Last month, friars received the 2011 Provincial Annals, a record of significant happenings throughout the Province during 2010.
Edited by Julian Davies, OFM, of Loudonville, N.Y., the Annals contains reports from Province ministries, summaries of friar milestones — such as professions, ordinations and jubilees — and biographies of recently deceased friars.
“Over the years, our foreign missionaries in particular have read it eagerly, as have students in formation,” said Julian, who has been editor of the Provincial Annals since the early 1980s. “The Annals is a fraternity builder as friars get to read about one another and their work. One of my goals is to have each friar mentioned in the Annals prior to his obituary.”
Some of the topics included in the 2011 edition are:
• 30th anniversary celebration of the church of Holy Cross Parish, Callicoon, N.Y.
• Fr. Richard Raney’s affiliation to the Province
• St. Patrick-St. Anthony Parish’s celebration of 20 years with the Franciscans
• Renovations to St. Mary’s Church in Pompton Lakes, N.J.
• 80th anniversary of St. Francis Breadline
The end of each issue, since the mid-1970s, has closed with “The Chronicle.” Compiled by Vincent Grogan, OFM, of Butler, N.J., this section highlights key dates throughout the calendar year — workshops, deaths, celebrations and dedications.
Although the Annals has evolved over the years, its purpose has stayed the same. In 1936, then Provincial Minister Mathias Faust, OFM, wrote: “May this publication serve as one more link of zeal and cooperation among the present generation, and as a link of wholesome emulation between the present and the future.”