Franciscan Father Louis Canino is director of the St. Francis Springs Prayer Center in Stoneville. (Photo provided by St. Francis Springs Prayer Center)STONEVILLE — Franciscan Father Louis Canino, director of St. Francis Springs Prayer Center, entered religious life as a teenager. This year he celebrates the 50th anniversary of his priestly ministry.
A native of Syracuse, N.Y., his social and spiritual life growing up was centered around his family’s vibrant Catholic parish.
“By the time I was around 6 years of age, I wanted to be a priest. In short, I admired our pastor so much,” Father Canino says. “When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said, ‘Father Walsh.’”
He graduated from Christian Brothers Academy, run by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a teaching order founded by St. John Baptiste de la Salle. He then entered St. Joseph’s Seraphic Seminary in upstate New York, which was run by Franciscans for those seeking a Franciscan vocation.
Father Canino was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Amleto Cicognani on Sept. 13, 1969, at the Franciscan monastery in Washington, D.C.
His openness to go where he was asked enabled Father Canino to take assignments at St. Joseph’s Monastery in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and twice at St. Anthony Shrine in Boston. He also juggled several roles at once, including roles as provincial councilor, rector of St. Anthony Shrine, director of the Province’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation efforts and oversaw ministry to the poor at St. Francis House in Boston in the mid-1980s.
Father Canino has served as the director of the Franciscan Center in Greensboro since 1990. He has also served at St. Francis Springs Prayer Center since 2005.
“My greatest fulfillment in my priestly or Franciscan ministry has been how the Lord has used me as His instrument in helping others to love Him more and to grow in their faith,” Father Canino says.
He shares that the greatest lesson he has learned in his 50 years as a priest is that “we are not fully in control of our lives. Sometimes the Lord puts a lot of twists and turns in it and it doesn’t always turn out the way we would like.”
He adds, “I have realized in trying to pursue the ‘dream’ of my life is that God’s timing and mine are not always in sync.”
His advice to anyone discerning a religious vocation?
“If someone felt that they were called to religious life or the priesthood, I would offer them the same advice that I received over 50 years ago: ‘If God is inviting you to follow Him this way, isn’t it best to at least pursue this vocation to see if it’s the right fit?’”
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter. Franciscan Friars, Holy Name Province contributed.