In this Issue:

Welcome Sister Death

The TAU Team Meeting

St. Benedict the Moor

CSW Food Drive

March Birthday List

St. Elizabeth Mission Society 

Easter Mass Cards

Cards for Jubilarians

Send Us Your News

Birth: Mary Angela DiCara on October 22, 1930, Winstead, CT.

Death: March 2, 2024 at St. Elizabeth Motherhouse, Allegany, NY.

Daughter of: Salvatore and Rose Colombi DiCara, Winstead, CT.

Sr. Mary Angela DiCara entered the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany on August 22, 1955; was received into the Congregation on August 15, 1956, and professed her final vows on August 16, 1963. Committed to Franciscan charism, Sister lived for 68 years as a devoted member of the Allegany Franciscan Sisters sharing her life in community and ministry.

Sister attended St. Anthony’s Elementary/Middle School and Gilbert High School, both in Winsted CT, graduating in 1948. Before entering the Congregation, Mary Angela attended St. Joseph’s College, West Hartford, CT, graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Child Studies and began graduate work at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT. Mary Angela graduated from St. Bonaventure University with a Master of Science in Education and later, a Master of Arts in Sacred Science.

Sr. Mary Angela’s 47-year ministry in education enabled her to touch the lives of students in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. She served the Congregation as Superior in Mt. Carmel, NY; Principal in Mt. Vernon, NY and Blessed Sacrament in Waterbury, CT. Sister retired from education in 2002 and resided in the Medford/West Medford, MA area. She was warmly welcomed home to St. Elizabeth Motherhouse in 2014, where she enjoyed many activities, especially playing Bingo with her Sisters.

She is predeceased by her parents, Salvatore and Rose Colombi DiCara, a sister Antoinette DiCara and brothers: Philip and John DiCara. She is survived by sisters: Rose Mary Surdam and Elizabeth Germon and several nieces and nephews.

A wake service was held March 6 in the chapel of St. Elizabeth Motherhouse. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated March 7 in the chapel of St. Elizabeth Motherhouse. Burial followed in St. Bonaventure Cemetery.

Arrangements are under the direction of Letro-McIntosh -Spink Funeral Home, Inc. 646 East State Street, Olean, NY. For condolences, please visit www.letromcintoshspinkfuneralhome.com

The TAU Team Meeting

By: Linda Dees

The TAU Team (Transformative Associates United) consisting of Co-director, Linda Dees, Co-director Sr. Colleen Brady, Cheryl Maggio, Marcia Gill, Robin Roche, Ellen Nash, and Rita Canfield met recently in Ocean Beach, North Carolina, to complete their final draft of the Revised Associates Guidebook, renamed “The Transformative Journey of the Associates of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany.” 

As we set about our task of updating the guide, bringing together work begun during the “deep dive” weekend and continued in small groups throughout the past year, the presence of the Holy Spirit was deeply evident. We diligently worked to review both the details of the 2017 guidebook and the updated revisions, paragraph by paragraph. This required in-depth, round table discussions and work sessions in the mornings, afternoons and even a few evenings, as we clarified language, updated history, integrated new items and policies, expanding upon the wonderful work done in 2017 by Kathy Doyle, former Co-Director with Sr. Jeanne Williams, OSF, and members of the previous Associate Advisory Committee. Our intention is to provide a comprehensive document, not only for the inquirer’s orientation, but to serve as a reference guide for the seasoned Associate. 

The Local Associate Ministers (LAMs) manual has also been embedded into the compilation. Once approved by Congregational Leadership, this working document will be translated and made accessible to all electronically in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. Among the changes planned will be the transition of the local Associate formation process to a Mentoring Team approach. The goal is to include representatives from each of the US Associate Communities to provide continuity and depth of experience for all those responding to the call to the FSA Associate Way of Life. 

On Feb 17 we hosted a joint Associates monthly meeting, with the NC group attending in person and with the Tampa Bay group attending via Zoom. More than 30 attended, and we were thrilled to have Sr. Jo Streva, Associate Liaison, and Sr. Gwen Melhado, Congregational Councilor, join us. 

The weeklong gathering also provided a space and time to reflect our love and support for one another. The fire of the Holy Spirit was reignited within each of us and was experienced by all through this gift of sharing “Community Life” at its very best! The faith, unified determination and passionate dedication of this far-reaching Community of Associates, serving as the TAU Team, is strongly rooted in their deep love for our Sisters and the Allegany Congregation with which so many share a history and connection. This bond points towards a future filled with great hope, given the exponential growth that is already being experienced across the various groups.

St. Benedict the Moor

Sr. Rosemary Higgins, OSF, served as a teacher at St. Benedict the Moor Grammar School in Winston-Salem, NC, in the 1960s. The sisters had two schools in Winston-Salem: the grammar school and St. Anne’s Academy, a girls’ high school. Both schools served the Black community.

Sr. Rosemary is still in touch with one of her former students from St. Benedict, Robert Durrah, Jr. He sent her pictures of a historical marker that was recently unveiled commemorating St. Benedict the Moor Parish as well as the two schools.

Chenita Johnson from the Forsyth County Historic Resources Commission gave the opening remarks saying, “Today we celebrate St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church, which was established in 1940 to serve Winston-Salem's African American Catholics who were not especially welcomed in the local Catholic churches at the time.”

Jim Crow laws were laws created by white southerners to enforce racial segregation across the South from the 1870s through the 1960s and 

mandated segregation in public spaces, schools, transportation and other places, preventing Catholic Church leaders from offering integrated worship. 

Churches like St. Benedict the Moor and its accompanying parochial school were built to meet the needs of Black Catholics and accommodate the growing Catholic population during and after World War II.

Harold Holmes, chairperson of St. Benedict the Moor's parish council, also spoke during the unveiling ceremony.

“The founding families in the 1940s would be extremely proud to learn of the resiliency and commitment to faith that has brought us this wonderful moment of recognition,” he said.

CSW Food Drive

Catholic Sisters Week runs through Thursday and this year, the Congregational Office staff, along with the Motherhouse Sisters, staff and friends, are joining efforts to raise food and money for the St. Bonaventure University Food Pantry.

The SBU Food Pantry started in October 2019 after it became obvious to the campus community that food insecurity is an issue on college campuses across America.

The SBU Food Pantry is in Room 113 of the McGinley-Carney Center for Franciscan Ministry. All members of the SBU community are welcome to visit daily, helping themselves to five food items per day. Pantry hours are 4-8 p.m. Monday–Thursday and 4-6 p.m. on Friday.

Food pantry representative Ciara Pine said the most used items are currently pasta, macaroni & cheese, tuna, soup, pasta sauce, rice, Ramen, beans, broth, cereal and oatmeal.

Boxes are set up in both the lobby and dining hall of St. Elizabeth Motherhouse to collect non-perishable food items. People can also drop items off at the food pantry. Anyone interested in making a monetary donation may email anne.holliday@fsallegany.org for more information.

Happy Birthday!

St. Elizabeth Mission Society

Easter Mass Cards

By: Laura Whitford, St. Elizabeth Mission Society

Send your special prayer blessings to friends or loved ones this Easter with Mass enrollment cards from St. Elizabeth Mission Society. As members of the Mission Society, their intentions will be remembered at Easter Sunday Mass and in other Masses celebrated throughout the Easter season in the Motherhouse Chapel. They will also share in the prayers and good works of our Sisters in Bolivia, Brazil, Jamaica, Mozambique and the United States. 

As a sponsored ministry of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, the St. Elizabeth Mission Society shares in its spiritual aims, one of which is to advance the awareness of God's love. Donations given for the cards are used to support the ministries of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany and their Associates who work to educate, heal, clothe, and feed those who are experiencing poverty in Bolivia, Brazil, Jamaica, Mozambique and the United States.

Easter cards, as well as various other enrollment cards, can be ordered online at https://www.franciscanhope.org/shop/ or you can call the Mission Society office at (716) 373-1130 or e-mail the staff at StEliz.Office.Manager@FSAllegany.org. Easter cards are also available in the Mission Society office. Please note that, in an effort to use our card inventory we currently have, we did not make a new card design this year.

Cards for Jubilarians

By Laura Whitford, St. Elizabeth Mission Society

Help the Jubilee Sisters "celebrate their journey" with a special Jubilee Mass enrollment card from the St. Elizabeth Mission Society. As members of the Mission Society, their intentions will be remembered at Masses celebrated throughout the year in the Motherhouse Chapel. As always, they will also share in the prayers and good works of our Sisters in Bolivia, Brazil, Jamaica, Mozambique and the United States.

As a sponsored ministry of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, the St. Elizabeth Mission Society shares in its spiritual aims, one of which is to advance the awareness of God's love. Donations given for the cards are used to support the ministries of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany and their Associates who work to educate, heal, clothe, feed and be present for those who are experiencing poverty in Bolivia, Brazil, Jamaica, Mozambique and the United States.

Jubilee cards, as well as various other enrollment cards, can be ordered online at https://www.franciscanhope.org/shop/ or you can call the Mission Society office at (716) 373-1130 or e-mail the staff at StEliz.Office.Manager@FSAllegany.org for more information about ordering the enrollment cards. Jubilee cards will also be available in the Mission Society office. 

We Want to Hear From You!

We would love to include more news from Brazil, Bolivia, Jamaica and Mozambique in our newsletter. If you have any pictures, tidbits of information or bigger stories you’d like to share please email them to FSA Communications Coordinator Anne Holliday anne.holliday@fsallegany.org. If you have any questions about whether it’s something that could or should go in this newsletter, you can ask Anne about that, too. But she’ll probably say, “Yes, send it.” 😊