Visual Tour -- Franciscan Prayer Fraternity

 

Our Lady of the Angels Friary --  WELCOME to our home

 

(Because of a mix-up, you will probably see this section twice - double your pleasure)

　

As you arrive here at Our Lady of the Angels Friary, the home of the Franciscan Prayer Fraternity, you are greeted by a lovely statue of our Blessed Mother, surrounded much of the year by roses.   Behind her, the first building you see is the residence where the friars live, which also contains the chapel, the commons room, the library, the dining room and kitchen, the bedrooms, etc. Attached to the main building on the backside by a covered walk-way and deck are our 3 guest rooms. Another small building nearby has become the hermitage, and the old family guest house has become the place where our Franciscan soap is made.

 

Almost all of the buildings on the property today had been built by a family named 'Volchok' to provide a residence for themselves as well as give them space for offices and warehouses to handle the needs of 'Blessed Herbs, their herb business. In the 60^th anniversary booklet from Assumption Abbey, THE EIGHTH DAY, we read a short paragraph about the family who had lived here before the Franciscans:

 

"The Volchok family (Michael, Martha, and four youngsters) had Fr. Robert (one of the Trappists) as Spiritual Director. They built their house and workshop on a level section of our land about two miles from the Abbey. They felt called to raise their family apart from the world's turmoil. Michael developed a thriving herb business and kept extending their building."

 

The Volchok family left the area in the 90's and for a good 10 years the buildings were largely empty, used occasionally as overflow when the guest quarters at the Abbey were filled. The buildings were also used for high school retreat groups. For a time, Fr. Robert, one of the Trappist hermits, used the Guest House on the property as his hermitage.

 

The Franciscan friars settled here in the summer of 2005 to begin the Prayer Fraternity. In the final chapter of THE EIGHTH DAY, we read about the coming of the Franciscans:

 

"As part of their renewal, the Franciscans in the USA wanted to make available for their friars a prayer fraternity. Francis of Assisi would periodically leave his ministry among people to retire to a place of solitude and prayer. At Abbot Mark's invitation, they decided to remodel and move into the Volchok's buildings. A small community of friars now lives at Our Lady of the Angels Friary, and receives others for a longer or short time of spiritual renewal."

 

The Franciscans have about 70 acres of land leased from the Trappists of Assumption Abbey. In the center of the land are about 4 acres of tillable land and these buildings that you see in these pictures. Today they comprise the Franciscan Prayer Fraternity that we now wish to visit.

 

Before we go on to look at the buildings that make up the Prayer Fraternity here at Our Lady of the Angels, we can say that several members of the original core community visited 28 different potential sites all throughout the Midwest. It became a general consensus that this site was the first that met all the requirements they had looked for. Its beauty and solitude and its rustic, yet comfortable, accommodations all lend to the prayerful environment that they had hoped to have for our new Franciscan Prayer Fraternity.

 

Visual Tour -- Franciscan Prayer Fraternity

Our Lady of the Angels Friary --  Commons Room

 

As you enter the friary/the prayer fraternity, you come into the Commons Room pictured above. This is the area where the friars are able to spend time with guests, where retreatants and other guests can sit quietly during the day reading, waiting for an appointment with a director, or simply a place to pause outside chapel before or after prayer times.

 

Our brother, Pio Jackson, wrote an article about his visit here in an AROUND THE PROVINCE newsletter. (The article appears in an earlier blog entry.) Entitled, 'JPIC Spirituality -- a Hail to Ava', he spoke of his experience of stepping into the Commons Room: "As we entered the house, I was pleasantly surprised to be ushered into what seemed almost another dimension, with a soft, artistic interior that was not luxurious, but invitingly simple and comforting as well as clean and ordered."

 

This area and the chapel area had largely been the sales rooms and offices for the herb business that Michael Volchok had conducted in his home here. With creative planning and the assistance of some local carpenters from the area, the front part of the sales area was transformed into the Commons Room for our Prayer Fraternity.

 

Visual Tour -- Franciscan Prayer Fraternity

 

Our Lady of the Angels Friary -- Chapel

 

On the left side of the Commons Room, through a door that has a relief of Our Lady of the Angels over it, you enter our Chapel area. This area had been part of the sales offices, etc. for the family business with a wall of windows that overlooked the lawn and the herb gardens. Today the Chapel utilizes the windows to welcome in all of God's creation. As one prays in the Chapel, one feels the presence of the 'Holy' in so many ways: in the persons of those gathered to pray, in the worship celebrated there, in the Blessed Sacrament, but also in the experience of God's grandeur and goodness in being surrounded by all creation. The four seasons as God created them in this area of the Ozarks are on immediate and constant display in our Chapel.

 

In the center of the prayer area on the left is the icon of Our Lady of the Angels, celebrating the Blessed Mother's role as the Patroness of the friary and our Prayer Fraternity. (This icon is on the title page of this blog you are now reading.) The image of our Blessed Mother is a replica of a painting of Our Lady of the Angels in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi.

 

Because the life of our Prayer Fraternity is built around a prayer schedule that brings the brothers and guests together 5 times a day for prayer, in the Chapel to the left are 8 prayer places. The Liturgy of the Hours is done 4 times a day and because it is celebrated in choirs, the prayer stalls face each other. The daily prayer schedule begins with a 7:00 am Morning Prayer, Mass is celebrated at 8:00 am, Mid-day Prayer follows the Noon meal, Evening Prayer is at 5:30 pm and Night Prayer is at 9:00 pm.

 

In the very center of the Chapel is the Ambo, with the Sacred Scripture on constant display, highlighting the central location of the 'Word of God' in the lives of the community.

 

To the right as one enters, one can see the tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved, as well as the altar. During Mass, the Liturgy of the Word is celebrated in the prayer stalls; to celebrate the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the friars and guests gather around the altar. Mass is celebrated daily, except for Wednesdays which is the community day away. Behind the altar is the San Damiano cross, another key icon in the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

 

Pio Jackson, in his article, reflected on the Chapel space: "The small chapel was elegantly arranged with spaces for the individual friar and his liturgical books and strategic and esthetic placing of altar and ambo with the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. In prayer one could contemplate Mother Earth by glancing outside of the spotless windows and muse on the integrity and care of creation as God's gift."

 

This simple, quiet, lovely space in our Prayer Fraternity is available to the friars and to our guests at every hour of the day. Whether gathered with others in prayer or sitting quietly before the Blessed Sacrament and the surrounding beauty of nature, the chapel affords a wonderful place to bring one's life to God.

 

Visual Tour - Franciscan Prayer Fraternity

 

Our Lady of the Angels Friary -- Library

As you enter the friary, and turn right, you enter the Library area. The Library has a very extensive Franciscan collection, but also can boast of great resource materials for our core members and retreatants and guests. It has a number of scripture commentaries and other homily materials. The spiritual classics are there, as well as more contemporary spiritual writers. There are sections on monasticism and religious life. And the list goes on.

 

In a 2007 evaluation of this Franciscan Prayer Fraternity, one of the core members describes with surprise and delight how quickly the library came to be:

 

"Early on we felt it a need to have a good library. We really did not expect to have much of one for several years, but much to our surprise we have a great one already! It is primarily a spiritual library with a large Franciscan section. Each of the four of us who came together here had personal libraries and we brought them together. But many friars from the Sacred Heart and the St. John the Baptist Provinces have also donated books to us, as well as St. Anthony Messenger Press. And so our library has expanded."

 

It's really a very fine library. Guests would easily find an abundance of resource materials to peruse and use during their stay here. There are also a number of audio tapes and cassettes and CD's available for common use.

 

Visual Tour -- Franciscan Prayer Fraternity

Our Lady of the Angels Friary -- Kitchen / Dining room / Bedroom area

As one passes through the Library, a door leads into the friary section of the building. This back section of the building had been the home for the Volchok family and today it continues to be the kitchen and dining room and bedrooms for the friars in the core community here at the Prayer Fraternity. Guests are welcome to use the kitchen as needed during their stay here, but are asked to respect the privacy of the friars living here. Again, windows surround the dining room table and kitchen area making the room very bright and inviting.

 

Pio Jackson in his article remarked: "The dining area held a mid-size table with windows that faced out into the gardens and acreage beyond. It was a table that encouraged meal as sacrament with modern cupboards and kitchen area surrounding it supplied with sensible attractive utensils and other items that promoted a family spirit and a willingness to be together."

 

The friars in the core community take turns in preparing the main meal. The friars eat all 3 of their meals together each day (except for the day off on Wednesday) and guests are invited to join in the table fellowship that happens. Breakfast is usually between Morning Prayer and Mass; the main meal is at noon and the evening meal is immediately after Evening Prayer.

 

On the backside of the friary through the sitting area pictured above is the sleeping residence for the friars; this had been the bedrooms and living room area for the Volchok family. Today the area affords 5 bedrooms and a bath for the core community. A wooden deck surrounds the entire main building (and guest rooms).

Visual Tour -- Franciscan Prayer Fraternity

Our Lady of the Angels Friary --   guest rooms & hermitage

 

On the backside of the main building, connected by a covered walkway and a deck, are the guest quarters. The building originally had been the warehouse where the herbs were processed and stored by the Volchoks. Since coming here, the friars have converted the long building into three guest rooms offering places for guests to stay while on retreat or visiting the Prayer Fraternity. One of the guest apartments is larger and suited for couples. (Pictured above are several of the interiors of the guest rooms)

 

A short distance away is another small building that was turned into the Hermitage. With a deck that faces the woods, it offers the opportunity for even greater solitude and quiet if a guest desires that.

 

All four rooms all fully equipped with a comfortable bed, private bathroom and shower, a lounge chair and table.

 

A recent retreatant had this to say about her stay in the rooms: "The room is lovely.  I loved to sit in my easy chair and look out the window. It was so peaceful, quiet, and prayerful."

POSTULANTS VISIT US

St. John the Baptist Province Postulants visit us

 

From the afternoon of July 19^th into the morning of July 21^st, our friary was blessed with the presence of the new class of postulants from the Province of St. John the Baptist. Annually, the formation directors, Carl Langenderfer and Frank Geers, take a trip with the new postulant class through the Midwestern states of Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri and then down in the Southern states of Louisiana and Texas to familiarize these new candidates with the friars of their province and the various ministries they are engaged in.

 

Our Franciscan Prayer Fraternity is co-sponsored by the Province of St. John the Baptist, headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, along with the Province of the Sacred Heart, headquartered in St. Louis, MO.

 

We were thrilled to have the 8 men share our Prayer Fraternity joining in our common prayer, Eucharist, and fraternal life.  They also took time tovisit and meet some of the Trappists at the nearby Assumption Abbey.

 

In the picture above, we see the new class and their directors, standing on our front steps:

 

Front row: Daniel Bircher (Harrisburg, PA) and Eric Seguin (Ottawa, Canada)

 

2^nd row: Jonathan Beer (Hamilton, OH),   Pierce Gibson (Austin, TX),   and Adam Farkas (Richmond, MI)

 

3^rd row: Frank Geers, OFM (Associate Director),    Joseph DiAte (Nashville, TN) and   Carl Langenderfer, OFM (Postulancy Director)

Friars' Day of Recollection for July

Mandalas:

 

Monthly, the friars here at the Prayer Fraternity commit themselves to a Day of Recollection. This is a day set aside to step away from the normal routine of the many details of friar life and ministry, and the friars join together in some sort of 'spiritual day'. This can take a variety of faces from a day of silent prayer with times given to faith sharing the fruits of the day, to guided reflections on any number of topics, to a presentation by an outside speaker, etc. The value of the day is the community's commitment to spending a spiritual day together in a more deeply committed way.

 

The recent July Day of Recollection was given by Br. Joe, one of our community members. With a background in art therapy, he decided to treat us to the experience of working with mandalas as a spiritual reflection tool for our lives.

 

He began the day with some input on 'mandalas as a reflection of the self'. In his remarks he shared that C. G. Jung, the Swiss psychologist, adopted the word, 'mandala', to describe the circle drawings he and his patients did. 'Mandala' means a center, or circumference, or magic circle. Jung associated the mandala with the self, the center of the total personality, and suggested that the mandala shows the natural urge to live out our potential and to fulfill the pattern of our whole personality. This is a natural process that brings to light one's uniqueness and individuality and Jung advocated respectful attention to the symbols of the unconscious as a way to enhance personal growth. Jung saw the spontaneous appearance of mandalas in dreams and imagination and artwork as evidence that individuation is taking place.

 

You can find out more about 'mandalas' by googling the word. Several sample mandalas by the great mystic Hildegard of Bingen are displayed here.)

 

Through the course of the day, the friars created mandalas and then respectfully viewed each others sharing comments and insights gained from the exercise. It was a day of blessing.

 

As a closing thought, a spiritual day, or a day of recollection, is a resource all of us can do well to build into our lives on a regular basis. It is time well spent, whether done as individuals or in community.

PRAYER

Come, Holy Spirit,

 

Replace the tension within us

    with a holy relaxation.

 

Replace the turbulence within us

    with a sacred calm.

 

Replace the anxiety within us

    with a quiet confidence.

 

Replace the fear within us

    with a strong faith.

 

Replace the bitterness within us

    with the sweetness of grace.

 

Replace the darkness within us

    with a gentle light.

 

Replace the coldness within us

    with a loving warmth.

 

Replace the winter within us

    with your spring.

 

Straighten our crookedness;

 

Fill our emptiness;

 

Dull the edge of our pride;

 

Sharpen the edge of our humility;

 

Light the fires of our love;

 

Quench the flames of our lust;

 

Let us see ourselves as You see us;

 

That we may see You as You have promised:

 

"Blessed are the pure of heart,

     for they shall see God."

 

                      (author unknown)

 

Prayer Quotes from your Prayer Fraternity

Prayer Quote from your Prayer Fraternity

　

This month's prayer quote is coming from Fr. Edward Hays, a priest from the diocese of Kansas City, Kansas. Fr. Hays is the author of as many as 30 books, mostly on the subject of prayer and spirituality. He is the founder of Shantivanam, a house of prayer. He published a very popular Forest of Peace monthly newsletter from the house of prayer which, along with many of his books, combined the gifts of art, storytelling, imagination, and everything else to teach.  This quote contains a lot of practical things for us to consider when it comes to prayer: the why, the what, the how, the when, the where of prayer you might say.  Let's let Fr. Hays speak to us -- from his book: PRAYERS FOR A DOMESTIC CHURCH, published in 1979 by Shantivanam House of Prayer in Easton, Kansas. The quote below is just part of the introduction to the chapter entitled: "Daily Personal Worship".

 

"In all the great religious traditions of the world, an important place is given to private or personal prayer. This prayer may take various forms but usually involves some type of daily discipline … Universally, the sacred times are sunrise and sunset; morning and evening are the traditional time periods when persons seek a communion with the Mystery of God that dwells within.

 

These times of prayer need not be long, and it is often better that they be brief. Private prayer should be measured by quality and not quantity…..Just as we do not begin our day without taking proper time to wash ourselves and groom our hair, so we should take time to properly care for the needs of the inner-person and to acknowledge our position as creatures before an Almighty and Loving God. If we are unable to set aside a block of time for private prayer, we should at least attempt to begin and to conclude our day with a brief act of prayerful union with God.  No one's day is too busy for at least that minimum expression of personal prayer.

 

We should come to daily prayer fully aware that we are a blend, a beautiful blend, of body, mind and spirit. These sacred three must each enter into the time of prayer aware of the needs of the other….the more of our whole person that prays -- mind, heart, imagination, memory, senses, as well as dreams, disappointments, sorrows and joys -- the more wholesome and holy will be our prayer.

 

The old rabbis said that a person who has been on a journey should not pray until three days after returning! …. Considering the noise and stress of our modern lives, we can understand why it is difficult for people to pray .…. Each time of prayer should begin with a prayer of quieting ….. By a gentle slowing down, we can 'scrub' our hearts of anything that may block the flow of our prayer. As doctors scrub before an operation, we cleanse ourselves of anything that makes our heart unfit for a time of communion with God.

 

As far as it is possible, we should attempt to pray at the same hour each day. This regularity of time should be accompanied by a routine of praying daily in the same place within our home …. A pattern of prayer that allows us familiar surroundings at a certain time of day helps to surround the heart with support when we come to our private devotion …. the place we choose could be a corner of our bedroom, a spot in front of a sacred image, or a space before a window that opens onto the rising sun. We may also wish to use incense, a lighted candle, or a small altar to create an atmosphere that will support and give expression to our time of prayer.

 

Individual prayer should be just that: individual and personal. All true prayer leads us always to the heart of the hidden God, who is praying in all creation and in all persons.

 

Lastly, all true prayer leads us outward from the center of ourselves. All true prayer leads to social justice and apostolic labor. But without personal prayer, social action is hollow. Without a meditative heart, social reform can easily become self-glorifying instead of an act that gives glory to God. The coming of the Kingdom must begin with a heart that is praying always and always reforming."   (excerpts taken from Prayers for a Domestic Church;  pp. 131 - 134)

FIRE-WORKS OVER THE NATION

FIREWORKS OVER DOUGLAS COUNTY, MO:

 

There were lots of fireworks around the country last weekend as our nation celebrated INDEPENDENCE DAY. That was the case also here in the Ozark region of Missouri as local communities celebrated the holiday weekend. The friars here at the Franciscan Prayer Fraternity traveled to the nearby village community of Squires, MO which was hosting a 4^th of July picnic and fireworks display all for the purpose of bringing the local community together and of raising funds to support our local volunteer fire department.

 

The photos above were taken by Fred Manning, Br. Joe's brother, who was visiting this holiday weekend.

 

Let's reflect for a few moments on another sort of 'fire-works':

 

'FIRE-WORKS' IN THE MONASTIC TRADITION:

 

In the Gospel of St. Luke, Jesus says:

 

"I have come to light a fire on the earth.

How I wish the blaze were ignited." (Lk 12: 49-50)

 

Here at the Franciscan Prayer Fraternity, two of the friars have the same Trappist hermit monk as their Spiritual Director. When asked if he had a favorite story from the Desert Fathers, he said that one of his favorite stories was the following:

 

The young novice came to see Abba Joseph and said to him:

 

"Abba, as far as I can, I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?"

 

The old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven; his fingers became like ten lamps of fire, and he said to the novice:

 

"If you will, you could become all flame."

 

What would it mean to us to become all flame? How well-lit is the fire of your life?

 

William McNamara, in his book: Mystical Passion, also uses that same story above from the Desert Fathers to encourage his readers to consider finding some passion in their lives for the Paschal Mystery, around their faith in God, from the teachings of Jesus, for living as Jesus' disciples in the world today.

 

What would it look like for you to become all flame? How well is the fire burning?

 

MOVING INTO OUR FRANCISCAN TRADITION:

 

In our Franciscan tradition, one of the great spiritual writers is St. Bonaventure; St. Bonaventure wrote a treatise called: "The Soul's Journey into God". In Chapter 7.6, he writes about this same passion:

 

"But, if you wish to know how these things come about, ask for grace not instruction; for desire, not understanding; for the groaning of prayer, not diligent reading; for the Spouse, not the teacher; for God, not people; for darkness, not clarity; not for light, but for the fire that totally inflames and carries us into God by ecstatic unctions and burning affections. This fire is God, and God's furnace is in Jerusalem; and Christ enkindles it in the heat of his burning passion, which only the one truly perceives who says: 'My soul chooses hanging and my bones death' ."

 

Take some time to reflect upon this story from the Desert Fathers, upon St. Bonaventure's words, and upon Jesus' desire that the fire he lit on Calvary by his crucifixion and death would be enkindled throughout the earth. What is the famous prayer that we pray to the Holy Spirit: "Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in us the Fire of Your Love; send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created and renew the face of the earth !" ? We want to burn with the fire which is God! Those are the 'fire-works' our nation and world need to see.

 

St. Francis of Assisi desired that 'Fire of Love' to fill his life. Tradition tells us that St. Francis prayed a certain prayer for a lifetime; we find that prayer in the "3^rd Consideration on the Sacred Stigmata":

 

My Lord Jesus Christ, two graces I beg of you before I die:

the first is that in my lifetime I may feel, in my soul and in my body,

as far as possible, that sorrow which you, sweet Jesus,

endured in the hour of your most bitter passion;

the second is that I may feel in my heart, as far as possible,

that abundance of love with which you, Son of God,

were inflamed, so as willingly to endure so great a passion for us sinners."

 

Sr. Francis realized that prayer; he was such a lover of God, a lover of all God's people, esp. the little ones and the poor, and a lover of all creation. St. Francis realized that prayer by having the mark of Jesus' passion burned into his own flesh in the Sacred Stigmata. He received the two graces that he prayed for.

 

Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF, in her book, Franciscan Prayer, (published by St. Anthony Messenger Press), comments about his remarkable life:

 

"It is surprising that a small, carefree cloth merchant from a little medieval town in Umbria (Italy) could ignite a spiritual revolution. But indeed, Francis of Assisi seems to have done just that." (p. 4)

 

Few of us will be branded as Jesus and St. Francis was, but all of us can pray that prayer for ourselves. How do we make that prayer our own? What would that prayer sound like in our own words? What graces do we desire in life: to love like Jesus did?, to be on fire for God?, to be a person of passion?, to help recreate the world by allowing the Spirit to fill us with the fire of His love? What can you do to fan the 'fire of God's love' into a flame; what 'fire-works' can you ignite?