Newsletter-Holy Land Franciscans Aug 2017 (1)

HOLY LAND
FRANCISCANS

summer 2017 | vol. 12 | no. 2

FRIARS CELEBRATE

800 YEARS

IN THE HOLY LAND

FRANCISCAN MONASTERY of the HOLY LAND IN AMERICA
WASHINGTON, D.C. | MYFRANCISCAN.ORG

USA CORPORATE BOARD GETTING
PERSPECTIVE
Fr. Francesco Patton, OFM
Chairman This August I marked what seems like a major
milestone. It has been 50 years since I made
Fr. Larry C. Dunham, OFM my first vows as a Franciscan friar.
President
While that half-century may feel like a long time,
Friar John-Sebastian, OFM working with the friars of the Custody of the Holy
Secretariat Land has given me an entirely new perspective.

Roger Diban Abou Jaoude Eight hundred years ago, a small group of friars
Damien Alexander set out from Italy to be missionaries. Very little is
Christopher Dorment known about their journey and their early ministry
Fr. Lou Iasello, OFM in what is now the port city of Acre, Israel.
Kathy McKinless
Kristan Morrell What we do know is the early Holy Land friars
Paul S. Stevens faced difficult times, as the Franciscan scholar, Fa-
Stephen Winchell ther Michael Cusato, OFM, shares with us in this
issue of Holy Land Franciscans.
Legal Counsel
Henry Cashen, Sr. Counsel Yet they persevered. Despite being nearly pushed
out of the Holy Land, the early friars never gave up
Blank Rome, LLP on the people or places, ministering to the Catholic
Certified Public Accountants community, caring for the holy shrines and serving
Michael Wetmore, CPA as brothers to all, as witnesses of interfaith respect
in a region where that may seem impossible.
Ryan and Wetmore, P.C.
Auditors This is the legacy of the early missionaries: to
be signs of peace and Christ’s love and to serve as
Peter B. Reilly, CPA guardians of the sacred places where God became
Councilor, Buchanan & human.
Mitchell, P.C.
Whether in war-torn Syria or in a desert village
ADVISORY BOARD with few Christians, our friars continue to offer the
sacraments, provide pastoral care and bring hope.
Ilia Delio, OSF
Elliott Ferguson II As I reflect on my own 50 years as a friar, I am
Eileen Simon grateful for the rich ministry I have had and to have
been given the opportunity to be a part of this 800-
HONORARY BOARD year ministry in the Holy Land, to help be a voice
for our Christian brothers and sisters in need.
Samuel and Martha-Ann Alito
David and Mary Brown Father Larry C. Dunham, OFM
Vincent Burke III Commissary and Guardian
Henry Cashen, Sr.
Robert and Jean Comstock
Edwin J. Feulner
Most Reverend Martin D. Holley
Robert Livingston
Most Reverend Paul S. Loverde
Dan and Bobbi Lungren
Most Reverend Denis J. Madden
Margaret Melady
Dennis and Rita Meyer
Sandra A. McMurtrie
James Nicholson
Michael Novak*
Edward Orzechowski
William Page
Cokie Roberts
Peter Schaumber

* deceased

Cover photo by Alexandra Franco

2 • www.MyFranciscan.org

FRIAR FEATURE

AN AMERICAN IN JERICHO

Friar Anthony Sejda, OFM shares his vocation story

something back.”
After getting out of the military, he vol-

unteered at a house for teenage mothers,
and discerned religious life. He joined the
Custody of the Holy Land as a postulant
in 1984. It was during his second year of
philosophy as a student that he first went
to the Holy Land – to Bethlehem.

By 1991, Br. Anthony took his solemn
vows as a Brother. He’s been back to the
Holy Land twice since that time.

Friar Anthony Sejda found his vocation A DESERT ASSIGNMENT
as a Franciscan friar in the midst of He accepted his latest assignment in the
beach weekend retreats and rafting trips. desert city of Jericho, where the friars care
for a small, but vibrant Catholic commu-
One of nine kids, Br. Anthony grew up nity and Terra Sancta School, without
as an altar boy and boy scout. As a high question.
schooler, he joked that “we always seemed
to get into trouble.” Eventually he got his “I said once before, ‘You can forget who
GED and joined the military. It was there you are when you’re living in the desert’
he rediscovered Christ. … because no one is going to give you
any fame, no one’s going to affirm you
“I met a Benedictine chaplain who for whatever you do,” he reflected. “The
helped me tremendously to get my spiri- purpose of being here is not for self-en-
tual enlightenment in order and get me to hancement. I’ve seen people’s enduring
confession for something I’d carried for a patience that has seemed to keep them
long time,” he said. going.”

The chaplain started a singles group
for members of the military. Br. Anthony
joined in, going on rafting retreats and
beach weekends.

ENCOUNTERING CHRIST
“These encounters with Christ … it
carried me a long way. I was working on
the parish council,” he reminisced recently
during a visit with him at Good Shepherd
parish in Jericho. “Because I felt affirmed
by the Church, I always wanted to give

The church sanctuary at Good Shepherd in Jericho.

This year marks 800 years of Fran- is now Acre, Israel. Seventy Holy Land
ciscan ministry in the Holy Land. friars returned to their roots with a visit
During a Pentecost Chapter meeting, to Acre on June 11, 2017. They celebrated
held in 1217 at the Saint Mary of the Mass and renewed their vows, visited the
Angels chapel in the Portiuncula, Assisi, site of the current church and saw where
the Franciscans decided to send friars the original friary may have been built,
out as missionaries to “all the regions of around 1239.
the known world, as witnesses of frater-
nity and peace,” according to the Custos, The graphic above is part of the 800th
Father Francesco Patton, OFM. anniversary logo and illustrates St. Fran-
cis’ own arrival in the Holy Land in 1219.
The Holy Land was the first destina-
tion of these early missionary friars who It is of the miniature “Arrival of Saint
established the Province of Outremer, Francis in the Holy Land,” from the Ma-
or Syria, now the Custody of the Holy jor Legend of Saint Bonaventure (382).
Land. The first friary was located in what
(Used with permission of the Historical Institute
4 • www.MyFranciscan.org of the Capuchins - Franciscan Museum, Rome)

IN THE HOLY LAND

800 YEARS OF FRANCISCANS
IN THE HOLY LAND

As the friars of the Holy Land mark ning of an arc of several years of events
this anniversary, Father Greg celebrating the Franciscan presence in the

Friedman, OFM, interviewed Franciscan Holy Land.

Father Michael Cusato, an historian of What prompted the sending of the friars
medieval Franciscan history. in 1217?
The Fourth Lateran Council in late 1215
Fr. Cusato earned his doctorate in me- mandated that religious communities
dieval history at the University of celebrate a community meeting at least
Paris-Sorbonne, and has written exten- every three years—what we call a chap-
sively on Franciscan texts and the pivotal ter—in which the friars get together and
figures in the Franciscan movement. He decide what they want to do with their
is in residence at the Franciscan Mon- lives as religious, how well or not they’ve
astery of the Holy Land in Washington, done in the past, and what they want to
DC.

What is being celebrated this year? do in the future, especially about mission.
The focal point of the celebration this In May 1217, at the Feast of Pente-

year is the arrival of the first group of cost, some 1,000 friars gathered in Assisi

Franciscans at the port of Acre, which to celebrate their general chapter. This

was the only strong- would become a tradition for the Order

hold and foothold The Franciscans were of Friars Minor.
that the Western (This is the first such

Church had left in the first religious order meeting for which
the Latin Kingdom to send out friars on we have solid evi-
of Jerusalem, in the dence, even though
Middle East, at this mission as a community. there probably was

particular point in a smaller meeting

the 13th century. It is known in Italian before this in 1216.)

as Akko. A group of friars led by Broth- At this meeting it was decided to send

er Elias of Cortona was dispatched in friars as missionaries to places beyond

the year 1217 and began the province [a Italy, what the friars called “over the

regional grouping of friars] of what was mountains.” These regions included, more

called—in the Middle Ages—“Syria,” or than likely, southern France, Germany

what we might say today, “Greater Syria,” and Spain; a fourth area would have

encompassing the whole area of the been “over the seas”—in other words the

coastal region of the Middle East. Middle East, the Holy Land. It is that

What do we know about this initial mis- mission that was led by Brother Elias and
sion of friars in the Holy Land? a few friars whose names we do not know.

This 1217 event has very little informa- Would such a missionary project have

tion about it. What we know more about been unique among religious orders at

is what happened in 1219: namely the the time?
encounter Francis with the Sultan. So it’s Yes, it is said that the Franciscans were
probably better to see this as the begin-
the first religious order to send out friars

www.MyFranciscan.org • 5

THE FRANCISCANS’ HOLY LAND ROOTS
continued from page 5

of mission, which had everything to

do with sharing the Franciscan way

of living with one another as brothers

and sisters—even to the extent of

welcoming as brother and sister the

Muslims. Christianity at the time

defined Muslims as the enemy par

excellence, because they did not believe

in Christ.

The friars believed they had a mis-

sion and a vision to live on-site in the

The friars have pastoral care of Holy Land, which led to the encoun-
St. John the Baptist in Acre. ter between Francis and Sultan Malik
el-Kamel at Damietta, Egypt.

on mission, what they would say in Latin, If you know how to read certain

ad extra, “beyond their own home ter- writings that we have from Francis, it

ritory,” as a community, and not just an becomes clear that he was going to do

individual friar here or there as you would just that. Even if it cost him his life,

have had in the early Middle Ages. It he wished to live out his vision of the

was innovative for universal fraternity

the order to mission of creatures—even

friars -ad extra to among Christians’

foreign places, to most vehement ene-

take the message of my, the Muslim, for

the Gospel as lived even he or she was a

through the particu- brother or sister.

lar lens of the Order We always have

of Friars Minor. to read between

We don’t know the lines of the few

how the friars trav- sources that we have.

eled, but more than My own inter-

likely it was in the pretation centers

company of Crusad- on understanding

er reinforcements Francis’s experience

sailing to Acre. of the meeting with

However, it would the leper during

be an error to think the process of his

that the friars were Friars gathered in Acre for the 800th anniversary. conversion. That
just tagging along
with the Crusaders as (photos courtesy of the Custody of the Holy Land) encounter, in which

Francis was led to

part of the Fifth Crusade. overcome his own reluctance to accept

What really impelled the friars to go the leper as a brother, would have led to

and establish a presence in the Holy his perception of the “universal fraternity

Land was a particularly Franciscan form of creatures,” which would then extend

6 • www.MyFranciscan.org

IN THE HOLY LAND

even to Muslims. of Acre. But then they were invited back
in through the back door, so to speak,
What connection can we draw from in the 1330s and 1340s when the two
history for today’s presence of the Christian sovereigns, Robert of Naples
Franciscans in the Holy Land? and his wife, Queen Sancha, bought up
I think that we should look at this year’s land in the Holy Land, some of the Holy
celebration as the start of a remarkable Places. Those deeds were allowed to hold
faithful Franciscan presence in the Holy firm. And then the places became popu-
Land, in circumstances which have lated again by the friars.
almost always been very, very difficult.
When Elias goes there in 1217, it is obvi- But it’s always such a tenuous presence
ously a land that is peopled and governed in a land where another religion and
by Islam and Muslim authorities. culture holds all the cards in their hands,
both religious authority and political
This Franciscan presence was success- authority. Today’s Holy Land is obvi-
ful only in the sense that it endured for ously a very complex situation where our
a couple of decades and then only had presence is within the midst of the State
perhaps one, two or three friaries that of Israel, the Occupied Territories of the
existed until the fall of Acre in 1291. In Palestinians, and the various confessions
other words, this first wave probably had of Christianity—this whole constellation
its strongest presence in the very begin- of Christian confessions.
ning and then was of hanging on for dear
life because the area still remained under So it has always been a very delicate
Muslim hands for most of that period. situation, and to some extent, although
the actors have changed and the propor-
Off and on, Christians had sections of tion of power has changed, in the Holy
it, but it was a very tenuous toehold that Land, the Christian presence is always a
the friars had, and eventually they were very delicate thing to manage.
booted out definitively by 1291 by the fall

Experience the Holy Land.

The place where faith comes alive.

Make a pilgrimage with our friars
and celebrate 800 years of

Franciscan ministry in the Holy Land.

www.holylandpilgrimages.org

www.MyFranciscan.org • 7

Fall at the Monastery

St. Francis Feast Day, concerts and more

Get a full list of coming events at myfranciscan.org

SEPTEMBER 10 | MUSIC AT THE MONASTERY
4 p.m. in the Church | Dudley Oakes, Shenandoah University.

SEPTEMBER 30 | BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS
10:30 a.m. | Upper garden

SEPTEMBER 30 | FINAL GARDEN TOURS
11 a.m. and noon | Meet outside the Visitor Center

OCTOBER 4 | FEAST OF ST. FRANCIS
10:30 a.m. Mass

OCTOBER 8 | MUSIC AT THE MONASTERY
4 p.m. in the Church

Jeffrey Pannebaker, Saint Luke Lutheran Church, Silver Spring
OCTOBER 15 | PIPE SPECTACULAR

4 p.m. in the Church | Eric Plutz, Princeton University

8 • www.MyFranciscan.org

Blessing of the Animals

Join us on Saturday, Sept. 30, 10:30 a.m.

Each pet will receive a St. Francis medal

www.MyFranciscan.org • 9

SUPPORTING THE MISSION

ANNUAL BENEFIT A SUCCESS

Ninth Annual

Mass &
Benefit Dinner

November 11, 2017

Honoring

Carl A. Anderson

Supreme Knight
and the Knights of Columbus

with

Father Francesco Patton, O.F.M.
Custos of the Holy Land

Music by Mark Forrest

Become a sponsor at myfranciscan.org/benefit or contact Margherita Ligorio,
[email protected] and 202.526.6800 ext 895.
Individual tickets available in late September.

10 • www.MyFranciscan.org

SUPPORTING THE MISSION

GIVING THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE

Annual Giving Planned Giving

CIRCLE OF ST. FRANCIS ST. FRANCIS SOCIETY

The Monastery is welcoming The St. Francis Society honors all
supporters into the 2017 planned giving donors for their support
Circle of St. Francis. Gener- of our mission. We would be honored to
ous friends who contribute include you in the St. Francis Society if
$1,000 and more annually to you have:
the Franciscan Monastery may join. • Provided for the Franciscan Monastery
Circle of St. Francis members and their
families receive: in your will or trust.
• Enrollment in the friars’ daily perpetual • Designated the Monastery as the
prayers and Masses.
• VIP tour of the Monastery’s chapels beneficiary of a qualified retirement
and shrines. plan, savings bond, bank account or life
• Circle of St. Francis membership card insurance policy.
and pin. • Created a planned gift that returns
• Insider updates on the friars’ work to fixed or flexible income to you or
ensure Christianity remains alive and others.
thriving in the place of Christ’s Incar- Your gift may be unrestricted (to be used
nation. as needed by the Monastery) or designat-
To join, mail your donation of $1,000 ed for a particular purpose.
or more in the enclosed envelope, make We welcome the opportunity to have a
your donation online at confidential conversation with you at no
www.myfranciscan.org, or contact obligation. If you qualify for membership
Margherita at 202-526-6800 ext. 895. in the St. Francis Society or would like
more information, please contact
Margherita at 202-526-6800 ext. 895.

LEARN MORE:
Visit www.myfranciscan.org and click “Donate”

LIGHT A CANDLE IN PRAYER

Let us light a 7-day votive candle at the Franciscan Monastery for your special intention.
www.myfranciscan.org/worship/light-a-candle

www.MyFranciscan.org • 11

Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID

Capitol Heights MD
Permit # 4168

Franciscan Monastery
of the Holy Land in America
1400 Quincy Street NE
Washington, DC 20017

Music at the
Monastery

Second Sundays, 4 p.m.

MASSES SACRAMENT OF ONLINE
RECONCILIATION
Monday-Friday MyFranciscan.org
Monday-Saturday TheHolyLandReview.com
(except Tuesday) 9, 10 and 11 a.m. HolyLandPilgrimages.org
1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. FMGG.org (Garden Guild)
6 and 7 a.m. myfranciscanknight.org
Tuesday GARDEN TOURS
6 and 9 a.m., 5:30 p.m. HERMITAGE
Saturday Saturdays, 11 a.m. & noon
7 a.m. and 5 p.m. (April to September) Call 202.526.6800 or email
Sunday [email protected]
8 and 10 a.m., noon HOLY LAND
2 p.m. (en español) GIFT SHOP ST. FRANCIS HALL

MONASTERY TOURS Tuesday-Sunday Visit www.stfrancishall.com
10 a.m.-4:45 p.m. for rental information
Monday-Saturday franciscangiftshop.com Meeting rooms available.
10 and 11 a.m.
1, 2 and 3 p.m. Closed Mondays, federal
Sunday holidays and holy days
1, 2 and 3 p.m.

Getting here: Metro Red Line (Brookland/CUA) | H6 bus & free parking
1400 Quincy St. NE, Washington, DC 20017 | 202.526.6800 | [email protected]