Minister:  Helen Caldarone, SFO
Vice-Minister: Fred Schaeffer, SFO
Secretary: Jennie Donlin, SFO
Treasurer: Sarah Hardy, SFO
Formation Dir.: Gene Caldarone, SFO
Councillors-at-Large
    George Thomas, SFO
    Marguerite Rysdyke, SFO
Spiritual Assisitant
    Fr. Richard P. LaCorte, SFO
Webmaster & Canticle Editor
Fred Schaeffer, SFO

The Canticle
April, 2005

Divine Mercy
Secular Franciscan Fraternity
Vero Beach, Florida

 

 

www.franciscan-sfo.org

 Commissioners
Work:
Jack Solloway, SFO
Family:  Susan Solloway, SFO
Peace and Justice:
Sarah Hardy, SFO
Youth: Jim Catrambone, SFO
Ecology: Fred Schaeffer, SFO

 Formation
Assistant Director:
Donna M. Haro, SFO
Team Member: Caroline DiGennaro,  SFO
Team Member: Carmela LaMarttina SFO
Team Member: Jennie Donlin, SFO     

Regular Meeting: Sun., Apr. 10- South Rm., St. Helen’s Christian Living Ctr.,Vero Bch. 2 pm.

Council meeting:  Sat., Apr. 16 - Hibiscus Café (now re-opened) Vero Beach at 9 am.

Agenda and Schedule for meeting:  1:30 pm - Initial Formation sessions (as usual)

          2:00 - Meeting called to order.  Opening Prayer, Reports, Old/New Business.
          2:25 - Ongoing Formation: A talk on the essentials of Catholic Spirituality will be
                    given by Phyllis Shearn.  It will be an “encore” of a recent talk she gave at St.
                    Helen’s Charismatic Prayer group.   Discussion period to follow.
          3:05 - Refreshments

          3:20 - Liturgy of the Hours in the Chapel

          3:35 - Chaplet of Divine Mercy

          3:55 - Closing Prayer and Dismissal

 

Refreshment Committee for April: Pauline Pavlick, Pat Riordan - Snacks

          Peggy Rysdyke - Soda and/or fruit drinks

Remember in your prayers:

Marie Louis-Jacques whose Admission to Candidacy will be celebrated as soon as she is able to return from dental surgery in NYC;
All our fraternity members, but especially in gratitude for and in honor of the anniversary of their profession into the Secular Franciscan Order this month of Marcella Richard SFO on 4/27/80 (25 years) and Fr. Richard LaCorte SFO on 4/24/81 (24 years).  Their membership in our fraternity is a blessing and a joy!!
Pope John Paul II passed away on Saturday, April 2, 2005 in the evening (Rome). Here was a holy man, who is now joining all the Blesseds and Saints which he Beatified and Canonized during the many years he was our Pontiff, and our friend. Pope John Paul II had a beautiful way of relating to people “in person.” He was always there for others. And he told us “Do Not Be Afraid!”  Let us pray for him, and also for the Cardinals who now have to elect a new Pope. And, finally, let us pray for all Catholics in the world.

 

From the Minister’s Desk: Thank you to all of our members who have submitted their    annual “per capita” assessment.  This year it remains $35.00 and is payable by members professed on or before 12/31/04.  As you know, this amount funds the services provided by the Five Franciscan Martyrs Regional Fraternity as well as the National and International Fraternities and includes our subscriptions to TAU, the national newsletter.  If you have not yet done so, you may pay by cash or check (made out to Divine Mercy Secular Franciscan Fraternity) and give it to our Treasurer, Sarah Hardy, at your earliest convenience.

God bless you all during this Easter Season!

 

 

SAINTS AND BLESSED FOR APRIL
  Blessed Elisabetta Vendramini, III Order
  Saint Benedict the Moor, religious of I Order.
  Saint Crescentia Höss, III Order
16 Saint Bernadette Soubirous, cord-bearer St. F. 17 Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, cord-bearer  St. F.

21 Saint Conrad of Parzham, religious of I Order.

23 Blessed Giles of Assisi, religious of I Order.
24 Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, priest, martyr of I O.
25 Blessed Pedro de San Jose Betancur, III Order
27 Saint Zitta of Lucca. III Order
28 Blessed Luchesius, layman of III Order.
30 Blessed Benedict of Urbino (priest)

 

 

What next? Protocol after a Pope's death

Vatican, Apr. 02 ( © CWNews.com) - The death of a Pope-- like so many other activities as the Vatican-- is surrounded by long traditions. But some of the events that will follow the final breaths of the Holy Father were dictated by Pope John Paul II  himself, in his 1996 apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis .

The camerlengo -- in this case, Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo-- has the ritual responsibility for announcing the death of the Pontiff. The camerlengo, according to Vatican protocol, calls the deceased Pope by his Christian name three times. When there is no response, the prelate announces, "The Pope is truly dead." With those words, the pontificate is officially ended.

In his last moments, the Pope is presumably attended by doctors. But the task of a Pope's physician is officially ended at the moment of his death, and the doctor is dismissed. This step was taken after a doctor serving Pope Pius XII, Galeazzi Lisi, took photos of that Pontiff on his deathbed, with an oxygen mask still on his face. Appalled, Pope John XXIII stipulated that there must be no photographs taken of the Roman Pontiff on his deathbed-- a rule that was reaffirmed by Pope Paul VI in Pontifici Eligendo . Recognizing the opportunities brought by new technologies, John Paul II widened the ban to include any other forms of imagery, as well as recordings of the Pope's last words. Formal portraits of the deceased Pope can be taken, after appropriate preparation, only with the approval of the camerlengo, and after the Pope is laid out in his pontifical vestments.

At his death, Pope John Paul will certainly be surrounded by his valet Angelo Gugel, the 5 Polish nuns run have run his household, and his two Polish priest- secretaries, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz and Father Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki. All of these aides will be allowed to remain in their own quarters at the Vatican until the Pope's funeral; then they too will be dismissed.

The camerlengo will take control of the material affairs of the Holy See during the transition. But neither the camerlengo nor the College of Cardinals has authority to make any decisions regarding the spiritual or doctrinal affairs of the Catholic Church. The camerlengo calls the cardinals to meet in "congregations" to coordinate the Pope's funeral and arrangements for a new conclave.

The first order of business is to schedule the public exposition of the Pope's body, at which the faithful can pay their final respects. In a tradition that goes back for 600 years, Mass is celebrated for the repose of the deceased Pope's soul for 9 consecutive days: the Novemdiales before the funeral. Universi Domini Gregis specifies that the Pope's body should be prepared for burial between the 4th and 6th days after his death.

During this time, the camerlengo is also charged with the duty of destroying the Pope's official seal and the fisherman's ring that he wore. The papal seal, which is imprinted upon all formal documents during the pontificate, has always been destroyed as a guarantee that it cannot be used illicitly by someone seeking to claim the Pope's authority. These items are destroyed in the presence of cardinals who act as witnesses.

The body of John Paul II will be prepared for public veneration on the day after his death. Today, a deceased Roman Pontiff is vested much more simply than in previous generations; he will be laid out in a white cassock and surplice, chasuable, pallium, and red slippers that may be adorned with gold brocade; on his head will be a gold-colored miter. Thus vested, the Pope's body will be brought to the Vatican basilica, in a procession that will form in the Clementine hall of the apostolic palace and proceed out through the Bronze Door, through St. Peter's Square, into the basilica. The great Bronze Door, through which guests are admitted to the apostolic palace, is then closed. It will not be opened until a new Pope is elected. All traffic in and out of the apostolic palace goes through other entries.

The Pope's body will be placed on the Altar of Confession, on a simple catafalque. The faithful will be allowed to pass by in a quiet procession that is likely to continue for many hours.

All of the flags at the Vatican, and at the offices of papal nuncios throughout the world, will be a half-mast throughout the interregnum. Cardinals will dress in violet, as a sign of mourning, rather than their habitual red, until the Pope's burial. Until the new Pope is selected, all cardinals will receive the same elaborate signs of respect from the Swiss Guard that are ordinarily reserved only for the Roman Pontiff.

(Note: We opted to use the copyrighted article, above, by Catholic World News in lieu of a similar article from Vatican Information Service which would have made this newsletter too long).

This "Canticle" is mailed to all members of Divine Mercy Secular Franciscan Fraternity, in Vero Beach, Florida, and to a few key members of the Five Franciscan Martyrs Region. This issue was revised due to the death of Pope John Paul II, after it had already been placed on this website.