by Br. James Peterson

It will be the beginning of autumn when you receive this edition of The Capuchin Journey. Autumn is a special time of the liturgical year for Franciscans everywhere. We celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi on Oct. 4. With Pope Leo XIV having declared 2026 a jubilee year in commemoration of the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis, we Capuchins feel particularly proud to belong to the Franciscan family at this moment in history. As we noted in our last issue, we invite you to visit our parishes in New York and Connecticut and come to our feast day celebrations. Now is a very good time to get to know the friars.

In addition to joining in the Church’s jubilee observance, the Province of St. Mary has its own jubilees to celebrate. Every fall we take time to honor our brothers who are observing their anniversaries in religious life or priesthood. This Oct. 12 is our Fraternity Day, and we will gather at St. Pius X Parish in Middletown, Conn., for a presentation on the Franciscan jubilee year, followed by a Eucharistic celebration, a blessing of our jubilarians, and a luncheon.

I look forward to this year’s celebration, because I am celebrating 25 years of religious life along with six of my fellow brothers: Brs. Marvin Bearis, Louis Cinq-Mars, Samuel Fuller, Arlen Harris, Thomas McNamara, and Charles Sammons. Our formation class is an unusual one: seven of us entered the novitiate together in 2001, and all seven of us went on to make our perpetual profession of vows. It is uncommon for that to happen—God works in mysterious ways, and there are always some men who will eventually discern out of the Capuchin Order while they are still in formation. The Province is particularly blessed by the gifts and talents of my brothers from the Class of 2001. You will read more about two of them, Brother Arlen and Brother Tom, in this issue. We also spotlight two friars, Br. Bernard Maloney and Br. Jack Rathschmidt, who entered the Order together 65 years ago.

On behalf of the Capuchin friars of the Province of St. Mary, I wish you a blessed feast of St. Francis of Assisi. And we offer you and your loved ones our continued prayers for your well-being throughout this extraordinary jubilee year. ◼︎