Pictured above:  Friar Daniel, Friar Antonio, Friar Claudio (Assisi Province Provincial) Friar Jack, and Friar Carl (Front).

On the 8th of September, at 4pm, Novices Jack Sidoti, Daniel Cavalieri, and Carl Green, along with five Italian Novices, received the habit of St. Francis in the Santuario di San Damiano, thus beginning the Novitiate year. The Rite was celebrated by Fr. Claudio Durighetto, Provincial Minister of the Assisi Province.  The Ceremony began with the Provincial welcoming the province of the Immaculate Conception, and then followed with the novices asking the Provincial to be vested with the Habit and to begin the novitiate year. Three readings were then proclaimed from the scriptures and from Celano, with the common theme of leaving the secular life behind and accepting this new life in Christ, clothed in the Habit of St. Francis. After the Homily, the investiture took place. The Italian Novices were vested by the provincial, and the Novices of IC Province were vested by Fr. Antonio Riccio, provincial delegate. The new friars then venerated the San Damiano Crucifix, and embraced the friars. Then, as a symbol of the transition the congregation to the fraternity, the novices left the pews, and took their places in the choir amongst the community.  Congratulations to our new brothers- Friar Daniel, Friar Carl, and Friar Jack.  
Friar Carl, Daniela and Gianni (friends of the friars from Rome), Friar Antonio Riccio, Friar Daniel, Friar Jack, Friar Jimmy Zammit from Toronto.