On Friday, May 30, 2026, three postulants received the habit of initiation and were admitted into the Novitiate of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis, Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The reception took place during evening prayer at Saint Francis Friary in Loretto, Pennsylvania. As stated in our Statutes, "The religious habit is a distinctive sign of our religious consecration and the brotherhood we share."
In addition to the habit, those admitted to the Novitiate also received a religious name signifying a deepening of their baptismal calling. The new novices are Kevin Parker (Bro. James Mary Parker, TOR), Bruce Dexter (Bro. John Joseph Dexter, TOR) and John Lodato (Bro. Nicodemus Mary Lodato, TOR).
During the ceremony the Minister Provincial asks the candidates - "Brothers, what do you ask of us?" The brothers respond with the following:
Moved by divine inspiration I wish to share your life
in the brotherhood of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis, I
earnestly ask to be clothed with the habit of probation. Test me that
I may learn how to take on my shoulders the yoke of the Lord in
love and joy for the perfect following of Christ according to the
example of St. Francis the poor, humble lover of the cross.
The purpose of the novitiate is to help the novice more fully understand the essential demands of the vocation to which he feels called so that he may live the evangelical counsels according to our charism. The experience of living the spirit of penance will strengthen his heart and mind and his intention to persevere in his vocation. (cf can 646).
The novices “led by the Lord, should begin a life of penance, conscious that all of us must be continuously and totally converted to the Lord.” (TOR Rule, art. 6) They should be gradually taught to renounce, according to the holy Gospel, all which does not look to the reign of God. With the help of the Director they should gradually be introduced to fraternal life. They should be formed in evangelical life by the counsels of obedience, chastity and poverty, and also educated in the practice of humility, the life of prayer and the way of listening to the promptings of the Spirit. (GC 46-47)
LR: Fr. David Dodd, TOR Director of Novices, Bro. James Mary Parker, TOR, Bro. John Joseph Dexter, TOR,
Bro. Nicodemus Mary Lodato, TOR, Very Rev. Joseph Lehman, TOR, Minister Provincial
