In mid-April we were happy to receive a visit by Fr. John Franck to San Román. Fr. John is an assistant general of the Assumptionists stationed in Rome. He was in Argentina to get to know our work better since he has been given responsibility for South America as a continent and Assumptionist educational institutions around the world as a particular area of concern. He was accompanied by Fr. Juan Carlos Cisterna, the provincial of the Assumptionists in Chile-Argentina and his first assistant Fr. Esteban Monsalves.

Fr. Nicolas Potteau was born on June 12, 1979 and ordained a priest by Most Rev. André Vingt-trois, archbishop of Paris, on June 30, 2012 in Notre Dame Cathedral.

His voice soft and composed, Br. Nicolas Potteau answers your every question with care, without a useless word, concerned to describe as best he can what he is thinking or feeling. Having made his final vows with the Augustinians of the Assumption (Assumptionists) two years ago, he likes to speak about his call to religious life and priesthood by alluding to the famous painting of Caravaggio, "The Call of St. Matthew": "In this painting, you see Christ, accompanied by the apostle Peter; Christ is pointing to Matthew who is aglow with a halo of light. This is meant to underline that a call always includes three persons: God, the person called, and the Church. It also recalls that it is always God who takes the initiative."

It was in the home of Joachim and Ann where the Virgin Mary received her training to be the Mother of God. Thus, devotion to Ann and Joachim is an extension of the affection Christians have always professed toward our Blessed Mother. We, too, owe a debt of gratitude to our parents for their help in our Christian formation.

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Ann; St. Joachim's feast in this rite is celebrated on August 16.

On July 18^th 2012, the beginning of the annual novena to St. Anne, the new bronze sculpture named "Generations," which depicts the Holy Family embraced by St. Anne and St. Joachim, was dedicated by the Most Reverend Robert McManus, Bishop of Worcester.

This year marks· the 125^th anniversary of the shrine and novena which will culminate on July 26^th, the feast of St. Anne.