Truth & Mercy Series - September 27th 2026

Truth & Mercy Series

As we approach the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel and the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, we have a special opportunity as a parish community to celebrate the gift of Religious Life among us. 

Our parish is blessed to have the presence and witness of two religious congregations: the Franciscan Sisters of Christ the Divine Teacher and the Sisters of St. Michael the Archangel. The connection between these two communities is especially meaningful, as St. Francis had a deep devotion to St. Michael and practiced a special period of prayer and fasting in his honor, traditionally known as St. Michael's Lent.

Religious Life is a beautiful vocation in the Catholic Church-a call to give one's life more completely to Christ through prayer, community, and service. 

Religious women and men seek to live this call through the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, offering their lives for the love of God and the service of His people. Their lives remind us that holiness is not simply something we admire in the saints of the past; it is a call God continues to give today.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Franciscan Sisters of Christ the Divine Teacher 

Our order was founded in 1981 by Sr. Bernadette Counihan, OSF. Following the example of our Seraphic Father Francis, we live a life of simplicity and poverty, total living of the Gospel, and perfect adherence to the Word of Christ, the Divine Teacher. 

We profess public vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, live a common life, engage in community apostolates, and wear a community habit. Our union with God is fostered by daily Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, daily Rosary, spiritual reading, and quiet private prayer. 

 Franciscan spirituality adds a particular dimension to our prayer, charism, and life. Inspired by St. Francis's “understanding of perfect joy” and the Prayer of St. Francis, we strive to interiorize these teachings in our daily lives. As servants of the Divine Teacher, we seek to live with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness. We also have a deep love for the Blessed Mother and celebrate her feasts with special joy, making the Rosary part of our daily community prayer.

     Sisters of St. Michael the Archangel 

The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Michael the Archangel was founded in 1986 by Most Rev. Dr. Michael Olatunji Fagun in Nigeria. We seek to live our vocation through a life of prayer, community, and service, guided by the spirit of "Service, Adoration & Victory." Our apostolic spirit is Evangelization, with Inculturation of the Gospel as our way of bringing Christ into the lives, families, and cultures of those we serve. 

Our charism, "Incarnating the Word in the heart of all," is lived through catechesis, education, health care, pastoral and family ministry, and other works of evangelization. Inspired by St. Michael the Archangel,, we strive to remain faithful to Christ and generous in His service.

As we celebrate these religious communities who serve among us, may we give thanks for their witness and pray for all those discerning a vocation to Religious Life. We will celebrate and honor our Sisters after the First Friday Mass on October 2. 

We invite our parish family to join us in giving thanks for their vocation, prayer, presence, and service among us. 

May St. Francis and St. Michael the Archangel inspire us to seek Christ more deeply, stand firm in faith, and respond generously to God's call.

In union of prayers,

The Sisters of St. Michael the Archangel  and Franciscan Sisters of Christ the Divine Teacher