Cultivating Inspiration: Felician Campus Ministry Provides Daily Morning Boost!

Felician continues to work to connect in meaningful ways as its community deals with the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Andy Fellows, Felician’s Director of Campus Ministry and Sister Annelle Velivis, Ph.D, Director of the Blessed Mary Angela Institute are working to provide spiritual opportunities as students, faculty, and staff move forward in this challenging time for all.

Together they work to bring virtual spiritual experiences to an academic community dealing with a crisis they have never before faced.

Sr. Annelle calls Andy and herself, “a good team” whether working on a toy drive with the Lodi Police Department, or establishing Suits U, a program to provide professional clothing for students for interview or internship needs.

Now the pair stands ready, willing and able to call forth storehouses of spiritual strength to remotely serve their Felician community.

Sister Annelle launched daily morning prayers via Zoom after a discussion with Dr. Sylvia McGeary, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Mission Integration. All are welcome to join in at 8:45am for prayers and reflection. The virtual prayer meetings are a way for the community to come together through the power of prayer even in this time of physical separation. Once the entire University went virtual Fellows took over offering comfort by calling on both the sacred and the secular. In a recent prayer meeting Fellows shared a comforting passage from the book of Philippians.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

And Fellows also draws from the secular quoting the late Mr. Rogers who said:

“when I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” – Mr. (Fred) Rogers
At the end of one meeting Fellows asked participants to consider the question: “From who do you get your strength, who is holding you up?” And he reminded them all that, “it is God, and that he’s manifested in the people around us.”

Then he told them that it was great to see their smiling faces, ending with a reassuring, “we’ll be back again tomorrow morning.”

Remember you too can join the daily 8:45am online prayer meeting via Zoom here: https://felician.zoom.us/j/745805741

And a copy of the Morning Prayer can also be found at the bottom of this webpage: https://felician.edu/covid/

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About Felician University

Felician University engages over 2,300 undergraduate, graduate, and adult students through programs in Arts & Sciences, Business, Nursing, and Education. Universal Franciscan values of social justice, compassion, and respect for human dignity serve as an inclusive foundation for transforming the lives of tomorrow’s leaders. Felician University’s education is ranked 3rd best return on investment for private colleges in New Jersey 2018 by the PayScale.com College ROI Report and is ranked #1 safest college campus in the state by niche.com.