On September 17, 2022, the Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi, five confreres (three from Poland and two from Ukraine) made their temporary profession at the Shrine of the Passion of Christ and the Mother of God in Kalwaria Pacławska, Poland.

The newly professed are Friars Maksymilian KATA, Demyan MYSAKOVETS, Wasyl PAŁAMARCZUK, Marcin SARNA and Marek SŁYŚ.
In his homily, the Vicar Custos and Secretary of the Provincial Custody of the Holy Cross in Ukraine, Friar Stanisław PĘKALA, referred to the event that took place almost eight hundred years ago on Mount La Verna and asked those present: “What is visible in my body? What is visible in my face? What is visible in my heart?” Then, pointing to the example of the Poverello of Assisi, he wished that we might be joined with Christ in that way, to be so conformed to Him that “He becomes visible in our hands, in our feet and in our hearts.”
The Minister Provincial of the Province of St. Anthony and Bl. James of Strepar in Poland (Cracow) Friar Marian GOŁĄB, expressed his gratitude to the newly professed for having chosen the Conventual Franciscan lifestyle and for having discovered what God has called them to. He hoped that they might hear Christ say to them at the end of their days: “Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.” The Minister Provincial thanked the parents of the newly professed and told them that they, too, become part of the Conventual Franciscan family and that this is undoubtedly an expression of God’s mercy and love for them.
Speaking on behalf of all the newly professed, Friar Marcin thanked God, the Mother of God, the families, the Minister Provincial, the Custos and Vicar Custos of the Custody of Ukraine, the formators of the postulancy program and the novitiate, the community of Kalwaria Pacławska and all those who made an impression in their lives.
On October 1, 2022, all five confreres will begin philosophical and theological studies in Cracow.

Friar Jan Maria SZEWEK