Join us for prayer on World Aids Day,

Tuesday, December 1, 5:30PM.
(in person and on livestream)

On this day, we remember all who have died from HIV and AIDS and those who continue to be affected. We also take this day to raise awareness and recommit to a faithful and dedicated response.

Come and worship with us.

All are welcome!

Join Father Michael Reyes as he walks us through the steps to make your very own advent wreath.
On Saturday, November 28th at 2:30pm

We will be posting a list of supplies very soon, so you can be well-prepared. In addition, the live video will stay up on our website and Facebook. If you aren’t available that day, stop back another time to join in the fun.

HISTORY OF ADVENT WREATHS
The word “Advent” is from the Latin word “adventus”, meaning arrival or coming. The Advent season is a four-week journey to the Christmas event and is a time of quiet growth, eager preparation and joyful anticipation. The Advent wreath itself is an enduring celebration of hope. In olden days, when snowy roads became impassable, farmers would bring their wooden wheels inside and hang them up to keep them from warping. Some people even decorated them with greens or lights as a prayer of hope that the dark winter would soon become a brilliant spring.

MEANING IN ADVENT WREATHS
Our modern Advent wreath is still a symbol of hope, rich with Christian meaning:

• CIRCLE – We use a circle wreath that has no beginning and no end to remind us of God’s unending presence – God was, is and always will be. As a symbol of eternity, we are also reminded that there is no end to God’s love for us and no darkness that God’s light cannot penetrate.
• EVERGREENS – the wreath circle is covered with branches from an evergreen tree that remind us that all life comes from God and that even in the cold grips of winter, life survives in unexpected places.
• CANDLES – adorn the wreath and represent the light of Christ, who said “I am the Light of the World” and came to bring God’s light to all of us.
• COLORS – The traditional colors for Advent candles are purple or blue, which represent both penitence and the kingship of Christ. A pink/rose candle for the third week of Advent to represent joy (Gaudete Sunday). The optional large white candle in the middle is the Christ Candle and represents purity.

Below are three different options for wreaths for you to choose from.  Fr. Michael Reyes will demonstrate all three:

Advent: Hope and Healing… Small Scripture Sharing Groups

Advent begins a new liturgical year full of possibilities to deepen our spiritual outlook and intimacy with God. The season encourages us to awaken new hope in God’s plan and promises. Advent can be a season of healing through profound appreciation that the Christ Child longs to be born once again in us. The Savior arrives to free, heal, and deliver us. His coming is personal.

We invite you to journey with the Friars throughout this Advent season by delving deeper into the prophetic texts from the Sunday’s in Advent. This year, we have several schedule options via zoom, to aid in making prayerful introspection a priority in your life this Advent and beyond.

Schedule options for 2020 Advent Small Groups:

• Tuesday Evenings, beginning Dec. 1st         |   7:00-8:00 p.m.
            (to meet the demand there will be two, Tuesday evening groups)
• Wednesday Midday, beginning Dec. 2nd    |   12:30–1:30 p.m.
• Wednesday Evenings, beginning Dec. 2nd |   7:00-8:00 p.m.
            (This group is now full.  Please chose another option)
• Saturday Mornings, beginning Nov. 28th    |   9:30-10:30 a.m.
            (Due to lack of demand for this time, this option has been moved to a second Tuesday evening group)

All Sessions are conducted via zoom. Once your registration is confirmed, you will receive an email with a personalized link to the zoom session.

We ask that links not be shared.

To register for a group, please fill out the form below.  Registration cut-off date:  November 30th.

The UGNAYAN Filipino Ministry is hosting An Advent Afternoon of Prayer with Fr. Michael Reyes, OFM.

With the advent season coming up,  this event gives us an opportunity to see his presentation, pray with the community, meditate quietly and to join the rest of the parish community to celebrate mass at 5:00 pm.

The event is FREE but you must register to attend as we have a limited number of seats.

To register go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-advent-afternoon-of-prayer-tickets-126468200793?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=escb&utm-source=cp&utm-term=listing

The Church of St. Francis of Assisi will be holding a special liturgy for people affected by suicide. This will take place on Saturday, November 21, 2020, at 6pm.

This liturgy is for anyone that may have been affected by suicide – those of all faiths or none, you are welcome.

People of all races, ethnicities, social classes and gender take their lives. At times there are warning signs while other times there are not. But no matter what, nothing can prepare us for the loss of a beloved family member or friend from suicide. It leaves us with so many questions as well as feelings of guilt and loss. While we will never fully know why a person ends his or her life, we can turn to prayer for comfort. Through prayer we can voice our pain, loss, anger and confusion. In prayer, we must also remember to lift up those who battle depression, isolation and hopelessness. Everyone is fighting a battle of their own, some are visible and others are not, let us come together and pray with one another.

If you would like to have someone remembered who has been affected by suicide we will speak their names during our prayer of the faithful at this Mass.  Please feel free to fill out the form below with their first name.

All are welcome.

Join us for a Week of Prayer for Our Nation

Vespers will be celebrated at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi as we pray about the issues facing our nation and our world and our responsibilities as followers of Jesus as we prepare to vote.

Monday, October 26th to Friday, October 30th
at 6:00 PM
in the Upper Church and on Livestream

As the election approaches we seek to better understand the issues and concerns that confront our city, our nation and our world, and how the Gospel compels us to respond as faithful citizens in our community.

The livestream will be available on this page below, at St. Francis Live, and on our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/stfrancisnyc.

The St. Francis Bereavement Ministry offers an opportunity for the bereaved to connect with others who grieve, and to seek a path of healing as they come to terms with their loss.

A Bereavement Support Group will meet on six Tuesdays from

Tuesday, October 27th to December 15
from 6 to 7:30 pm in the lower church
Social distancing measures in effect:  Please wear a mask

Please call Fr. Brian Smail, O.F.M. at 212-736-8500, Ext. 204 to inquire.

Interested persons should be at least three months into the grieving process. Pre-registration is required.

Supporting You When Your Employment Status Changes

We here at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi recognize that many people have encountered significant changes in their job status, and that those changes may be temporary or perhaps permanent.

To accompany them during this time, SFA is hosting online (Zoom) Unemployed Together small groups, which are support groups led by two co-facilitators over a period of six (6) weeks.  For parishioners who have faced significant changes to their work status, these groups can provide the opportunity to gather in small groups of 6-8, and process these changes and feelings of uncertainty in a safe, comfortable, and faith-filled environment.

Our small groups will begin in the fall of 2020. Our facilitators are Meredith Augustin, who holds a MS degree in Rehabilitation Counseling and Edward Trochimczuk, who has done extensive work in Human Resources. As a framework for our sessions, we’ll be using the Unemployed Together workbook, published by The Pastoral Center.  An initial Orientation session will last for about 1 hour.  Each of the subsequent six sessions will last 1.5 hours, and group members are asked to commit to attending all sessions. All are welcome.

If you are interested in joining this small group opportunity, please register here online:

“Racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and it corrupts the souls of those who harbor racist or prejudicial thoughts.”

– United States Council of Catholic Bishops

Join parishioners from Franciscan parishes in Boston, New York, and New Jersey in a six-week long Zoom conference to educate ourselves and discuss ways to recognize our privilege, confront racism, and enact change in our society as faithful Catholics in the world.

This program is open to anyone 18 years and up.
This is a free event.
Pre-registration is required.

The group meets  on
Thursdays from 7 to 8 p.m.
from Oct. 15 to Nov. 19.

Please email Maria Hayes at mhayes@hnp.org to join this free program.