Our daily Masses Monday through Friday are moving to the Lower Church for the summer starting Monday, July 1, 2024 and will remain in the lower church until after Labor Day.

Why do we move Mass to the lower church in the summer?

It has been our tradition for the past several years to celebrate the daily Masses Monday through Friday in the lower church to save a significant amount of money on our summer electric bills.  Cooling the upper church with air conditioning is an expensive proposition. The lower church is much less costly to cool and since the number of people who attend our daily Masses fit in the lower church, we move the Masses there.  This allows us to shut off the air conditioning in the upper church until the weekend for Saturday and Sunday Masses.  Typically, this saves the church tens of thousands of dollars in electricity over the course of the summer.  We feel this is good stewardship of your donations and it is good for the environment.

Will there be AC on during the Saturday and Sunday Masses?

Yes!  We will have a cool worship space in the upper church for Masses on the weekends when we have our largest crowds.

Can I still pray in the Upper Church?

Yes, upper church will remain open for private prayer, and it usually stays relatively cool despite the AC being off, since there are not large numbers of people entering and leaving.

Can I help with St. Francis’ summer electric bill?

Actually, yes please, we could use the help!  All of us know the crunch of additional electric bills in the summer. The church is no different except we have a huge open space to cool, and it is expensive.  If you would like to make an additional special donation to help offset the summer electric bills it would be a big help and we would greatly appreciate it. We try hard to keep our church open for prayer, keep it clean, well maintained and welcoming.  Your donation helps us continue to keep this house of prayer open and accessible… and cool!

Donate HERE.

Charles De Foucauld – Saint of the Sahara

This course explores the spiritual writings and biography of this newer saint. His fascinating life took him from rich beginnings to a radical conversion and included many roles along the way including military man, Trappist monk, hermit, priest, geographer, and ethnographer. His travels eventually took him to Tamanrasset in the Sahara where he lived amongst the Tuaregs. He was eventually murdered there. He

wrote books, dictionaries, poetry, letters, spiritual notebooks and rules for a new community. He converted no one, had no companion, but after his death his vision flourished into such communities as the Little Brothers of Jesus, centered around the spiritual life at Nazareth, and his concept of becoming a universal brother to all.

Instructor: Mary J. Gennuso, Ph.D.
Saturday, March 16
1:00 – 4:00 pm
ZOOM Only (this is a change from what was originally posted.)

Fee: $30.00

On August 15th the Church around the world, both Catholic and Orthodox celebrate Mary’s entrance into eternal life in heaven.

We will celebrate the feast at the 5:30 PM Mass on Monday, August 14th andd at the 7:30 AM, 12:00 PM and 5:30 PM Masses on Tuesday, August 15th.

Mary had said yes to the Father’s call. She enjoyed all of the joys and blessings that came with the mission God gave her and she endured all of the hardships and sadness that it also brought her.  When her life’s journey was complete, like all of the saints, she was granted a share in the fullness of her son Jesus’ victory over death.

Mary is the Mother of God. She is also a devoted disciple. She is a prophet and a faithful servant of God. Her prophetic words still echo through history and inspire believers in each generation:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour
for he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Due to lack of registrations our Priest Days of Reflection have been cancelled for 2023.
For more information or to find out about potential future Priest Days please contact Fr. Michael Carnevale, OFM at Carnevale1@me.com

THE CHURCH OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI invites you to
A MORNING OF RECOLLECTION FOR PRIESTS
Mondays
12 / 5 • 2 / 27 • 5 / 1
9: 45am – 12:00 pm
(coffee and pastries & lunch provided)
San Damiano Hall
129 W 31 Street • NYC

CANCELLED.
We apologize for the inconvenience however the Dec. 5th priest reflection has been cancelled. Please join us for the February and May reflections.

Kevin Mullen, OFM
December 5, 2022

Fr. Mullen has served as the 16th Provincial Minister of the Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province, the largest province of the Order of Friars Minor in the U.S., since 2014. A native of Paterson, N.J., Fr. Mullen’s pastoral ministry includes nine years at parishes in Bergen County, N.J., as pastor and parochial vicar, and nine years as rector and guardian at St. Anthony Shrine in Boston, Mass. During his 46 years as a Franciscan friar, Fr. Mullen has held several administrative and leadership positions for the Province, Order of Friars Minor, and Franciscan institutions of higher education. He holds a doctorate degree in moral theology from Catholic University of America in Washington, and a master’s in divinity from Washington Theological Union.

CANCELLED.
We apologize for the inconvenience however our priest reflection days have been cancelled for 2023.

Kenneth Himes, OFM
February 27, 2023

Kenneth Himes, OFM is a professor of theology at Boston College. His research and writing focus on ethical issues in war and peacebuilding, the development of Catholic social teaching, and the role of religion in American public life, as well as fundamental moral theology. He is a past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America and the editor of Modern Catholic Social Teaching (Georgetown University Press).

CANCELLED.
We apologize for the inconvenience however our priest reflection days have been cancelled for 2023.

Dan Horan, OFM
May 1, 2023

Daniel P. Horan, OFM is the Director of the Center for Spirituality and Professor of Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Theology at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN. He previously held the Duns Scotus Chair of Spirituality at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He is a columnist for National Catholic Reporter and the author of fourteen books including the award-winning Catholicity and Emerging Personhood: A Contemporary Theological Anthropology (2019) and The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton: A New Look at  the Spiritual Influence on his Life, Thought, and Writing (2014).

Lenten Day of Reflection:  Date to be determined.

Check back here in the coming weeks for details

SAVE THE DATE:  April 2, 2022 for the Symposium on Catholic Social teaching

The Keynote speaker will be Dr. John Carr of Georgetown University.

Check back at this page for more details in the coming weeks.

Below is the translation of the Canticle of the Creatures which will be used for Fr. Steve Patti’s lecture: A Song of Praise for the Created World: Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Creatures” for Our Time on June 24th at 7 PM.

Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,

Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessing.

To you alone, Most High, do they belong,

And no one is worthy to mention Your name.

Praised be You, my Lord, with all your creatures,

Especially Sir Brother Sun,

Who is the day and through whom you give us light.

And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor;

And bears a likeness of you, Most High One.

Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,

In heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind,

And through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather

Through which you give sustenance to Your creatures.

Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Water

Which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,

Through whom You light the night

And he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,

Who sustains and governs us,

And who produces varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for your love

And bear infirmity and tribulation.

Blessed are those who endure in peace

For by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,

From whom no living man can escape.

Woe to those who die in mortal sin.

Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,

For the second death shall do them no harm.

Praise and bless my Lord and give him thanks

And serve him with great humility.

The friars and staff send out our heartfelt greetings and warmest wishes for a Very Merry Christmas to all of our parishioners, friends and visitors.

We know that this Christmas is unlike any Christmas any of us have ever experienced.  People in our community, country and around the world are suffering due to the pandemic raging around us.  So many people have died.  So many are sick this Christmas.  So many are out of work and suffering serious economic stress and so many medical professionals, first responders and essential workers are exhausted by months of being there in harms way for the sake of the rest of us.  It is difficult to find light and joy this Christmas.

But the first Christmas was difficult too:  Mary and Joseph were far from home, alone and had no place to stay.  They did not have a lot of money. Mary had to deliver her baby in a stable and lay her little boy in a manger surrounded by farm animals.  And yet, the Angels sang at the birth of the savior.  In the midst of that darkness they announced the good news to a world in desperate need of it.

In the midst of this pandemic, maybe we can gaze again into the manger and see our God who was willing to enter this beautiful, yet often difficult, scary world.  Maybe we can take the time to remember that the Son of God leapt down from the heavens to be with us for one reason only:  He loves us that much.

Our pray this year is that God’s love, which is always with us, might fill our hearts with faith that God is with us, and with hope He will see us through and beyond this moment.

Merry Christmas!

Over the next few weeks, if you were to stroll around Prague or Budapest or Kraków, you might see curious grafitti scratched in chalk over some doorways: “20+C+M+B+20.” The families dwelling behind those doors have celebrated the Epiphany door blessing. They have gathered before the feast-day meal, probably after Mass, and the head of the family has traced the sign of the cross on the piece of chalk. Standing on a ladder, the leader traces the numbers for the new year, and the letters C M B for Christus Mansionem Benedicat, Latin for “May Christ bless this house.” The letters also point to the names that tradition has assigned to the mysterious magi, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar – although scripture tells us nothing of their number, their country, or their names.

The blessing speaks of journeys ended and journeys begun at the doorway, and prays that all journeys be as satisfying as was the magi’s. It prays that the house beyond the door have the quality of love and peace that the magi marveled at when they at last arrived in Bethlehem. In some countries where the Soviet Union tried to impose a harsh atheism, the vigor of this household custom survived all efforts to erase Christian customs. In the years of struggle, the chalked blessings were a pervasive sign of defiance, and now they are a sign of the resilience of our tradition and the fulfillment of the magi’s quest for meaning and peace.

Rev. James Field
© J. S. Paluch Co.