I felt at those meetings with the Holy
Father” said Brother Paul. “I remember every detail. I knew one day
he would be canonized a saint. Now, to be here in Rome when he has
been canonized a saint is one of the high points of my life.”
Brother Seraphim Wirth, fbp, has a much different story about the
impact of Saint John Paul II than the other Brothers. He was born in
1978 in the first year of John Paul II’s papacy. Although raised Catholic, as a young adult Brother Seraphim drifted away from the Church.
He experienced a religious conversion and vocational calling while
watching coverage of John Paul’s death, his funeral and surrounding
events. Brother Seraphim then became deeply influenced by the writings of Pope John Paul II and his wholehearted service to the Church.
Then on October 22, 2013, the Feast of Blessed John Paul II, Brother
Seraphim professed his final vows of poverty, chastity and obedience
as a Franciscan Brother of Peace.
When a Brother in our community professes lifetime vows he is
permitted to go on a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi, the birthplace of
the Franciscan Order. Brother Seraphim and Brother Paul independently decided that when the date for the then–Blessed John Paul II’s
canonization was announced, that would be the time to make such
a pilgrimage to Rome. Together they invited Brother Conrad to join
them.
Due to health reasons Brother Conrad had to participate in nearby
churches holding prayer vigils for those to be canonized on Sunday
and observe it on television at the convent where we were staying.
Brother Paul and Brother Seraphim lined up on the Via Della
Conciliazione leading to St. Peter’s at 10:00 p.m. Saturday night, twelve
hours before the canonization Mass was to begin, joined by hundreds
of thousands of other pilgrims. Due to the crowds there was no place
to sit, so with the exception of a few minutes, they stood for twelve
hours pushed up against other pilgrims. Then the three–hour canonizations Mass began, during which they stood for another three hours.
They ultimately made it to the edge of Saint Peter’s Square where they
watched the liturgy take place on a giant jumbo–tron screen. The two
Brothers agreed to not separate on this journey which also meant not
only standing but also no bathroom breaks, lest they be separated by
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Franciscan Brothers of Peace Newsmagazine
Reliquaries containing the Relics of Ss. John XXIII (left),
and John Paul II (right).
S. Ioannes Paulus PP. II —
Ora Pr
Basilica and pray at the tombs of Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul
II. The Brothers also attended the Holy Father’s general public audience
on April 30, 2014 at the Vatican. Of course they began standing in line
at 6:30 a.m. for the 10:30 a.m. event! Pope Francis surprised everyone
when he came out in his Pope–Mobile at 10:05 and spent twenty minutes greeting the pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square.
Many people have speculated about the numbers of pilgrims who
attended this historic event in the Church. Based on his experience
of being in large crowds such as the annual March for Life held in the
United States, Brother Paul stated, “Crowd size was about one million.” Brother Seraphim said, “There were a whole lot of people there,
a whole lot of people!” Yes, people from all over the world came to
celebrate the lives of these two new saints in the Church.
The Brothers felt so very blessed to be able to attend this historic
and faith–filled event in the Church. In the words of Pope Francis in
referring to the two new saints in the Church stated, ‘May both them
teach us not to be scandalized by the wounds of Christ and enter ever
more deeply into the mystery of divine mercy.” — Amen.
The Brothers met with H.E. Cardinal Raymond Burke.
Continued…
the huge crowds. Brother Seraphim laughingly stated, “I can’t believe
we did that! God gave us the grace and it was so worth it to be there!”
Brother Paul said that as the canonizations in Saint Peter’s Square
began he was moved to tears as Pope Francis came out and embraced
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Also, Brother Paul was deeply moved
when the man who was a hero to him — the champion for life, a Pope
he had the privilege to meet — was announced to the world as a saint.
After the canonizations Mass and ceremony, several days later the
Brothers again waited in very long lines to be able to enter Saint Peter’s
The tomb of St. John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica.
www.brothersofpeace.org
— S. Ioannes PP. XXIII
ro Nobis
A
Homily of Pope Francis for the
Canonizations Mass
t the heart of this Sunday, which concludes the Octave of Easter and
which Saint John Paul II wished to dedicate to Divine Mercy, are
the glorious wounds of the risen Jesus.
He had already shown those wounds when he first appeared to
the Apostles on the very evening of that day following the Sabbath,
the day of the resurrection. But, as we have heard, Thomas was not
there that evening, and when the others told him that they had seen
the Lord, he replied that unless he himself saw and touched those
wounds, he would not believe. A week later, Jesus appeared once more
to the disciples gathered in the Upper Room. Thomas was also present;
Jesus turned to him and told him to touch his wounds. Whereupon
that man, so straightforward and accustomed to testing everything
personally, knelt before Jesus with the words: “My Lord and my God!”
(Jn 20:28).
The wounds of Jesus are a scandal, a stumbling block for faith,
yet they are also the test of faith. That is why on the body of the risen
Christ the wounds never pass away: they remain, for those wounds are
the enduring sign of God’s love for us. They are essential for believing
in God. Not for believing that God exists, but for believing that God
is love, mercy and faithfulness. Saint Peter, quoting Isaiah, writes to
Christians: “by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet 2:24, cf. Is
53:5).
Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II were not afraid to look
upon the wounds of Jesus, to touch his torn hands and his pierced
side. They were not ashamed of the flesh of Christ, they were not
scandalized by him, by his cross; they did not despise the flesh of
their brother (cf. Is 58:7), because they saw Jesus in every person who
suffers and struggles. These were two men of courage, filled with the
parrhesia of the Holy Spirit, and they bore witness before the Church
and the world to God’s goodness and mercy.
They were priests, and bishops and popes of the twentieth century.
They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not
overwhelmed by them. For them, God was more powerful; faith was
more powerful — faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man and the
Lord of history; the mercy of God, shown by those five wounds, was
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Pope Francis greets the faithful prior to the Mass.
more powerful; and more powerful too was the closeness of Mary our
Mother.
In these two men, who looked upon the wounds of Christ and bore
witness to his mercy, there dwelt a living hope and an indescribable
and glorious joy (1 Pet 1:3,8). The hope and the joy which the risen
Christ bestows on his disciples, the hope and the joy which nothing
and no one can take from them. The hope and joy of Easter, forged in
the crucible of self–denial, self–emptying, utter identification with sinners, even to the point of disgust at the bitterness of that chalice. Such
were the hope and the joy which these two holy popes had received as
a gift from the risen Lord and which they in turn bestowed in abundance upon the People of God, meriting our eternal gratitude.
This hope and this joy were palpable in the earliest community of
believers, in Jerusalem, as we have heard in the Acts of the Apostles
(cf. 2:42-47). It was a community which lived the heart of the Gospel,
love and mercy, in simplicity and fraternity.
This is also the image of the Church which the Second Vatican
Council set before us. John XXIII and John Paul II cooperated with
the Holy Spirit in renewing and updating the Church in keeping with
her pristine features, those features which the saints have given her
throughout the centuries. Let us not forget that it is the saints who give
direction and growth to the Church. In convening the Council, Saint
John XXIII showed an exquisite openness to the Holy Spirit. He let
himself be led and he was for the Church a pastor, a servant–leader,
guided by the Holy Spirit. This was his great service to the Church; for
this reason I like to think of him as the the pope of openness to the
Holy Spirit.
In his own service to the People of God, Saint John Paul II was the
pope of the family. He himself once said that he wanted to be remembered as the pope of the family. I am particularly happy to point this
out as we are in the process of journeying with families towards the
Synod on the family. It is surely a journey which, from his place in
heaven, he guides and sustains.
May these two new saints and shepherds of God’s people intercede
for the Church, so that during this two–year journey toward the Synod
she may be open to the Holy Spirit in pastoral service to the family.
May both of them teach us not to be scandalized by the wounds of
Christ and to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of divine mercy,
which always hopes and always forgives, because it always loves.
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Franciscan Brothers of Peace Newsmagazine
www.brothersofpeace.org
The Brothers Invite You to Attend Their Annual
OLD-FASHIONED Barbeque!
Saturday, August 23, 2014 N 3:30 to 8:00 p.m. N Queen of Peace Friary
Everyone is Welcome!
A free–will offering is asked for the Brothers’ apostolates.
Need More Information?
Call (651) 646-8586
Rain or Shine!
Fun for the whole family!
Great food, live music and games!
Tents and indoor seating available.
Queen of Peace Friary N 1289 Lafond Avenue N Saint Paul, MN 55104 N (651) 646-8586
Ruby’s
Franciscan
Holy Hour
Beggin’ Box
Do you have a used car in good condition?
How about a couple of good used canoes?
If so, please consider a tax–deductible donation
to the Brothers!
Also, please remember our families in need by sending your donations
of both perishable and non–perishable food to the Brothers’ emergency
food shelf at Queen of Peace Friary.
Thank You and may
God Bless You for your support!
For more information, please call 651-646-8586.
Every First Friday at 7:00 p.m.
Adoration + Franciscan Crown Rosary
Chanted Compline + Benediction
Refreshments and Fellowship follow.