Vol. 4 issue 8 August 2013 August 2014 The Cabrinian Newsletter of St. Frances X. Cabrini Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order of the Immaculate Conception Province of the OFM. Gatherings are on the 3rd Sunday of the month at St. Nicholas Byzantine Church in St. George Hall (in back), 1051 Robinson Ave., Barberton, at 1:30 PM See last page of this newsletter for numbers to call for more information. Visitors are always welcome. Note : The August gathering is a picnic. See pg. 4. Convivencia If you are interested in participation in a Convivencia, please talk with Pepe. Thus far Pepe has had 13 positive responses for this. Anyone who wishes to attend one of these gatherings is most welcome. Pepe will have a private, short meeting after the October gathering on forming groups and facilitators. There should be at least one professed member in each group. Faith is not a light which scatters all our darkness, but a lamp which guides our steps in the night and suffices for the journey. To those who suffer, God does not provide arguments which explain everything; rather, His response is that of an accompanying presence, a history of goodness which touches every story of suffering and opens up a ray of light. Pope Francis in Lumen Fidei 29 June 2013 Rule of Secular Franciscan Order, Chap III, Life in Fraternity, Article 25 in TAU-Daily by Kathleen White, OFS Regarding expenses necessary for the life of the fraternity and the needs of worship, of the apostolate and of charity, all the brothers and sisters should offer a contribution according to their means. Local fraternities should contribute toward the expenses of the higher fraternity councils. What do you consider to be legitimate expenses for the life of the fraternity, such as needs of worship, apostolate, charity? We do not pay the d word in fraternity (we do not collect dues )! How do you encourage your fraternity to contribute to the common fund? Do members make a contribution even when they are absent?
PAGE 2 THE CABRINIAN Eucharistic Adoration If you have an urgent need for prayer, please do two things. 1. Call Dorothy Takacs and ask her to notify the Prayer Chain. 2. Call the fraternity member(s) scheduled for Eucharistic Adoration that day. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Pepe Ventosa, OFS Mary Beth Garvin Rose Akin Judith Hoyt, OFS Richard Russelo, OFS Mary Lou Swartz, OFS Eileen Dunlap Maria Elena Meza, OFS Roberto Meza, OFS Larry McNutt, OFS Debbie Ventosa, OFS Bill Marshall Ruth Older, OFS Dorothy Takacs, OFS Joanne Angletti, OFS Deacon Fred Browne, OFS Joyce Browne, OFS Sandy Pollino, OFS Bob Burtscher, OFS Rick Dunlap Mary Tag, OFS Paul Tag, OFS Susan Kramer Mary Cate Roberts, OFS Please save this page. The telephone numbers for each of the individuals listed above will be found on the Fraternity Roster in your binder.
VOL 4, ISSUE 1 PAGE 3 Abortion Denied!!! An amazing story ROME, July 22, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Seventy individual prizes, among which are two Gold Balls and a FIFA World Player, a jumble of trophies won with the jerseys of Sporting Lisbona, Manchester United and Real Madrid. And even a string of records that require a good measure of patience for one who wants to read them all, as well as two high honors conferred by the Portuguese State. No small merit for these achievements is owed to an unknown Portuguese doctor. Small and fragile is the vulnerable body that grows day by day in the womb of a woman, but great is the noble gesture of one who carries out his work with professionalism and faith and thus succeeds in saving a human life from abortion. Back in 1984, the life that this man saved was that of Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the most prolific soccer players in terms of achievement in recent years. It was the mother herself of the star player of Real Madrid and the Portuguese national side who revealed the behind-the-scene-action in her autobiography Mother Courage, which came out last Friday in Portugal. In one of the most touching passages of the book, the woman, who is called Dolores Aveiro, recounts when she discovered she was pregnant with the child who would later become the famous Cristiano Ronaldo. At the time I was already 30 and had three children, and it seemed to me I couldn t face a new birth and enlarge the family so I turned to a doctor who, however, refused to operate on me, she explains. It was anything but a rosy picture in her home, having to feed her children Hugo, Elma and Catia Liliana, which every day became a more arduous challenge with a husband, Joser Dinis, who was unemployed (he died in 2005 an alcoholic, and with savings reduced to a minimum). However, that doctor s reluctance, and his attempt to dissuade her from aborting, did not stop the woman s determination who tried to end her pregnancy with a home-made medicine suggested to her by a friend. She told me to drink dark, hot beer and the child would die. However, the beer did not succeed in stopping the vital energy of the beating heart in Dolores womb. A few hours after having taken the potentially murderous drink, tranquility continued to reign in the lower part of her abdomen, a sign of the ineffectiveness of the home-made medicine. Little by little the woman already accustomed to nursing, diapers and night crying decided to have her fourth child. If it s God s will that this child be born, so be it, was her profound thought. On February 5, 1985, in a city of the Selvagge Island, a small archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean closer to the African coast than the Portuguese, Cristiano Ronaldo was born, a strong and healthy baby, who saw the light of day in an anonymous place and who would become famous throughout the world for his exceptional soccer talent. This is a rather delicate, behind-the-scenes story, which his mother decided to publish after being authorized by her son Cristiano, who today even has the strength to joke about it: See, mother, you wanted to abort me and now it is I who hold the purse strings at home, and to think that the temptation to end the pregnancy stemmed in fact from economic difficulties. If that doctor had not been faithful to his oath and therefore, firm in his opposition to abortion, today the soccer world would have one star less in its firmament. And to look at the firmament, we know, we must look up. This is why conscientious objection is always a gesture that looks on high.
PAGE 4 THE CABRINIAN A Pilgrimage Trip in September Put your travelling shoes on! There will be a fraternity trip to the wonderful University of Steubenville on Saturday 13 September 2014. As soon as all of the details are settled more (time, car-pools) information will be shared with you via this newsletter. Richard Russello, a member of our fraternity who lives in that area, will be able to show us around the campus. Of course we will be able to visit the replica of the Portiuncula and pay a visit to the bookstore. We will also be given a tour of the new friary for the Third Order Regular Friars. This sounds like it will be a great trip. Fr Vit travels from Youngstown to be with us for our fraternity gatherings. To make things a bit easier for him for one month, we are planning to travel to Youngstown, to Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Shrine for a Day of Recollection our September gathering. More information will be shared as the details are worked out, such as time. Car pools will be arranged if you need a ride. St. Frances Cabrini Annual Retreat Pepe has been very busy with planning the Annual St. Frances Cabrini Fraternity Retreat. This will beheld from 13-15 March 2015 at the White Pines Campus in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, as in past years. The cost is an extremely reasonable $100.00. We are very blessed to be able to have Fr. Joe Tuscan, OFM Cap. as the Retreat Master More information will be shared closer to the date. Annual Fraternity Picnic It is time for our Annual Summer Picnic. It will be on 17 August 2014 from 1 PM to 3 PM. This year it will be held at St. Francis de Sales Parish pavilion. The Church is located at 4009 Manchester Rd. To reach the pavilion take the drive that goes behind the school, and in front of the Church. The picnic area will be obvious. Thank you, Kenny, for securing this facility for the fraternity s picnic. Other members of our Regional Cluster have been invited to attend this picnic. In the past we have had a good response. It is a wonderful opportunity to get to know members of other fraternities. They are a part of our Franciscan Family. If you have friends or relatives you would like to bring the more the merrier. During the July gathering Debbie started a list of who will bring various things needed for the picnic. There was a great response. Bill will bring the chicken and it sounds like we will be have some wonderful side dishes and desserts.
VOL 4 ISSUE 1 PAGE 5 We may know with certainty that nothing belongs to us but our vices and sins. St, Francis of Assisi Food Pantry Offerings Deanna & Pat Hurley will take our gifts to Visitation of Mary Parish at Annunciation Church in Akron. Everything is always needed there, including food, toiletries and personal items. Please bring your donations to the picnic. This letter was sent to Deacon Tom Bello, OFS, our National Fraternity Minister, via the Internet. The writer did not sign her name. Tom wrote Through the plea and example [letter below] of a Regional Minister who has asked to remain anonymous, working under the principle of do good and disappear, please join together, as her local fraternities are doing in her entire Region, in a nationwide effort to put this world s recent turmoil more in the Lord s hands by our concerted prayer and penance over three days starting this Friday August 1st. The dates are now past, but the need is still there, and we can still respond to this letter. It was strongly suggested we do some penance every Friday, especially with the intentions as below. Peace to your heart, dear brother, I am sure, like me, you have been following the news from ISIS, Syria and the Middle East. ISIS has cleansed Mosul, Iraq of Christians who have refused to pay a tax, or covert either by allowing them to leave with only the shirts on their backs or by killing them by various means. According to Vatican Radio, a Franciscan site was bombed in Syria. Israel and Pakistan continue to lob rockets, bombs and gunfire at each other. It occurs to me that although none of us can travel to these areas of the world, we are stronger together in prayer. I have asked the members of our Region to fast and pray each Friday for the intention of peace and reconciliation in these persecuted regions. One Region united in pray is fine; a nation of Regions united in prayer would certainly be more powerful. Would you consider asking our sisters and brothers throughout the United States to form a united front of prayer for our persecuted sisters and brothers in these valence ridden areas. Recognizing that fasting can take many forms, particularly since many of our members are elderly or on medication which prohibits them from fasting from food, we could encourage time spent in prayer versus time spent on the internet or in front of a television. As we know, more things are wrought through prayer than this world dreams of. As Secular Franciscans, can we do no less? Thank you for your consideration of this request. Tom Bello wrote in response [to us] If someone asks you Why are you doing this? you might answer, We are all just one airplane trip away. If someone then asks, One airplane trip away from what? you might answer, in your own words, something like: We are all just one airplane trip away from being cleansed of our Christianity in Mosul, Iraq, and other places in the world. We are all just one airplane trip away from being subject to unbelievable violence in Syria or Honduras or Gaza or many other parts of world. We are all just one airplane trip away from being in the path of the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia and other countries. We are all just one airplane trip away simply from being murdered as we fly like the passengers on Malaysian Flights 370 or 17. One airplane trip away. We read and hear of children being aborted; we read and hear of children dying from hunger, preventable diseases, abuse, violence and drugs; we read about hear of homeless children at our borders and in our cities. Let us all pray and strive to produce worthy fruits of penance. As Secular Franciscan can we do less?
PAGE 6 August Anniversaries August Birthdays THE CABRINIAN Deanna Hurley, OFS Pat Hurley, OFS Ruth Older, OFS Carol Perrine, OFS Mary Wagner, OFS Michelle Lenehan, OFS 14 years 13 years 9 years 19 years 9 years 9 years Dorothy Takacs, OFS 8/2 Debbie Ventosa, OFS 8/6 Dick Bilotto 8/23 Wishing each of you a very Joyous, and Happy Birthday. Address Change Please make the following correction to your fraternity roster in your binder. Mary & Paul Tag have a new address: 1133C Redwood Blvd., Hudson, OH 44236. Their phone number is unchanged. If you have any changes in address and/or telephone number please notify Elizabeth so the roster may be updates and the information shared with others in the fraternity. Shut-ins Thank you to those who visit with members who aren t able to attend fraternity gatherings. They are still members of the fraternity. If you are not able to visit with those who are ill or homebound, please keep them in your prayers. Thinking of You cards, and when appropriate, birthday cards are one way of caring for them. Dorothy Takacs is wonderful at contacting members of the fraternity to let them know when prayers are needed. Thank you for managing the Prayer Chain. Friendly Reminders Our regular Fraternity gatherings begin promptly at 1:30 PM. The editor was very impressed at the July gathering when everyone was on time and prepared. It was wonderful. Please bring all the necessary materials, such as Liturgy of the Hours and the Franciscan Ritual books, along with the folder of Fraternity Statutes and the Constitution and Statutes of the OFS. Again, members were well prepared. Cancelled stamps, trimmed if possible. This helps support an order of Franciscan Sisters. This is a cost-free (other than a bit of time) apostolate for the fraternity. The editor will gratefully accept short articles for the fraternity newsletter. If you have a Franciscan saint for the year please consider writing a short article for The Cabrinian. Check your binder contains the list of the various apostolates in the fraternity to know when you are scheduled for something, such as the Little Portion, Stand for Life, et cetera. This helps you to plan ahead. If you cannot fulfill your commitment please try to find another member who will be able to take your place.