Franciscan Volunteers

Last night, four Franciscan volunteers visited our motherhouse. The Franciscan Volunteer program consists of volunteers who give one to two years of their lives to help out at a certain missions. St. Paul's in Wilmington has 4 volunteers this year.

They came for supper last night. They first ate supper with us. One is extremely outgoing and was greeting all the Sisters at the different tables. We have quite a few round tables in the dining room that seat 6 people. He went around to all of them and talked to everyone. Another one hopped from one table to another. They seemed very much at home.

After supper the tour began. Sister Rose Immaculate, a prize-winning photographer showed them the collection of her pictures that line the second hall corridor. They were enthralled by the beauty of the collection. Then, she gave them each a book.

From there, we went to the fifth floor, where you can see three different States. One view shows the Philadelphia skyline; another, the bridges going into New Jersey and the western shore of New Jersey, and the third view allows you to see the edge of Wilmington, Delaware.

From there, I showed them the first floor. The life-size statue of St. Francis greets visitors at the entrance. Then, the history of our congregation is depicted along the walls in script and pictures. From there, we went into the heritage room, where there were memorabilia of our Sisters in the early days of our community, along with somethings of St. John Neumann who was instrumental in founding our community.

Then, I took them into our Spiritual Center. One of the volunteers, Chris, had helped with a retreat there some time ago. It brought back memories. From there, Chris wanted to see the main chapel. The volunteers were enthralled with the chapel. Chris imagined he was talking to the Sisters at the pulpit.

The spirit of those young volunteers were with me this morning as I walked in the hallway down to chapel for early morning Mass. I could see each one in my mind's eye as I walked to chapel. I know the priest was talking to us, but I could see Chris there giving us a reflection. Their spirits now live in our hallowed halls.