... the Lord gave me brothers.

Having just completed a short, three-day visit to the NAPCC novitiate in Burlington, Wisconsin, I have a sense of the joy Francis of Assisi must have felt when others began to join his venture. Spending time with this large, happy group of men who are saying "yes" to our way of life was a very affirming experience. I was deeply encouraged by seeing how both novices and staff, although from different provinces and countries, were able to live and work together harmoniously. Praying together, eating together and being together at recreation was a vivid reminder that the Capuchin Order is international, and that the bonds of brotherhood cross all provincial, national and continental boundaries.

This is (presumably) the first and only time the Conference's novitiate will be held in Burlington. The usual site of the novitiate in Allison Park, Pennsylvania, was unworkable this time both because it would not have had enough rooms for the number of novices in this year's group and because this year's novitiate began several months before last year's novitiate finished. Although it was a makeshift solution, the former St. Francis Retreat Center in Burlington provided a very good setting for the novitiate. The spacious building provided plenty of room the various activities of the novitiate. The extensive grounds, nicely landscaped and dotted with various shrines and grottoes, offered a perfect environment for the novitiate's prayer life.

With the end of novitiate only about two months away, the novices have been occupied with writing their official requests for acceptance into temporary vows. Meanwhile, the next batch of novices has begun the investiture program in Victoria, Kansas, and from all reports, the experience is proceeding well.