{"id":103538,"date":"2026-09-16T13:30:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T11:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/assisi-giorni-di-formazione-nel-25-anniversario-della-professione-solenne\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T13:32:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T11:32:56","slug":"assisi-giorni-di-formazione-nel-25-anniversario-della-professione-solenne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/assisi-giorni-di-formazione-nel-25-anniversario-della-professione-solenne\/","title":{"rendered":"Assisi: Formation Week for Friars Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Solemn Profession"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is something about Assisi that is hard to put into words. One need only walk its streets, enter a Franciscan church, or pause at the tomb of St. Francis to remember where it all began. Thus, from September 7 to 12, 2026, we conducted several days of formation here for friars of the Foederatio Europae Mediae et Orientalis <\/em>(FEMO) who were celebrating the 25th<\/sup> anniversary of their solemn profession.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Those attending the formation week included members of the Province of St. Anthony and Bl. James of Strepar in Poland (Cracow), namely, Friar Adam KLAG, on mission in Uganda, and Friar Krzysztof PELC, from the Provincial Custody of the Holy Cross in Ukraine. The Province of the Immaculate Mother of God in Poland (Warsaw) was represented by Friars Grzegorz SZYMANIK, Arkadiusz P\u0141ATEK, and S\u0142awomir FI\u0141ONOWICZ. From the Province of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe in Poland (Gda\u0144sk) came Friars Rafa\u0142 WOJCIECHOWSKI, Piotr MATUSZAK, and Robert KOZIELSKI. Finally, the Provincial Custody of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M. in Slovakia was represented by Friars Peter GALLIK and Samuel HURAJT.
\nAlthough our daily experiences, places of service, personal stories, and responsibilities differed, we were united by our shared 25th<\/sup> anniversary of solemn profession. Whatever our differences, each of our journeys shared a common root: the Franciscan vocation.
\nFriar Jerzy NOREL, from the Province of Gda\u0144sk, guided us during the formation week. His meditations did not provide ready-made answers; instead, he invited us to pause and reexamine our own stories. After a quarter century of religious life, each of us carries a wealth of experiences gained through work, service, and relationships with our fellow friars and the many people we have met along the way. There also remains a natural tension between who we would have liked to be and who we actually are, between the ideal of Franciscan life and everyday reality.
\nMoreover, it is good that this tension exists. We are certainly not in the cemetery: we are alive, and the living must continue to face desires, aspirations, and struggles. Looking back does not mean tallying our failures; rather, it means seeking to recognize how God has guided us over the last twenty-five years, even when our human plans did not align with His will.
\nA key moment during the formation week was the return to our \u201cfirst love,\u201d to the beginnings of our vocation and to the youthful aspirations with which we set out on the Franciscan path. The words of St. Bonaventure resonated with particular force: \u201c[The] true love of Christ transformed the lover into His image.\u201d For this reason, the question of vocation does not come down simply to asking, What must I do? It is much more important to ask: Who must I be? What kind of man, friar, and Franciscan must I become so that God may act through me? As we meditated on St. Francis\u2019s Praises of God Most High<\/em>, in which the words \u201cYou are…\u201d recur, each of us was invited to continue in our hearts: \u201cYou are for me\u2026.\u201d
\nFraternal life was another important part of the formation week. It was expressed through common prayer, meditation, meals, conversations, and simply being together. After years of serving in different settings, we rediscovered how much we can support one another.
\nDuring the formation week, we also reflected on the Franciscan call to rebuild the Church. It is easy to say, \u201cLet us rebuild the Church.\u201d It is harder to understand what we are concretely called to rebuild, how to do it, and for what purpose. For this, we need wisdom, the patience of one who sows seeds, and constant attention to what is good, beautiful, and true. Sometimes we simply need to step aside and let God act.
\nWe returned to our daily responsibilities carrying with us the vivid memory of our beginnings, deeply grateful for these twenty-five years, yet also aware that a long road still lies ahead of us.
\nWe extend our heartfelt thanks to our Superiors, to Friar Jerzy, and to the friars of the Sacred Convent for their warm welcome and for creating the ideal conditions for this formation week. Assisi is special to every Franciscan: it is our common home, where fraternity and an open heart make us feel that we truly belong.<\/p>\n

Friar Robert KOZIELSKI<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is something about Assisi that is hard to put into words. One need only walk its streets, enter a Franciscan church, or pause at the tomb of St. Francis to remember where it all began. Thus, from September 7 to 12, 2026, we conducted several days of formation here for friars of the Foederatio […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103534,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115,148],"tags":[228,607],"class_list":["post-103538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-femo-en","category-news","tag-assisi","tag-formation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103538"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103542,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103538\/revisions\/103542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}