In Communion With the Divine Beauty: A Presentation on the Spirituality of Sacred Icons

Our special Summer Series is back! Join Fr. Michael for a four-week presentation on “The Spirituality of Sacred Icons.”

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Each one prays to God according to his own light.” Some pray with words and litanies, others with movement and hymns, and others with sacred images or icons.  For centuries, icons have been a significant part of worship in Eastern Orthodox Churches. They are known as “windows” into the spiritual world, allowing us to glimpse that world and be in communion with the beauty of the Divine. More recently, however, people from other faith traditions have become enthralled by the beauty and mystery of icons. Today, icons can be found in churches of various denominations, houses, museums, and even hospitals.

Class topics and descriptions can be found below. We hope you can join us each week!

Understanding the Basics of Iconography
– July 12th at 7:00 pm
– San Damiano Center

This session will provide a brief history and background of these sacred images, including the materials and processes used to create them. Fr. Michael will also help us interpret their visual and spiritual language.

Icons of Christ
– July 19th at 7:00 pm
– San Damiano Center

This session will highlight the different icons of Christ, including the history and background of some of these sacred works. Fr. Michael will also discuss the visual and spiritual language of these different icons and present a pastoral reflection.

Icons of Mary, The Mother of God
– July 26th at 7:00 pm
– San Damiano Center

This session will feature the different icons of Mary, including their history and background. Fr. Michael will also discuss the visual and spiritual language of these different icons and present a pastoral reflection.

Icons of Saints and Holy People
– August 2nd at 7:00 pm
– San Damiano Center

This session will focus on the different icons of Saints and Holy People as painted by Fr. Michael himself, as well as Br. Robert Lentz, OFM, his teacher and mentor. He will also discuss the visual and spiritual language of these different icons and present a pastoral reflection.

Nancy Parente from the Alzheimer’s Association of the Florida Gulf Coast will present two classes on caregiver support and education, as well as provide references for services that are available here in the Tampa Bay area for both the patient and the caregiver. Class details are below. We hope you can join us.

Tuesday, July 5th – 7:00 pm
– St. Francis Hall

Tuesday, August 2nd – 7:00 pm
– St. Francis Hall

May 21st & May 22nd

We invite you to watch a short video (created by our Pastoral Year Seminarians!) that shows seminary life and explains the financial funding sources.

Why are we doing a special collection for Seminarians – doesn’t the Annual Pastoral Appeal pay for that?
There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that the Annual Pastoral Appeal (APA) has never quite been enough to cover all the expenses of the 24 seminarians. The good news is that there was a generous donation that set up a Seminarian Burse Fund to supplement the shortfall in APA donations. The even better news is that we now have 30 seminarians in studies, which means the Burse Fund will be depleted in two years as the extra costs are covered. Continue reading 2016 Special Seminarian Collection →

Several weeks ago I wrote “Not yet…” an article that acknowledged Pope Francis’ new apostolic exhortation, the Joy of Love – and noted that I was glad people were asking me about it, but I needed time to read it, re-read it, and think about it. I can report that I have now read it, have re-read parts of it, and am still thinking about. What I can offer at this point is some thoughts from here and there – and offer them cautiously at that. Continue reading Still working on it… →

Good Pope Francis has declared a Jubilee Year of Mercy to begin on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception this December 8th . In Judaism and Christianity, the Jubilee is a special year of remission of sins, forgiving debts, and reconciling broken relationships. It is a year in which the people of God are asked to especially make manifest the mercy of God. So maybe, here at the beginning, it is a good time to think about the meaning of “mercy.” Continue reading Thinking about Mercy →