Photo by Patrick McPartland/Staff Photographer  -  Bishop Edward U. Kmiec performs a blessing as the members of the general administration of the Felician Sisters visit the New York State area. The special liturgy was held at Villa Maria Convent on Jan, 10, 2010 to welcome the sisters from Rome. Sister Mary Barbara Ann Bosch is the minister general of all the Felician Sisters around the world.

The Felician Sisters of the Diocese of Buffalo welcomed members of their general administration from Rome during a monthlong visit in January. The four-member team came as part of a general visitation to the New York region of the Our Lady of Hope province, where they met with sisters in their ministries to encourage their work.
“The reason for coming basically is to affirm the sisters in their community life, in their ministry. It’s a sign of unity inside the congregation, to meet them face to face, and for them to get to know us too,” said Sister M. Barbara Ann Bosch, minister general of the Felician order.
One of the responsibilities of the administration is to visit each province of the congregation once during the six-year term of office. The visit was scheduled before all the North American provinces joined to form one province last November.
The tour includes diverse Western New York landmarks such as St. Bonaventure University, Attica State Correctional Facility and the Response to Love on Buffalo’s East Side. They also visited the gravesite of Lillian Halasinski, a Dunkirk native cured by a miracle credited to the foundress of the congregation, Blessed Angela Truszkowska.
The former SS. Hyacinth & Hedwig Parish in Dunkirk has been renamed Blessed Mary Angela Parish in her honor. That has raised the profile of the Buffalo Diocese to Felicians and their lay associates around the world.
“We were thrilled to learn that the church in Dunkirk was named after Blessed Mary Angela,” said Sister Mary Cabrini Procopio, vicar general of the order.

Photo by Patrick McPartland/Staff Photographer  -  Sister Mary Barbara Ann Bosch, CSSF, minister general of the Felician Sisters, chats with local Felician, Sister Mary Christinette Lojewski, at the conclusion of a special liturgy for the members of the general administration of the Felician Sisters. The administration is on a visit the New York State area. Sister Mary Barbara Ann Bosch is the minister general of all the Felician Sisters around the world.

Sister Barbara Ann seemed pleased with what she saw during the trip.
“Having met the bishop and knowing our sisters, there seems to be a wonderful spirit that, I think, makes it comfortable to be Catholic in this area,” she said.
It should be noted that Felicians taught Bishop Edward U. Kmiec back in his hometown of Trenton, N.J. The sisters could see the bishop was appreciative of the formation that he received, and saw the unassuming, yet engaging fingerprints of the Felicians.
“Some bishops can be highly pastoral or highly business oriented. I don’t know him well, but my sense is that he is able to integrate those two pieces, as a business man and as a pastoral person. He is able to do the hard things, and yet he hasn’t lost his sense of heart,” Sister Barbara Ann said.
Sister Barbara Ann calls the visit to the area, which included Syracuse and New York Mills, a “mutually enriching experience.”
“I’m sure the sisters benefit from the interaction with us; we do. It’s a marvelous experience that shows us how beautifully the sisters are living the charism of our foundress.”
The team tried to speak to every sister, ideally in their ministry to see how it is carried out and how people are affected by it. The heart of the discussions with the sisters is how they can explore their charism with the needs of today’s world. The sisters were encouraged to read letters of their foundress, to continue to pray for her canonization.
There will be no formal evaluation of the sisters in Buffalo; instead a feedback session will take place at the end of the trip.
“That is primarily an affirmation of things we have observed,” Sister Barbara Ann said. “For example, they are faithful to their prayer life; they’re dedicated in their ministry. But there are many aspects to those points. Even the sisters in the infirmary are faithfully praying for the needs of the world. We try to affirm them. Sometimes they get surprised that we aren’t coming with this laundry list of stuff they should be doing. We’re just patting you on the back. Once in a while there are some things we note that could be done differently, but we don’t micromanage these areas. We make suggestions to the people who are responsible for different aspects of life in the area, and that has happened on occasion.”
“Sometimes when the sisters hear this feedback, they’ll say, ‘Are you really talking about us? Are we that good?’” said Sister Janet Marie Kurgan, general council member.
As quaint as their visits may seem, these are definitely 21st century nuns. They carry Blackberry’s and Verizon mini-computers as they travel the world so they are easy to contact. Meetings can be and have been conducted with the council members in different corners of the world. But, at night it is card games and dominoes as it gives them a great opportunity to know each other on another level.
“The congregation is blessed because we try to model for them what it means to live in community in a wholesome way. That’s our hope, that that is replicated in all the places where the sisters live,” said Sister Barbara Ann.
This is the fourth year and ninth tour taken by the council. They have already seen Kenya, Astonia, and the Ukraine.
“While Rome is our headquarters, we’re not there very often because the expectation is that we’re with the sisters, we’re face to face with them in opportunities to encourage them and support them,” Sister Barbara Ann said.