Bunny found a friend.  We are wondering how soon it will be until we have a bunch of little bunnies running around the garden.  Much to our chagrin, they are enjoying all the flowers and greenery and even the rose bush - they can't seem to get enough.  St. Joseph is on the side protecting his little friends.  This seems to be a special place for them, near the cross.  God is using his little creatures to point the way.

ST. FRANCIS AND THE RABBITS:  One day a brother brought a rabbit who had been caught in a trap to St. Francis. Francis advised the rabbit to be more alert in the future, then released the rabbit from the trap and set it on the ground to go its way. But the rabbit hopped back up onto Francis’ lap, desiring to be close to the saint.  Francis took the rabbit a few steps into the woods and set it down. But it followed Francis back to his seat and hopped on his lap again! Finally Francis asked one of his fellow friars to take the rabbit far into the woods and let it go. That worked. This type of thing happened repeatedly to Francis—which he saw as an opportunity to praise the glory of God. 

Here is Rich, the Design Engineer behind the scenes who sewed St. Brendan's new "Baldachin" - aka "canopy" for the magnificent Corpus Christi Procession on June 2, 2013 at St. Brendan's Church in Bellingham, MA.  After we presented him with an idea, he went to work on a prototype fabricated from a camouflage material.  We assured the good pastor that it was not the the final product.  So then Rich worked out the kinks and arrived at this final version.  It was a splendid addition - only the best for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament!
Definition of BALDACHIN:
1 : a cloth canopy fixed or carried over an important person or a          sacred object
                                                                     2 : a rich embroidered fabric of silk and gold
                                                                     3  : an ornamental structure resembling a canopy used especially                                                                              over an altar

   Another grace-filled day at 
       A Day With Mary.
One of the Apostolates of the Franciscans of the Immaculate is bringing A Day With Mary to the world.  It is a prayerful day with Our Lady, dedicated to spreading the message of Fatima - a message so vital in today's age.  This special day was held at St. Brendan's Church in Bellingham, MA. Fr. Mullen, the pastor, consecrated the Parish to Our Lady. Fr. Louis Maximilian, FI dedicated his morning talk to the necessity of praying the rosary, citing the example of Francisco.  Our Lady told Lucia that he would need to say many rosaries in order to arrive in heaven, and the young boy took the instruction to heart.  Fr. Joshua, FI, spoke in the afternoon about the devotion of the Sacred Heart, as dictated to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque by Jesus:  “I promise you, in the excessive mercy of My Heart, that My all-powerful love will grant to all those  who communicate on the First Friday of nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence;  they shall not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their Sacraments, My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.”
    We highly recommend this Day - it is a day filled with graces and blessings.  As Jesus Himself asked at Fatima, this apostolate seeks to establish devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.   Praise be Jesus and Mary!

All Creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voices and with us sing!

We had a visitor and he certainly enjoys smelling the roses!
And he loves the clover and dandelions.  What a wonderful God we have - He made so many varieties of creatures.  What a fantastic, brilliant, unfathomable mind He has.  In The CCC - #41 -  "All creatures bear a certain resemblance to God, most especially man, created in the image and likeness of God. The manifold perfections of creatures - their truth, their goodness, their beauty all reflect the infinite perfection of God. Consequently we can name God by taking his creatures' perfections as our starting point, "for from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator".

Our Mission in Nigeria is thriving, thanks to Our Lady's help.  Vocations in 2013 are flourishing with 23 seminarians, 30 aspirants, 23 postulants and 11 novices.  A very poor people, the church Sunday collection amounts to only $1.06 (translated into US dollar).
  Lepers Apostolate:  The Government gives the lepers a monthly allowance of N500 naira = $3.30 for each patient. As this amount can only sustain them for a day or two , they have to do farming, at least those who have still some fingers remaining in their hands, but most of them they don’t have any more.
  The FI misisionaries were challenged to do concrete things for what they need most of their "today and tomorrow".  The first priority was the water supply, followed by a standard education. They established the Charity School for the helpless. Sustenance of the administration of the School is a hard monthly struggle by philanthropists who believe that it is in giving that we can receive more.
It started with the Nursery and Primary level with the hope of having in the future the Secondary level and Technical School.  At present, there are three Charity School Centers.  22 Villages are grouped into three. Each Group has one MIM Charity School Center.
Hopefully soon a Cooperative of MIM Farmers, which is for the Farmers own Group, will be established.  This Cooperative will supply the poor with tractors, seeds, fertilizers, medicine and other farm needs, and they will pay later at harvest time. Since this money lender Group is their own, they will do everything for the conquering of souls for God through the Immaculate.  Villages will be grouped into many centers (a center can have 6 or 7 Villages) where each group or center can have a tractor to cultivate their farms and farm supplies, and even can have individual loan from the Cooperative in the future. May Our Lady continue to help the poorest of the poor.

Prayer to Our Lady of Africa
Our Lady of Africa, Mother of us all,
be specially mindful of the peoples of Africa.
Gather together all those who follow Jesus Christ.
May they be one in the Church of your Son.
May all those who have not yet recognized Jesus
as the Son of the Father be drawn by his Light.
May all those who have been seized by Christ
proclaim the Good News by their whole life.

With camera in hand, we enjoyed our trip to the Mission Church in Boston.  We needed higher quality pictures for our article in the next edition for the "Missio Immaculae" issued by the Franciscans of the Immaculate.  It is such a privilege to pray at the foot of the Miraculous Icon.  The day we were there, we watched as a mother lifted up her newborn baby, born just three days previously, to the Icon. Having endured a difficult labor, she wanted special protection for her little boy and she went directly from the hospital to attend Mass at the Basilica and to ask for Our Lady's blessings.  The new mother prayed to the Immaculate Heart throughout her pregnancy and this special baby was born on the Feast Day of the Immaculate Heart, May 31, 2013.
      The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is surrounded by an array of city dwellings.  It is quite an amazing sight to see the impressive stone church’s 214 feet twin steeples soar above the neighboring structures.  Rising from the ashes of puritanical hatred for the Catholic Faith, from “No-Nothing” (an anti-Catholic political movement) persecution of Catholics in which an Ursuline Convent in Boston was burned in 1834, and from enactment of laws barring Catholic Priests from the Mass Bay Area, the Basilica stretches its magnificent towers to the Heavens in praise and thanksgiving to God.
      The “jewel” of the church is the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.   Mounted on a shiny, golden mosaic wall is an icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, who beckons her children to approach the rail and pray to her.  On each side of the Icon stands a statue of a praying angel, looking up at Our Lady and on the gold ceiling above the icon are painted two more angels carrying an Ave Maria banner.  Kneeling before the awe-inspiring Icon, one senses the palpable presence of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.  There are many crutches left in vases at each side of the altar of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which indicate the many miracles attributed to Her.  During the thirteen years from the inception of the church until 1884, there were already 331 well-authenticated miraculous cures, which were propagated throughout America.  In fact, The NY Herald, in March of 1901, called this Shrine the “Lourdes of America” because there were so many miraculous cures.