After completing a year of postulancy, eight confreres were vested in the Conventual Franciscan habit and began their novitiate year in Kalwaria Pacławska, Poland. There are four novices from Poland—Friars Krystian GŁUCH, Miłosz MĘŻYK, Artur SCHEFER and Jakub SZCZEPANEK; two novices from Uzbekistan—Friars Fakhridin IBRAGIMOV and Umirbek TURABEKOV; a novice from the Czech Republic—Friar Kamil LAJČÁK; and a novice from Slovakia—Friar Peter PIKULIK.
The vesting ceremony took place on September 20, 2019. Those attending included the Minister Provincial of the Province of St. Anthony and Bl. James of Strepar in Poland (Cracow,) Friar Marian GOŁĄB; the Vicar Provincial of the Province of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the Czech Republic, Friar Piotr PAWLIK; and the Custos of the Provincial Custody of the Immaculate Conception of the BVM in Slovakia, Friar Lucjan BOGUCKI.
In his homily, the Custos of Slovakia recalled his vesting ceremony at the same novitiate thirty-five years earlier. He spoke about the significance of the Franciscan habit. In today’s world, wearing the habit can be a burden. St. Francis of Assisi wanted the friars’ habit to be a symbol of the cross. The habit, like the cross, is a sign of contradiction. The novices must be prepared for this: when being vested, they also take up the cross.
After the ceremony, the novices and all those present at the celebration venerated the relics of the habit of St. Francis of Assisi.
Friar Jan SZEWEK, Province Spokesman
Learn more: https://www.franciszkanie.pl/artykuly/obloczyny-1
