Letter to the Stigmatine Laity – in preparation for our meeting on Saturday, Dec. 6th, 2014

Stigmatines – St. Joseph’s Hall
554 Lexington Street
Waltham MA 02452-3097

November 24, 2014
Vietnamese Martyrs

Dear Stigmatine Lay Member,

                            On the first Saturday morning of December –i.e., December 6th – we have scheduled our regular monthly meeting.  The plan for the morning will be as follows:

9:00                 Celebration of Mass
9:40                 Coffee Break
10:00              Conference [Please try to be punctual – this time has to end at 10:40]
10:40              Discussion and end of the formal meeting
11:00             The Sacrament of Reconciliation is
available for those who request it.

As last month, we did not cover much ground – so, again, this we will try to show the Old Testament Exodus Covenant Formula in response to God’s: Thy Will be done!  Jesus coined this expression, and a variation of it appears in Mary’s response to the Angel: Let it be done to me according to Your word!

In the long history of the Catholic Church, among the saints and charisms of religious communities, this formula was adapted to changing circumstances. St. Ignatius of Loyola [Spiritual Exercises, n. 234] prayed: receive, o Lord, all my liberty… (Suscipe).  St. Charles de Foucauld was inspired to offer a Prayer of Abandonment, with his invocation beginning and ending with his addressing God, the Merciful Father.

As we have seen, the Stigmatine Founder had his own interpretation and expressions of Holy Abandonment:  in what is perhaps a deMontfort inspiration of his prayer to Mary: Buon Giorno, Madre mia!!!! – St. Gaspar Bertoni used a very familiar form of address to Mary in the light of the Immaculate Conception, that would be defined on December 8, 1854, 18 months after his death [+ June 12, 1853] upon which our reflections this year are based.  In the course of this year, we are pondering in prayer different expressions of St. Gaspar’s life of abandonment – suffering all his life for poor health, and initiatives that did not always succeed. In his darkest hour, when many men left him – in the 1840’s – always bed-ridden, he wrote his Constitutions for the Stigmatine way of life.

As we prepare for a New Advent, and for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we pray to her as the Spouse of Joseph, in the mystery of their Holy Espousals. With St. Gaspar, we thrust our cares on the Merciful Lord:

…  Please offer to God all I have to do and suffer today, in union with your merits, as well as those of your Blessed Son. I offer you and consecrate to your service all my being and whatever belongs to me, placing everything under your protection.

And may God bless you all! I hope to see you on Saturday, December 6th here at St. Joseph’s Hall.

Sincerely in the Healing Wounds of the Merciful Lord,

 Fr. Joseph Henchey, CSS
Acting Spiritual Director

ARCHBISHOP MOACYR J. VITTY, C.S.S. IS BACK AT our FATHER’S HOME

Dom Moacyr Vitti, CSS

 

National Conference of the Catholic Bishops in Brazil

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Most Rev. Moacyr J. Vitti, CSS, Archbishop of Curitiba, dies in Brazil

There passed away today, victim of a heart attack, the Archbishop of Curitiba, PR (state of Paraná), Most Rev. Moacyr José Vitti, who belonged to the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata, and was Archbishop of Curitiba since 2004.

He was born in Piracicaba, SP (state of São Paulo), on November 30, 1940. He studied Philosophy and Theology at the St. Gaspar Bertoni Institute, in Campinas, SP.  He was ordained a Stigmatine Priest in December 1967.  He was specialized in Catechism and Doctor in Dogmatic Theology by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas, in Rome.[1]

Abp. Vitti was elected bishop in November 1987, and received the Episcopal ordination in January 1988, in Americana, SP.  From 1988 to 2002, as Auxiliary Bishop of Curitiba, he was in charge of the border parishes of the city, the pastorals, social assistance, religious teaching and the Academic Pastoral of the South Region of the National Conference of the Catholic Bishops in Brazil. He was Bishop of Piracicaba, SP from 2002 to 2004, when he was transferred back to Curitiba, PR as Archbishop. In 2007 he was elected President of the South Region of the Conference of the Catholic Bishops in Brazil, position that he held until 2011.  His Episcopal motto was: “One Single Heart”.

May he rest in peace.

[1] For his Doctorate, he had as his tutor Father Joseph Henchey, CSS

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FATHER JAMES E. FLANAGAN, C.S.S. IS BACK AT OUR FATHER’S HOME

Rev. James Edward Flanagan, CSSFather James E. Flanagan, C.S.S., 90, of the Stigmatine Fathers, Waltham, MA, died at The Maristhill Nursing Facility, Waltham, MA on Sunday, June 22, 2014.

Father Flanagan was born on January 14, 1924, in Norwood, MA.  He was the son of Edward J. Flanagan (born in Govern, Scotland) and Grace (Collins), born in Sharon, MA.

He entered the Stigmatine Fathers at Waltham on September 21, 1938. He professed his first vows at Waltham on March 9, 1945. He professed his final vows as a Stigmatine Religious on March 9, 1948, at Wellesley, MA and was ordained to the Holy Priesthood at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Milford, MA on June 3, 1950, by the Bishop (later Cardinal) John Wright.

Father Flanagan served in many apostolates of the Stigmatines: Father Duenas School, Guam; Sacred Heart Church, Feeding Hills, MA; Holy Family Church, Lynn, MA; Sacred Heart Church, Waltham, MA (Pastor); Mount Carmel Church, Pittsfield, MA; St. Anthony Church, Agawam, MA; and All Saints Church, Manassas, VA (Pastor).

He also served the Stigmatine Community as Vicar Provincial and on the Finance Committee.

Rest In Peace

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Provincial Welcome

Dear Friends of the Stigmatines,

Welcome to our newly established BLOG site. Thanks to our dear friends and Lay Associates, Tereza & Vicente Lopes, we are able to communicate with you on this new level.

The Stigmatines endeavor to serve the Church through service to the Bishops of the world. Here in the United States, the Province of the Holy Spouses, Mary and Joseph, we have many ministries: parish ministry, retreat ministry, seminary formation, counseling and foreign missions. We ask you to pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send us candidates for the Stigmatine Priesthood and Religious Life.

Thank you for joining us as together we give honor and praise to our God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Sincerely,

Father Gregory J. Hoppough, C.S.S.,
Provincial Superior