Ave Maria!We are happy to announce that ten Franciscans of the Immaculate were ordained to the priesthood through the imposition of the hands of His Eminence Crescenzio Card. Sepe, Archbishop of Napoli on March 24, 2007 in the Church of St. Theresa of the Discalced, Naples. This is an incredible blessing to the order and the Church. As the saintly Don Donlindo Ruotolo put it, "The priest is a flower that has bloomed in the magnificence of the love of Jesus Christ ... that shines in the splendor of his dignity and excels all others ... a rose from the Immaculate Heart of Mary"There were no Americans ordained this year but one of the ordained, Fra Agnelus from England, made his postulancy and novitiate here in America and several American seminarians were in the Church and are anxiously awaiting their ordination in just a few short years, after which they will be able come back and minster to us here.Fra Bonaventure from Cameroon was ordained as well. Generous benefactors from the US paid for the plane tickets for his family to come and see his ordination. All those who contributed will be glad to see that they were, in fact, able to come. They stand out in their beautiful traditional African clothes, captured here in some of the slides.The beautiful church is staffed by the FI sisters who also sang magnificently for the ceremony. Thank you, Jesus and Mary!!Ave Maria!
