Ad Jesum per Mariam

In recent months, the Blessed Virgin has showered the Marian Franciscans in Portsmouth and Gosport with an abundance of graces. The attendance at Sunday Mass at St Joseph’s, Copnor, has been steadily on the rise, with young families travelling long distances to attend the Missa Cantata. Before Mass, boys as young as seven flock into the sacristy with an impressive zeal to serve at the altar, and the choir continues to grow, spurred on by a group of gifted young girls who now assist in the singing of some beautiful polyphonic chant.

Youth participation and witness is in fact a strong theme for the Marian Franciscans, who recently held a week-long Catholic Summer camp in Snowdonia for twenty-three boys and girls, filled with action-packed activities in addition to daily Mass, Rosary, and catechesis. The children seemed to enjoy their week’s freedom from their parents!

The month of September was particularly grace-filled for the Marian Franciscans, with various notable occasions taking place at St Mary’s Church in Gosport, where a community of four priests and three professed friars live. The first of these was the celebration of Fr Serafino Lanzetta’s 25th Anniversary of his religious profession. A Solemn Mass was celebrated on the Feast of Our Lady’s Nativity in thanksgiving for the gift of his religious vocation, after which Fr Serafino renewed his profession in the Old Rite.

The Marian Franciscan Sisters from Bridgemary sang the Mass angelically, lifting the souls of the many faithful in attendance. After Mass, the faithful gathered to celebrate Fr Serafino’s Silver Jubilee. “Getting old” were the words he used as he cut into the splendid cake presented to him by a generous benefactor.

Later that day, three sisters from Bridgemary made their perpetual profession, and the following Sunday, on the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, five postulants were invested as novices.

The liturgies were so pious and reverent that it seemed the clichéd phrase ‘heaven on earth’ was briefly realised. Credit is due to the heroic parishioners who attended all three of these events, some remaining at St Mary’s from 11am to 10pm on the 8 of September… what stamina!

The Marian Franciscans strive to follow in the footsteps of their Seraphic Father, St Francis, with no compromise. This involves a life of poverty and a complete reliance on Divine Providence. They own nothing and buy no food of their own, depending entirely on the goodwill of generous benefactors who ensure they have the necessary means to carry out their life of prayer, work, and apostolate.

It is perhaps this uncompromising and authentic Franciscan spirit which attracts so many vocations to the Marian Franciscans. The friars are regularly contacted by young men from all over the world who desire to conform their lives to Christ in imitation of St Francis.

A vocation discernment retreat, held recently by the friars in Walsingham, gave thirteen young men the opportunity to experience a snapshot of their daily life and to attend conferences on their Marian spirituality.

Some of the retreatants have since expressed the desire to join the friars, and this, coupled with the many visit requests the friars receive each week, means there is now an urgent need for more space!

Please keep this intention in your prayers, that Our Lady might grant them the grace of a new Marian House.

What attracts souls to the Marian Franciscans above all else is their unlimited consecration to the Immaculate Virgin Mary, inspired by the spirituality of the great St Maximilian Kolbe. In these challenging times, where the doctrine of the faith is being clouded, and souls struggle to find parishes where Our Lord is treated with due reverence and respect, it is to the Blessed Virgin that we must turn. Her love for Christ is deeper than any other, and She is committed to preserving the Truth and bringing souls closer to Her Son. Our Lady is at the very heart of the Marian Franciscan life. This is manifested by their unlimited consecration to Her, to the point of becoming Her “possession and property”. Every aspect of the friars’ life is marianised, including their apostolic activity. Inspired again by the example of St Maximilian, the friars use the mass media to reach souls all over the world. This involves live-streaming Masses, running a 24-hour Catholic radio show, publishing daily homilies on YouTube, in addition to a weekly live show called Tea With Mary which is directed towards Marian catechesis. Weekly football games organised by the friars in their local park are also a means for giving witness to the joyfulness of our Faith. The friars play in their habits (no nutmegs possible) which attracts much interest from passers-by, many of whom join in to play. Photos of these footballing friars even appeared recently in The Telegraph and The Times!

Please keep the Marian Franciscans in your prayers, and if you would like to find out more about them, visit their website at www.themarianfranciscans. org and check out their Radio Immaculata YouTube channel.

If you wish to grow in devotion to Our Lady, or are discerning a religious vocation, the friars would be very happy to welcome you for a visit.

In Corde Matris, Ave Maria!