"CUM GRANDE HUMILITATE!"

"Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words."

A special "Thank you!"
Goes out to
John Michael Talbot
for giving us permission
to use his song on our
"Come to the Quiet"
You Tube Video
T
T
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Brother Giles Instructs How To Act in a Rapture

"When the mind is ready to be introduced into that most glorious light of God's goodness, it should not add anything by presumption or take away anything by negligence, and it should love solitude as much as possible if it wishes that grace be preserved and increase.

Brother Giles
Little Flowers of St. Francis
Part Three - 9

Working In Harmony With The Clergy

St. Francis said, "We have been sent to help the clergy in the salvation of souls, so that we may supply whatever is lacking in them. But men will not be rewarded according to their office, but their work. Remember, my brothers, that the winning of souls is what pleases God most, and we can do this better by working in harmony with the clergy than in opposition..."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Mirror of Perfection - 54

Monday, January 12, 2009

Carried Away With Wonder

Francis burned with a love that came from his whole being for the sacrament of the Lord's body, and he was carried away with wonder at the loving condescension and the most condescending love shown there...He wanted great reverence shown to the hands of priests, for to these had been given authority from God over the consecrated bread and wine.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life
CHAPTER CLII

You Are Looking At An Image Of The Lord

When you see a beggar, you are looking at an image of our Lord and his poor Mother. When you see a sick person, remember the infirmaties he bore for us.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
CHAPTER VIII

Sunday, January 11, 2009

To Those Who Seek Education By Neglecting Virtue

Francis was sad if learning was sought to the neglect of virtue, especially if each did not remain in the calling in which he was called from the beginning. "My brothers," he said, "who are being led by curious craving after learning will find their hand empty on the day of retribution....For retribution will come, such that books, useful for nothing, will be thrown out of windows and into cubby-holes." He did not say this because Scripture studies displeased him, but in order that he might withdraw all the brothers from a vain desire for learning and because he wanted them to be good in charity rather than superficially learned through curiosity.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life
CHAPTER CXLVII

Warning That Some Will Turn Away From The Rule Or Reinvent It

They then began to long miserably for the fleshpots of Egypt, which they had left behind; and what they had once despised with a generous heart they now shamefully wanted...They began at last to fawn upon the men of the world; and they began to be wedded to them, as it were, that they might empty their purses, extend their own buildings, and multiply the very things they had completely renounced. They sold their words of advice to the rich and their visits to noble ladies; and they frequented the courts of kings and princes with great eagerness, so that they might join house to house and field to field.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Sacrum Commercium
CHAPTER II

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Denounce Evil Wherever It Is Found (No "Sugar-Coated" Homilies)

Francis had first convinced himslef of the truth of what he preached to others by practicing it in his own life and so he proclaimed the truth confidently, without fear of reproof. He denounced evil wherever he found it, and made no effort to palliate it; from him a life of sin met with outspoken rebuke.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
CHAPTER XII

A Warning To Those Who Insult You And Refuse To Give Alms

If people insult you and refuse to give you alms, you should thank God for it, because you will be honored before the judgement seat of our Lord Jesus Christ for these insults. The shame will be imputed to those who cause it, not to those who suffer it. Alms are an inheritance and a right which is due to the poor because our Lord Jesus Christ acquired this inheritance for us.

Saint Francis of Assisi
The Rule of 1221
Chapter 9

Friday, January 09, 2009

The Spirit Of Prayer Must Always Come First

To Brother Anthony, my bishop, Brother Francis sends greetings.

It is agreeable to me that you should teach the friars sacred theology, so long as they do not extinguish the spirit of prayer and devotness over this study, as is contained in the Rule.

Farewell

Saint Francis of Assisi
Letter To Saint Anthony

A Tunic That Bore A Likeness To The Cross

On a certain day the Gospel was read in the church, how the Lord sent his disciples out to preach...Francis immediately put off his shoes from his feet, put aside the staff from his hands, was content with one tunic, and exchanged his leather girdle for a small cord. He designed for himself a tunic that bore a likeness to the cross, that by means of it he might beat off all temptation of the devil; he designed a very rough tunic so that by it he might crucify the flesh with all its vices and sins; he designed a very poor tunic, one that would not excite the covetousness of the world.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, First Life
CHAPTER IX

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Refrain From Formal Oaths

All are to refrain from formal oaths unless where necessity compels, in the cases excepted by the Sovereign Pontiff in his indult, that is, for peace, for the Faith, under calumny, and in bearing witness.

Saint Francis of Assisi
FIRST RULE OF THE THIRD ORDER
Chapter V

Staying Focused On God During Prayer

Let us be ashamed to be caught up by worthless imaginings for at the time of prayer we speak to the great King.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life
CHAPTER LXIII

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

In His Image, Batesville, Indiana, Now Selling Mystic Monk Coffee Through The Portiuncula Hermitage

The Portiuncula Hermitage is committed to tithing ten percent of their Mystic Monk Coffee Sales Commissions to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion)!

Mystic Monk Coffee is roasted by the Carmelite Monks, a Roman Catholic monastery in the silence and solitude of the Rocky Mountains of northern Wyoming. The monks live a hidden life of prayer and contemplation in the pursuit of God. The monastery is inundated with young men who seek to leave everything to pray for the world, in a tradition at least a thousand years old. It is the monks’ great joy and privilege to share the fruit of their life with you in every cup of Mystic Monk Coffee.

What is the Carmelite Monks' goals in roasting Mystic Monk Coffee? They hope that this new monastic industry will help them to establish their Catholic monastery in the mountains of Wyoming. Catholics everywhere love coffee and why not buy their coffee from Catholic monks who are laboring to take vocations?

Every Catholic monastery has its own manual labor, a way to support itself by its own hands. Then it usually sells what it makes as its monastery gift item. Coffee is unique in that Catholics everywhere drink coffee daily. So this is a monastery gift for every day of the year. Catholics should find this as another way to integrate the church into their daily lives, through Catholic coffee. Every morning as they sip their coffee, why not think of the church and say a morning offering to Christ?

Mystic Monk Coffee is pleased to offer the socially conscious consumer a coffee that respects the value of every human life and the right and dignity of every person, especially the unborn. Fair Trade Organic is a decision to act with social justice.

The monastic life is one of ordered perfection, which you will taste in every bag of Mystic Monk Coffee. Passionate about perfection, no challenge is too great for Br. Java and the monks, if it will result in a Mystic Monk brew suited for the most discriminating coffee drinker. The Carmelite monks have mastered the ancient art of roasting coffee, laboring with steadfast determination to make each cup of coffee simply superb. Taste the monastic perfection in each brew, which makes all the difference.


The Portiuncula Hermitage is committed to tithing ten percent of their Mystic Monk Coffee Sales Commissions to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion)!

Please remember to keep the pre-born in your prayers!

To order direct, simply click on the Mystic Monk Coffee Icon on the left side of this page:
Labels: BirthRight, Digg, il Poverello d'Assisi, MYSTIC MONK COFFEE, Newsvine, Portiuncula: the Little Portion, ProLifeBlogs, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Technorati, Warm Glow Candles, WorldNetDaily, Yahoo

Detraction Or Speaking Injuriously Of Another Is Forbidden

The brothers are to speak evil of none (Titus 3:2); there must be no complaining, no slander; it is written, "Whisperers and detractors are people hateful to God" (Romans 1:29). And let them be moderate, showing all mildness to all men (Titus 3:2), without word of criticism or condemnation; as the Lord says, they must give no thought even to the slightest faults of others (Matthew 7:3; Luke 6:41), but rather count over their own in the bitterness of their soul (Isiah 38:15).

Saint Francis of Assisi
Rule of 1221
Chapter 11

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Mother Teresa: Abortion Destroys Peace !

Thirty-five years after the U.S. Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion on demand, people from across America plan to gather in the nation's capital on Monday, January 23rd to show their opposition to the ruling. The annual March for Life is expected to draw tens of thousands of people of all ages, faiths, and nationalities.

Given the enormity of the situation, I couldn't help but imagine waking up in the morning to the newspapers headlines, "Nine American cities completely wiped out! No one left alive in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Philladelphia, Detroit, St. Louis or Atlanta."

We saw America's reaction to 9/11 and its aftermath. It's hard to imagine how angry American's would be if these headlines were true. Men, women and children would be lining up to join the armed forces to strike back at the enemy. What enemy is that? Is it China, Afghanistan, or Iraq? What massive firepower must the enemy have employed to inflict such destruction, atomic bombs, biological warfare or perhaps nerve agents? It was none of these. It was abortion.

As of 1996, Americans had slaughtered 32 million innocents, the equivalent of nine major U.S. cities.

Mother Teresa said that If we can accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people that killing is wrong? After all, any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people love, but to use whatever violence necessary to get what they want.

Sure, everyone's concerned for the children of Indiana and Africa, where thousands of children are dying of hunger and disease every day. Many people are concerned with the violence in our streets and classrooms as well. These concerns are good, but all too often these same people aren't the least bit concerned by those being killed by the deliberate decisions of their own mothers. This is the greatest destroyer of peace today - abortion - which brings people to such blindness.

Does abortion destroy peace and cause blindness toward the sick, the hungry and the naked? Of course it does, when life is regarded so lightly and its disposal becomes so trivial, so clinical, so easy. After all, why should people or nations regard human life as noble or dignified if abortion flourishes? Why agonize over indiscriminate deaths in Bosnia when babies are being killed far more efficiently and out of sight of TV cameras?

Just imagine, the populations of all those major cities combined - all dead....who is left to cry?

Love, Observe, and Treasure the Rule

In the name of God I entreat the friars to grasp the meaning of all that is written in this Rule for the salvation of our souls, and recall it to mind again and again. I beg almighty God, Three and One, to bless those who teach, learn, or have by them this Rule, keeping it fresh in their memory and putting it into practice, as they repeat and perform what is written in it for our salvation.

Saint Francis of Assisi
The Rule of 1221
Chapter 23

The Prudent And Learned Never Change

When blessed Francis was at the Chapter General held at St. Mary of the Portiuncula - known as the Chapter of Mats, because the only shelters there consisted of rush-mats, which were used by five thousand friars - a number of prudent and learned friars went to the lord Cardinal of Ostia who was present, and said to him, 'My Lord, we wish that you would persuade Brother Francis to follow the advice of the wiser brethren, and allow himself to be guided by them.' And they quoted the Rules of Saint Benedict, Saint Augustine, and Saint Bernard, which lay down the principles of the regular life.

Saint Francis spoke to the friars in the fervor and power of the Holy Spirit, saying, 'My brothers! my brothers! God has called me by the way of simplicity and humility, and has in truth revealed this way for me and for all who are willing to trust and follow me. So I do not want you to quote any other rule to me...

Saint Francis of Assisi
Mirror of Perfection - 68

Monday, January 05, 2009

Trinity Gifts & Books Selling Mystic Monk Coffee Through The Portiuncula Hermitage

The Portiuncula Hermitage is committed to tithing ten percent of their Mystic Monk Coffee Sales Commissions to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion)!

Mystic Monk Coffee is roasted by the Carmelite Monks, a Roman Catholic monastery in the silence and solitude of the Rocky Mountains of northern Wyoming. The monks live a hidden life of prayer and contemplation in the pursuit of God. The monastery is inundated with young men who seek to leave everything to pray for the world, in a tradition at least a thousand years old. It is the monks’ great joy and privilege to share the fruit of their life with you in every cup of Mystic Monk Coffee.

What is the Carmelite Monks' goals in roasting Mystic Monk Coffee? They hope that this new monastic industry will help them to establish their Catholic monastery in the mountains of Wyoming. Catholics everywhere love coffee and why not buy their coffee from Catholic monks who are laboring to take vocations?

Every Catholic monastery has its own manual labor, a way to support itself by its own hands. Then it usually sells what it makes as its monastery gift item. Coffee is unique in that Catholics everywhere drink coffee daily. So this is a monastery gift for every day of the year. Catholics should find this as another way to integrate the church into their daily lives, through Catholic coffee. Every morning as they sip their coffee, why not think of the church and say a morning offering to Christ?

Mystic Monk Coffee is pleased to offer the socially conscious consumer a coffee that respects the value of every human life and the right and dignity of every person, especially the unborn. Fair Trade Organic is a decision to act with social justice.

The monastic life is one of ordered perfection, which you will taste in every bag of Mystic Monk Coffee. Passionate about perfection, no challenge is too great for Br. Java and the monks, if it will result in a Mystic Monk brew suited for the most discriminating coffee drinker. The Carmelite monks have mastered the ancient art of roasting coffee, laboring with steadfast determination to make each cup of coffee simply superb. Taste the monastic perfection in each brew, which makes all the difference.


The Portiuncula Hermitage is committed to tithing ten percent of their Mystic Monk Coffee Sales Commissions to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion)!

Please remember to keep the pre-born in your prayers!

To order direct, simply click on the Mystic Monk Coffee Icon on the left side of this page:

Fr. Richard Neuhaus, Founder and Editor of First Things, hospitalized with cancer

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Father Richard Neuhaus, founder and editor in chief of the journal First Things, has been hospitalized with "a serious cancer," the publication announced Dec. 31. A message sent to e-mail contacts and posted on the magazine's Web site said Father Neuhaus is in a New York hospital after being diagnosed with cancer in late November. "The long-term prognosis for this particular cancer is not good, but it is not hopeless, either, and there is a possibility that it will respond to the recommended outpatient chemotherapy treatment," said the message. But over Christmas, Father Neuhaus became dangerously ill with a systemic infection and was hospitalized, the note added. There had been some signs of improvement in the last few days, the message said, "and there is a reasonable expectation that he will recover from this present illness -- sufficiently, we hope, that he will be able to begin the chemotherapy for the cancer."

Be On Your Guard

With all my heart, I beg the friars in our Lord Jesus Christ to be on their guard against pride, boasting, envy, and greed, against the cares and anxieties of this world, against detraction and complaining.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Rule of 1222
Chapter 10

Woe To Those Who Despise Priests

Blessed is that servant of God who has confidence in priests who live in accordance to the laws of the holy Roman Church. Woe to those who despise them. Even if they fall into sin, no one should pass judgement on them, for God has reserved judgement on them to himself.

Saint Francis of Assisi
THE ADMONITIONS
Admonition XXVI

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Deuteronomy 25:4

The friars who have a trade should work at it, provided that it is no obstacle to their spiritual progress and can be practised without scandal. The Psalmist tell sus, 'You shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; happy shall you be, and favoured' (Psalm 127:2); and St. Paul adds, 'If any man will not work, neither let him eat' (2 Thess. 3:10).

Saint Francis of Assisi
Rule of 1221
Chapter 7

The Blessing Of The Bread

St. Francis arrived that evening at the friars' Place of Monte Casale, where there was a friar who was so cruelly sick and so horribly tortured by illness that it seemed more like a tribulation and torment of the devil than a natural sickness...When St. Francis, sitting at table, heard the friars tell about the serious and incurable sickness of this friar, St. Francis felt compassion for him. And he took a piece of bread which he was eating and made the Sign of the Cross over it with his holy stigmatized hands and sent it to the sick friar. As soon as the latter had eaten the bread, he was perfectly healed and never felt illness again.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Little Flowers of St. Francis
The Second Consideration

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Beware Of All Covetousness

'Return you children who have departed from me, and I will heal rebellions. Beware of all covetousness, for that is idolatry; a covetous man shall not be satisfied with money. But call to mind the days gone by, in which, after you have been enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings. Be not those who draw back unto destruction, but those who have faith to the saving of the soul. A man making void the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the word of two or three witnesses; how much worse the punishments do you think he deserves who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant through which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? Return, ye transgressors, to the heart, for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.'

Saint Francis of Assisi
Sacrum Commercium - 51

Having Prudence In Fasting

Our most holy Father, knowing that the body was created to serve the soul, and that bodily actions were to be performed for spiritual endes, used to say, 'In eating, sleeping, and satisfying the other needs of the body, the servant of God should make sensible provision for his Brother Body so that he may not have cause to complain and say, "I canot stand upright and continue at prayer, nor can I be cheerful in my troubles or do other good things, because you do not provide for my needs."'

Saint Francis of Assisi
Mirror of Perfection - 97

Friday, January 02, 2009

Signs And Wonders Followed St. Francis

Such great signs of sanctity were evident in St. Francis that no one dared to oppose his words, while the great assembly of people looked only upon him. In the midst of all these things and above everything else, Francis thought that the faith of the holy Roman Church was by all means to be preserved, honored, and imitated, that faith in which alone is found in salvation of all who are to be saved. He revered priests and he had a great affection for every ecclesiastical order.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, First Life
CHAPTER XXII

Seized With Fear For A Morsel Of Bread

Our whole being should be seized with fear, the whole world should tremble and heaven rejoice, when Christ the Son of the Living God is present on the altar in the hands of the priest! What wonderful majesty! What stupendous condescension! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity! That the Lord of the whole universe, God and the Son of God, should humble himself like this under the form of a little vread, for our salvation!

Saint Francis of Assisi
LETTER TO THE GENERAL CHAPTER

Thursday, January 01, 2009

The Hail Mary (Italian)

Ave Maria piena di grazia il Signore è con Te Tu sei benedetta fra le donne e benedetto è il frutto del tuo seno, Gesù. Santa Maria, madre di Dio prega per noi peccatori adesso e nell'ora della nostra morte. Amen.

World Day of Prayer for Peace

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so
much seek to be consoled as to console; to
be understood as to understand; to be loved
as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it
is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is
in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Feast of the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

St. Francis embraced the Mother of our Lord Jesus with indescribable love because, as he said, it was she who made the Lord of majesty our brother, and through her we found mercy. After Christ, he put all his trust in her and took her as his patroness for himself and his friars.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
CHAPTER IX