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Fraternity Meeting The next Fraternity meeting will be held on Friday 28 September at our usual venue, Marian Hall, St. Mathew's Church, Page, commencing at 8 pm. We welcome the Regional Minister, Sandie Tilley, who will be making a Fraternal Visitation - something we have not enjoyed for some time past. See the beautiful words on Fraternal Visits in Article 93 of the Constitutions.
You may recall that Sandie wrote: "I would like to talk to the Canberra Fraternity about evangelising the Canberra area. It would be a very casual talk and I would be interested in their input. Perhaps they could think about it in the meantime."
Transitus Ceremony This will be held in St Matthew's Church commencing at 8pm on WEDNESDAY 3 OCTOBER 2001. We hope there will be lots of visitors. Members are asked to bring finger food for the supper. Our Anglican Franciscan friends of the Third Order of the Society of Saint Francis have been invited to join us. We understand the clash that they have with other arrangements for celebrating the Feast but hope that some may be able to attend.
Visit to Cooma. Arrangements have been made with Marg Mackay for a Mass to be celebrated on her property, 'Braeside', at 11 am on SATURDAY 23 OCTOBER 2001. Marg and her friends will arrange a BBQ lunch after the Mass and will provide the meat. She would appreciate the Canberra people bringing something such as slices for dessert.
'Braeside' is located on Caddigat Rd, Dry Plains, about 30km. on the other side of Cooma (coming from Canberra) so it would be advisable to allow 2½ hours for the journey (depending upon where one starts from in Canberra).
This visit will replace our normal monthly meeting. It will celebrate the life and work of Brother Andrew.
Memorial for Fr Fabian Thom We are all invited to a Memorial Eucharist for Fr Fabian Thom OFM, who was tragically killed at the Franciscan Novitiate in Port Moresby on 16 August 2001. As you may have seen reported in the media, Fr Fabian was shot in his bed by 'Rascals'. The Memorial will be celebrated at Mary Immaculate Church, Victoria St., Waverley on Saturday 6 October at 11 am.
Regional Fraternity Meeting. The St Clare Regional Fraternity (NSW) will hold the next regional day on Saturday 20 October. It will be held at St. Joseph's Hall, Albert St. Edgecliffe (an eastern suburb of Sydney). Starting time is 10.30am and finishing time is 3.30pm. BYO lunch to share. These are very important meetings in terms of our unity as an order and our ability to serve our sisters and brothers by sharing with them.
Regional Chapter. Please remember to pray for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit on the Regional Chapter to be held 13 to 16 November.
August Meeting. We thank Fr Carl for his excellent input on poverty which expanded our appreciation of this precious gift Francis left to his followers. Our understanding is that Fr Carl would like to finish his thoughts on poverty for Secular Franciscans at our Day of Reflection in December.
McArdle Visit. Peter McArdle SFO, his wife Maria and Maria's sister Christine Harris from Herne Bay, Kent, England, visited Canberra between 17 and 19 September. Those of us who could do so met them at an informal social gathering on the evening of 18 September. It was interesting to compare notes on how they conduct their meetings with the way we do. The gathering was a practical example of how widespread the Franciscan family is. Before long we were chatting away as if we had known each other for years. See the picture (95 KBytes) for most present.
Maria and Christine lived at Beauty Point near Launceston and at Waverly, Sydney during their early years before they and their parents returned to England. Maria was at St Clare's school in Sydney. On this trip, before coming to Canberra, they had spent a week in Sydney and Katoomba and from Canberra they were going on to Melbourne and Launceston.
Peter is a member of the Canterbury Fraternity in Kent. As you may know, Canterbury is both an ancient and modern centre of Franciscan learning. The Fraternity meets in the Franciscan Spirituality Centre where quite a few Australians have studied. Peter brought many photographs including some showing the modern "Centre" and others the ancient "Greyfriars" building.
Celebrations. In October let us celebrate:
Next Council Meeting Council members to be notified by telephone.
Input for the Canberra Franciscan and requests to Jack Smith jacksmth@ozemail.com.au : phone +61-2-6258 3824