Br. Pio-Anthony Begins His Novitiate In New Mexico.

We are very happy indeed on this Ash Wednesday, to have the joy of presenting to our brethren the pictures of the clothing of Mr.Dominic Gonsalves of New Mexico, who took the name of Br. Pio-Anthony on the feast of St. Matthias.

Brother will be making a novitiate of 1 1/2 years and will be an isolated Tertiary until such time that the good God will raise up other Brothers so that a congregation of the Third Order of St. Francis can be established in New Mexico.

Br. Pio-Anthony will be observing the ancient and venerable Rule of Nicholas IV and is united to us spiritually. We praise the good God for giving this man the courage to undertake a life of prayer and penance and we will look with great interest in the future of Franciscanism in New Mexico.

Please pray for Brother, that he may be an instrument of peace, and that God will raise up a very active congregation of the Third Order in his part of the world.

The Joy in Suffering

Next to Our Lord, no other creature suffered as much as Our Most Blessed Mother. Yet, admist Her most bitter sufferings, she was filled with joy. What? How can one be suffering and joyful at the same time?

In today's world, joy is usually associated with feelings of pleasure, excitement, or relaxation. "To feel good is to be good" is the motto put forth by those who live every moment of their lives trying to satisfy their sensible desires and avoid any and every pinch of pain. However, feeling good is not always consistent with leading a holy life. As a matter of fact, feeling pain is a hallmark of the saints who at the same time led joyful lives. We can come to understand this apparent contradiction by taking a look at the makeup of our human nature.

Below is a chart entitled "The Powers of Man". You can click on the chart to view a larger image.

These powers are divided into three categories: vegetative, animal, and rational. The vegetative powers in man are those which he shares with the rest of living organisms, that is, plants and animals. The animal powers of man are those which he shares with all non-plant living organisms such as monkeys, dogs, cats, etc. These animal powers are also known as the sensitive part of man because they deal with the sensible (i.e., material) life: touch, taste, feelings, emotions, passions, etc. Each of these powers is rooted in the makeup of man's body. Unfortunately, many people today do not admit that man has powers beyond these animal powers. To such people, joy is simply a bodily response of one attaining what he desires. Love is simply a feeling. These people reduce man to the level of a monkey.

No, my friends. Man is not simply an animal. God gave man another set of powers that are not bodily, but spiritual. Hence, these powers, which reside in the soul, give man what no monkey can ever have: eternal life! These powers that set us apart from animals are called the rational powers. Man is, then, a rational animal. This rational part of man is comprised of two main powers: the intellect and will. It is this intellect and will which make man be in the image and likeness of God; it is this intellect and will which we share with the angels. The intellect was made to assent to the truth; the will was made to choose the good. It is by the intellect that God infuses in the soul the supernatural virtue of Faith; it is by the will that God infuses in the soul the supernatural virtues of Hope and Charity.

As Catholics know, the souls in heaven do not have a body, except for Our Lord and Our Lady. Those souls will be reunited with their bodies at the Last Judgement. How at this moment, then, can St. Peter see and love God in heaven without a body? It is because there are in the soul parallels to the knowing and appetitive powers that exist in the animal part of man. The intellect, also called reason, has parallels to the knowing powers of the animal part of man; the will, also called the rational appetite, has parallels to the appetitive powers of the animal part of man. Therefore, St. Peter can see and love God and thus experience joy in heaven even though his soul is currently separated from his body. We should now begin to understand how we on earth can experience joy in suffering, that is, be joyful in spirit while suffering in body.

My friends, think about Our Lord suffering terribly in His Body on the cross - torn flesh, open wounds, crowned with thorns, mocked and derided. At one point, the suffering was so intense that He cried out, "My God, My God! Why hast Thou forsaken me?" Yet at that very moment, His Soul was filled with overflowing joy! Why? Because He was about to accomplish the complete fulfillment of His Father's will - the appeasement of the Divine anger and the redemption of mankind! Deo gratias! For the same reasons, Our Mother was spiritually overjoyed even in Her bodily sufferings.

It is true that suffering is an evil. God did not create man to suffer. Rather, suffering is the result of Original Sin. Let us not forget that Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Paradise. Their intellect and will had complete control over the desires of the body. The serpent could not tempt them to impurity, for example. Instead he appealed to their pride, which is a spiritual defect. After they sinned, the body became rebellious against the spirit. Ever since then, the spirit and body are at war with each other. With the help of grace, it is the spirit that must overcome the body if we are to attain everlasting glory in heaven. However, we cannot obtain this glory without suffering. God, in His Providence, uses the result of sin as the means of our sanctification because Our Lord sanctified this means by His death on the Cross.

Oh, how we run away from suffering! But let us not be cowards. Whether we like it or not, EVERYONE must suffer - rich or poor, king or peasant. What is important is what we do with that suffering that God sends us. Are we going to be like the robber who complained about it or like the one who said he deserved it? Even though both suffered the same amount of bodily pain, the former suffered his way to hell and the latter his way to heaven! But my friends, it is not enough to simply accept all sufferings with resignation. If one is to become a saint, one must actively desire and seek it! Yes, indeed. Our beloved Seraphic Father so desired and loved suffering that when a fellow Friar complained that God was being too harsh on Francis, our beloved Seraphim rebuked him! St. Francis took utter joy in his suffering, especially in the wonderful gift of the stigmata.

Where then is one to actively seek and find these opportunities for suffering? One need not look further than the Third Order of St. Francis, in particular, the Rule of Pope Nicholas IV. This wonderful Rule contains the spirit of St. Francis as originally intended, which is none other than the spirit of Christ! The penances contained in this Rule truly mortify the body in submission to the spirit and the spirit in submission to Christ. The Third Order of Penance, as it is more properly called, has for its ultimate end none other than the complete and perfect transformation of the soul into and union with Christ. Love of God is the cause, suffering is the means, and pleasing God is the end. The Rule of Pope Nicholas IV incites the cause and provides the means to achieve the end.

So my friends, to conclude, the next time we complain about the suffering that befalls us or that we have taken on of our own accord, let us look upon a crucifix and contemplate the immense suffering our sins have caused Our Lord. Only then will we remember that we deserve eternal punishment for these sins, but that Our Lord, by His suffering and death on the Cross, has given us the opportunity for eternal joy. Let us always, then, take joy in suffering!

In the Seraphic Father.

MARY RISING UP (Luke.1.39.)

AVE MARIA!

Fraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Circular Letter For February
Year of Our Lord 2009
Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary


Beloved Brothers and Sisters of the Order of Penance, God give you peace!

It is a time of great joy as we live through a historical time in the life of our holy Mother Church. We have lived through the incredible storm of the Vatican Council II, and the effects of the dramatic changes for the worst which have been its fruits. We have seen the measures which the Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre would, of necessity, be forced to make to ensure that the life of Tradition would continue. That is the consecration of four bishops, consecrated to make holy priests who would transmit the ancient doctrine of the Catholic Church and offer the true Mass of all time, the Mass of St. Pius V. Bishops, consecrated also to give the Sacrament of Confirmation to souls.

“By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them.” Matt. 7.16.

Many have questioned the prudence of making bishops without a papal mandate. Many would today be without priests and the Mass of all time if these bishops were not made. Time unfolds the magnificent truth, that the little Society of St. Pius X and its bishops, priests, religious, laity and all those who are affiliated with them, have had the special protection of Heaven, and Heaven’s Queen, the Holy Virgin Mary.

The Holy Father Benedict XVI, as you have heard dear brethren, has told the world that these bishops are not excommunicated. Although we know and have always believed that these excommunications have been false, and had never taken effect due to the canon law of the Church and the very apparent necessity of traditional Catholic bishops and priests, it is a great joy to hear about this great news coming from the Pope. It is an even greater joy, an immeasurably greater joy, to see the amazing and speedy intercession and unstoppable power of our Mother the Holy Virgin Mary and Her Rosary!

“And Mary Rising Up In Those Days, Went Into The Hill Country With Haste.” St. Luke. 1.39.

Bishop Bernard Fellay, upon calling for another Rosary Crusade, this time for the lifting of the “excommunications”, has the answer from the Pope in a matter of a couple of months. Insurmountable obstacles have been raised after years of struggle, and upon calling out to the Virgin with Her beloved Psalter, the impossible becomes possible. Who can fail to see the work of Mary on our behalf, the care and love of Mary for us?

It is a marvel, this Rosary, so pleasing to the Virgin, and so it seems we would do well to take a look at the Franciscan Crown or Seraphic Rosary which has been in use in the Three Orders of St. Francis for many centuries.

“It is by the Crown of the Seven Joys that I have obtained all the graces which Heaven has heaped upon me.” St. Bernardine of Sienna.(1)

“About the year 1420, a young man, deeply devoted to our Lady, took the habit of St. Francis. Before joining the Order he had, among other practices, been accustomed daily to make a chaplet of flowers, and with it to crown a statue of the Blessed Virgin. Having, in his novitiate, no longer an opportunity of making this crown for his beloved Queen, he, in his simplicity, thought that she would withdraw her affection from him; this temptation from the devil disturbed his vocation, and he resolved to abandon the cloister. The merciful mother appeared to him, and gently rebuking him, strengthened his vocation by telling him to offer her, instead of a chaplet of flowers, a crown much more pleasing to her, composed of seventy- two Ave Marias with a Pater after each decade of Ave Marias, and to meditate at each decade upon the seven joys she had experienced during her exile upon the earth. The novice immediately commenced reciting the new crown or rosary, and derived therefrom many spiritual and temporal graces. This pious practice quickly spread through the whole Order and even throughout the world; the Roman Pontiffs granted divers indulgences to those who recited this crown, in addition to the plenary indulgence which was for the Franciscans only.”(2)

Is it not a magnificent thought dear Brothers and Sisters that we can give to Jesus Christ, the Divine Mary and the Saints an accidental joy, though She is in paradise now, just by reciting the Franciscan Crown or Holy Rosary? Which one of us would not thrill with an exceedingly great joy, if they could, for such a small price, see the Blessed Virgin smile? Do you doubt that if you say your Rosary with devotion that your Mother will smile because of your little effort? Hear this by St. Louis de Montfort: “Now, the Holy Rosary, recited together with meditation on the sacred mysteries is a sacrifice of praise to God to thank Him for the great grace of our redemption. It is also a holy reminder of the sufferings, death and glory of Jesus Christ. It is therefore true that the Rosary gives glory, gives and accidental joy to Our Lord, to Our Lady and to all the blessed because they cannot desire anything greater or more contributive to our eternal happiness than to see us engaged in a practice which is so glorious for Our Lord and so salutary for ourselves.” (3)

“Give Me An Army Saying The Rosary And I Will Conquer The World.” Pope Pius IX

The Holy Rosary, its body is but a string of beads! A little chain, or some rope, little knots or small beads for the counting, who could imagine that this little object could be something which is fearful to an army of fallen Angels? A few prayers on the lips of a Catholic and a chain of poor beads passing through his fingers, the Devil, the unbeliever or heretic while observing him, could think that this is a devotion of pious foolishness. Not so! Not so dear Catholics! Believe in the power of the Regina Angelorum and Her Psalter! Scripture affirms that: "the foolish things of the world hath God chosen, that he may confound the wise; and the weak things of the world hath God chosen, that He may confound the strong. And the base things of the world, and the things that are contemptible, hath God chosen, and things that are not, that He might bring to nought things that are!" (Corn.1.27-28).

Of course we as mere men are relatively useless, but with the grace of God and the Holy Virgin by our side see how the sea of obstacles, of Demons and of snares, folds before us like the Red Sea parted at the Will of the Most High. The little Catholic, with his set of beads, reciting the Holy Rosary or Franciscan Crown, truly may he sing in a spirit of confidence and joy with the Psalmist: “Blessed be the Lord my God, who teacheth my hands to fight, and my fingers to war!" (Ps.143.1.) It is God who has given us the Holy Rosary and its prayers. It is God who has taught us through His Saints and His own Mother, how to use our hands and fingers to war and conquer the Demons with the Holy Rosary. It is God, indeed, it is God who has Willed that the Immaculate Heart of Mary is glorified in our times, in these days of darkness! He has Willed that all evil is put under the beautiful foot of Mary and that we, her little children should be in Her arms as She crushes the head of the serpent! It is easy, simple even, to serve the good God with joy as long as we stay safely in the arms of Mary.

Let us dear Brothers and Sisters of Penance, renew our devotion and love of the Blessed Virgin Mary this month by saying the Holy Rosary and the Franciscan Crown with much devotion and love. Whenever we have the opportunity, let us weave a little crown of roses for our Divine Mother with our Aves, and give, through Her a fragrant lily to Our Father in Heaven with the devout recitation of the Pater noster. Only in Heaven will we see with amazement perhaps, that we have aided in the restoration of Holy Mother Church, washed away our own sins, helped in the conversion of sinners and plucked souls from Purgatory with the prayers of the Holy Rosary, the Franciscan Crown and the intercession of the Queen of Heaven, Mary ever Virgin!


I beg for your prayers to the Divine Mother, and remain with interior sentiments of union and charity, your little servant,


Fra Pio-Francis. T.O.S.F. Rector.


Circular Approved By the Rev. Fr. Freddy Mery S.S.P.X..


(1) Tertiary Manual By Rev. Fr. Emidius 1869 pg. 307.
(2) Tertiary Manual By Rev. Fr. Emidius 1869 pg. 305.
(3) The Secret of the Rosary Pg. 58.


Picture above used with permission from The Web Gallery of Art at:

http://www.wga.hu/index1.html

Pictures from Morgon

My Dear Friends in Christ,

Below are some beautiful pictures taken recently in Morgon, France by Br. Marcel, T.O.S.F. for the professions of Br. Franciskus Maria and Sr. Klara Maria of Sweden. Fr. Jean-Joseph was the officiant. You may click on a picture to view a larger image.

Brother and Sister have visited Morgon several times and give us the latest news that the Capuchins now have 25 total Brothers, 19 of which are either priests or in the process of becoming priests! The Poor Clares have only 4 Sisters. Thus, we must multiply prayers for them. Brother Franciskus Maria tells us that the Sisters live an even more penitential life than the Brothers and that they are cloistered. Hence, no pictures were taken of them.

Please pray for the Brothers and Sisters of Morgan and for the newly professed tertiaries.

In the Seraphic Father.

A Letter To All The Faithful By Our Holy Father St. Francis of Assisi

LETTER TO ALL THE FAITHFUL.

To all Christians, religious, clerics, and laics, men and women, to all who dwell in the whole world, Brother Francis, their servant and subject, presents reverent homage, wishing true peace from heaven and sincere charity in the Lord.

Being the servant of all, I am bound to serve all and to administer the balm-bearing words of my Lord. 1 Wherefore, considering in my mind that, because of the infirmity and weakness of my body, I cannot visit each one personally, I propose by this present letter and message 2 to offer you the words of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Word of the Father and the words of the Holy Ghost which are "spirit and life." 3

This Word of the Father, so worthy, so holy and glorious, whose coming the most High Father announced from heaven by His holy archangel Gabriel to the holy and glorious Virgin Mary 4 in whose womb He received the true flesh of our humanity and frailty, He, being rich 5 above all, willed, nevertheless, with His most Blessed Mother, to choose poverty.

And when His Passion was nigh, He celebrated the Pasch with His disciples and, taking bread, He gave thanks and blessed and broke saying: Take ye and eat: this is My Body. And, taking the chalice, He said: This is My Blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for you and for many unto remission of sins. 1 After that He prayed to the Father, saying: "Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me." 2 "And His sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground." 3 But withal, He gave up His will to the will of the Father, saying: Father, Thy will be done: not as I will, but as Thou wilt. 4 Such was the will of the Father that His Son, Blessed and Glorious, whom He gave to us, and who was born for us, 5 should by His own Blood, sacrifice, and oblation, offer Himself on the altar of the Cross, not for Himself, by whom "all things were made," 6 but for our sins, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps. 7 And He wishes that we should all be saved by Him 8 and that we should receive Him with a pure heart and a chaste body. But there are few who wish to receive Him and to be saved by Him, although His yoke is sweet and His burden light. 9

Those who will not taste how sweet the Lord is 10 and who love darkness rather than the light, 11 not wishing to fulfil the commandments of God are cursed: of them it is said by the prophet: "They are cursed who decline from Thy commandments." 12 But, O how happy and blessed are those who love the Lord, who do as the Lord Himself says in the Gospel: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and . . . thy neighbor as thyself." 1 Let us therefore love God and adore Him with a pure heart and a pure mind because He Himself, seeking that above all, says: "The true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth." 2 For all who "adore Him, must adore Him in spirit and in truth." 3 And let us offer Him praises and prayers day and night, saying: "Our Father who art in heaven," for "we ought always to pray, and not to faint." 4

We ought indeed to confess all our sins to a priest and receive from him the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. 5 He who does not eat His Flesh and does not drink His Blood cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. 6 Let him, however, eat and drink worthily, because he who receives unworthily "eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord," 7—that is, not discerning it from other foods.

Let us, moreover, "bring forth fruits worthy of penance." 8 And let us love our neighbors as ourselves, and, if any one does not wish to love them as himself or cannot, 1 let him at least do them not harm, but let him do good to them.

Let those who have received the power of judging others, exercise judgment with mercy, 2 as they hope to obtain mercy from the Lord. For let judgment without mercy be shown to him that doth not mercy. 3 Let us then have charity and humility and let us give alms because they wash souls from the foulness of sins. 4 For men lose all which they leave in this world; they carry with them, however, the reward of charity and alms which they have given, for which they shall receive a recompense and worthy remuneration from the Lord.

We ought also to fast and to abstain from vices and sins 5 and from superfluity of food and drink, and to be Catholics. We ought also to visit Churches frequently and to reverence clerics not only for themselves, if they are sinners, but on account of their office and administration of the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which they sacrifice on the altar and receive and administer to others. And let us all know for certain that no one can be saved except by the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the holy words of the Lord which clerics say and announce and distribute and they alone administer and not others. But religious especially, who have renounced the world, are bound to do more and greater things, but " not to leave the other undone." 1

We ought to hate our bodies with [their] vices and sins, because the Lord says in the Gospel that all vices and sins come forth from the heart. 2 We ought to love our enemies and do good to them that hate us. 3 We ought to observe the precepts and counsels of our Lord Jesus Christ. We ought also to deny ourselves and to put our bodies beneath the yoke of servitude and holy obedience as each one has promised to the Lord. And let no man be bound by obedience to obey any one in that where sin or offence is committed.

But let him to whom obedience has been entrusted and who is considered greater become as the lesser 4 and the servant of the other brothers, and let him show and have the mercy toward each of his brothers that he would wish to be shown to himself if he were in the like situation. And let him not be angry with a brother on account of his offence, but let him advise him kindly and encourage him with all patience and humility.

We ought not to be "wise according to the flesh" 5 and prudent, but we ought rather to be simple, humble, and pure. And let us hold our bodies in dishonor and contempt because through our fault we are all wretched and corrupt, foul and worms, as the Lord says by the prophet: "I am a worm and no man, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people." 1 We should never desire to be above others, but ought rather to be servants and subject "to every human creature for God's sake." 2 And the spirit of the Lord 3 shall rest upon all those who do these things and who shall persevere to the end, and He shall make His abode and dwelling in them, 4 and they shall be children of the heavenly Father 5 whose works they do, and they are the spouses, brothers and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are spouses when by the Holy Ghost the faithful soul is united to Jesus Christ. We are His brothers when we do the will of His Father who is in heaven. 6 We are His mothers when we bear Him in our heart and in our body through pure love and a clean conscience and we bring Him forth by holy work which ought to shine as an example to others.

O how glorious and holy and great to have a Father in heaven! O how holy, fair, and lovable to have a spouse in heaven! 7 O how holy and how beloved, well pleasing and humble, peaceful and sweet and desirable above all to have such a brother who has laid down His life for His sheep, 8 and who has prayed for us to the Father, saying: Father, keep them in Thy Name whom Thou hast given Me. Father, all those whom Thou hast given Me in the world were Thine, and Thou hast given them to Me. And the words which Thou gayest Me I have given to them; and they have received them, and have known in very deed that I came forth from Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send Me. I pray for them: not for the world: bless and sanctify them. And for them I sanctify Myself that they may be sanctified in one as We also are. And I will, Father, that where I am, they also may be with Me, that they may see My glory in My kingdom. 1

And since He has suffered so many things for us and has done and will do so much good to us, let every creature which is in heaven and on earth and in the sea and in the abysses render praise to God and glory and honor and benediction; 2 for He is our strength and power who alone is good, 3 alone most high, alone almighty and admirable, glorious and alone holy, praiseworthy and blessed without end forever and ever. Amen.

But all those who do not do penance and who do not receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, but who give themselves to vices and sins and walk after evil concupiscence and bad desires and who do not observe what they have promised, corporally they serve the world and its fleshly desires and cares and solicitudes for this life, but mentally they serve the devil, deceived by him whose sons they are and whose works they do; blind they are because they see not the true light,—our Lord Jesus Christ. They have no spiritual wisdom, for they have not in them the Son of God who is the true wisdom of the Father: of these it is said: "their wisdom was swallowed up." 1 They know, understand, and do evil and wittingly lose their souls. Beware, ye blind, deceived by your enemies—to wit, by the world, the flesh and by the devil—for it is sweet to the body to commit sin and bitter to serve God because all vices and sins come forth and proceed from the heart of man, as it is said in the Gospel. 2

And you have nothing of good in this world or in the future. You think to possess for long the vanities of this world, but you are deceived; for a day and an hour will come of which you think not and do not know and are ignorant of. The body grows feeble, death approaches, neighbors and friends come saying: "Put your affairs in order." And his wife and his children, neighbors and friends, make believe to weep. And looking, he sees them weeping and is moved by a bad emotion, and thinking within himself he says: "Behold, I place my soul and body and my all in your hands." Verily, that man is cursed who confides and exposes his soul and body and his all in such hands. Wherefore, the Lord says by the prophet: "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man." 1 And at once they cause a priest to come and the priest says to him: "Wilt thou do penance for all thy sins? " He answers: "I will." "Wilt thou from thy substance, as far as thou canst, satisfy for what thou hast done and for the things in which thou hast defrauded and deceived men." 2 He answers: "No."—And the priest says: "Why not?"—"Because I have put everything into the hands of my relatives and friends." And he begins to lose the power of speech and thus this miserable man dies a bitter death. 3

But let all know that wheresoever or howsoever a man may die in criminal sin, without satisfaction—when he could satisfy and did not satisfy—the devil snatches his soul from his body with such violence and anguish as no one can know except him who suffers it. And all talent and power, learning and wisdom 4 that he thought to possess are taken from him. 5 And his relatives and friends take to themselves his substance and divide it and say afterwards: "Cursed be his soul because he could have acquired and given us more than he did, and did not acquire it." But the worms eat his body. And thus he loses soul and body in this short life and goes into hell, where he shall be tormented without end.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 1 All to whom this letter may come, I, Brother Francis, your little servant, pray and conjure you by the charity which God is, 2 and with the will to kiss your feet, to receive these balm-bearing words 3 of our Lord Jesus Christ with humility and charity and to put them in practice kindly and to observe them perfectly. 4 And let those who do not know how to read have them read often and let them keep them by them with holy operation unto the end, for they are spirit and life. 5 And those who do not do this shall render an account on the day of Judgment before the tribunal of Christ. And all those who shall receive them kindly and understand them and send them to others as example, if they persevere in them unto the end, 6 may the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost bless them. Amen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taken From The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi by Paschal Robinson, [1905], at sacred-texts.com

http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/wosf/wosf12.htm

*Page numbers removed from original for smooth reading.