The History of St. Mary of the Angels Fraternity
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One can only begin to tell the story of "St. Mary of the Angels' Fraternity by telling the story of Father Gus Milon, OFM and "The Port" ministries. The story is simply one of a very human man who has found his Lord to be totally and perfectly trustworthy mostly because he has the heart to do and act upon the will of the Father without reservation and trust Him to do the rest. The call to serve the materially poor on the south side of Chicago began to take form early 1984, and by August 15, 1984 (Feast of the Assumption of our Lady) the big word came...a Soup Kitchen. Father Gus had never been to a Soup Kitchen, so, the question "how" came..."how do you start a Soup Kitchen"? The answer to "how" was the fact that Pope John Paul II said that we should have a "preferential option for the poor, and his Franciscan leadership was saying "be evangelized by the poor" and then came the constant - "The Lord will do it." God provided what was needed, many things happened, many obstacles came, brothers and sisters with open hearts and hands came together and by faith, prayer and hard work, on May 26th, 1985 The Port opened its doors for the first time. Since that time, The Port has grown and expanded into many wonderful ministries to the south side poor, homeless, families, the elderly and children...not by the power of ability and "know how," but rather, the power of prayer and the fact that our Lord hears the cry of the poor and the ever watchful Father cares for them and therefore the ministry to them. The future and expansion of this ministry means we must come and learn to serve and be ready and willing for anything our Father-God wants for them. In our Soup Kitchen, we purchase no food, yet we feed an average of 300 to 360 meals a day. The Lord will provide, and His call for hearts to open and to come and move in faith is real and demands commitment plus willingness to use their talents and grow in love and service - The Port relies completely on donations and volunteers to assist the leadership and staff in the functioning of these ministries. Our quest is that we continue to move on as real human people with real faith, to become poor people among the poor, touching and serving Jesus daily in that distressing disguise, and being quick to drop our disguises.
The Port family, inspired by St. Francis of Assisi and the Franciscan charism, heard the call to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ by full hearted service to the poor and throw-aways of society, so naturally a new Secular Franciscan Fraternity "St. Mary of the Angels" was realized...started by Father Gus in 1985 soon after the opening of The Port. Over the years, a group of dedicated brothers and sisters has increased to over sixty people. The Secular Franciscans here at The Port have a very distinct advantage in their quest to live the rule and follow Francis' spirituality; The Port offers to them direct contact with the economic poor whom Francis loved and dedicated his life to...and direct contact with those who serve the poor. Over the years we have seen the Secular Franciscans on a daily basis involved with the various Port ministries, in its leadership, staff and volunteers. Above all, this spiritual group has given to our ministry a strong intercessory prayer base, so needed in this difficult situation on the south side of Chicago. Finally, the official canonical establishment of our Fraternity took place on August 21, 1994, a time of rejoicing once again in what God is doing!
Our hope is to continue to grow in faith and in love of Jesus crucified and risen in the way of Francis the "hands-on" focus of basic needs for the homeless and poor to "let go and let God" and find that He is enough and what He gives is "just right" to make known the Good News of Jesus...that He can make something beautiful, something good from our broken lives. The Port is a wonderful place to begin anew everyday and our Fraternity is truly blessed to have the materially poor among us to help us on our way as true children of the Father.
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With membership waning through aging and attrition of its members, the Fraternity Council petitioned for a move from the Mother Cabrini Region to the Our Lady of Indiana Region in May 2013. At that time there were ten members, seven of whom were active.
Now situated at the St John Evangelist Church in St John, Indiana the Council discussed future plans with input from Sister Agnes Marie Regan OSF, Kathleen White OFS and David Dieringer OFS. The first “Come and See” was held in April 2015 and seven of the candidates were professed October 4, 2017. Since then, another seventeen members have been added with another six information presently.
After assisting the Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity on the west side of Chicago with their Saturday soup kitchen for two years; it was decided that the Fraternity could serve more meaningfully in Gary Indiana. In April 2017 members began a sharing kitchen serving sixteen meals our first week. Since then, we have expanded to serving at two locations and delivering meals to three other locations and providing meals to various temporary locations. On average, we serve 250-275 meals each and every Saturday. We call it a sharing kitchen because we not only feed our guests physically but spiritually as well. We are servants and are good listeners.
In addition to the Sharing Kitchen, the Fraternity has expanded its presence by involvement with St John the Evangelist Church and its ministries, interaction with The Franciscans Friars of the Diocese of Gary and their mission to be ecumenically involved in the city and assisting those in need. The Fraternity has created a website “saintmaryoftheangels.org” which is in fledgling status and has a newsletter “In His Footsteps”. Due to the diverse talents of our members, which includes four Deacons, the Fraternity continues to examine and discuss opportunities for enrichment, growth and service in order to follow our charism of Life to Gospel-Gospel to Life.