The Franciscan Centenary culminates this year with the 800th anniversary of the Transitus of St Francis of Assisi on 3 October. In Singapore, we will celebrate this on 3 October at 8pm at the Church of St Mary of the Angels.
What a journey we have been through! Five events celebrated within four years by the entire Franciscan Family – Friars, Poor Clares, Franciscan Sisters and Secular Franciscans.
We celebrated the Rule written by Francis for the Order and approved by the Pope in 1223. That same year, Francis enacted the Nativity scene at Greccio, inspiring the practice of processing the baby Jesus at Christmas midnight Mass.
The following year, in 1224, in poor health and burdened by tensions within the Order, Francis ascended Mount Alvernia (La Verna) with the question “Who are you, O God and Who am I?” The reply came in the form of a vision of the Christ crucified appearing as a Seraph, the burning angel of love, and not long after, the marks of the Christ crucified – the Sacred Stigmata – appeared on his body.
Despite profound suffering, including near blindness, his spiritual vision was illumined by faith. He came to behold all creation as a gift and all creatures as brothers and sisters, deeply interconnected with one another and with God. From the depths of this vision and a grateful heart arose a hymn of praise – the Canticle of Creatures.
Finally in 1226, on the evening of 3 October, Francis returned to the place where he found his vocation, the little chapel of St Mary of the Angels of the Portiuncula, and there in the midst of the fraternity he had lovingly built up, he welcomed and embraced Sister Death and transited into paradise.
We pray that by reflecting on these episodes from Francis’ life, we gain a deeper understanding of our own spiritual journeys and our call to make God real for others.
In this light, our Franciscan Calendar 2027, which features the artwork of Joseph Ng and Susan Toh, invites us into an encounter with our incarnate Lord. Perhaps once a month, we can set aside a Desert Day for this purpose – take a few hours, even the whole day to just be with our Beloved, meditating upon the month’s image and the accompanying reflection written by the artists. And if we find this practice life-giving, then let us not be shy to share the experience with someone the Lord brings into our life.
This is precisely the aim of our Franciscan Fraternal Life. As friars, we seek to be attentive to one another’s needs and emotions, and to build one another up with the joy that is already in our hearts. This is at the heart of the ministry of our Guardians, the Superiors of our communities. Accordingly, this year’s Training of Guardians focussed on how we can build one another up within the community, especially through empathic listening and fraternal care.
As this is our final issue of St Anthony’s Bread for the year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support of our Franciscan life and mission. It is a challenge to raise the funds needed each year to sustain the entire Custody in Malaysia and Singapore. Without your prayers, kindness and generosity, we would not be able to carry out our pastoral and ministerial duties effectively, especially as many of our friars are aging and increasingly require medical care. Every dollar is a gift and a blessing to us, and we are grateful.
On behalf of all the friars of the Custody, and through the intercession of St Francis, St Clare, St Anthony and Blessed Allegra, may our Lord and our Lady bless and keep you and your loved ones in their care and protection, today and every day!
The Guardians at the Training of Guardians in August.
Formation in the Custody continued to develop in 2026 with the conviction that formation is not simply about preparing friars for ministry; it is about forming them for a life of Gospel discipleship, fraternity and mission.
A key undertaking of the Formation Council was the review of our Ratio Formationis Franciscanae, with a focus on strengthening Human Formation as the foundation for Christian and Franciscan formation. Human Formation seeks to help a person grow to manifest, as far as possible, the “human perfection which shines forth in the Incarnate Son of God” (Pastores Dabo Vobis, 43).
We are continually formed by our habits, environments, relationships and what James K A Smith calls our “formative micro-practices”. The question therefore is not whether we are being formed, but what we are being formed into. We are called to become more intentional about our daily lives and to ask whether they are helping us to flourish or, unintentionally, contributing to our malformation.
Similarly, in our review of the Vocation Interview Board and Psychological Testing processes, we are considering how our discernment processes can be grounded in a deeper understanding of human formation. An interdisciplinary Vocation Interview Board, bringing together expertise in psychology, educational pedagogy, law and Franciscan spirituality, can strengthen the integrity of vocational discernment.
Our discussions on psychological assessment have likewise emphasised a holistic approach. Beyond identifying mental health concerns and areas requiring growth, we also want to recognise the strengths, capacities and resources that candidates bring. Understanding a candidate’s history is equally important, particularly in discerning how his past experiences may shape his emotional and relational well-being within priestly and Franciscan life.
These reflections have already found concrete expression. From 10 to 13 August, the Guardians gathered in Kuching for formation on attachment needs, and community development and dynamics. The formation aimed to strengthen their capacity to serve as Guardians and to accompany friars in their human and fraternal growth.
Our Ongoing Formation programme has similarly focused on human formation, relationships and community dynamics, reflecting on how our presence makes sense within the Church and world today, and what it means to minister faithfully in Malaysia and Singapore. The Il Cantico community in Kota Kinabalu engaged in this process on 1 September. The next session will be with the community at Greccio Friary, our student house in Singapore.
In 2027, we hope to broaden the revision of the Ratio Formationis Franciscanae through collaboration between Formation, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC), Mission and Evangelisation, and Professional Standards and Safeguarding. Each of these areas is an important part of our Franciscan life: JPIC flows from our Franciscan identity; mission flows from who we are; and safeguarding from our commitment to human dignity and communities where people can flourish safely.
The challenge is not simply to create better programmes or procedures, but to foster a culture of formation in which these dimensions come together in a coherent and mutually enriching way.
Ultimately, formation is about becoming. We are being formed every day. The question before us is: Who are we becoming, together, as brothers? And how might our becoming enable us to embody more authentically the beauty of the Gospel, the fraternity of Francis, and the hope of Christ in the world today?
Friar Jorgerson attending Mass celebrated on the street.
Stepping into the unknown marked the beginning of my Franciscan year with the Province of San Antonio de Padua in the Philippines. Tasked with broadening my understanding of mission, evangelisation, and the call to justice, peace, and integrity of creation (JPIC), I discovered that true mission means walking into uncertainty with faith and finding God’s grace in the lives of the people we serve.
At the Sinulog Festival, one of the biggest feasts in southern Philippines, I was introduced to the Santo Niño. At first, I wondered why people were so devoted to this little child figure but, as time passed, I found myself returning often to the Basilica of Santo Niño for confession, Mass, and prayer. This cultural immersion revealed to me the deep faith of the people, and how devotion shapes their lives.
Visiting different friaries taught me much about mission, evangelisation, and justice. The friars serve where others hesitate to go – poor, remote, even risky areas – immersing themselves in the impossible, living with little, and building dialogue between Muslims and Christians without demanding anything in return. As Friar Arturo Daquilanea OFM told me, daghang gracia (full of grace) – God repays what people cannot.
I came as a stranger, but was treated as family, welcomed with warmth and fraternity. My fraternal bond expanded beyond the Custody of St Anthony (Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei) to the wider Franciscan world, and this is what I treasure most.
Joseph Ng and Susan Toh, the artists behind the artworks for the Franciscan Calendar 2027.
The artworks in the Franciscan Calendar 2027 are a collaborative effort by husband and wife, Joseph Ng Swee Hong and Susan Toh Li Chuin, who are parishioners of the Church of St Mary of the Angels. The project was an opportunity for them to work together, complementing each other’s artistic skills that were shaped by their studies in Florence, where they completed their master’s degree in sacred art in 2025.
They shared that the invitation to create these artworks felt like a gentle nudge from the Lord. For Joseph, this meant revisiting the more than 3,000 daily sketches he has drawn since December 2017. He began this practice during his morning prayer, using Lectio Divina and following the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar, to remember God’s word. Browsing through the 43 volumes of sketchbooks turned out to be an emotional pilgrimage. As he flipped through the pages, he relived the highs and lows of his faith journey, beginning as a neophyte about 10 years ago. Each sketch contains a memory, a personal message, or a struggle at that moment in time, yet each also points to God’s love and guidance through the scriptures over the past nine years.
As they reviewed the sketches, they were reminded that God is an active Father who never stopped seeking them when they strayed. For example, the sketch chosen for the theme of Gratitude for the month of November shows Joseph and Susan as two little children at prayer. Just as the Israelites were called out of slavery in Egypt, God called them out of a life and profession they had pursued for over two decades to draw them closer to Him in a different vocation. Though their path ahead was fraught with uncertainty, the angel of the Lord sheltered them beneath her wings, a sign of divine protection and guidance. Joseph’s sketches were visual prayers, a way of seeing God’s hand at work in their lives, leading them forward with hope and teaching them to trust in His providence.
For Susan, this was a prayerful opportunity to enter into Joseph’s dialogue with the Lord while revisiting their shared moments through each sketch. Adding watercolour to his reflection sketches became an act of companionship rather than simply an artistic task. By bringing colour and warmth to his drawings, she hoped to make more visible the meanings, emotions, and prayer present within each sketch. For example, in the sketch selected for the theme of Compassion for the month of July, the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes in Christ’s hands are multiplied into something far greater than themselves and seen as a foreshadowing of the Eucharist. A subtle glow of light is added to draw out this meaning, highlighting the sacredness of the act of offering and depicting Christ’s compassionate love through warm colour tones. He takes what little we have, transforms and multiplies our humble gifts, and gives them back to us in abundant love.
Drawing from their own journey of faith, Susan and Joseph hope that these images will invite quiet reflection on Scripture. They pray that these artworks, rooted in God’s word, will accompany viewers in their daily prayer and, as they encounter them throughout the calendar, help them discover a deeper sense of God’s presence – just as the journey of creating them has deepened their own.
Friar Marvin Vincent Jackson Voo OFM is called to the Order of Deacons.
Friar Marvin Vincent Jackson Voo OFM will be called to the Order of Deacons on 8 December 2026 at the Church of St Mary of the Angels. His Eminence William Cardinal Goh will confer the ordination.
Date
8 December 2026
Order of Deacons
Venue
Church of St Mary of the Angels
Singapore
Ordaining Prelate
William Cardinal Goh
His Eminence, Archbishop of Singapore
Banns of Ordination · CHN/BNN/2026/003
The Chancery of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore issued the Banns of Ordination on 28 September 2026 (CHN/BNN/2026/003), fulfilling the requirement of canon 1051, 2°. Anyone aware of an impediment or circumstance that would prevent Friar Marvin Voo OFM from receiving Sacred Orders is asked to contact the OFM Custos, Friar Derrick Yap OFM, or William Cardinal Goh as soon as possible.
Further details and materials, including the invitation card and Mass booklet, will be added to this page as they become available.
Congratulations to Friar David Au, who successfully defended his thesis on 18 June 2026, completing his Licentiate in Theology with a specialisation in Franciscan Spirituality at the Pontificia Università Antonianum in Rome. The last two years have been a rich and rewarding experience for him, marked by the joy of living and studying alongside brothers from all over the world and learning from insightful yet humble professors.
Friar David will remain in Rome for another year to pursue a Diploma in Formation for Consecrated Life. We accompany him with our prayers and fraternal support as he continues his studies and preparation for his future ministry.
