La Verna Ministries

09/06/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CPdzDPiwd/

In April 2024, 16-year-old Mary Bartold of DeWitt, a sophomore at Lansing Catholic High School, was struck with severe abdominal pain at school. Scans at University of Michigan Health found two tumors on her ovaries — one about 7.3 cm, the other about 1.5 cm.

Doctors diagnosed them as teratomas and scheduled surgery for August 2, 2024.

While preparing for the operation, her parents, Susan and Rick Bartold, made a pilgrimage to the tomb of Blessed Solanus Casey in Detroit and asked family, friends, and their parish to join a novena for his intercession. Mary also received the Anointing of the Sick.

On July 30 — Blessed Solanus Casey’s feast day — Mary had a pre-surgery MRI. The next day, July 31, the anniversary of the Capuchin’s death in 1957, her surgeon called.

“She told me she had looked at the MRI images with multiple radiologists and everything was gone. Both tumors were gone,” Susan said. The surgery was canceled.

A six-month follow-up scan in February 2025 still showed no tumors. The family has submitted Mary’s medical records to the Solanus Casey Center so the Church can study whether this healing may serve as a miracle in the Capuchin’s cause for canonization. One miracle has already been recognized for his beatification.

Blessed Solanus Casey (1870–1957) was the humble doorkeeper at St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit. He is remembered for listening to the poor and the sick and telling them, “Thank God ahead of time.”

The Church will decide if this case meets the strict standard for a miracle. Until then, the Bartolds simply give thanks.

Blessed Solanus Casey, pray for us. Amen! 🙏

09/03/2026

08/29/2026

Out Capuchin parish in Toronto.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BsmvygZWg/

08/20/2026

Curious or considering a lay vocation to the Secular Franciscan Order, read this!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18o9BBac1w/

When Tears Become Prayer
Not every prayer needs words...

Not every prayer sounds like a prayer. Sometimes it sounds like silence. Sometimes it looks like a tired heart. Sometimes it is simply tears.

When words fail, God still hears. When the heart breaks, God is still near. When all we can do is cry, we are still turning toward Him.

St Francis had a heart that could still be moved, deeply moved, by God, by suffering, by beauty, by his own weakness, and by the love of Christ. He understood something we often forget: tears can be prayer.

You don't always have to understand what you are feeling. You don't always have to find the right words. You don't even have to be strong.

Bring the tears to God.

Let them fall before Him without embarrassment, without explanation, without trying to make them beautiful. Because prayer is not always speaking to God with words. Sometimes prayer is allowing God to see what is happening inside us.

Sometimes the tears say everything.
And God hears them.

08/12/2026

Pray for the Christians (mostly Arab)
under Netanyahu's Israeli actions in the West Bank.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/184zcrAbv1/

🚨 TAYBEH DECLARED A “CLOSED MILITARY ZONE”

The Israeli military has declared Taybeh, the West Bank’s last entirely Christian Palestinian village, a “closed military zone,” restricting access to an ancient community whose Christian roots stretch back centuries.

The closure comes amid growing concern over settler violence across the occupied West Bank. Taybeh itself has faced repeated incidents of intimidation, attacks on agricultural land, and threats to property, prompting its Christian leaders to repeatedly appeal for protection.

For the people of Taybeh, these developments are about far more than restrictions on movement. They add to the fear that continued insecurity and pressure will force more Christian families to leave their ancestral homeland.

Taybeh is home to Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Melkite Catholic communities and represents one of the most important remaining centers of indigenous Palestinian Christianity. Every family that leaves makes the survival of this ancient Christian presence more uncertain.

🙏 We pray for the people of Taybeh, for their safety and their right to remain in their homes, worship freely, and preserve their Christian heritage.

❤️ Please support the mission of the Holy Orthodox Order of Saint George the Great Martyr as we work to protect and strengthen Christian communities throughout the Holy Land and the Middle East.

08/11/2026

Saturday 27 June, 2026 ~ St Francis Jubilee Year Picnic at La Verna Ministries in Peterborough. Along with our local emerging Secular Franciscan Fraternity were members from Queen of Peace fraternity in Madoc and St Angela Merici fraternity in Oshawa. A great time was shared and many gathered together for the 4pm Mass next door at St Alphonsus Ligouri parish.