Just a few words to wish all of you a holy and blessed Christmas and a peace-filled New Year.

Keeping Christmas

Christmas came…

birthing light and life,

sheltering that life

in the silent stillness

of a winter’s night

within the darkness of a stall

And the world slept…

unaware. 

Come, we pray,

into the darkness of our world—

a world that sleeps…unaware.

Calm our fears,

gentle our hearts,

fill our chaos with your calm,

and gift our world...

Many of our sisters trace their introduction to the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia to their educational history and Sr. Eileen Valerie Kulacz is no exception. However, for most sisters that introduction involved a student/teacher relationship. In Eileen’s case the connection grew out of a student/student relationship that began when she was a earning a degree in computer business systems at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
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Canticle of Creation

We hold the Earth

God-birthed

God-graced,

In hands that choose

To share its life

Or close and choke that life with human greed.

We hold the sun

Whose powered rays can light our world

And power Earth

For evil

Or for good.

Whose rays can burn five billion years

Beyond the finite worlds

Our hands control.

Sr. Karen Pourby’s journey to becoming a Sister of St. Francis of Philadelphia followed a somewhat circuitous route. She grew up in Binghamton, New York, where she attended public schools. During those same years she also attended parish CCD classes. After graduating from Broome Technical Community College, she entered the Angelic Sisters of St. Paul, an Italian congregation.
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It's been a while since I introduced you to one of our sisters--one on one! This time I'd like you to meet Sr. Margaret O'Brien.

During her “growing up years” in County Cork, Ireland, Sr. Margaret O’Brien had the opportunity to meet three different congregations of women religious: Presentation Sisters, Mercy Sisters, and Franciscans Sisters. Her connection with the Sisters of St. Francis began when Sr. Brigid O’Regan invited her to a retreat for high school girls at Mt. Alvernia in Mallow.
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Our relationship with our Muslim friends from the Zubaida Foundation continues to grow as we share with one another various aspects of our faith traditions. In June we met at Our Lady of Angels Convent. Because of the upcoming canonization of Archbishop Oscar Romero, our presentation addressed the topic of sainthood in general and focused more specifically on the life of Archbishop Romero.

Sr.

I remember very clearly the day I learned what prejudice was. I may not have learned the word but the concept became clear in a way that left me confused and shaken and unable to grasp the reality. It happened the summer I was nine or ten--a significant time because for the first time I was allowed to go to the playground in the next block by myself. I definitely felt very self important! But being very shy, I started my day by heading to a row of empty swings by myself.
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It's not often that we have one of our sisters celebrating a century of life AND 80 years as a Sister of St. Francis of Philadelphia. This year Sister Angela Patrice Power is the second sister within a few months to do so this year! Our communications director, Florence Smith, interviewed Sr. Angela and her follow-up article gives you some insights about Sr. Angela's years as a Sister of St.
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Each year--usually in March--we celebrate Charism Day on which we take a deeper look into what it is that underlies our life as Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Our Franciscan Spiritual Center in Aston usually has a special speaker for that day to address a particular aspect of our Franciscan charism. After attending our recent Charism Day presentation by Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, I wrote the following article to publish in our newsletter.
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