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Franciscans in Action
April 2008 e-newsletter
Conventual Franciscan Novices
Work With the Vulnerable
Many volunteers helped make
the Our Lady of the Road Drop-In Center a welcoming place
The Conventual Franciscan Novitiate program is an opportunity for young men discerning entry into the Order of Friars Minor Conventual to live according to the Rule of St. Francis and follow the Order's Constitutions. While in the Novitiate, the young men develop their relationship with Jesus Christ through prayer, study, and service. This year the novices at the Novitiate in Mishawaka, Indiana are living their Franciscan experience by going out into the community and serving the sick and vulnerable at the Our Lady of the Road Drop-In Center on 744 South Main Street in South Bend, a destitute section of town.
Located in an old bungalow-style building, the Our Lady of the Road Drop-In Center has a sign out at its front inviting one and all. The warmth of human companionship exists even here in this bleakest of places. This seems to have been the guiding principle behind the center's founding by the South Bend Catholic Worker. The South Bend Catholic Worker is a group of four determined people (Mike Baxter, Margie Pfeil, Brenna Cussen, and Cinnamon Sarver) who follow the example of the Catholic social activist and journalist Dorothy Day.
The Our Lady of the Road Drop-In Center strives to create a community
The Conventual Franciscan novices’ tasks at the Our Lady of the Road Drop-In Center are varied, ranging from washing coffee cups to serving food and providing companionship. On Fridays the novices read the liturgy to sustain the visitors’ souls, providing perhaps the most essential of services.
We encourage you our readers to send in stories where you see the spirit of St. Francis shine. Email your stories to Peter Rajchert at peter@franciscans.org.
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