Fi News #122 – Fra. Solanus in Front of Friary ( 08min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

Fra. Solanus (from Dublin) gives a sketch here of where and what the friars in Stoke are up-to.

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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Fi News #117 – Dark Nights ( 01min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

We’re in our 4th day without power here in Griswold Connecticut at the Franciscan Friary of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It’s not that bad; we travel about 3 miles to take showers, collect water for drinking and house hold cleaning, we charge the laptops by car battery and read by candle light and a few flashlights. Our Canon 7D is out of battery juice, so I’ll try to get them charged tomorrow. The power was eventually restored on Friday, September 2nd, five days after it went out.

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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Fi News #93 – Bell coming in for a landing  ( 06min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

Fr. Elias blesses the bells for of our new Bloomington, Indiana friary and then they are installed by crane into the belltower. The video is capped off by the installation of the copper steeple.

Ave Maria!

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Fi News #90 – Our new friary in Bloomington is making progress ( 04min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

See the progress on the new FI friary in Bloomington, Indiana. Volunteers and pros alike gather local rocks for the facade of the friary. Then you can see materials being lowered onto the roof to put the finishing touches on that. And finally you can see the new bells that will soon be added to the bell tower which you can see rising high above the roof.

Ave Maria!

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Fi News #82 – Marian Friary in Progress ( 06min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

Here is a video of the construction on the new Marian Friary of Our Lady Coredemptrix which started on March 25th, 2010 on the Feast of the Annunciation and shows the process up through August.The friary will be 22,000 square feet and have room for 28 friars with two floors, a partial basement and a bell tower that will be 86 feet high. The bell tower will have 3 bells from a local church that recently closed and the top 16 ft will be an illuminated cross. The friary is being built adjacent to the existing chapel on the property and will have direct access to the chapel’s main floor from the friary’s 2nd floor and to the chapel’s basement from the friary’s first floor.

The planned opening is spring 2011. Keep this project in your prayers.

Below are some pictures of some more progress since the video was taken. We will keep you posted

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Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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Ave on the Air

New Catholic radio station launches in Southern Tier
By Jennika Baines
SUN Assoc. Editor

The first radio station in the U.S. owned and operated by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate has taken to the airwaves in the Syracuse Diocese.

The station, called Holy Virgin Mary Radio, can be found at 91.9 FM and is transmitting out of Barton, N.Y. The station is run from the Friars’ Mount St. Francis Hermitage in Maine, N.Y. and from the Franciscan Friary in Griswold, Conn.

The station is the first of a wave of similar stations that are planned across the U.S. – - More…

Blessed Andre Bessette, soon to be Saint has relations near the Griswold Friary and in near by Rhode Island.  How awesome is that.

Fi News #68 – Bushfire at Perth Friary ! ( 05min) >>> Play

In the afternoon of March 1st, 2010 a bushfire started near the friary in Perth, Australia and grew quickly. It jumped the main road and approached our backyard. We decided to evacuate the friary. We took the Blessed Sacrament, a few liturgical items of worth, a few personal items (passports, etc.) and the computers and loaded up the cars. We turned on the lawn sprinklers on the side facing the fire, closed all windows and doors, placed a statue of Our Lady to watch over the fire and drove down the road to a safe distance to wait it out. Roads were blocked by the police. After noticing that the smoke in the immediate area of the friary had died down and after the police told us the friary was ok, we went to a benefactor’s house for something to eat and drink only to be allowed back onto the property around 10:00pm. Damage was limited to a few sheds in the area, no homes or loss of life but about 47 hectares (115 acres) burned.

Fi News #65 – Construction begins on a new Friary for Our Lady in Bloomington, IN ( 04min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

Just when you thought no more exciting news could come from Bloomington we have here the video of the Ground Breaking Ceremony for our new friary which is to hold 35 friars. Thank you to all our benefactors and please keep this project in your prayers.

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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Fi News #64 – Fr. Elias with sled on the precipice. ( 03min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

Fr. Elias and the other friars and local youth sled down the l-o-o-o-o-ng steep hill at our Bloomington, IN Friary. He even carried a friar cam with him so you can get an on-sled view of the action.  So click play and hang on tight!!

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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