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Did you know that a daily reflection is posted on our Facebook page, or that it is also shared with a Portuguese translation by our Sisters in Brazil? Take a look! 
Issue 3.17
September 14, 2015
 Triumph of the Holy Cross

Today's feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross celebrates the anniversary of St. Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, finding what was believed to be the true cross in Jerusalem in 326, while she was on pilgrimage.

Francis of Assisi's love for the crucified calls us to embrace the suffering, the powerless, and those most in need and bring alive Christ's mercy, compassion, and healing in our world today.
Sr. Anne Dougherty chosen as guest for Pope Francis' address to Congress 
Taken from a press release issued  by the office of U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor

   U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa Bay, FL) announced that long-time community servant, Sr. Anne Dougherty, OSF, will be her special guest to the U.S. Capitol for Pope Francis' address to a Joint Meeting of Congress on Thursday, September 24. Pope Francis will be the first leader of the Catholic Church to address Congress.
   "I am honored that Sr. Anne (Dougherty) will be my guest and will represent the Tampa Bay community at Pope Francis' historic address," said U.S. Rep. Castor. "She is a selfless leader and has provided spiritual guidance for our community for decades at the Franciscan Center, at Francis House, to the Tampa Police Department, and to local students."
   Sr. Anne has been the President and CEO of the Franciscan Center since 2012, but has served the Tampa Bay community since the 1980s, when she helped found the Francis House to provide services and support for people facing HIV and AIDS.  For a decade Sr. Anne has served as chaplain for the Tampa Police Department and the FBI. Prior to her current role, she served as administrator of Graduate Support at Academy Prep, a private, nonprofit school in Tampa, where she worked with U.S. Rep. Castor to coordinate tours of the U.S. Capitol for her students.
   "I feel like I won the lottery," said Sr. Anne, who is originally from Philadelphia, one of the three cities Pope Francis will visit while in the United States. "I am very pleased and honored. The Pope has taken up the name of St. Francis of Assisi who is the patron saint of the Franciscan Center and the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, NY.  Pope Francis is following in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi by reaching out to the marginalized and all of God's creation."
   Sr. Anne saw the Pope while visiting the Vatican two years ago but said that sitting in the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives for this historic address will be an entirely different experience.
   The Franciscan Center is a spiritual retreat center in Tampa. Its mission, in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, is to welcome everyone who seeks spiritual growth through a deeper relationship with God in a place of peace, community, healing and joy.
   In addition, U.S. Rep. Castor announced that a limited number of tickets to the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, where jumbotrons will broadcast the Pope's address, are available to constituents of her district who will be in Washington, D.C. during this event.
   "Thousands from all over the United States and the world will make the pilgrimage for the Pope's visit to the U.S. Capitol and our neighbors have an opportunity to be part of it. We anticipate that Pope Francis will come out and wave from the Capitol balcony," U.S. Rep. Castor added.
   After visiting Cuba, the Pope arrives in Washington, D.C. on September 22, and then is scheduled to visit New York and Philadelphia. 

Reaction from Sr. Anne will be included in an October edition of the e-newsletter. 
Congregational Grants for 2015-2016 Announced

Congregational Grants awarded for the 2015-2016 grant year are as follows: 

  • Cortland Chenango Rural Services, Inc., Kathleen Heffron CSJ
    • $2,000 for children's clothing challenge and school needs
  • Canticle Farm, Inc., Joyce Ramage OSF
    • $2,000 for sponsored food shares
  • The Dwelling Place of NY, Joann Sambs CSA
    • $2,500 for enhancing the environment of The Dwelling Place
  • Project Hope, Inc., Dee Aherne OSF
    • $2,000 for Cooking Matters at the store
  • The Genesis House of Olean, Inc., Melissa Scholl OSF
    • $3,500 for Defeating Hungry Bellies, Blisters, and Bed Bugs
  • Daystar Life Center, Inc., Marita Flynn OSF
    • $3,000 for Hunger Hurts
  • St. Mark Catholic Church, Dorchester, MA, Helen Roberts OSF
    • $4,000 for St. Mark Wainwright Youth Program
 
Canticle Farm and Sr. Joyce featured in St. Anthony Messenger

   Canticle Farm, the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany's community-supported agriculture (CSA) farm headed by Sr. Joyce Ramage, was featured in a lengthy and well-written piece in the St. Anthony Messenger September 2015 edition. 
   "If carrots, peas, and cucumbers were musical notes, then the earth at Canticle Farm in Allegany, NY, would raise the most joyful of songs to the lord," says the article's second sentence. 
    The full-text of the article will be reprinted in the Fall Edition of Allegany Connections, which is scheduled to be released the final week of September. Subscribers of St. Anthony Messenger can read it in the printed edition, or online at www.stanthonymessenger.org. 
   
Wes Wingett, PhD, to give multiple talks at St. Elizabeth Motherhouse
By: Denise Bunk-Hatch, communications director

   Wes Wingett, a renowned counselor who has given seminars across the world, will be giving a series of talks at St. Elizabeth Motherhouse this week.  Dr. Wingett's first talk, "Intimacy, a Task for Two within the Family Structure," will take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, September 16. That talk is open to the public, and will focus on helping individuals and couples define their personal, creative, and personally determined perspective toward the task of love within the family structure through the lens of Adlerian Psychology. He will then give two talks for Sisters - "Creative Aging - Engaging the Whole Person" and "Finding a Way - loss, grief, and resolution" - at 10 a.m. on Thursday and Friday, with staff presentations on Thursday afternoon.   
   Dr. Wingett has conducted Adlerian-based training across the United States, Puerto Rico, in Canada, and in five countries in Europe. In addition to private counseling and training talks, Dr. Wingett serves as a faculty member at Wayne State College in Nebraska and Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, and has been named a Diplomat in Alderian Psychology by the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology. 
 
 From the Archives
    On Thursday, September 3, we held our monthly Archives Seminar at St. Elizabeth Motherhouse. This month's topic was St. Clare Hospital in Manhattan, New York City. To many sisters, this hospital is best known as the last hospital that Mother Alice Henry rehabilitated. We began our discussion by reviewing how Mother Alice was asked to manage a hospital that was $200,000 in debt (equivalent to over $3 million today) in a poor, working-class neighborhood, in the midst of the Great Depression. Using her legendary charisma, and a certain attitude that "it's better to seek forgiveness than permission", Mother Alice was not only able to turn the hospital around, but succeeded in expanding it multiple times.
   In attendance at the seminar was my assistant, Sr. John Kevin McNulty, who was the administrator at St. Clare's Hospital from 1964 to 1974. Sr. John Kevin provided invaluable insight into what it was like to run a very small Catholic hospital in a very large city, as well as the many things that they were able to accomplish at St. Clare's. For example, during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, St. Clare's was one of the hospitals that was willing to admit and treat HIV patients. St. Clare's Hospital was also home to St. Clare's School of Nursing, which educated many sisters and lay nurses. Pictured here is Sr. John Kevin, with the Archbishop, reviewing a class of nursing students. 
   At next month's seminar, in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the sisters' ministry in Bolivia, we will be discussing the history of the Bolivian ministry, and looking at a wide variety of pictures from the many places in Bolivia where the sisters served. Sisters who have served in or visited Bolivia are encouraged to attend and share their experiences. Please note that, to accommodate growing attendance, the time and location of the Archives Seminar has been altered:

October 1, 2015
9:45 a.m.
St. Elizabeth Motherhouse Media Room

   The monthly Archives Seminars are free and open to anyone who wishes to attend! If you live outside the Motherhouse and would like to attend October's seminar, please email  archives@fsallegany.org for further information.



Upcoming deadlines: 


September 23, 2015 - Second edition e-newsletter