Today, we celebrate Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, a holy virgin whose resilient faith, humility, and profound love for the Lord shone brightly amid immense suffering.
Quick facts every Catholic should know about Saint Kateri Tekakwitha:
1️⃣Born in 1656 at Ossernenon (New York), she died on April 17, 1680, at the age of 24 in Caughnawaga, Canada. 2️⃣Known as “The Lily of the Mohawks,” she was orphaned at age four by smallpox, which left her face scarred, and became the first Native American to be canonized. 3️⃣Moments after her death, the scars on her face completely vanished in the presence of witnesses, leaving her skin beautiful and white as a sign of her holiness. 4️⃣Known for her motto “Who can tell me what is most pleasing to God that I may do it?”, she is the patron saint of ecology, the environment, and Indigenous peoples.
Her beautiful devotion reminds us that God sees the purity of our hearts above all outer trials. By offering her physical suffering and limitations completely to Christ, she found ultimate healing and a profound closeness to the Creator. May her intercession guide us to constantly seek what is most pleasing to God, care deeply for our neighbours and the environment, and follow the path of holiness with confidence.
Eric Michel Ministries International is seeking voluntary worker members for an Independent Catholic Christian movement.
Jesus Christ reveals the nature and character of God
and is the spiritual leader of humankind.
Our beliefs are universal reconciliation, all will eventually be reconciled to God without exception, the penalty for sin is not irrevocable at the point of death, i.e. doctrines of everlasting damnation to hell and annihilationism are rejected, and all souls will ultimately be reconciled and conformed to the image of the glorified resurrected Christ
EMMI started in 2014, and we share the message of Christ’s love with people throughout the world through two paths: the Catholic and the Orthodox. We need volunteers to render our faith accessible to the online community by creating new traditions of knowledge sharing, spiritual growth, prayers and worship opportunities that touch people and lead them to experience Christ’s saving grace in progressive ways.
Compare the Marian Devotional to the three Marys devotional. I try to understand why the Board of Elders changed our Mary of all graces to the Three Marys?
Answer:
The Marian devotional focuses entirely on the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God. The Three Marys devotional honours three different women named Mary from the Bible. The Board of Elders may have made this change to celebrate the early female witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection, but this alters the community’s traditional focus.
Marian Devotional
Focus: The Virgin Mary alone.
Meaning: It highlights her unique role in giving birth to Jesus and her obedience to God.
Common Prayers: The Rosary, the Hail Mary, and prayers to Mary as the “Mediatrix” (a helper who brings us closer to Jesus)
Three Marys Devotional
Focus: Three distinct women in the New Testament
Meaning: It honours Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Mary of Clopas (or Mary of Bethany)
Significance: These women were the first to see the empty tomb. They were the first to tell the world about Jesus’s resurrection.
Why the Board of Elders May Have Changed It
To highlight the Resurrection, the Three Marys focus on the joy of Easter morning.
To honour early church leaders: These women were the first “apostles” to the apostles.
To avoid Maryolatry, the church boards want to ensure that the congregation does not pray to Mary as if she were a goddess. Honouring three women spreads the focus onto faithful discipleship
When a Board of Elders introduces a structural or devotional shift—like moving from a singular focus on “Mary of All Graces” to the “Three Marys”—it is completely natural to look for the theological or historical “why” behind it, especially when your existing consecration to the Blessed Mother is already so core to your identity.
We can look at the historical and spiritual framework of Franciscan theology to see why a community rooted in these traditions might make that transition.
Understanding the Shift: “Mary of All Graces” vs. “The Three Marys”
In the Franciscan and broader Catholic tradition, these two devotionals emphasize different facets of spiritual life:
Devotional Focus
Mary of All Graces(Our Lady of Grace)
The Mediatrix / The Intercessor. This emphasizes Mary’s singular, exalted role as a channel of divine grace. It is deeply personal and nurturing, focusing on her heavenly coronation and powerful intercession for humanity.
Spiritual Emphasis & Theme
The Three Marys(The Marys at the Cross/Tomb)
Solidarity, Service, and Witness. Typically referring to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Mary of Clopas. This devotional focuses on community, shared suffering, and active witness to the Passion and Resurrection.
Why a Franciscan Community Might Make This Change
Looking at the four pillars of your spirituality that you shared, the Three Marys devotional aligns remarkably well with a Franciscan, mission-driven community for a few key reasons:
From Hierarchy to Equality (Pillar 2): “Mary of All Graces” places heavy emphasis on Mary’s exalted, singular position. By contrast, the “Three Marys” represent a community of faithful women standing together at the foot of the Cross and arriving together at the Tomb. This beautifully mirrors your pillar that “brothers and priests live as equals, sharing prayer, work, and mission.” It highlights communal fidelity over individual exaltation.
Solidarity with Suffering and the Poor (Pillar 3 & FRCES): The Three Marys are defined by their willingness to stand in the darkest places—at the Crucifixion—when others fled. For a ministry heavily involved in First Responder Chaplain Emergency Services (FRCES) and crisis counselling, the Three Marys are the ultimate biblical models of the “ministry of presence” in the midst of tragedy. They didn’t run from the trauma; they stayed to serve and comfort.
A Shift Toward Active Apostolic Mission (Pillar 4): In the Gospels, the Three Marys are the very first ones sent forth to proclaim the Resurrection to the Apostles. They are, in essence, the first missionaries. For a community heavily invested in teaching through the Bible Academy and in active charity, shifting to a devotional that emphasizes being sent out together to witness and teach aligns with an active apostolic calling.
It seems less about diminishing devotion to the Blessed Mother and perhaps more about framing her devotion in community with other holy witnesses, highlighting a model of collaborative, courageous service that aligns with the daily reality of your chaplains and tertiaries.
Based on the four pillars of your community’s spirituality that you shared above, Pillar 1 is:
A personal and communal relationship with Christ through Mary.
In the context of the shift from “Mary of All Graces” to the “Three Marys,” this first pillar perfectly bridges the two devotions.
While “Mary of All Graces” strongly highlights the personal relationship with a merciful mother, the “Three Marys” model emphasizes the communal relationship—showing a community of faithful believers who seek and serve Christ together.
The station, when not in use, is the place that has our Herod’s temple
It is our storage for our candles and the road to the cross
One Item is missing; it is on its way, it is the Icon of Mary Salome
We couldn’t find any statue or anything else except a Byzantine Orthodox Icon of Salome the Myrrh Barrier. Also, Mary of Magdala, who is less than half the size of the statue of Holy Mary. Our statue is 8 inches, and I found a 5 inches one on Amazon, and Holy Mary is 12 inches.
Mary of Magdala (Mary Magdalene) is one of the most significant, influential, and frequently misunderstood figures in the New Testament and early Christian history. For centuries, her legacy has been buried under layers of theological conflation, political maneuvering, and cultural mythmaking.
We use Mary of Magdala twice at Eric Michel Ministries International: first, she is part of our third order franciscain, and the North American Province is named the Three Marys, of which she is a part of the three. Also, the Manse’s Chapel is named Three Marys, for us, she is considered of high value
It is fascinating and deeply meaningful to learn how Eric Michel Ministries International (EMMI) honours Mary of Magdala. Naming both the North American Province and the Manse’s Chapel after the Three Marys and integrating her into your Franciscan Third Order show a profound commitment to restoring her historical and spiritual dignity.
In the context of EMMI’s ministries, her inclusion carries deep theological weight. Here is a look at how her presence resonates with Franciscan spirituality and the rich tradition of the “Three Marys.”
To read all about our chapel, visit our second site:
The Second Temple (lit. ‘Second House of the Sanctum’) was the temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon’s Temple, which had been destroyed during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. The Second Temple was constructed around 516 BCE, later enhanced by Herod the Great around 18 BCE, and thereafter also known as Herod’s Temple. The Second Temple stood as a pivotal symbol of Jewish identity and was the basis and namesake of Second Temple Judaism. The Second Temple served as the chief place of worship, ritual sacrifice (korban), and communal gathering for the Jewish people, regularly attracting pilgrims for the Three Pilgrimage Festivals: Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot.
In the 1st century BCE, Herod’s efforts to transform the Second Temple resulted in a grand, imposing structure and courtyard, including the large edifices and façades depicted in modern models, such as the Holyland Model of Jerusalem at the Israel Museum. The Temple Mount, where both Solomon’s Temple and the Second Temple stood, was also significantly expanded, doubling in size to become the ancient world’s largest religious sanctuary. The Temple complex was not only a place of worship but also served multiple functions, including being a site for public assemblies. The Sanhedrin, the supreme judicial court, convened in the Temple’s Hall of Hewn Stones, and the compound also hosted one of the city’s largest marketplaces.
In 70 CE, at the height of the First Jewish–Roman War, the Second Temple was destroyed by the Roman siege of Jerusalem, resulting in a cataclysmic shift in Jewish history. The loss of the Second Temple prompted the development of Rabbinic Judaism, which remains the mainstream form of Jewish religious practices globally
QUESTION: Over the entrance doors of the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel (chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, “Our Lady of Good Help”), a church in Montreal, Quebec, is an inscription: “Si l’amour de Marie / Dans ton cœur est gravé / En passant ne t’oublie / de lui dire un Ave. If Mary’s love / Is engraved in your heart / As you pass by, don’t forget / to say a Hail Mary to her. We know that the text came from the Pont-Joubert Chapel, a small Catholic place of prayer located on a medieval bridge in Poitiers, but who decided to have it over the door in Montreal, Marguerite Bourgeoys or someone else?
ANSWER: While St. Marguerite Bourgeoys originally founded the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel in 1855 and rebuilt it in 1875, she did not decide to place that famous inscription over the entrance.
The decision belongs to Monseigneur Ignace Bourget, the highly influential second Bishop of Montreal, during a major mid-19th-century restoration of the chapel (around 1848).
Here is how a medieval Poitiers quatrain made its way onto a Montreal church facade:
The Montfortian Connection
The text originally adorned the Pont-Joubert Chapel in Poitiers, France. In the early 1700s, St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort—a famous French missionary who spent significant time preaching in Poitiers—frequently used this exact four-line poem (quatrain) during his missions to encourage passersby to pray. He even had it engraved on other ancient structures he restored, such as the Temple Saint-Jean in Poitiers.
Bishop Bourget’s Vision
Fast forward to the 1840s:
The Rediscovery: In 1842, St. Louis-Marie de Montfort’s theological writings on total devotion to Mary were rediscovered in France and swept through the Catholic world.
The Inspiration: Bishop Ignace Bourget became deeply moved by this Montfortian Marian spirituality. At the same time, the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel in Montreal had fallen into neglect after structural damage and political upheaval.
The Restoration: Bourget set out to revive the chapel as a grand pilgrimage site. In 1848, as part of his massive revitalization and beautification of the sanctuary, he borrowed the Poitiers/Montfortian quatrain and ordered it inscribed over the entrance doors to invite Montrealers and passing sailors to pause and pray.
“Si l’amour de Marie / Dans ton cœur est gravé / En passant ne t’oublie / de lui dire un Ave.”
Whenever you see this inscription on the door today, you are looking at a physical footprint of Bishop Bourget’s 19th-century religious revival, deeply inspired by the spiritual traditions of western France.
Connection: No coincidence, they say and everything is connected to everything.
Always interested in Holy Mary, Brother Eric (me), received the call to be consacrated to Mary by the Heralds of the Gospel on November 11, 2023, using the way of Louis Marie Montfort
I discovered an inscription that spoke deeply to me: “If the love of Mary / Is engraved in your heart / As you pass by, do not forget / to say a Hail Mary to her.”
How had that inscription been added to the chapel? Monseigneur Ignace Bourget, the highly influential second Bishop of Montreal, during a major mid-19th-century restoration of the chapel (around 1848)
Monseigneur Ignace Bourget, like myself, Bishop Ignace Bourget, became deeply moved by this Montfortian Marian spirituality
When Ignace Bourget took possession of the diocese of Montreal, it was immense. It included not only the Montreal region but also the Montérégie, Estrie, Lanaudière, the Laurentides (where I presently live), and the Outaouais regions. (I am a native of Gatineau), and, to the north, it extended to Hudson Bay.
During the 1840s and 1850s, Bishop Ignace Bourget made his first three trips to Europe (he would make seven in total). With clergy and religious still few in number in the Canadas, he went there to seek reinforcements. He needed personnel to carry out his plans for the Church in Montreal and for the Church as a whole. In France, his efforts were fruitful. He succeeded in bringing the Jesuits back (1842). He also convinced the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (1841) (My Parish Our Lady of Grace), the Holy Cross (1847), the Clerics of Saint Viator (1847), the Ladies of the Sacred Heart (1842), and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd (1844) to cross the ocean. In Ireland, he recruited several English-speaking priests. In Montreal itself, he persuaded, often under pressure, Émilie Gamelin-Tavernier, Marie-Rose Durocher, Rosalie Cadron-Jetté, and Esther Blondin to found new congregations: the Sisters of Providence (1843), the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (1844), the Sisters of Mercy (1846), and the Sisters of Saint Anne (1850). Vocations began to increase significantly. Numerous benefactors, including the Berthelet brothers and sisters, endowed the Montreal congregations with land and buildings to help them establish themselves.
Blessed Marie Anne Blondin (Esther Blondin (1809–1890) and Mother Marie-Anne are the exact same person)
Marie Anne Blondin, Burial site, Saint-Jérôme Cathedral, (my Cathedral), Saint-Jérôme
History of the Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend. The Indiana area was part of the French colony of New France during the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century. It was explored by French fur traders and missionaries under the auspices of the Bishop of Quebec. I was born in Quebec and descend from French settlers who immigrated to New France in 1640 (Pierre Gagnon, my ancestor)
I am an Affiliate member of the Confraternity of Penitents in the Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend
The Confraternity of Penitents was refounded in 2023 in honour of Mary’s Queenship.
The following obligations must be fulfilled for Affiliate CFP status: Being consecrated to Our Lady and praying a daily Marian Consecration prayer of their choice.
I am the common point of the connection of this list of places or events and the Roman Catholic Church
Someone posted a painting of Our Mother of Perpetual Succour on Facebook, and I was wondering if she was the same as Our Lady of Good Help. Both are Holy Mary, but their representations are not the same.
Notre-Dame du Perpétuel Secours est une icône byzantine très ancienne (souvent attribuée au XIVe siècle) représentant Marie avec l’enfant Jésus et deux anges. Elle symbolise l’aide constante et le réconfort.
Notre-Dame du Bon Secours (ou de Bon-Secours) est un titre lié à la protection, particulièrement vénéré par les marins. Au Québec, cela fait le plus souvent référence à la célèbre Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours située dans le Vieux-Montréal.
Our Mother of Perpetual Succour (Latin: Nostra Mater de Perpetuo Succursu), colloquially known as Our Lady of Perpetual Help, is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a 15th-century Byzantine icon and a purported Marian apparition. The image was enshrined in the Church of San Matteo in Via Merulana from 1499 to 1798 and is today permanently enshrined in the Church of Saint Alphonsus of Liguori in Rome, where the novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help is prayed weekly.
Pope Pius IX granted a pontifical decree of canonical coronation, along with the official, formalized title Nostra Mater de Perpetuo Succursu, on 5 May 1866. The Latin Patriarch of Constantinople, Cardinal Ruggero Luigi Emidio Antici Mattei, executed the rite of coronation on 23 June 1867.
The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer serve as custodians of the icon. The image is also known as the Virgin of the Passion in Eastern Orthodoxy. Novena prayers are held before its feast day on 27 June every year. Due to promotion by the Redemptorist priests, the image has gained popularity among Western and Eastern Catholics. Modern reproductions are often displayed in residential homes, commercial establishments, and public transportation.
Author LimosaCorel
Our Lady of Prompt Succor
The Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel (chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, “Our Lady of Good Help”) is a church in the Old Montreal district of Montreal, Quebec. One of the oldest churches in Montreal, it was built in 1771 over the ruins of an earlier chapel. The church is located at 400 Saint Paul Street East at Bonsecours Street, just north of the Bonsecours Market in the borough of Ville-Marie
St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, the first teacher in the colony of Ville-Marie and the founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame, rallied the colonists to build a chapel in 1655. In 1673, returning from France, Bourgeoys brought a wooden image of Our Lady of Good Help; the stone church was completed in 1678. It burned in 1754, the reliquary and statue being rescued and placed above the entrance of the rebuilt church of 1771.
Settlements
Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours, Quebec, Canada; a municipality in Outaouais; formerly Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours-Partie-Nord, formerly Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours-de-la-Petite-Nation
Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, Quebec, Canada; a former municipality, merged into Richelieu in 2000
Are you looking for meaningful ways to engage and grow in faith? Here are 23 ways you can get involved in our ministries, deepen your spiritual journey, and connect with our community
Mary of Magdala (Mary Magdalene) is one of the most significant, influential, and frequently misunderstood figures in the New Testament and early Christian history. For centuries, her legacy has been buried under layers of theological conflation, political maneuvering, and cultural mythmaking.
We use Mary of Magdala twice at Eric Michel Ministries International: first, she is part of our third order franciscain, and the North American Province is named the Three Marys, of which she is a part of the three. Also, the Manse’s Chapel is named Three Marys, for us, she is considered of high value
It is fascinating and deeply meaningful to learn how Eric Michel Ministries International (EMMI) honours Mary of Magdala. Naming both the North American Province and the Manse’s Chapel after the Three Marys and integrating her into your Franciscan Third Order show a profound commitment to restoring her historical and spiritual dignity.
In the context of EMMI’s ministries, her inclusion carries deep theological weight. Here is a look at how her presence resonates with Franciscan spirituality and the rich tradition of the “Three Marys.”
To read all about our chapel, visit our second site:
I thought that was a good move, creating a site on sites.google.com through Google Workplace. I fought for two weeks to have the domain name thirdorderfranciscans.org attached to it, but I gave up from June 24 until July 3, ten days trying to make it work, even with Google Workplace Support. I should remember that I went through that nightmare when Google decided to stop selling domain names. So, to solve this, short and sweet: I transfered the pages to www.mesfc.com. So for now on the site MESFC is split in three:
The Old Catholic Church is the specific historical movement that rejected the 1870 First Vatican Council’s decrees on papal infallibility. In contrast, “Independent Catholic” is a broad, umbrella term encompassing any Catholic-tradition church, including Old Catholics, that operates entirely outside the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.
The relationship between the two terms can be broken down into their origins, core governance, and theology.
Core Differences
The Movement: Old Catholics are a specific denomination founded in Europe (such as the Union of Utrecht). Independent Catholicism is a vast, loose global movement of thousands of different unaffiliated jurisdictions, microchurches, and individual priests
Historical Timeline: The Old Catholic Church emerged in 1870, specifically in response to the dogma of Papal Infallibility. Independent Catholic churches can originate from this 1870 split, or they could be much more recent breakaways protesting Vatican II (e.g., conservative traditionalists) or progressive groups protesting modern Vatican policies.
Key Characteristics
Feature
Authority
Theology
Apostolic Succession
Roman Status
Old Catholic Church
Governed by regional synods and bishops (e.g., Union of Utrecht)
Generally progressive. They practice open communion, allow married priests, and many ordain women.
Highly organized; recognized by the Anglican Communion and generally accepted by Rome as valid.
Considered schismatic by the Vatican, but valid in their sacraments.
Independent Catholic
Varies wildly; many are completely self-governing and accountable only to their local bishop or founder.
Highly diverse. Can range from extremely progressive/inclusive (like the Reformed Catholic Church) to fiercely traditionalist/Latin-Mass focused.
Unregulated. While many lines of succession can be traced, validity depends heavily on the specific bishop who performed the ordination.
Unrecognized by the Vatican, with sacraments that may or may not be deemed valid depending on the specific group.
A new website keeps me busy, and I do not have time for my other tasks, especially when I spend a lot of time struggling with computer software that blocks my information. I have website names I used in the past that are not due for renewal yet. When the renewal date comes, I often ignore it, and if I do not pay, everything is cancelled.
I needed a website for our new Group, EMMI-IAoC Ministries (FACEBOOK), as well as for Google Groups & Classroom. I previously hosted my websites on site.google.com after being ripped off by Yahoo hosting, and today I switched to WordPress for our sites.
So the domain (website name) thirdorderfranciscans.org is still mine and hasn’t expired yet, so I would like to use it with my new site, which is at https://sites.google.com/franciscanseucharist.ca/emminter for now. I entered all the info to get that name tag on the website, but it keeps showing an error that it’s already in use elsewhere. It says it can take 48 hours to 7 days to work properly.
The new site for the Interdenominational Assembly of Churches Association Ministry is mainly for our Catholic partners, but we are open to any Christian churches or para-churches. If you are a bishop, priest, or community leader faithfully serving in Latin America, Africa, or Asia, are you passionate about building strong, self-sustaining local churches even with limited resources? We understand your commitment. Many of you lead vibrant faith communities, sometimes in the most challenging environments, without institutional funding and with little outside support. Your resilience inspires us. That’s why we’re launching a brand new, FREE Facebook group dedicated to real solutions for real leaders: The Community Fellowship Resilience & Capacity Building Program. What You’ll Get: ✅ Simple administrative toolkits (for finances, ledgers, records) ✅ Community asset mapping (micro-cooperatives, gardens, skill-sharing) ✅ Weekly leadership frameworks (youth mentoring, outreach) ✅ Global network of independent leaders to share ideas and encouragement What We Don’t Offer: 🚫 No financial grants or building funds 🚫 No immigration assistance 🚫 No false promises—just practical support and tools Our mission is to help you build a truly independent, thriving church using organization, strategy, and partnership, not temporary handouts. All guides and modules are designed for low-data use right here on Facebook. Ready to build something lasting with us?
The site has only eleven (11) pages, but I have so many documents from 2017 to now that I need to sort them and post the ones that are still valid for 2026 and after. It is included in the Google Workspace package, so I use it, and one day we will just have to type www.thirdorderfranciscans.org to get on it.
“Rest for peace, knowing your memory will forever be a blessing.”
Montreal shooting victim Michel Mizrahi is remembered as a devoted father and friend, and the coroner has also confirmed the identity of the other person who was killed: 34-year-old Montreal police (SPVM) officer Mohamed Lamine Benredouane. Alleged Montreal shooter has been identified as 25-year-old Seth Scott Hatfield from Lethbridge, Alta.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
