Franciscan Brothers of St. Elizabeth of Hungary
BANGOR, MAINE
Our History:
On November 19th in the year of 1987,the founding friars purchased a 34 acre parcel of undeveloped, remote, and secluded land in the quiet little town of Bucksport, Maine. It was not brought to light until recently that the we put pen to paper on what was the original feastday of the patron of our order, good St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
Times were tough for the spirit lead friars. We went through a period of extreme poverty. Keeping a roof over our heads, in a run down camp, deep in the woods of Mariaville, on the shores of Graham Lake proved a challenge of faith as well as determination. Keeping current on payments for our 34 acre parcel in Bucksport proved not just difficult but, down right impossible. We had but one year remaining on our loan with Fleet Bank and yet found ourselves within days of the bank foreclosing on our property. We were about to lose all we had invested in hopes of having a friary planted in Bucksport. Were it not for the kindness of a local parish couple's assistance, the land would have been seized by the bank and sold from under our feet. We friars are eternally grateful to Marge and Joe who committed to making the last year's monthly payments, saving us from a great loss.
The Franciscan Brothers of St. Elizabeth of Hungary now own the land free and clear as of 2006. We freely admit to you that we "own the property but, it is dedicated to the greater glory of Almighty God through Jesus His Son. Our ultimate goal is to landscape and develop this private parcel into an environment that will lift the mind and heart heavenward toward God. Ideas, concepts and pencil to paper drawings have begun to give way to landscaping and development of the virgin property. We are in the planning stages of erecting a friary to house our members. Our long range plans include a kitchen where the friars can devote ourselves to baking bread. One local business, Bittersweet Gift Shop, in downtown Bucksport is already making our homemade breads available to Mainers along the coast. Fear not Bangor folks, the charming Friars' Bakehouse will also remain an outreach apostolate of the Brothers in downtown Bangor.
| Call to rise / morning coffee |
4:30 |
| Personal Prayer / First prayer of the day |
5:00 |
| Breakfast |
5:15 |
| Lauds (Morning Prayer) |
5:45 |
| Angelus |
6:00 |
| Personal Care |
6:15 |
| Holy Mass with the Felician Sisters |
6:45 |
| Assigned Chores and Ministries |
7:30 |
| Angelus / Lunch |
Noon |
| Assigned Chores and Ministries |
1:00 |
| Personal appointments / meetings |
3:00 |
| Vespers (Evening Prayer) / Wednesday's Mass |
5:00 |
| Angelus / News of the day / house meetings |
6:00 |
| Recreation (time to unwind) |
7:00 |
Examine, Compline (Night Prayer), Salve,
Grand Silence in effect until the Call to rise.
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8:00 |
| Friars retire to their cells |
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As many of our friends and acquaintances know, the Franciscan Brothers work hard at their craft of bread baking. Many also know that baking is not all that they do. Their life is a constant balancing act of work, prayer, ministering to the poor, leading prayer services, as well as household chores. Without the help of loving and generous friends and benefactors, this added financial burden will force the friars to devote more time to working and thereby earn enough to cover their new financial obligations. More time spent working means less time praying for the needs of others, the Church and the world. They will have less time to devote to working with the poor. Less devotions will be offered too. If you feel moved to assist the friars in a financial way your generosity would be greatly appreciated.
The positioning of the new single family dwelling will allow the friars to take advantage of the beautiful panoramic south facing views of Bucksport, Penobscot Bay and beyond. In true Franciscan tradition and concern for the Earth, this perfect south facing position will permit the house to take full advantage of passive solar heating. The location of our clearing has also allowed for two windmills to be erected so that the Franciscans take full advantage of the steady breezes that the Creator issues out of beautiful Penobscot Bay. The friars are very mindfully "green". Their founder, St. Francis, is the patron saint of ecology!
The Franciscan Brothers of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Inc. is a 501C3 tax exempt institution. Please give some serious thought to helping the Friars to build their friary. Any donation, one hundred dollars, five hundred dollars, a thousand dollars or whatever you could offer would be gratefully received and appreciated.
This effort is the culmination of many years or prayer, hard work and dedication. This idylic location will afford us the tranquility and solitude necessary to live a life of balance between the active and the contemplative. The friary buildings and grounds are private for the use of professed members of the order solely. The town of Bucksport has designated our area of the town reserved for single family dwellings on private property. So that we can maintain order, peacefulness and safety, all visits to the friary and grounds must be pre-arranged. To request the possibility of a visit, you can reach us at 947-3770 Tuesday - Friday or email us at FBSE22@AOL.com.
Prayer Path
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DAILY LIFE OF A FRANCISCAN BROTHER OF ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY
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