Advent and Christmas

While 2020 has challenged us in ways we never expected, it also proved that with God, and a little help from our friends, all things are possible. With the Christmas Season upon us, there is no better time than…

The light of Advent At times in this pandemic, we’re tempted to give up. We’re tempted to think the candles of Advent have gone out. Mother Teresa, with her great work with the poor, lit a candle in Calcutta…

One of the featured nativities at A Franciscan Christmas “We stumbled upon this and were mesmerized by the lights and all the nativities,” says Diane from Montgomery, Ohio. “It’s beautiful! It’s so Christmassy and it really…

  Longing for Light You are invited to join us  for a new Advent series entitled, Longing for light, at the St. Anthony Shrine, 5000 Colerain Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45223. The three Wednesdays during Advent, we’ll gather from…

For unto you a child is born ~ Bring your friends and family to ‘A Franciscan Christmas’ in historic Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati.  Enter the courtyard of St. Francis Seraph Church on the corner of Liberty and Vine to meditate on…

Santa visits the St. Anthony Kitchen in Negril, Jamaica. Merry Christmas! Dear Friends and Benefactors, Provincial Minister Fr. Mark Soehner We can’t say thank you enough for your gifts of support, trust, and prayers. The best…

 Fr. Murray Bodo reads The Christmas Story, from the Gospel of Luke. We Franciscan friars want to share with you a beautiful story. It was  written a long time…

Prepare your heart for Our Lord You are invited to join us at the St. Anthony Shrine for a new Advent series entitled Leave a Chair for Christ. The three Wednesdays during Advent, we’ll gather from…

Santa didn’t disappoint the children at St. Anthony’s Kitchen. While family and friends were back home freezing in Cincinnati, I was roasting my earlobes off on the hot and sunny Friday before Christmas. Kids and grown-ups were gathering…

A memory of Christmas Past ~ Obie and Mae Parker!  They gave me a great opportunity to demonstrate Christmas hospitality at an age in my young life when I had little notion of such a thing.  What was under…