More than 70 people who attended our Advent Mass and Dinner at St. John’s Seminary on 12/1/18. We were blessed to be joined by Cardinal Seán O’Malley, OFM Cap., Archbishop of Boston, and Fr. Stephen Salocks, interim rector of Saint John’s Seminary. Jack MacKinnon was awarded the Bishop Fitzpatrick Award for his leadership on behalf of the Order of Malta and service to the Church.

It was a wonderful gathering and we extend our thanks and appreciation to Fr. Salocks and the Saint John’s Seminary community for hosting our celebration once again.

Boston’s Area Chair, Damien DeVasto, KM, was featured on an episode of The CatholicTV’s This is the Day. Click here to watch his segment, which focused on the importance of service in the Order of Malta, American Association.

The Boston Area recently gathered at St. John’s Seminary for a Mass and Orientation for our Area Pilgrims who are attending the 2018 Lourdes Pilgrimage. The gathering was led by Stacey Reisman and 2017 Lourdes Pilgrimage Chairs, Nancy and Craig Gibson.

Thank you to Msgr. Moroney for offering a moving homily and an exceptional reflection at the Orientation. In his homily, Msgr. reminded us “to beg the Lady dressed in white, to pray to her son, through whom she and we were made, to send forth his Spirit once again, to renew the face of the earth.” In his reflection, Msgr. shared his secret about Lourdes—that we are closest to God in our littleness, our brokenness, our sickness, and our pain. You can read his beautiful homily and his inspiring reflection on the ’17 Lourdes journey here: http://sjsrector.blogspot.com.

The orientation included a panel discussion that left everyone feeling more inspired for the journey ahead to Lourdes. All involved laughed and shared tears in recalling life changing moments from past pilgrimages and expressed their excitement in what lays ahead. We offer special thanks to those who appeared on the panel: Jim and Cynthia Fagan, Msgr. Moroney, Ray Bastarche, Stacey Reisman, and Nancy Gibson.

Stacey brought home the essence of the Pilgrimage by reminding us that the role of a Knight and Dame is to care for and walk with others; to serve; and to help.

It was a wonderful gathering in advance of a remarkable Pilgrimage. We are grateful to Nancy and Craig, Stacey, Msgr. Moroney and the entire St. John’s Seminary community for hosting this orientation and Mass. We extend our deepest appreciation to CeCe and Mike Donoghue, the 2018 Lourdes Chairs and everyone from the Order involved with the Pilgrimage.

Our prayers go with all 2018 Lourdes Pilgrims on this special journey. Thank you for all you do to live out our calling in the world.

Pictured above in the St. John’s Chapel are seminarians, our malades and caregivers, as well as other pilgrims, both first-timers and veterans, who will be travelling to Lourdes this year. Centered in the photo is our dear friend, Rector of St. John’s and Malta Chaplain, Msgr. Moroney, who provided a special blessing to pilgrims after celebrating Mass.

This Thanksgiving Eve, Confreres and friends of “Malta Walks” joined together to serve the poor. Our volunteers began, as they always do, assembling care packages at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.  The group walked to downtown areas of Boston to distribute these packages and converse with those in need.

Open to all members, the walks have also proven to be an opportunity for auxiliary and young members to develop a community and actively serve together. Please see our calendar for upcoming Malta Walks, held every other Wednesday.

Over 120 members joined us for our Annual Liturgy and Dinner with special guests Cardinal Seán O’Malley, Sr. Constance Veit, Laurie Cochran and Tom Hogan. This gathering provided us with a beautiful opportunity to celebrate our mission and community.

We extend our deepest appreciation to our host, Msgr. Moroney and the St. John’s Seminary community. We would also like to thank Stacey Reisman, DM, for overseeing all of the details for this beautiful evening.

The Boston Pilot and Cardinal Seán’s blog featured our gathering. You can check out those posts here:

http://www.cardinalseansblog.org/

https://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=180634

https://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=180631

On behalf of the residents, Gina Curley and all the Little Sisters, many thanks to all who were able to join us on Friday for the First Friday Mass and serving lunch at the Jeanne Jugan Residence, Little Sisters of the Poor!

Harvey Rowe served as lector and did a beautiful job proclaiming the first reading, responsorial psalm, and the prayers of the faithful.  In his homily, Fr. Pat reminded us that being a follower of Christ is not easy.  We each struggle with our own trials, temptations and failures as disciples. He provided encouragement to turn to the sacraments and prayer to find the strength to persevere on our journey.

He also shared a bit about St. Marcellinus and St. Peter.  Marcellinus was a priest and Peter assisted Marcellinus in his ministry. Both very bravely practiced their Christian faith. They served the Christian community fearlessly and with great self-sacrifice even though they knew that their lives were in danger.  When Emperor Diocletian began punishing Christians for their faith, many Christians were killed. St. Marcellinus and Peter were also killed along with many others. They were beheaded.

Just before splitting off to the two dining rooms, we paused for a moment for updates from Gina Curley and Mother Maureen, and then group prayer, with David Solimine leading us in The Daily Prayer of the Order.

On the evening of Wednesday, June 7th, Boston Area members joined together at the Museum of Fine Arts for a special viewing of the exhibit, “Botticelli and the Search for the Divine” and a conversation with Frederich Illchman, Chair of the Art of Europe. This exhibit is considered to be the most celebrated and significant showing of Botticelli’s work in the United States.

Below is an excerpt from the Boston Globe’s review of the exhibit:

Botticelli and the Search for the Divine,” a stirring exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, traces the evolution of the early Renaissance master’s career. Its path is tender and rapturous, then dark, even angry, yet always visually lucid, always affecting.

The exhibition contextualizes Botticelli’s development amid the creative hothouse of 15th-century Florence, and on through an immense societal upheaval in the 1490s. That’s when the great patrons of the arts, the Medici family, fell from power and the fire-and-brimstone preacher and canny political strategist Fra Girolamo Savonarola stepped into the void.

The show, a terrific joint undertaking by the MFA and the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary, is the largest Botticelli show yet in the United States, featuring 15 works by the master and several by those in his circle. Many have never been seen before this side of the Atlantic.

Click here to read the full article.

This event provided a wonderful opportunity for members to come together as an Area and encounter the beautiful work of one of the greatest artists to have ever lived. A very special thank you to Board of Councillor member, Mark Kerwin, KM, and his wife, Annemarie for arranging and hosting this special night at the MFA.

Over 150 members came together on October 22 for our Annual Liturgy and Dinner with special guests Cardinal Seán O’Malley, Fr. James Martin, SJ, and Eric Donovan. It was a beautiful gathering celebrating our mission and community.

Recognizing the important work we do, Cardinal Seán shared a reflection on his visit with us on his blog; “We were very pleased to see such a large turnout of Knights and Dames, as well as a large number of young people who are joining the auxiliary group. We are blessed to have such a strong presence of the Order of Malta in the Boston area. They do such important work locally, nationally and globally promoting the mission of the Church, particularly Catholic healthcare, humanitarian efforts and outreach to the poor.”