Regular Meeting: Sunday, Dec. 12, 2004 - St. Lucie Church, Port St. Lucie for the 11:30 am Mass (See Agenda below)

Council meeting: Saturday, Dec. 18, 2004. - Hibiscus Café, Vero Beach at 9 a.m.

Agenda and Schedule for meeting:
11:30 am -  Mass at St. Lucie Church (See map) to be concelebrated by Fr. Horgan, Pastor, Fr. Anthony Spilka

                  OFM Conv. (our previous Spiritual Asst) and Fr. Richard LaCorte SFO (our present Spiritual Asst.)

12:30 pm - Refreshments in St. Lucie Rectory

  2:00 pm - (Time Approx.)  Meeting will be called to order and will include some announcements, a short
                 formation presentation, the Liturgy of the Hours & Dismissal well before 3:00 pm

Remember in your prayers: Our member, Jerry Carey SFO, who continues to suffer from an ongoing
                 infection preventing him from attending our meetings.

From the Minister=s Desk: We are all looking forward to our December meeting and to the extraordinary hospitality of Fr. Brian Horgan, Pastor. You will be receiving individual invitations from him - please RSVP
promptly to St. Lucie Parish.  This meeting will certainly be a very beautiful Christmas gift to our fraternity.

Fraternity Apostolate: Please remember to bring non-perishable food items for St. Helen's Food Pantry to our December meeting. We will get your donations back to Vero Beach. Thanks!!

Special Christmas Request: Do you have any rosaries, medals, etc which need to be passed along to others?? Brother Festus Agyekum, a Roman Catholic religious and a member of the Legion of Mary, is trying to establish a new parish in Ghana, West Africa. He asks for rosaries, catholic books, statues of the Virgin Mary, medals and other sacramentals for use by those he serves in the "most precious name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and also our only true ever-virgin Mother Mary". Please bring whatever you can to our December meeting.

Postage and Production of this newsletter was donated by Fred Schaeffer, SFO, in lieu of a contribution to the Common Fund.

Map by Google Local®

From I-95, (exit 121) take St. Lucie West Blvd., going East, which becomes Prima Vista Blvd

From US Route 1, turn West on Prima Vista Blvd.

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The Divine Mercy Secular Franciscan Fraternity
Living The Gospel in The Spirit Of St. Francis Of Assisi
(This article appeared in the January 2004 issue of "the Disciple," Parish Newsletter of St. Helen Church, Vero Beach, Florida)

"Make me a channel of your peace," prayed St. Francis over 800 years ago - a prayer still appropriate today and echoed by people all over the world. St. Francis had the kind of charisma that drew people to him; people who wanted to live a simple life the way he did. Those first followers were men who joined the First Order of Franciscans. But the life he lived attracted women as well, beginning with St. Clare. These women became the Second Order of Franciscans also known as the Poor Clares. However, St. Francis' rule of life was so inspirational that lay people also wanted to follow it. Thus, the Third Order of Franciscans was born.

At St. Helen's, this Third Order exists under the title of the Divine Mercy Secular Franciscan Fraternity. The group first met in April of 1992, but they elected officers and named themselves a year later. St. Helen's parishioner, Helen Caldarone, has been the group's Minister for the last six years. When they first started they had about ten members, but today they have 21 professed members and 5 people who are in the discernment process. Although the group meets at St. Helen's at 2:00 p.m. the second Sunday of each month, Helen emphasized that they are not strictly attached to the parish but "belong to the church as a whole."

      Above all, these Secular Franciscans, who come from all walks of life, strive to live the gospel in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. They meet monthly to renew themselves spiritually and to study the rule devised by St. Francis. They work on improving their spirituality through vehi­cles such as prayer, study and the sacra­ments. They volunteer within the parish and community at large. They reach out to people  in need and promote family life wherever they can. According to Helen, one of the phrases they use in greeting each other is "Peace and Good."

      Becoming a member of this order is not a task to be taken lightly because, "Once you are professed, you're a member for life," said Helen. People who are interested in joining are invited to attend two or three meetings so that they can see what it's all about. If they want to go further, they have a Rite of Initiation and attend a series of formation lessons once a month for six months. After that, they become a candi­date for novitiate, a stage lasting for 18 months. If, after all of this formation, they decide to join the order, they must express this desire in writing. Their Rite of Profession is then held during a Mass at their home parish.

      At this ceremony, the newly pro­fessed receives a New Testament as a sign of the duty to live a gospel life. A Tau cross, which is the T-shaped cross of St. Francis, is also given to be worn daily as a witness to Christ. Besides continuing to attend the monthly meetings, being an example to others and participating in vol­unteer work, members are encouraged to attend daily Mass whenever possible, pray before and after every meal, pray for the sick, say the morning and evening prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours, and exam­ine their consciences daily. "It's not I had time for when I had young children at home," said Helen. However, she did mention that one of their members is a mother of five and another one is a father of young chil­dren as well. Wherever you are in your walk of life, it certainly would be considered a calling from God.

      Helen's interest in the order started after she learned  that her great grandmother was a member and was actual­ly buried in a Franciscan robe (a privilege allowed secular members). "She married an Episcopal man and converted him and his whole family," Helen said. "She was certainly an influence for me, but not the only reason I joined. St. Francis is a very, very beloved saint and I love his rule of life. Certainly this shows that he did a lot more than just talk to the birds."

If you want to find out more about the Divine Mercy Secular Franciscan Fraternity, you can visit their website at www.franciscan-sfo.org or you can call Helen Caldarone at 772-794-2404. If you're looking for more peace in your life and guidance as to how to obtain that peace, this certainly would be a worthy place to start. "Lord, make me a channel of your peace."